The Specifics of Working with Sources Related to Casualties on the Russian Front During the First World War

The article deals with methods for handling sources describing combat losses of opposing armies in the Russian theater of operations (battlefront) during World War I. The problem of establishing the size and clarifying the categories of casualties suffered by the belligerents both in separate operations and in campaigns or during the war as a whole can be addressed by engaging published and unpublished archival sources. The paper defines the range of such sources including dispatches and reports of various regularity, nominal lists, and personnel orders (the latter only for the Russian army). Ways of working with each type of sources and their specific features are described and their representativeness, completeness, and the possibility of closing knowledge gaps are assessed.