The Russian German Community in World War I; a Prelude to Life in the Soviet Union
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THE RUSSIAN GERMAN COMMUNITY IN WORLD WAR I; A PRELUDE TO LIFE IN THE SOVIET UNION From the Revocation of the Special Privileges in 1871 to the First World War On June 4, 1871, Czar Alexander II (1855-1881) revoked the privileges that had been granted to the German colonists by the manifestos of Catherine II and Alexander I. The colonists now had the same legal status as Russian peasantry, and were subject to the same laws and obligations. The basic purpose of this action was to integrate the German settlers into the Russian empire. The Revocation of the Special Privileges By the time Alexander II came to the throne, anti-German sentiment in Russia was increasing The nobility resented the extraordinary influence of the German Baltic aristocracy in public affairs. Many Russian peasants and merchants envied the special privileges of the German settlers, their extensive land acquisitions and increasing prosperity. The pan-Slavic movement, which had many adherents in the nobility and intelligentsia, became suspicious of the German colonists’ true allegiance to Russia rather than Germany. They considered them a possible threat to Russia, a consideration which became more acute with the unification of Germany in 1871. Russians did not want the German colonies to become an extension of the new German Empire5. These reasons explain in good part Alexander’s abrogation of the Colonial Code which listed the rights and duties of the German colonists. An additional reason, undoubtedly, was to place the German farmers on an equal legal and social level with the recently freed Russian peasants. The decree of June 4, 1871. repealed the colonists’ right to local self-government, abolished the Kontor and the Fürsorgekomite, and incorporated the German colonies into the zemstvos system.6 Subsequently, in 1876, Germans were no longer designated as “colonists” but as “settlers-landowners”7 The 1871 law also stipulated that all village or town business, as well as all court proceedings, had to be in the Russian language. To be a village or town leader, therefore, one had to be fluent in Russian, a condition that did not exist before 1871. One of the principal privileges revoked in the June 1871 decree was the exemption from military service. The German colonists were exempt in perpetuity from military service by the manifestos of Catherine II and Alexander I. The German colonists’ rejection of this revocation was so strong that they received a ten year grace period during which time they could be permitted to emigrate . Although the German settlers finally acquiesced to compulsory military service, apprehension about their future in the Russian Empire grew and spread. This fear was borne out by the mass mobilization of reservists at the time of the Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905) which caused a considerable, illegal German emigration from Russia.11 Picture #9: Photograph circa 1893 of German Russian officers in Czarist military uniform. They appear to belong to a guards infantry regiment. Source: Germans from Russia Heritage Collection, North Dakota State University Libraries. (Photograph permission of the Germans from Russia Heritage Collection, North Dakota State University Libraries, Fargo, North Dakota; www.ndsu.edu/grhc) “Russification”and the Pan-Slavic Movement The latter part of the 19th century saw the growth of a pan-Slavic movement among the Russian upper classes and in certain imperial court circles. The chauvinistic press and organizations such as the Slavic Society provoked resentment among the non-Russian minorities.13 The motto of the pan-Slavic organizations was “Russia for the Russians,” a parallel development to the increasing nationalism in 19th century Europe and America. Russian nationalism was, undoubtedly, also influenced by increasing unrest among the country’s minority Polish, Finnish, native Baltic and Caucasian populations. Since Peter I, the Russian Czars had relied heavily on the German Baltic nobility to fill important positions in many ministries, high military commands, and at the senior levels in higher education, and scientific and medical institutions.14. At one time, for example, all members of the St. Petersburg Academy of Science were of Baltic German origin.15 German officers also had a disproportionately large role in the Russian Army. In the Napoleonic War of 1812, it is estimated that 7% of all Russian Generals were Baltic German nobles. It is also a fact that at this time and in subsequent years, the number of higher army officers of German origin was close to 40%. 17 Baltic aristocrats owed their success thanks in part to their Lutheran Church, with its stress on duty, hard work, and obedience, as well as to the 18th Century Enlightenment in Northern Europe. They were thus much better educated than their counterparts in the Russian provincial nobility.16 Czar Alexander III reacted strongly to the resentment caused by the privileges and increasing wealth of the German colonists. He is reported to have said that he would “squash the German colonists like a handful of India rubber”. In the nationalistic press of that time in St. Petersburg and Moscow, officials and others wrote that the colonists were a threat to the nation’s security; that they were subsidized by the German Reichsbank in order to transform the region of their settlements into a German possession. 18 They were also accused of promoting pan- Germanism in their schools and churches as well as disloyalty to the Czar and teaching hatred of Russia to their children.19 Although these charges were publicly repudiated by the Russian governor of Saratov province, that failed to silence these comments and intolerance continued to spread.20 Alexander III’s russification policy was intended, first, to eliminate the German Baltic nobility from its dominant position in the army, higher government positions and the diplomatic service and, second to place the German school system under Russian government control. In 1892 all schools, whether they received government financing or not - and the German schools did not - were subordinated to the control of Russian government school inspectors. They had absolute authority over the school system; chose the teachers; and enforced the plan of studies set by the ministry of education in St. Petersburg. They made Russian the teaching language in the village schools as well as in the Zentralschulen, to the detriment of German. Only religion and German (as a second language) were taught in the language of the settlers. Consequently, about two-thirds of a school day’s instruction was taught in Russian. 21 The Czar also changed the language of instruction of the University of Dorpat (Estonia) from German to Russian.The russification of the school system created deep anxiety in the German communities. The Russian government’s takeover of the schools not only created the fear that their German language would be relegated to second place but, as the school system and church were tightly linked, they feared that the Russian Orthodox religion would be forced upon them. As best they could, however, the German colonists resisted assimilation in order to keep their ethnic identity.22 It must be mentioned that, until World War I, the Russian government’s russification policy directed at the German population was not as ruthless or extreme as that directed at the Poles, Jews and Finns. The Germans were intimidated and subject to discrimination, but they were never subjected to violence. Emigration to North America The revocation of the special privileges, particularly the exemption from military service and the russification of their school system, caused many German Russians to seriously consider emigration. They did not think, however, of returning to their ancestral homeland in Germany, but rather of going to the United States and Canada, where agricultural land was plentiful and cheap or even free. From the 1870s to prior to WWI, about 300,000 settlers came to the United Staeas and Canada.. The Revolution of 1905 In October 1905, Czar Nicolas II (1894 – 1917) ceded to popular demands and appeared to introduce a constitutional monarchy. He issued a manifesto granting basic civil liberties, such as freedom from arbitrary arrest and imprisonment without trial; freedom of speech and association; freedom of the press and opinion; and universities free of government interference. He also promised the institution of a free, popular vote to elect a national assembly, the Duma, which would have to approve all legislation. All these rights of a citizen were later incorporated in the new, Fundamental Laws of the Empire, a form of constitution. 34 Nevertheless the Czar could convoke and dismiss the Duma at will and had full power of decision on issues of war and peace. He also controlled more than one-third of the state budget. He could govern by decree when the Duma was not in session and could appoint or dismiss state ministers without Duma approval.35 The effect of the revolution and subsequent reforms on the German communities were very different, as was their response to these new circumstances. For the first time, the various German settlements organized to form regional and even national associations. These societies were created to promote the interests of their constituencies on a higher level than just their villages. Their priorities were cultural autonomy, local self-government and moderate agrarian reform. In Moscow, The German communities considered that the Czar’s 1905 manifesto guaranteed them their fundamental rights and therefore remained loyal to the Russian Crown.37 With these imperial reforms, anti-German measures were relaxed. The German Baltic barons were again welcome at the court and government and played an important role again in the higher ranks of the army, administration and foreign diplomatic service. They welcomed the provisions concerning religious and cultural freedoms, and were particularly interested in the reversal of the educational russification measures in their school system.