Russian refugees and French politics : The creation of an international framework, 1918-1929

Abstract

During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, when international organizations were in their initial stages of development, European nation-states had not yet devised an international system to deal with refugees. However, when the Russian Revolution of 1917 gave rise to massive emigration in unprecedented amounts and caused Europe's first international refugee crisis in its history, some states, notably France, endeavored in collaboration with the High Commissioners for Refugees (HCR), to construct an international framework to deal with the problem. This article attempts to clarify the way in which an international framework was created, by looking at the relationship between France and the HCR, and to reveal its character, by examining the historical context in which the collaboration occurred. The main geographical focuses on Istanbul (Constantinople), the city inundated with the largest number of Russian refugees at the time; and the analysis is based upon such primary sources as the journal of the International Committee of the Red Cross, reports of the League of Nations and documents from the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In the effort to solve Istanbul problem, both the HCR and France had their own agendas. The HCR, maintaining political neutrality, placed refugees in safety and ensured their legal status, while trying to persuade the rest of Europe to solve the problem within its nation-state system. However, it lacked the practical authority to achieve this aim. Meanwhile, France, having intervened in the Russian civil war against the Bolsheviks, took measures to protect the Russian refugees in Istanbul, but due to its complicated relations with the White Army, the French government encountered difficulty in arranging for the refugee resettlement. Faced with this political obstacle, France seized upon the founding of the HCR and its political neutrality as an opportunity to alter its commitment to the refugee problem. The relationship established between HCR and France continued through the 1920s, making it possible to maintain and reinforce the international framework for refugees.