TABLE OF CONTENTS For
The German Russians
Dedication…………………………………………….……………………………….....….....iii
Acknowledgements…………………………………………………………………..……….iv
Table of Contents…………………………………………………………….………...……...v
List of Illustrations…………………………………………………………………......……...ix
Preface……………………………………………………………………………….......……. xvi
Chapter 1 Christianity Comes to Western Europe……………………..…..…..………. 1
Introduction…………………………………………………………...................................……1
Religion and Human Motivation…………………………………………………………....…2
Western Europe Becomes Christian…………………………………………….........……. 4
The Edict of Malan………………………………………………………………......…............. 7
The Council of Nicaea……………………………………………………………..….……..... 8
The Birth of Constantinople………………………………………………………………....... 9
Christianity becomes the state religion……………………………………….…….…….… 9
Rome Falls………………………………………………………….………………................ 10
The Middle Ages 476 AD to 1453 AD……………………………..……………................... 12
St. Boniface and the Conversion of the Germans………………………………….……...12
The Eastern Roman Empire………………………………………………………............... 14
The Church at the End of the Middle Ages………………………………...…..….............. .16
Chapter 2 The Germanies: 1500 AD to 1815 AD……………………………….……...…. 20
The Church and the Holy Roman Empire………………………………………….…......... 20
The Roots of the Protestant Reformation…………………………………………............... 23
The Peace of Augsburg…………………………………………………………..….……...….26
The Reformed Church…………………………………………………………….....................26
Calvinism……………………………………………………………………………...................27
Other Protestant groups……………………………………………………………................. 28
The Thirty Years War………………………………………………………………..……..........28
The Growth of Pietism…………………………………………………………...…..................31
The Seven Years War…………………………………………………………...…..…….........32
Russia Becomes the Promised Land……………………………………………......……..32
The Effects of the French Revolution……………………………...……………………...…..34
The Congress of Vienna…………………………………………………………….……..…..40
Chapter 3 Russia the Promised Land…………………………………….………................43
Germans in Russia………………………………………………………….……………...…..43
Ivan the Terrible…………………………………………………………………......…….......…43
Peter the Great…………………………………………………………………….......................44
Catherine the Great………………………………………………………………….…….....…44
Catherine Opens the Volga to Settlement…………………...……………………..…….…..46
Migration Routes to the Volga………………………………………………….….…….....…. 54
The Volga Settlements……………………………………………………..…………….....…..57
Kirghiz Raids…………………………………………………….………………..………...........60
The Pugachev Rebellion………………………………………….……………….................... 60
The Acquisition of Black Sea Land……………………………………………….…….…...... 63
Mennonites Settle Land North of the Sea of Azov……………………………….…….…..... 66
Migration to the Black Sea…………………………………………………………..……..... ....69
Black Sea Settlements…………………………………………….…...…………………..........69
Migration to the Caucasus………………………………………….…………………….......... 71
Sources of Immigration…………………………………………………………….……......…..73
Chapter 4 Unsere Leute: Our People…………………………………….……...……........... 76
The Villages of Unsere Leute……………………………………….…………..….……....…...76
Balzer………………………………………………………………….…………..….....................76
Norka……………………………………………………………………………..…..…................ 79
Settlement in the Odessa Region of the Black Sea………………….…………..…...……...84
The Beresan Colonies: Worms………………………………………………………..….....…87
The Beresan Colonies: Rohrbach………………………………..…………………..…....... 102
Pietism and the Brotherhood………………………………………………………..……...... 107
Economic Activity and Rohrbach………………………………………………….……...........111
Local Government……………………………………………………………….….……...........113
Chapter 5 Life in the German Russian Colonies……………………….……..…..….....…115
The Dorf…………………………………………………………………………….….................115
Horses and Transportation……………………………………...……………….…..…....…. 119
Domestic Duties…………………………………………………………………….….............123
Commercial Agriculture…………………………………………………………….…….........125
Improvements in Ag Technology………………………………………………....……...........127
Agricultural Practices in Russia…………………………………………………….…...........128
Fall and Winter Activities……………………………………………………….…...….…........132
Land Acquisition and Economic Growth……………………………………….…................136
German Estates and Chutors………………………………………………………...............137
Chapter 6 Religious and Political Life in Russia…………………………….…….............149
The Religious Life of the Colonies……………………………………………….......…....... 149
German Colonial Government……………………………………………………......……....157
Government Reforms and the Revocation of the Manifestos………………………........ 160
Nicolas I, Tzar of Russia…………………………………..…………………….….…............161
The Crimean War (1852 -- 56)……………………………………………….………............ 163
Treaty of Paris……………………………………………………………….………................ 165
Alexander II (1855 -- 81)………………………………………………….………................... 165
Emancipation of the Serfs……………………………………………………...….….…...… 166
The Effects of Reforms on the Colonists………………………………………..…..….…...168
Chapter 7 A Railroad and a Town…………………………………………….….….…....... 171
America the Promised Land……………………………………………….…...…..….......….171
The B&MN………………………………………………………………………......…….......... 174
Construction of the Burlington in Nebraska……………………………...…….….…..........177
Colonization Activities of the Burlington…………………………………………..…....….....179
Sutton is Born………………………………………………………….……………................. 188
The Railroad War……………………………………………………………..……......…….... 198
Chapter 8 The Nebraska Prairies…………………………………..……….……....…….. 204
Preparations for Emigration from Russia……………………………………….…..…….. 204
The Exodus Begins………………………………………………………….………......…… 207
Settlement in Dakota Territory…………………………………………………….…....…….210
The Black Sea Germans Arrive in Sutton………………………………….……..….…….. 213
The Coming of the Volga Deutsche……………………………………………......…..........224
Volga Germans settled in Hastings and Lincoln…………………...…….……................ 229
The Arrival of the Mennonites…………………………………………..…………................ 231
Chapter 9 Life in Sutton……………………………………….………………...….............. 233
The Growth of Agriculture………………………………………………………….....……….233
Blizzards and Grasshoppers………………………………………………………….......... 234
Ag Production and Commodity Prices……………………………………..…….……....... 238
Life in Sutton……………………………………………………………….…….............……..243
The County Seat Fight………………………………………………………….……......….... 250
Sutton in the 20th century…………………………………………………………...…..……. 251
Chapter 10 Sutton's Educational and Religious Life…………………………..…..…… 257
Education in Sutton…………………………………………………………………................ 257
Education of the Colonists………………………………………………………...………….259
Sutton's Social and Cultural Life…………………………………………………...………...261
Social Life of the Colonists ………………………………………………………...…...…... 263
Anti-German Sentiment ……………………………………………………….…....………...264
The German Language Controversy and World War I………………………...……........ 265
The Religious Life of the Colonists…………………………………………………............269
Some Personal Thoughts…………………………………………………………….…...…276
Chapter 11 Autocracy, World War I, Revolution and the Soviet Union….………….. 278
Introduction…………………………………………………………………........…….....…... 278
The Unification of Germany…………………………………………………………...……. 279
Imperialism and the European Arms Race……………………………………................ 281
Events in Russia after 1871……………………………………………………...…........... 283
Alexander's III……………………………………………………………………………........ 284
Nicholas II………………………………………………………………………....…….....… 286
Russo-Japanese War………………………………………………………………...…….. 286
The Revolution of 1905………………………………………………………..………...….. 287
The Manifesto of October 17, 1905………………………………………...…..…............. 288
The Outbreak of World War I………………………………………………...……............... 289
Prelude to Revolution……………………………………………………………..........…... 291
The Cost of World War I……………………………………………………………....…….. 293
The Russian Revolution……………………………………………………………............. 294
The Russian Civil War 1917 -- 21…………………………………………...……..….…... 295
The Red Terror…………………………………………………………………………...….. 296
Lenin's New Economic Policy (NEP)………………..…………………………......……... 300
The Stalinist Era………………………………………………………………………...…... 301
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Chapter 12 World War II and Its Aftermath…………………..…………………....…… 307
World War II………………………………………………………...…………...…….......….. 307
The Story of Johannes Klein…………………………………………………………..…… 311
The Flight to the West…………………………………………………………………...…...313
Slave Labor Camps 1945 -- 1955…………………………………………......……...…... 316
The Collapse of the Soviet Union…………………………………………………….…… 322
An Uncertain Future……………………………………………...………………….....……. 325
Bibliography…………………………………………..…………………………….……....... 328
Appendix An Alphabetical List of Volga Colonies and Their Founding Date…......... 334
Appendix B A List of Mother Colonies in the Odessa District……………………....... 337
Appendix C Johann Heinrich Griess family tree……………………………….………. 338