The impact of the First World War on secondary education. The Catholic grammar schools of Szombathely and Kőszeg in the years of the Great War

Abstract

The study seeks to answer the question of the impact of the war on education, the functioning of institutions and the extent to which it was present in everyday life. Can a specific impact be identified for ecclesiastical educational institutions? How did the schools cope with the difficulties they encountered, what role did they play in the war effort in the hinterland? The study compares the years of the war in two Catholic secondary schools in the Western Transdanubian region, far from the front, on the basis of school notices. Its main finding is that the war affected both schools in different but similar ways. First and foremost, it caused financial difficulties and made day-to-day running more difficult, as well as giving new tasks in charitable activities and the training of young soldiers.