Codzienna konsumpcja drobnomieszczańska na zapleczu frontu w ostatnim roku pierwszej wojny światowej Analiza przypadku z obszaru Prowincji Poznańskiej
Daily Consumption of the Petite Bourgeoisie behind the Front Lines in the Final Year of the First World War: A Case Study from the Province of Posen

Summary/Abstract: From the outbreak of the First World War, food supply issues posed a serious challenge forcivilians living within the Central Powers. These difficulties intensified in subsequent years, pri-marily due to the British naval blockade, which disrupted maritime trade and triggered wavesof famine across numerous German cities and occupied territories. The civilian population,particularly those most affected, sought various ways to cope with shortages and to circumventthe inefficiencies of the wartime administration. Despite official prohibitions and the threat ofsevere penalties, many individuals attempted to secure essential and highly sought-after goodsindependently, often turning to rural areas. This article explores the extent and character ofsuch survival strategies and their effects on actual food consumption. It does so through a casestudy of a student and painter from a well-to-do petite bourgeoisie family residing in the Prus-sian partition of the former Polish territories. Drawing on his diary, which contains detailedaccounts of daily meals, the study reconstructs his entire diet throughout 1918, distinguish-ing between everyday and holiday consumption. The analysis reveals a meat-to-non-meat mealratio of 3:1 – an unexpectedly high figure given Germany’s well-documented food shortages,particularly in meat. This finding points to the widespread operation of the black market, whichenabled financially stable individuals to mitigate the hardships of wartime scarcity. Further-more, the article examines the diversity of his daily diet by cataloguing the various food itemsconsumed, including their unique names. The diary’s remarkable detail also allows for estimatesof stimulant consumption – such as sweets, alcohol, and cigars – and provides insight into pre-vailing eating habits.

• Details
• Contents