The end of
World War I saw
significant turmoil, leading to a refugee crisis. Numerous governments were toppled, and national borders were redrawn, often along generally ethnic lines. Civil war broke out in some countries. Many people left their homes because of war or persecution or fear thereof. The upheaval resulted in many people being without passports, or even nations to issue them, which prevented much international travel, often trapping refugees. The precipitating event for the Nansen passport was the 1921 announcement by the new government of the
Soviet Union revoking the citizenship of Russians living abroad, including some 800,000 refugees from the
Russian Civil War. The first Nansen passports were issued following an international agreement reached at the Intergovernmental Conference on Identity Certificates for Russian Refugees, convened by
Fridtjof Nansen in Geneva from July 3, 1922, to July 5, 1922, in his role as High Commissioner for Refugees for the
League of Nations. By 1942, they were honoured by governments in 52 countries. In 1924, the Nansen arrangement was broadened to also include
Armenian, and in 1928 to
Assyrian,
Bulgarian, and Turkish refugees. Approximately 450,000 Nansen passports were provided to stateless people and refugees who needed travel documents, but could not obtain one from a national authority. Following Nansen's death in 1930, the passport was handled by the
Nansen International Office for Refugees within the League of Nations. At that point the passport no longer included a reference to the 1922 conference, but were issued in the name of the League. The office was closed in 1938; passports were thereafter issued by a new agency, the Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees under the Protection of the League of Nations in London. ==Image gallery==