The Unfound Peace: Disabled Veterans in Interwar Soviet Union

by Alexandre Sumpf

Overview

The Unfound Peace is the first book dealing with disabled former servicemen of tsarist Russia in all regards—socioeconomic status, healthcare, social reintegration into families and communities, self-representation—and the only one comparing World War I and Russian Civil War veterans. Alexandre Sumpf considers the ways disabled Great War veterans tried to live under the Bolsheviks and compares their experiences with those of the Red Army veterans who received special considerations from the new regime.

Offering a history of the body and health in relation to work, The Unfound Peace also compares the situation of disabled veterans with that of disabled workers who were subject to the same demands of extreme productivity but benefited from better social protection, though they dealt with accusations that they were faking their disabilities.

Sumpf's exploration of disabled veterans, with transnational comparisons, offers the possibility of rereading the history of the first generation of Soviets through the collective and private memory of war, in the USSR and in exile.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781501777714
Publisher:	Northern Illinois University Press
Publication date:	03/15/2025
Series:	NIU Series in Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	330
File size:	9 MB
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Alexandre Sumpf is Assistant Professor at Strasbourg University in France and Head of the Institute for the Contemporary History. His scholarship includes studies about wars in Russia/USSR, health history, disability studies, and propaganda.

Table of Contents

Introduction
1. A New Class of Citizens (1914–1919)
2. Civil War as a Dead End (1918–1923)
3. Ascribing Identity to "Victims of the Imperialist War"
4. Thou Shalt Work
5. Useful Bodies, Perfectible Minds
6. Showcasing Disability
Conclusion

What People are Saying About This

Mark Edele

This book brings together the Russian and English language literature with the rich French literature and treats veteran politics not only in the Soviet Union but also in other successor states of the Romanov Empire as well as in exile abroad.

Joshua A. Sanborn

This is a deeply researched book on an important topic that has been almost totally ignored by previous historians.

Joshua Sanborn

This is a deeply researched book on an important topic that has been almost totally ignored by previous historians.