The Periodical Press in England and Russia during the First World War: A Comparative Perspective

This article examines the operation of the periodical press in Britain and Russia during the First World War, with particular attention to the systems of military censorship that shaped its functioning. Military censors sought above all to restrict public access to information that could reveal military or state secrets. The study compares the mechanisms, practices, and consequences of censorship in the two empires, identifying both shared tendencies and distinctive national features. By the early twentieth century, the press no longer merely reported events but had become an active force in forming public opinion and mediating between state and society. The article argues that wartime censorship, rather than silencing the press, often prompted editors to develop strategies of adaptation and self-regulation, contributing to a complex reconfiguration of the public sphere in both Britain and Russia.