ABSTRACT
‘Political refugee’ was, in the perspective of state agencies, a political and administrative double category that designated migrants who were entitled to favourable treatment and status. The first waves of Jewish migrants from the east can easily be considered as the first modern European refugee crisis, as refugees from Russia and Romania arrived in unexpectedly large numbers at the borders of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The newly founded League of Nations reacted to the advent of the Russian refugees by appointing Fritjof Nansen as High Commissioner for Refugees in 1921. The most important refugee groups – besides the Polish, Czech, and Russian participants in the European revolutions and revolts of 1848/1849 – were primarily Germans, as well as Italians, Spaniards, and Hungarians. The newly founded League of Nations reacted to the advent of the Russian refugees by appointing Fritjof Nansen as High Commissioner for Refugees in 1921.
