In the 18th century, a new ethnic group of Volga Germans appeared in Russia. These were colonists who traveled east in search of a better life. In the Volga region, they created a whole province with a separate way of life. The descendants of these settlers were deported to Central Asia during the Great Patriotic War. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, some remained in Kazakhstan, others returned to the Volga region, and others went to their historical homeland.
Manifestos of Catherine II
In 1762-1763 Empress Catherine II signed two manifestos, thanks to which the Volga Germans later appeared in Russia. These documents allowed foreigners to enter the empire, receiving benefits and privileges. The largest wave of colonists came from Germany. Visitors were temporarily exempted from tax duties. A special register was created, which included lands that received the status of free for settlement. If the Volga Germans settled on them, then they could not pay taxes for 30 years.
In addition, the colonists received a ten-year interest-free loan. The money could be used to build their own new houses,the purchase of livestock, food necessary before the first harvest, implements for work in agriculture, etc. The colonies differed markedly from neighboring ordinary Russian settlements. They established internal self-government. Government officials could not interfere with the lives of the colonists who arrived.
Recruitment of colonists in Germany
Preparing for the influx of foreigners into Russia, Catherine II (herself German by nationality) created the Guardianship Office. It was headed by the favorite of the Empress Grigory Orlov. The office acted on a par with the rest of the boards.
Manifestos have been published in many European languages. The most intense propaganda campaign unfolded in Germany (because of which the Volga Germans appeared). Most of the colonists were found in Frankfurt am Main and Ulm. Those wishing to move to Russia went to Lübeck, and from there, first to St. Petersburg. Recruitment was carried out not only by government officials, but also by private entrepreneurs who became known as defiant. These people entered into a contract with the Guardianship Office and acted on its behalf. Summoners founded new settlements, recruited colonists, managed their communities and kept a share of their income.
New life
In the 1760s. by joint efforts, the defiant and the state agitated to move 30 thousand people. First, the Germans settled in St. Petersburg and Oranienbaum. There they swore allegiance to the Russian crown and became subjects of the Empress. All these colonists moved to the Volga region, where theSaratov province. In the first few years, 105 settlements appeared. It is noteworthy that all of them bore Russian names. Despite this, the Germans retained their identity.
The authorities took up the experiment with the colonies in order to develop Russian agriculture. The government wanted to test how Western agricultural standards would take root. The Volga Germans brought with them to their new homeland a scythe, a wooden threshing machine, a plow and other tools that were unknown to Russian peasants. Foreigners began to grow potatoes, hitherto unknown to the Volga region. They also cultivated hemp, flax, tobacco and other crops. The first Russian population was wary or vague about strangers. Today, researchers continue to study what legends were about the Volga Germans and what was their relationship with their neighbors.
Prosperity
Time has shown that the experiment of Catherine II was extremely successful. The most advanced and successful farms in the Russian countryside were the settlements in which the Volga Germans lived. The history of their colonies is an example of stable prosperity. The growth of prosperity due to efficient farming allowed the Volga Germans to acquire their own industry. At the beginning of the 19th century, water mills appeared in the settlements, which became a tool for flour production. The oil industry, the manufacture of agricultural implements and wool also developed. Under Alexander II, there were already more than a hundred tanneries in the Saratov province,founded by the Volga Germans.
Their success story is impressive. The appearance of the colonists gave impetus to the development of industrial weaving. Sarepta, which existed within the modern borders of Volgograd, became its center. Enterprises for the production of scarves and fabrics used high-quality European yarn from Saxony and Silesia, as well as silk from Italy.
Religion
Confessional affiliation and traditions of the Volga Germans were not uniform. They came from different regions at a time when there was still no united Germany and each province had its own separate orders. This also applied to religion. The lists of Volga Germans compiled by the Guardianship Office show that among them were Lutherans, Catholics, Mennonites, Baptists, as well as representatives of other confessional movements and groups.
According to the manifesto, the colonists could build their own churches only in settlements where the non-Russian population was the vast majority. The Germans, who lived in big cities, at first were deprived of such a right. It was also forbidden to propagate Lutheran and Catholic teachings. In other words, in religious policy, the Russian authorities gave the colonists exactly as much freedom as they could not harm the interests of the Orthodox Church. It is curious that at the same time, the settlers could baptize Muslims according to their rite, and also make serfs out of them.
Many traditions and legends of the Volga Germans were connected with religion. They celebrated holidays according to the Lutheran calendar. In addition, the colonists had preserved nationalcustoms. These include the Harvest Festival, which is still celebrated in Germany itself.
Under Soviet rule
The 1917 revolution changed the lives of all citizens of the former Russian Empire. The Volga Germans were no exception. Photos of their colonies at the end of the tsarist era show that the descendants of immigrants from Europe lived in an environment isolated from their neighbors. They retained their language, customs and identity. For many years the national question remained unresolved. But with the coming to power of the Bolsheviks, the Germans got a chance to create their own autonomy within Soviet Russia.
The desire of the descendants of the colonists to live in their own subject of the federation was met in Moscow with understanding. In 1918, according to the decision of the Council of People's Commissars, an autonomous region of the Volga Germans was created, in 1924 it was renamed the Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. Pokrovsk, renamed Engels, became its capital.
Collectivization
The work and customs of the Volga Germans allowed them to create one of the most prosperous Russian provincial corners. Revolutions and the horrors of the war years were a blow to their well-being. In the 20s, there was some recovery, which took on the largest scale during the NEP.
However, in 1930, a dispossession campaign began throughout the Soviet Union. Collectivization and the destruction of private property led to the saddest consequences. The most efficient and productive farms were destroyed. farmers,owners of small businesses and many other residents of the autonomous republic were subjected to repression. At that time, the Germans were under attack along with all the other peasants of the Soviet Union, who were driven to collective farms and deprived of their usual life.
Famine of the early 30s
Due to the destruction of the usual economic ties in the Republic of the Volga Germans, as in many other regions of the USSR, famine began. The population tried in various ways to save their situation. Some residents went to demonstrations, where they asked the Soviet authorities to help with food supplies. Other peasants, finally disillusioned with the Bolsheviks, staged attacks on the warehouses where the grain selected by the state was stored. Another type of protest was ignoring work on collective farms.
Against the backdrop of such sentiments, the special services began to look for "saboteurs" and "rebels" against whom the most severe repressive measures were used. In the summer of 1932, famine had already gripped the cities. Desperate peasants resorted to plundering fields with still unripe crops. The situation stabilized only in 1934, when thousands of people died of starvation in the republic.
Deportation
Although the descendants of the colonists experienced many troubles in the early Soviet years, they were universal. In this sense, the Volga Germans then hardly differed in their share from the ordinary Russian citizen of the USSR. However, the onset of the Great Patriotic War finally separated the inhabitants of the republic from the rest of the citizens of the Soviet Union.
In August 1941, it was decideddecision, according to which the deportation of the Volga Germans began. They were exiled to Central Asia, fearing cooperation with the advancing Wehrmacht. The Volga Germans were not the only people who survived the forced resettlement. The same fate awaited the Chechens, Kalmyks, Crimean Tatars.
Liquidation of the Republic
Together with the deportation, the Autonomous Republic of the Volga Germans was abolished. Units of the NKVD were brought into the territory of the ASSR. Residents were ordered to collect the few permitted things within 24 hours and prepare for relocation. In total, about 440 thousand people were expelled.
At the same time, persons liable for military service of German nationality were removed from the front and sent to the rear. Men and women ended up in the so-called labor armies. They built industrial plants, worked in mines and logging.
Life in Central Asia and Siberia
Most of the deportees were settled in Kazakhstan. After the war, they were not allowed to return to the Volga region and restore their republic. About 1% of the population of today's Kazakhstan considers themselves Germans.
Until 1956, the deportees were in special settlements. Every month they had to visit the commandant's office and put a note in a special journal. Also, a significant part of the settlers settled in Siberia, ending up in the Omsk region, the Altai Territory and the Urals.
Modernity
After the fall of communist power, the Volga Germans finally gained freedom of movement. By the end of the 80s. about life inThe Autonomous Republic was remembered only by the old-timers. Therefore, very few returned to the Volga region (mainly to Engels in the Saratov region). Many deportees and their descendants remained in Kazakhstan.
Most of the Germans went to their historical homeland. After unification, Germany adopted a new version of the law on the return of their compatriots, an early version of which appeared after the Second World War. The document stipulated the conditions necessary for the immediate acquisition of citizenship. The Volga Germans also met these requirements. The surnames and language of some of them remained the same, which made it easier to integrate into a new life.
According to the law, all interested descendants of the Volga colonists received citizenship. Some of them had long assimilated into Soviet reality, but still wanted to go west. After the German authorities complicated the practice of obtaining citizenship in the 1990s, many Russian Germans settled in the Kaliningrad region. This region was formerly East Prussia and was part of Germany. Today, there are about 500 thousand people of German nationality in the Russian Federation, another 178 thousand descendants of the Volga colonists live in Kazakhstan.
