The World War I to be presented in the collection of the Presidential Library

On the threshold of the Day of Defender of the Fatherland the Presidential Library announces the preparation for the development of a collection devoted to the World War I. The year of 2014 will mark the centennial of this important event in world history of the 20th century.

It is assumed that the collection will include memoirs, diaries, business and personal correspondence, newsreel, photos and paintings, sound recordings, popular science films, historical research, bibliography, and more.

The work is also carried out in the framework of the State of the Nation of the Russian President Vladimir Putin, who drew attention to the perpetuation of the memory of the heroes of the First World War. "Our ancestors called it the Great War, but it was unjustly forgotten, in fact, due to a number of political, ideological considerations removed from our historical memory and from history. Meanwhile, the morale of the armed forces rests on traditions, living connection with history, with examples of courage and sacrifice of heroes," said Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin.

The Presidential Library, as a national information center, disposes of documentary materials about the First World War, including periodical of the early 20th century. Thus, in the illustrated appendix to "Petrograd newspaper" digitized and available in the holdings there are sketches from the front and hospitals, a chronicle of life in St. Petersburg in preparation for evacuation because of the expectations of capture by German forces.

Continues the development of the collection "The Memory of the Great Victory", which now includes 18, 000 units of storage. The Great Patriotic War is one of the key events in Russian and world history of the 20th century. Through persistence, courage and heroism of the defenders of the Fatherland the enemy was defeated. The collection is dedicated to the memory of this great victory, including evidence of participants in the World War II and the Great Patriotic War, scientific research and archival documents, photographs and newsreels, newspapers of the war time and publications of agitation and propaganda.

About the defenders of our country, the role of the army and the guerrilla movement tell the new pages of the history of Armed Forces under the headings, "Defenders of the Fatherland: The Living and The Fallen" and "Militia in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945."

Today, the holdings of the Presidential Library - the country's first national electronic library - number 228,000 units of storage. The most important task of the library is the formation of the national accessible repository of e-books and documents on the history and development of Russian statehood. The library formed a comprehensive plan of video lectures, "Knowledge about Russia", film clubs, conferences and workshops; the library is efficiently developing as an educational center.

On the photo of 1916: non-commissioned officer G. Zhukov, the future Marshal of Victory, on the front of the World War I