“Kirsanov movement” of the Austro-Hungarian army Italian nationality prisoners of war during the World War I

Importance. From 1915 to 1917, a camp for Austro-Hungarian prisoners of war of Italian nationality functioned in Kirsanov in Tambov Governorate, who accepted the offer of the Italian government to send them to Italy and then join the ranks of its armed forces. In the period preceding the dispatch, a group of prisoners of war who shared irredentist ideas organized a number of patriotic events in the camp with the aim of national cohesion of future volunteers. Their activity was called the “Kirsanov movement”, which is insufficiently covered in modern historiography.Materials and methods. The main sources for the research were archival materials, as well as a number of published researches. The historical and genetic method was used, which allowed tracing the origins and evolution of the Italian national movement (irredentism) in the territories belonging to the Austro-Hungarian Empire.Results and Discussion. It is shown that the goal achievement of prisoners of war national cohesion was hampered both by the social and economic conditioned worldview and pre-war mutual perception stereotypes by natives of Habsburg monarchy’s various territories with the Italian population, and by the former loyalty preservation of some prisoners of war to the Habsburg Empire, fueled by possible repressions of the Austrian authorities in relation to themselves and their relatives.Conclusion. In waiting for sent to Italy, a group of patriotic prisoners of war in the Kirsanov camp organized a number of events, which was called the “Kirsanov movement”. Its purpose was to involve politically wounded prisoners of war in patriotic activities.