ABSTRACT
Nationality issues were highlighted as never before during the 20 years leading up to the First World War. This was particularly so in the multi-ethnic empires of central and Eastern Europe, which lacked the relative cultural homogeneity and centralized government characteristic of Western states. Moreover, whatever attempts the empires made to appropriate the features of modern statehood were by this time certain to run up against the growing national consciousness of their subject peoples. One of the clearest indications of this was the outbreak of revolution in Russia in 1905, which catalysed demands for recognition of distinct ethno-cultural nationality amongst the Tsarist Empire’s minority groups.
