He was mobilised into the Russian Imperial Army in 1916, during the First World War. After military training in Poltava, Paval Zhauryd was sent to Turkestan and later to the Romanian Front. After the Russian February Revolution Paval Zhauryd was elected as his regiment's committee president. He was a delegate at the First All-Belarusian Congress in December 1917, where preparations for the declaration of independence of the Belarusian People's Republic had been initiated.