Volga German pioneer family commemorative statue in Victoria, Kansas, USA. Victoria is a city in Ellis County, Kansas, United States. The population was 1208 at the 2000 census.

The Volga Germans (German: Wolgadeutsche or Russlanddeutsche) were ethnic Germans living along the Volga River in the region of southern European Russia around Saratov and to the south. The German language (de ''Deutsch'') is a West Germanic language and one of the world's major languages. This article is about the German diaspora See Germans for the German ethnicity in general Russia (Россия Rossiya) or the Russian Federation ( Rossiyskaya Federatsiya) is a transcontinental Country extending History The Legend of Saratov Gelonus, a legendary Scythian city and the northernmost Greek colony may be conjectured to have been situated in the locality They maintained German culture, language, traditions and churches: Lutherans, Reformed, Roman Catholics, and Mennonites. The German language (de ''Deutsch'') is a West Germanic language and one of the world's major languages. EKD redirects here For the Basque political party see Democracia Cristiana Vasca. The Reformed churches are a group of Christian Protestant Denominations formally characterized by a similar Calvinist system of doctrine historically The Russian Mennonites are a group of Mennonites descended from Dutch and mainly Germanic Prussian Anabaptists who established colonies in South Many Volga Germans immigrated to the Midwestern United States, Canada, Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and other countries in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Country to "Dominion of Canada" or "Canadian Federation" or anything else please read the Talk Page |utc_offset = -2 to -4 |time_zone_DST = BRST |utc_offset_DST = -2 to -5 |cctld For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Argentina topics. Paraguay, officially the Republic of Paraguay ( Spanish: República del Paraguay; Guaraní: Tetã Paraguái) is one of the only In the late 20th century, many of the remaining ethnic Germans moved to Germany. Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe.

Catherine the Great

Catherine II

In 1762 Sophie Fredericke Auguste von Anhalt-Zerbst, a German native of Stettin, displaced her husband Peter III and took the vacant Russian imperial throne, assuming the name of Catherine II . Anhalt-Zerbst was a district in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is bounded by (from the north and clockwise the districts Potsdam-Mittelmark ( Brandenburg Peter III ( February 21, 1728 – July 17, 1762) (Пётр III Фëдорович Pyotr III Fyodorovitch) was Emperor The Russian Empire ( Pre-reform Russian: Pоссійская Имперія Modern Russian: Российская Империя translit: Rossiyskaya Catherine II, called Catherine the Great (Екатерина II Великая Yekaterina II Velikaya;) reigned as Empress of Russia for 34 years "Catherine the Great" published manifestos in 1762 and 1763 inviting Europeans, except Jews, ^[1] to immigrate and farm Russian lands while maintaining their language and culture. Although the first received little response, the second improved the benefits that were offered and was more successful. In addition to land development, an important consideration for Catherine was the provision of a buffer zone between her Russian subjects and the nomads to the east. Germans responded in particularly large numbers due to poor conditions in their home regions. People in other countries such as France and England were more inclined to migrate to the colonies in the Americas than to the Russian frontier. This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland Other countries, such as Austria, forbade emigration. Habsburg Monarchy (alternatively Habsburg Empire) refers to the territories ruled by the Austrian branch of the House of Habsburg, and then by the successor Those who went to Russia had special rights under the terms of the manifesto. These were later revoked when the need for conscription into the Russian army arose in the latter part of the 19th century. Conscription (also known as the draft, the call-up or national service) is a general term for involuntary labor demanded by some established authority This was especially offensive to the German Mennonite communities, whose doctrine teaches against war and aggression. The Russian Mennonites are a group of Mennonites descended from Dutch and mainly Germanic Prussian Anabaptists who established colonies in South Some Germans emigrated to the Americas or Germany to avoid the draft, though many did remain in Russia.

The 20th century

Following the Russian Revolution, the Volga German Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (Autonome Sozialistische Sowjet-Republik der Wolga-Deutschen in German; АССР Немцев Поволжья in Russian) was established in 1924, and it lasted until 1942. See also Russian Revolution (1905 The Russian Revolution of 1916 refers to a series of popular revolutions in Russia, and the events surrounding them The Volga German Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic ( German: Autonome Sozialistische Sowjetrepublik der Wolgadeutschen, abbreviated A Its capital was Engels, known as "Pokrovsk" (Kosakenstadt in German) before 1931. Engels (Э́нгельс is a city in Saratov Oblast, Russia.

When Hitler invaded the Soviet Union, Stalin worried that the Volga Germans might collaborate with them. Hi and welcome to Wikipedia! Please understand that this article is frequently vandalized and vandalism is reverted immediately The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR was a constitutionally Socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991 Joseph Stalin ( ნამდვილი გვარი ჯუღაშვილი|Iosif Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili; March 5 1953 was General Secretary of the Communist Party On August 28, 1941, he dissolved the Volga-German ASSR and ordered the immediate relocation of ethnic Germans, both from the Volga and from a number of other traditional areas of settlement. Events 475 - The Roman General Orestes forces western Roman Emperor Julius Nepos to flee his Capital Year 1941 ( MCMXLI) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (the link will display 1941 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Population transfer in the Soviet Union may be classified into the following broad categories deportations of " Anti-Soviet " categories of population often classified These were stripped of their land and houses, and moved eastwards to Kazakhstan in Soviet Central Asia, Altai Krai in Siberia, and other remote areas. Kazakhstan, also Kazakstan ( Қазақстан, Qazaqstan, qɑzɑqˈstɑn Казахстан, Kazakhstán,) officially the Soviet Central Asia refers to the section of Central Asia formerly controlled by the Soviet Union, as well as the time period of Soviet control (1918-1991 Altai Krai (Алта́йский край Altaysky kray) is a federal subject of Russia (a Krai) in the Siberian Federal District Siberia (Сиби́рь Sibir) is the name given to the vast region constituting almost all of Northern Asia and for the most part currently serving Similar deportations happened for other ethnic groups, including Poles, North Caucasian Muslim ethnic groups, Kalmyks, Balts and Crimean Tatars. A Muslim (مسلم pronounced Muslim, not Muzlim) is an adherent of the Religion Kalmyk redirects here for the breed of cattle see Kalmyk (cattle. The Balts or Baltic peoples (People who live by the Baltic Sea) defined as speakers of one of the Baltic languages, a branch of the Indo-European Crimean Tatars (sg Qırımtatar, pl Qırımtatarlar) or Crimeans (sg In 1942 nearly all the able-bodied German population was conscripted to the labor army. Year 1942 ( MCMXLII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (the link will display the full 1942 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The notion of the Labor army (трудовая армия трудармия was introduced in Bolshevist Russia in 1920 About one third did not survive the labor camps.

Present-day

The Volga Germans never returned to the Volga region in their prior numbers. They were not allowed to do so for decades. After the war, many remained in the Ural Mountains, Siberia, Kazakhstan (2% of today's Kazakh population are recognized as Germans - approximately 300,000), Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan (approximately 16,000 = 0. Riphean redirects here For the time period see Riphean stage The Ural Mountains (Ура́льские го́ры Uralskiye Siberia (Сиби́рь Sibir) is the name given to the vast region constituting almost all of Northern Asia and for the most part currently serving Kazakhstan, also Kazakstan ( Қазақстан, Qazaqstan, qɑzɑqˈstɑn Казахстан, Kazakhstán,) officially the Kyrgyzstan (ˈkɻ̩gɪztɑn (AmE or /'kɝgəztan/ (BrE Kyrgyz: Кыргызстан; Russian: Киргизия or Киргизстан or Кыргызстан Uzbekistan, officially the Republic of Uzbekistan ( Uzbek: O‘zbekiston Respublikasi or Ўзбекистон Республикаси is a doubly 064%). Decades after the war, some talked about resettling where the German Autonomous Republic used to be, but this movement met with opposition from the population resettled to their territory and did not gain momentum.

Since the late 1980s, many Volga Germans have immigrated to their ancestral homeland of Germany, taking advantage of the German law of return, a policy which grants citizenship to all those who can prove to be a refugee or expellee of German ethnic origin or as the spouse or descendant of such a person (e. Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. The term right of return refers to the principle in International law that members of an Ethnic or National group have a right to Immigration g. Greece had a similar law for the Greek minority from the former Soviet Union). Greece (Ελλάδα transliterated: Elláda, historically, Ellás,) officially the Hellenic Republic (Ελληνική Δημοκρατία This exodus occurred despite the fact that some Volga Germans speak little or no German, since for decades the language could not be spoken in public. In the late 1990s, however, Germany made it more difficult for Russians of German descent to settle in Germany, especially for those who do not speak some of the Volga dialects of German. Today, there are approximately 600,000 Germans in Russia (Russian Census (2002)), a number that increases to 1. Russia (Россия Rossiya) or the Russian Federation ( Rossiyskaya Federatsiya) is a transcontinental Country extending Russian Census of 2002 (Всеросси́йская пе́репись населе́ния 2002 го́да was the first Census of the Russian Federation carried 5 million when including people partly of German ancestry.

North America

Volga Germans emigrated to the United States and Canada and settled mainly in the Great Plains; Alberta, eastern Colorado, Kansas, Manitoba, eastern Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Saskatchewan, and South Dakota. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Country to "Dominion of Canada" or "Canadian Federation" or anything else please read the Talk Page The Great Plains are the broad expanse of Prairie and Steppe which lie east of the Rocky Mountains in the United States and Canada Alberta (ælˈbɝtə is one of Canada's prairie provinces. It became a province on September 1 1905 The State of Colorado ( or chiefly by nonresidents) is a state located in the Rocky Mountain region of the United States of America. Kansas ( is a Midwestern state in the central region of the United States of America, an area often referred to as the American " Manitoba (English ˌmænɨˈtoʊbə French /manitoba/ is a province of Canada, spanning 647797 square kilometres (250116  sq mi of North America Montana ( is a state in the Western United States. One-third of the state in the western part contains numerous mountain ranges (approximately 77 named of the northern Nebraska ( is a state located on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States and North Dakota ( is a state located in the Midwestern and Western regions of the United States of America. Saskatchewan (səˈskætʃəwən) is a prairie province in Canada, which has an area of 588276 South Dakota ( is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States of America. Outside of the Great Plains, they also settled in Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, New York State, Oregon, Washington, Wisconsin, and Fresno County in California's Central Valley, often succeeding in dryland farming, a skill learned in Russia. The State of Iowa ( is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States of America. Michigan ( is a Midwestern state of the United States of America. Minnesota ( Native Americans demonstrated the name to early settlers New York ( is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States and is the nation's third most populous Oregon ( is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. Washington ( is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. Wisconsin ( or wɪˈskɑnsɨn (French Ouisconsin) is one of the fifty United States of America, located in the north central part of the United States Fresno County is a County located in the Central Valley of the U California ( is a US state on the West Coast of the United States, along the Pacific Ocean. Dryland farming is an Agricultural technique for cultivating land which receives little Rainfall. Many of the immigrants who arrived between 1870 and 1912 spent a period doing farm labor, especially in northeastern Colorado and in Montana along the lower Yellowstone River in sugar beet fields. The Yellowstone River is a Tributary of the Missouri River, approximately 671 miles (1080 km long in the western United States. Sugar beet ( Beta vulgaris L a member of the Chenopodiaceae family is a plant whose root contains a high concentration of Sucrose. During the 1970s, Dr. Kenneth Rock, a professor of history at Colorado State University, collected sixty oral histories of Germans from Russia immigrants and their descendants as part of the Germans from Russia in Colorado Study Project, documenting life in the German communities in Russia, the immigration experience, work and social life in the United States, and interaction between the Russian-German communities and the wider society in both Russia and the United States. Colorado State University is a public institution of higher learning located in Fort Collins, Colorado in the United States. ^[2]

Bernhard Warkentin, a German Russian, was born in a small Russian village in 1847, and traveled to America in his early twenties. Interested in flour mills, he was especially impressed with the wheat growing possibilities in the United States. After visiting Kansas, Warkentin found the plains much like those he had left behind in his native Russia. Settling in Harvey County, he built a water mill on the banks of the Little Arkansas River – the Halstead Milling and Elevator Company. Harvey County (county code HV) is a county located in South Central Kansas, in the Central United States. The Little Arkansas River (pronounced ahr-KAN-zez is a 90 mi (145 km long river located in South Central Kansas. Warkentin's greatest contribution to Kansas was the introduction of hard Turkey wheat into Kansas, which replaced the soft variety grown exclusively in the state.

Approximately one million descendants of these Russian Germans live in the United States. ^[3] Modern descendants in Canada and the United States refer to their heritage as Germans from Russia, Russian Germans, Volgadeutsch or Black Germans. In many parts of the United States, however, they tend to have blended to a large degree with the much more numerous "regular" German Americans who are numerous in the northern half of the United States. German Americans ( German: Deutschamerikaner) are citizens of the United States of Ethnic German ancestry

South America

Germans from Russia also settled in Argentina (see Crespo and Coronel Suárez among others), Paraguay, and Brazil (see German-Brazilians). For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Argentina topics. Crespo is a city in the Argentine province of Entre Ríos, some 40 km from the provincial capital Paraná. Coronel Suárez is a town in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. Paraguay, officially the Republic of Paraguay ( Spanish: República del Paraguay; Guaraní: Tetã Paraguái) is one of the only |utc_offset = -2 to -4 |time_zone_DST = BRST |utc_offset_DST = -2 to -5 |cctld A German Brazilian ( German: Deutschbrasilianer, Portuguese: teuto-brasileiro or germano-brasileiro) is a Brazilian

• Brazil 1,187,000–1,500,000
• Argentina 1,200,000^[4]
• Paraguay 45,000

See also

• History of Germans in Russia and the Soviet Union
• Volhynia
• Gulag
• Germans of Kazakhstan
• Expulsion of Germans after World War II
• Volga German Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic

References

External links

• The Center for Volga German Studies at Concordia University
• Germans from Russia Heritage Society
• Flag
• Volga Germans
• American Historical Society of Germans from Russia
• Germans from Russia Heritage Collection North Dakota State University
• Germans from Russia in Argentina Genealogy (Spanish)
• Wolgadeutschen (Russian)
• The Golden Jubilee of German-Russian Settlements of Ellis and Rush Counties, Kansas
• Germans from Russia in Argentina
• German Memories - Volga Germans Migration Towards Americas