This paper describes for the first time in any detail the implementation of the Anglo-Russian Military Convention of 1917, a measure designed specifically to deal with the problem of Russian Jewish opposition to military service. Special attention is given to the impact of the Military Convention on a non-Jewish section of the Russian immigrant population: The Lithuanian (Catholic) immigrants of Lanarkshire, Scotland. The role of the government and the police is critically examined and, using previously unpublished Home Office records, it is argued that the treatment of the Lithuanians was determined by factors external to the immigrant community. The paper challenges the view that the state in Britain has been the protector and guarantor of minority rights. © 1982, Taylor & Francis Group, LLC. All rights reserved.

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