World War I in Central and Eastern Europe

In the English language, World War I has largely been analysed and understoodthrough the lens of the Western Front. This book addresses this imbalance byexamining the war in Central and Eastern Europe. The historiography of the warin the West has increasingly focused on the experience of ordinary soldiersand civilians, the relationships between them and the impact of war at thetime and subsequently. This book takes up these themes and, engaging withthe approaches and conclusions of historians of the Western Front, examineswartime experiences and the memory of war in the East. Analysing soldiers'letters and diaries to discover the nature and impact of displacement andrefugeedom on memory, this volume offers a basis for comparison betweenexperiences in the two areas. It also provides material for intra-regionalcomparisons that are still missing from the current research. Was the war inthe East wholly `other'? Were soldiers in this region as alienated as those in theWest? Did they see themselves as citizens and was there continuity betweentheir pre-war or civilian and military identities? And if, in the Eastern context,these identities were fundamentally challenged, was it the experience of waritself or its consequences (in the shape of imprisonment and displacement,and changing borders) that mattered most? How did soldiers and citizens in thisregion experience and react to the traumas and upheavals of war and with whatconsequences for the postwar era? In seeking to answer these questions andothers, this volume significantly adds to our understanding of World War I asexperienced in Central and Eastern Europe.