The Identity Crisis of Russian Germans During the First World War: Based on the Correspondence of F.O. Krause

The identity crisis was examined using the example of Russian Germans, whose fate during the First World War is highly illustrative for the stated problem. It is established that the formation of the identity crisis among Germans in Russia occurred as they were gradually excluded from their former system of social interaction. One of the main reasons for this was the transformation of their perception by the Russian majority: from “the other,” yet still “one of us,” to “the enemy.” It is concluded that Russian Germans were faced with the need to choose a form of communication with a new social environment during the war period. It is noted that one possible form was gradual integration into the new reality through a civic dimension while preserving their cultural identity. For this purpose, the life trajectory of F.O. Krause, a Russian German and senior physician of a sanitary disinfection unit who served in the Imperial Russian Army in Galicia, Volhynia, and Romania, is examined.

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