This chapter focuses on the transformation of the relationship between the Lithuanian national intelligentsia and population as a result of the Great War and the Russian February revolution. For the elite the war became a mobilizing moment that shattered their narrowly based party politics and unleashed a wave of mass activism. The war and revolution created a space for the emergence of new political visions and identities. The chapter discusses population mobilization as a result of two major developments brought about by war: civilians’ experience of occupation in the Ober Ost and population displacement in Russia proper. The first was shaped by the shifting German war aims and their efforts to integrate the Baltic region as a political entity dominated by Germany. The second brought nationally minded refugee relief politics that precipitated mass mobilization during the early post-war years.
Labor Surplus and Mass Mobilization: Russian Agriculture during the Great War