A Whole Empire Walking: Refugees in Russia during World War I (Indiana-Michigan Series in Russian and East European Studies)

"... a signal contribution to a growing literature on a phenomenon that has become tragically pervasive in the 20th century.... This highly original account combines exemplary empirical research with the judicious application of diverse methods to explore the far-reaching ramifications of 'a whole empire walking.'" -- Vucinich Prize citation"An important contribution not only to modern Russian history but also to an ongoing repositioning of Russia in broader European and world historical processes.... elegantly written... highly innovative." -- Europe-Asia Studies Drawing on previously unused archival material in Russia, Latvia, and Armenia and on insights from social and critical theory, Peter Gatrell considers the origins of displacement and its political implications and provides a close analysis of humanitarian initiatives and the relationships between refugees and the communities in which they settled.

... a signal contribution to a growing literature on a phenomenon that has become tragically pervasive in the 20th century.... This highly original account combines exemplary empirical research with the judicious application of diverse methods to explore the far-reaching ramifications of 'a whole empire walking.' — Vucinich Prize citation

An important contribution not only to modern Russian history but also to an ongoing repositioning of Russia in broader European and world historical processes.... elegantly written... highly innovative. — Europe-Asia Studies

Drawing on previously unused archival material in Russia, Latvia, and Armenia and on insights from social and critical theory, Peter Gatrell considers the origins of displacement and its political implications and provides a close analysis of humanitarian initiatives and the relationships between refugees and the communities in which they settled.

". . . a signal contribution to a growing literature on a phenomenon that has become tragically pervasive in the 20th century. . . . This highly original account combines exemplary empirical research with the judicious application of diverse methods to explore the far-reaching ramifications of 'a whole empire walking.'" Vucinich Prize citation "An important contribution not only to modern Russian history but also to an ongoing repositioning of Russia in broader European and world historical processes. . . . elegantly written . . . highly innovative." Europe-Asia Studies Drawing on previously unused archival material in Russia, Latvia, and Armenia and on insights from social and critical theory, Peter Gatrell considers the origins of displacement and its political implications and provides a close analysis of humanitarian initiatives and the relationships between refugees and the communities in which they settled. "Peter Gatrell offers a fresh perspective on social and political upheaval in revolutionary Russia through a close examination of population displacement during World War I. Involuntary migrations - in part the consequence of defeat on the battlefield, in part the result of deliberate action by tsarist generals - led government officials and educated society to question prevailing modes of thinking about social identity and the nature of social order in an unraveling polity."--BOOK JACKET. Events on Russia's western front gave rise to acute anxieties almost immediately, as it became clear early in the war that Russia had been forced to yield territory to the enemy. The social, political, and cultural significance of refugeedom.