The work of the Russian Red Cross in pre-revolutionary Transbaikal

Beginning in 1867, training nurses to work in military hospitals became a priority for the Russian Red Cross Society (RRCS). From 1884–1906, the Transbaikal region was a part of the Priamursky Governor-Generalship, in which, until the mid-1890s, there were no sisters of mercy societies or appropriate training courses. In the region’s vast territory there was only the RRCS’s Nerchinsk local administration, which did not demonstrate significant activity. The troubled foreign policy situation in Eastern Siberia and the Far East necessitated the opening of additional military infirmaries and outpatient clinics, and the organization of systematic training for field nurses. In order for medical and social work to provide a more complete coverage of the border region and for more direct organizational and methodological leadership, a Transbaikal (Chita) local RRCS administration was established in the Transbaikal region in 1894. Its center was located in Chita and headed by the military gover