ABSTRACT
Of the many momentous events that have marked the twentieth century, the rise and fall of the Soviet Union, the world’s largest empire, arguably has had the most far-reaching consequences. Population dislocation, mass migration, and immigration were among the consequences of this dramatic series of sociopolitical changes. The end of Tsarist Russia caused the first wave of migration out of the fallen empire. In Central Asia and the Caucasus, during the early period of Soviet rule, an exodus of refugees left their homelands for neighboring countries, mainly Iran, Afghanistan, Turkey, and China. In Iran and Turkey these political refugees set up cultural and political organizations and endeavored to sustain their links with the homeland. In later years, particularly during the 1930s, under pressures exerted on their already unwelcoming countries by the Soviet government, many of these refugees were forced to leave for other distant countries, in Europe or the United States, in pursuit of a safer haven. Unfortunately, there are no statistics available on the exact number of these refugees. Nevertheless, on the basis of available archival materials, one can deduce that prior to the outbreak of World War II there were tens of thousands of Tatars, Azerbaijanis, Armenians, Georgians, Turkmen, Uzbeks, Kazakhs, and Kyrgyz wandering into and out of the neighboring countries, some toward Europe or the United States, forming the first Caucasus and Central Asian diaspora communities.
