Abstract
During the twentieth century Armenia and Poland alike were sites of widespread population displacement, which brought into sharp focus arguments about national 'survival' advanced by patriotic leaders who found in refugees the embodiment of recurrent national suffering. Population displacement also attracted external support from sympathetic foreigners and from the Armenian and Polish diaspora, who regarded it as an affront to civilisation. Among Armenians a groundswell of support for repatriation gathered momentum after both world wars, because Soviet 'protection' offered the most realistic chance for national survival. In contrast many Poles opted not to return to Poland after 1945, regarding the communist takeover as a betrayal of Poland's struggle for independence. © 2007 Cambridge University Press.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 511-527 |
Number of pages | 16 |
Journal | Contemporary European History |
Volume | 16 |
Issue number | 4 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2007 |