FOOTNOTES:
What is the German’s Fatherland?
O name at length this mighty land!
As wide as sounds the German tongue,
And Germans hymns to heaven are sung,
That is the land;
That, German, is thy Fatherland.
[Translation from J. F. Chamberlain’s Literary Selections as an Aid in Teaching Geography, Journ. of Geogr., Sept. 1916, p. 12.]
[265] J. L. Myres: The Alpine Races in Europe, Geogr. Journ., Vol. 28, 1906, No. 6, pp. 537-553.
[266] F. von Luschan: The Early Inhabitants of Western Asia, Ann. Rept. Smithsonian Inst. for 1914, p. 577.
[267] D. G. Hogarth: The Nearer East, New York, 1902, pp. 198-199.
[268] F. Ratzel: Politische Geographie, 2nd ed., Munich, 1903. Cf. Chap. 16, “Der Verkehr als Raumbewältiger,” pp. 447-534.
[269] R. Blanchard: La Flandre, Paris, 1906.
[270] Bull. Com. Trav. Hist. et Scien., Sec. Géogr., Vol. 29, 1914, p. xli.
[271] J. Vidal de la Blache: Étude sur la Vallée Lorraine de la Meuse, Paris, 1908, pp. 165-180.
[272] Cf. inset on pp. 63-64, Andree’s Handatlas, 6th ed., 1915.
[273] J. Brunhes: La Géographie humaine, Paris, 1912, pp. 598-599.
[274] L. W. Lyde: The Continent of Europe, London, 1913, p. 383.
[275] D. W. Freshfield: The Southern Frontiers of Austria, Geogr. Journ., Vol. 46, 1915, pp. 414-436.
[276] R. von Pfaundler: Österreichisch-italienische Grenzfragen, Pet. Mitt., Vol. 61, 1915, pp. 217-223.
[277] B. C. Wallis: Distribution of Nationalities in Hungary, Geogr. Journ., Vol. 52, 1916, No. 3, pp. 177-189.
[278] Loc. cit.
[APPENDIX A]
GERMAN SETTLEMENTS IN RUSSIA
Colonies of Germans in Russia are found mainly in the Baltic provinces and around the banks of the Volga. According to the census of 1897 the German residents of the governments of Livonia, Kurland, Esthonia and St. Petersburg numbered 229,084. The majority of this northern element is distributed along the shores of the Gulf of Riga.
The banks of the Volga were first colonized by Germans in 1763 after a proclamation issued by Empress Catherine II inviting foreigners to settle on either side of the river in the environs of Saratoff and Samara and as far as Tzaritzin. The distress that followed the Seven Years’ War in Germany determined a number of families of the afflicted provinces to seek a better lot on Russian soil. By the year 1768 there had been founded 102 German settlements containing a total population of 27,000 inhabitants.[279] The newcomers had to face considerable hardships. Many of them were neither farmers nor peasants. Their endurance was taxed by the rigor of the climate. Insecurity of life and property prevailed as badly as in their devastated motherland. In 1774 rebel bands led by Jemelian Pontgatcheff wrought havoc and ruin in the new districts. Two years later hordes of Kirghiz nomads laid waste the land again and carried off a number of the emigrants as slaves. This state of affairs lasted until the last decades of the nineteenth century. The Tatar raiders were attracted mainly by the cattle of the colonists. The value of horses, camels and cattle stolen between 1875 and 1882 is estimated at 330,000 rubles.[280]
It is estimated that fully five million rubles were spent by the Russian government to plant these foreign colonies. But no onerous terms were imposed on the settlers. A head tax of three rubles constituted their only pecuniary obligation to the state. Furthermore, a liberal administration was provided for their settlements. Each village was ruled by an assembly recruited from among its inhabitants.
Unfortunately for the development of these communities the Russian system of collective ownership known as the “mir” was instituted. Under this form of tenure all land becomes the property of the village. Each male inhabitant is temporarily entitled to a share of the whole area and an exchange of plots is made every ten years. Each village then receives a new fraction and fresh lots are apportioned to those who have come of age during the decade. This method of ownership does not lead to development and generally retards rather than promotes agricultural progress.
Furthermore the land is none too fertile. Uncertainty therefore is today the common lot of many of the descendants of the old German settlers. Many prefer to engage in trade rather than in agriculture. The natural increase of the population has brought a certain amount of congestion which has resulted in emigration. Effort is made by German missionary societies to induce these Russian Germans to return to the land of their fathers. The Russian government on the other hand provides them with ample facilities and inducements to settle in Siberia. The region around Tomsk contains a number of villages built up by this emigration. Many however prefer to emigrate to the United States where they find a happier lot. Settlements composed entirely of Volga Germans exist in Wisconsin.
The old German settlers had held steadfastly to their religion. Their descendants have also clung to the faith of their fathers, thus creating a totally separate community in the midst of Orthodox Russia. Their earliest schools had been founded as annexes of their churches and education had been a great factor in the maintenance of language and religion. In 1891 the use of Russian was rendered obligatory in all educational institutions of the Empire. Nevertheless this measure cannot be said to have contributed to weaken the German character of the communities. From Germany itself manifestations of interest towards these faraway centers of German custom have always been keen. Neither has support been lacking.
According to recent statistics the Germans inhabiting the banks of the Volga number close to half a million, distributed equally on both banks of the great inland river. The ethnic type of these Germans has been maintained with remarkable purity and their language contains obsolete forms dating from the eighteenth century. The names of the largest communities and the number of their inhabitants are as follows:
| Saratoff | 12,500 |
| Norka | 13,416 |
| Frank | 11,700 |
| Grimm or Lesnoi Karamish | 10,761 |
| Baltzer Katharinenstadt or Baronsk | 10,134 |