Isabelle Allan
Pronouns: she/her
Research Mentor(s): Roya Talibova, PhD Student
Research Mentor School/College/Department: Political Science, College of Literature, Science, and the Arts
Presentation Date: Thursday, April 22, 2021
Session: Session 1 (10am-10:50am)
Breakout Room: Room 4
Presenter: 6
Abstract
While research has been done on the way military experience aids in the development of organizational skills that lend themselves to collective action, it is unclear how these skills apply to life post-conflict. This project seeks to explain how combat experience in disenfranchised minority soldiers affects post-war behavior. We cross referenced a database containing records of Russian Imperial Army conscripts in WWI with a database containing records of Red Guard soldiers, members of the revolutionary army, during the Russian Civil War to see which individuals participated in both conflicts. This information allowed for analysis of the geographical regions with higher populations of marginalized groups in terms of how their experience in WWI influenced their behavior towards the state in the Civil War. Preliminary findings suggest that individuals from minority groups who fought in WWI and those who come from regions with higher marginalized populations were more likely to join the Red Guard in the Russian Civil War. These results demonstrate the important role military experience plays in situations of political violence, particularly in the establishment of an organized revolution by a minority group against an authoritarian government.
Authors: Isabelle Allan, Isabelle Allan, Zeyuan Hu, Roya Talibova
Research Method: Library/Archival/Internet Research
