Imperial apocalypse : the Great War and the destruction of the Russian Empire Describes the collapse of the Russian Empire during World War One. Drawing material from nine different archives and hundreds of published sources this study ties together state failure military violence and decolonization in a single story. The volume moves chronologically from the Balkan Wars of 1912 13 through the fierce battles and massive human dislocations of 1914 17 to the final collapse of the Russian Empire in the midst of revolution in 1917 18. Imperial Apocalypse is the first major study which treats the demise of the empire as part of the twentieth century phenomenon of modern decolonization and it provides an account of military activity and political change throughout this turbulent period of war and revolution