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*During World Wars I and II, the eastern front was fought over in this area. During the last year and after World War II, many ethnic Germans fled or were forcibly expelled by the Russians and the Poles from Eastern Europe. The Russians and Poles blamed them for being allies of the Nazis and the reason that Nazi Germany had invaded the East. The Germans were also held to have abused the native populations in internal warfare, allied with the Germans during their occupation. Under the Potsdam Agreement, major population transfers were agreed to by the allies. The deportees generally lost all their property and were often attacked during their deportations. Those who survived joined millions of other displaced peoples on the road after the war. | *During World Wars I and II, the eastern front was fought over in this area. During the last year and after World War II, many ethnic Germans fled or were forcibly expelled by the Russians and the Poles from Eastern Europe. The Russians and Poles blamed them for being allies of the Nazis and the reason that Nazi Germany had invaded the East. The Germans were also held to have abused the native populations in internal warfare, allied with the Germans during their occupation. Under the Potsdam Agreement, major population transfers were agreed to by the allies. The deportees generally lost all their property and were often attacked during their deportations. Those who survived joined millions of other displaced peoples on the road after the war. | ||
====Volga Germans (Russia)==== | ====Volga Germans (Russia)==== | ||
Czarina Catherine II was German, born in Stettin in Pomerania (now Szczecin in Poland). After gaining her power, she proclaimed open immigration for foreigners wishing to live in the Russian Empire in 1763, marking the beginning of a '''wave of German migration to the Empire'''. She wanted German farmers to redevelop farmland that had been fallow after conflict with the Ottomans. '''German colonies were founded in the lower Volga River area''' almost immediately afterward. | *Czarina Catherine II was German, born in Stettin in Pomerania (now Szczecin in Poland). After gaining her power, she proclaimed open immigration for foreigners wishing to live in the Russian Empire in 1763, marking the beginning of a '''wave of German migration to the Empire'''. She wanted German farmers to redevelop farmland that had been fallow after conflict with the Ottomans. '''German colonies were founded in the lower Volga River area''' almost immediately afterward. | ||
*German immigration was motivated in part by '''religious intolerance''' and '''warfare in central Europe''', as well as by frequently '''difficult economic conditions'''. Catherine II's declaration freed German immigrants from requirements for military service and from most taxes. Moving to Russia gave German immigrants political rights that they would not have possessed in their own lands. Religious minorities found these terms very agreeable, particularly '''Mennonites from the Vistula River valley'''. Nearly all of the Prussian Mennonites emigrated to Russia over the following century, leaving no more than a handful in Prussia. | *German immigration was motivated in part by '''religious intolerance''' and '''warfare in central Europe''', as well as by frequently '''difficult economic conditions'''. Catherine II's declaration freed German immigrants from requirements for military service and from most taxes. Moving to Russia gave German immigrants political rights that they would not have possessed in their own lands. Religious minorities found these terms very agreeable, particularly '''Mennonites from the Vistula River valley'''. Nearly all of the Prussian Mennonites emigrated to Russia over the following century, leaving no more than a handful in Prussia. | ||
*German colonization was most intense in the Lower Volga, but other areas also received immigrants. Many settled in the area around the Black Sea, and the Mennonites favoured the lower Dnieper river area, around Ekaterinoslav (now Dnipro) and Aleksandrovsk (now Zaporizhia). | *German colonization was most intense in the Lower Volga, but other areas also received immigrants. Many settled in the area around the Black Sea, and the Mennonites favoured the lower Dnieper river area, around Ekaterinoslav (now Dnipro) and Aleksandrovsk (now Zaporizhia). | ||
*In 1803, Tsar Alexander I, reissued Catherine's proclamation. In the '''chaos of the Napoleonic wars''', Germans responded in great number, fleeing their wartorn land. | *In 1803, Tsar Alexander I, reissued Catherine's proclamation. In the '''chaos of the Napoleonic wars''', Germans responded in great number, fleeing their wartorn land. | ||
*The abolition of serfdom in the Russian Empire in 1863 created a shortage of labour in agriculture. The need for workers attracted new German immigration, particularly from the increasingly crowded central European states. There was no longer enough fertile land there for full employment in agriculture. | *The abolition of serfdom in the Russian Empire in 1863 created a shortage of labour in agriculture. The need for workers attracted new German immigration, particularly from the increasingly crowded central European states. There was no longer enough fertile land there for full employment in agriculture. | ||
====Black Sea Germans (Moldova and Ukraine)==== | ====Black Sea Germans (Moldova and Ukraine)==== | ||
*The Black Sea Germans - including the Bessarabian Germans and the Dobrujan Germans - settled the '''territories of the northern bank of the Black Sea in present-day Ukraine''' in the late 18th and the 19th century. | *The Black Sea Germans - including the Bessarabian Germans and the Dobrujan Germans - settled the '''territories of the northern bank of the Black Sea in present-day Ukraine''' in the late 18th and the 19th century. | ||