Volga German Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (Russia)

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Volga German Autonomous Soviet Socialist Repub­lic, also known as German Volga Republic, was established as a settlement in southeastern Euro­pean Russia consisting of 10,885 square miles, had a population of 605,542, and was located mostly on the east bank of the Volga, adjacent to the Saratov and Stalingrad regions. The Germans constituting the Republic, largely Lutherans, had come to Russia ca. 1760, having been invited by Catherine II. They lost their special privileges and autonomy ca. 1870. Many migrated to North and South America at that time. The Revolution of 1917 prevented a transfer of the population to Siberia, which had been or­dered in 1915. In 1918 the region was organized as a German district and in 1924 as an Autonomous Republic. The Republic suffered severely in the famine of 1921-22. The capital of the Republic was Engels, formerly Pokrovsk. The Trakt Mennonite settlement was located in this Republic. On 24 September 1941, after Hitler had invaded Russia, the Republic was dissolved and the German population, which comprised 67 per cent of the total, was exiled to Asiatic Russia.  This included the Mennonites.

Bibliography

Am Trakt. Eine mennonilische Kolonie im mittleren Wolgagebiet. North Kildonan, 1948.

Bonwetsch, Gerhard. Geschichte der deutschen Kolonien an der Wolga. Stuttgart, 1919.

Konig, Lothar. Die Deutschtumsinsel an der Wolga. Dulmen, 1938.

Schkuning, Johannes. Die deutschen Kolonien im Wolga­gebiet.


Author(s) Cornelius Krahn
Date Published 1959

Cite This Article

MLA style

Krahn, Cornelius. "Volga German Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (Russia)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. 1959. Web. 19 Apr 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Volga_German_Autonomous_Soviet_Socialist_Republic_(Russia)&oldid=85843.

APA style

Krahn, Cornelius. (1959). Volga German Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (Russia). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 19 April 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Volga_German_Autonomous_Soviet_Socialist_Republic_(Russia)&oldid=85843.




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Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 4, p. 844. All rights reserved.


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