The thesis is devoted to the study of zemstvo self-government bodies in the field of public health in Kyiv province during 1904–1917. In particular, the attention is focused on the peculiarities of their work in this vector during the First World War under the All-Russian Zemstvo Union and beyond it in conditions of military intervention.
The basis of the thesis is modern theoretical and methodological principles with the use of a significant array of academic literature on the topic and source base, which allowed covering the raised issues more fully and comprehensively. Therefore, the theoretical and methodological basis is founded on the applied principles of historicism, objectivity, scientificity, multifactoriality, pluralism and comprehensiveness of knowledge; and methods such as chronological, logical-analytical, systematic, comparative-historical, method of periodization, statistics and generalization.
The historiography of the study reflects a large array of academic achievements of domestic researchers on the similar issues of the three generally accepted periods (pre-Soviet, Soviet and modern), as well as foreign researchers based on various theoretical and methodological concepts of a certain period of academic historical thought.
During the study, the documentary evidence of central, regional and city archival institutions of Ukraine was used, the vast majority of which were introduced into scientific circulation for the first time. The published source base is represented by the legal potential of the Russian Empire; statistical materials of the 1897 census of the population of the Russian state; the documentary base of administrative and executive power of zemstvos of Kyiv province; informational and reporting bulletins, periodicals of Kyiv provincial zemstvo administration and its sanitary department; address books of different organizations; informational and reporting and periodical materials of public organizations of the First World War in aid of sick and wounded soldiers from the fund collections of the leading scientific libraries of Ukraine and Russia, as well as the collections of Kyiv museums.
The relevance of the chosen topic is due to the current reform of public health at the national and regional levels. The scientific novelty of the obtained results of the thesis lies in the relevance of the chosen topic, which has not yet evoked a due interest in modern historical research of Ukrainian academicians, as well as in the set of tasks and their implementation. For the first time, the formation and development of zemstvo health care system in the Kyiv province has been comprehensively studied within the defined chronological framework of the study. The detailed characteristic of effective functioning of zemstvo self-government bodies in development of a medical sectorial network in counties is made; the treatment direction of zemstvo medicine (inpatient, outpatient, obstetric, pediatric and psychiatric medical care) is analyzed; the financial component for ensuring the development of the sphere of public health of zemstvos has been determined; the social security of the zemstvo medical personnel was clarified; the sanitary and preventive direction of zemstvo medicine and the features of functioning of zemstvos as a part of the All-Russian Zemstvo Union in rendering of medical and sanitary help to military and civilian population during the military intervention are considered.
Practical meaning of the results contributed to a broader understanding of the role of the zemstvo self-government bodies of the Kyiv province in the implementation of projects in the field of health care during 1904–1917. Theoretical and methodological principles and sound conclusions of the thesis will serve during the conducting of research on the history of Ukraine XIX–early XX centuries, creation of courses of lectures on the history of Ukraine and medicine, writing textbooks on regional and local history. The results of the thesis can be additionally used in museum work during the creation of thematic expositions, in the creation of textbooks, the formation of bibliographic indexes on the history of health care in Ukraine based on a large amount of bibliographic information. The materials of the thesis can be useful in the context of the decentralization at the local level, in particular, in the field of public health, and in the training of medical professionals and their material and technical supply at the local level.
