Imperial Apocalypse: The Great War and the Destruction of the Russian Empire(The Greater War)

Imperial Apocalypse describes the collapse of the Russian Empire during World War One. Drawing material from nine different archives and hundreds of published sources, this study ties together state failure, military violence, and decolonization in a single story. Joshua Sanborn excavates the individual lives of soldiers, doctors, nurses, politicians, and civilians caught up in the global conflict along the way, creating a narrative that is both humane and conceptually rich. The volume opens by laying out the theoretical relationship between state failure, social collapse, and decolonization, and then moves chronologically from the Balkan Wars of 1912-13 through the fierce battles and massive human dislocations of 1914-16 to the final collapse of the empire in the midst of revolution in 1917-18. Imperial Apocalypse is the first major study which treats the demise of the Russian Empire as part of the twentieth-century phenomenon of modern decolonization, and provides a readable account of military activity and political change throughout this turbulent period of war and revolution. Sanborn argues that the sudden rise of groups seeking national self-determination in the borderlands of the empire was the consequence of state failure, not its cause. At the same time, he shows how the destruction of state institutions and the spread of violence from the front to the rear led to a collapse of traditional social bonds and the emergence of a new, more dangerous, and more militant political atmosphere.

Table of Contents:
Preface Introduction: Imperial Challenge 1: The Outbreak of War and the Transformation of the Borderlands 2: The Front Migrates 3: Remobilizing the Military: Combat Innovation, POWs, and Forced Labor 4: Remobilizing Society: Nurses, Doctors, and Social Control 5: Revolution 6: Decolonization Conclusion: Imperial Apocalypse Works Cited

About the Author :
Joshua A. Sanborn is the author of two previous books: Drafting the Russian Nation: Military Conscription, Total War, and Mass Politics, 1905-1925 and, with co-author Annette Timm, Gender, Sex, and the Shaping of Modern Europe: A History from the French Revolution to the Present Day. He lives in Easton, Pennsylvania, with his wife and two children.

Review :
In this vivid reinterpretation of the Russian Empire's World War I, Joshua Sanborn provocatively and effectively reframes it as a war of decolonization and state collapse. Written in crisp and entertaining prose, this thought-provoking book is the most interesting and readable book published on Russia's World War I in recent times. This magnificent book is full of insights, with a robust challenge to received wisdom. Sanborn's talent as a writer makes the catastrophic story of imperial state failure a joy to read. He is a well-informed and admirably plain Historian. He clearly realises the interest his subject holds beyond the acadamey. If the Eastern Front remains the "forgotten front", readers will have only themselves to blame, as Joshua Sanborn gives us a fresh, insightful look at the East in these crucial years. An outstanding contribution to the spate of books marking the centenary of the Great War. Sanborn's book is thus at once an everyday life history of the Russian Front, a gripping narrative of the key battles in which the Russian Empire participated, and a sophisticated conceptual argument about the stages of decolonization during the First World War. a wonderful book. It takes the reader to the heart of the experience of Russian participants in the Great War in an original and unprecedented way ... In terms of depth of description, sensitivity to the subject matter, elegance of expression, and originality of approach, Joshua A. Sanborn has few rivals. His breadth of vision not only encompasses crucial but often overlooked episodes ... he also shows their importance to the story. The book was intended for multiple audiences, and it deserves to be read widely and with interest. Sanborn's book serves as an admirable blend of the military, social and political history of the demise of the tsarist state. It offers much to chew on for specialists in the Russian field. Sanborn's command of his vast primary source base lends his narrative authority, his prose is unfailingly engaging, and his insights numerous. The many personal stories he tells of humble citizens caught up in this imperial "apocalypse" provide moving illustrations of the broad processes he charts. Above all, no previous treatment of Russia's Great War and revolution makes so palpable the scale of chaos and misery endured by the population as war-induced violence spun out of anyone's control.