Description
Book SynopsisMore than a hundred thousand soldiers of the Austro-Hungarian army were native Italian speakers. They came from Trentino or the coastal region and fought in the army of the Empire during the First World War. They spoke the language of the enemy, which is why they were considered untrustworthy and suspicious from a national perspective. They were mainly sent to the distant Russian front, where thousands of them were captured. Those torn between Austria and Italy were treated with suspicion in both countries and in the Russian prison camps they were exposed to opposing influences and attempts at national reeducation. Based on Austrian and Italian sources as well as soldiers'' memoirs, their eventful stories are reconstructed, characterized by years of war, captivity and a difficult return. Based on the fate of the Italian soldiers, Andrea Di Michele shows the complex national dynamics in the last years of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
