World War I and Identity Crisis of Russian Germans
- Authors: Erokhina O.V.1,2, Shaidurov V.N.1
-
Affiliations:
- Pushkin Leningrad State University
- Moscow State Pedagogical University
- Issue: Vol 23, No 1 (2024): ETHNIC MINORITIES AND THEIR PLACE IN THE HISTORY OF RUSSIA – USSR THROUGHOUT XVIII–XX CENTURIES
- Pages: 19-29
- Section: ETHNIC MINORITIES AND THEIR PLACE IN THE HISTORY OF RUSSIA – USSR THROUGHOUT XVIII–XX CENTURIES
- URL: https://journal-vniispk.ru/2312-8674/article/view/322070
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.22363/2312-8674-2024-23-1-19-29
- EDN: https://elibrary.ru/LNHKSR
- ID: 322070
Cite item
Abstract
The authors consider the position of Russian Germans in the empire, who during World War I became victims of the foreign policy circumstance. There is analyzed the process of the transformation of the state-ethnic identity of the Germans through the identification of factors that had a psychological impact on them and contributed to the formation of a “negative” identity in their environment. The sources for the study are the letters of military doctor F.O. Krause and Russian Germans who served on the Caucasian front, as well as German colonists from various provinces of the Russian Empire; decrees and orders of the military and civil administration, periodical materials; office correspon- dence between ministries and other materials stored in the central and regional archives of the Russian Federation. The study shows that the rise in nationalist sentiments in Russian society and the implementation of anti-German policy in the country exerted significant psychological pressure on Russian Germans. Due to this, during World War I they found themselves in a “new reality.” The authors come to the conclusions that influenced by numerous factors, Russian Germans had to choose various ways to preserve their identity: changing the name, emigrating, completely immersing themselves in their professional activities.
About the authors
Olga V. Erokhina
Pushkin Leningrad State University; Moscow State Pedagogical University
Author for correspondence.
Email: ov.erokhina@mpgu.su
Dr. Habil. Hist., Professor of the Russian History Department, Moscow State Pedagogical University; Chief Researcher of the Scientific and Educational Center for Historical Research and Analysis, Pushkin Leningrad State University
10, Peterburgskoe shosse, Pushkin, St. Petersburg, 196605, Russia; 88, Prospekt Vernadskogo Av., Moscow, 119571, RussiaVladimir N. Shaidurov
Pushkin Leningrad State University
Email: s-w-n@mail.ru
ORCID iD: 0000-0002-1431-1163
Dr. Habil. Hist., Associate Professor, Head of the Scientific and edu- cational center for historical research and analysis
10, Peterburgskoe shosse, Pushkin, St. Petersburg, 196605, RussiaReferences
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