The thesis focuses on the experience of war as depicted in the journal of Ivan Plahuta, who was 20 years old at the start of the war. As a member of fortress artillery he was initially assigned to Serbian territory. With Italy joining the war he was transferred to the Tyrolean front. The notebook in question was filled during the first year and there are no other writings in our heirloom.
First I define a journal as primary source in historiography, describing its defining elements, advantages and disadvantages. As I follow the author’s journey through the first year of war, I set his story in a broader context of specific conditions at various battlefields and compare it to other published journals. Journaling was a mass phenomenon during the First World War. I complement the journal with letters, chronicles ... I focus on topics with greater emphasis, such as caring for horses, postal censorship and attitude to local population.
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