Wars and international confrontations are known to strengthen national identity formation within states. Less attention has been paid, however, to how such events shape the identities of those living outside the homeland. This article unpacks how national identities are enacted abroad by comparing first and second-generation Russian migrants in Germany. We seek to understand how both generations articulate different modes of national identities in relation to home and host societies, extending Bonikowski and DiMaggio's seminal work. Novel to the study of migrant identities, we focus on the socialising impact of major geopolitical events in a migratory context - that is, how political ruptures raise or diminish the salience of particular national identification. We distinguish between ardent, disengaged, liberal and restrictive identities in relation to home and host country respectively and distinguish between identification with the state and society.

The research draws on 40 in-depth semi-structured interviews with first- and second-generation Russians aged 18-36. The former were socialised in Russia and arrived in Germany after they turned 18; the latter were socialised in Germany and grew up in a household that they characterised as Russian. Russian migrants in Germany are an ideal illustration of cross-border travel of identities and its impact across migrant generations. The home country of individuals with ties to Russia is in direct confrontation with official political and social values in their host society - including the reading of European history, social norms or international politics. We find that among second-generation migrants, state-focused identity narratives can persist across borders through mediated memory and provide a competing source of socialisation and value orientation. In contrast, the first-generation migrants more often disentangle their value orientations from state ideologies.