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History > Privileges Lost

Privileges Lost - 1871 and 1874

​“Until 1871, an upward movement in all areas of life among German-Russians was to be noted. There was a growth of prosperity which found its expression in the acquisition of land; the cultural condition also improved (well developed school system, cultural associations). But it was precisely this progress that became a thorn in the eye of pan Slavic circles. A movement arose which opposed the further expansion of the Germans in Russia. The German minority was regarded as a foreign factor of a cultural and economic kind within the national body politic, and this, it was felt, had to be opposed. On June 4, 1871, these circles succeeded in bringing about the abrogation of the Codex of the Colonists that had assured them certain important rights at the time of settlement. Thereby the era of self-administration came to and end, and the colonists were made subject to the Russian Ministry of the Interior.”

Karl Stumpp
The German-Russians: Two Centuries of Pioneering (1967)
On June 4, 1871, the Imperial Russian Government issued a decree repealing many of the privileges granted to the German colonists promised by the Manifestos of Catherine II and Alexander I. On June 16, 1871, the self-government of the German colonies was abolished, and they became subordinate to the Russian political administration. ​
On January 13, 1874, the Imperial Russian Government issued a second decree, which amended the decree of June 4, 1871. The second decree instituted compulsory military conscription for the German colonists. Fear spread to many German households that their sons would be subjected to military conscription. That fear was soon realized as the first group of men from Norka were conscripted later that year. The resulting disaffection with the change in government policies motivated many Protestant Volga Germans to immigrate (beginning in 1875) to the United States and Canada, while many Catholics chose Brazil and Argentina.

According to Johannes Preisendorf, nine people from Norka were deported to Siberia on May 7, 1874. Their names are unknown. Their banishment may have been related to the recent loss of privileges.

At the time of the decrees, the Kontora (the Saratov Office for the Guardianship of Foreign Settlers) was discontinued. The Volga Germans were subject to the same paternalistic and bureaucratic provincial administration imposed on the Russian peasants.

Alexander II also repealed his ancestors' open-door immigration policy, effectively ending any new German immigration into the Empire. Although the German colonies continued to expand, they were driven by natural growth.

After 1881, under Tsar Alexander III, ethnic Germans were required to study Russian in school and lost all their remaining special privileges. Despite losing privileges, many Germans remained in Russia, particularly those who had done well, as Russia began to industrialize in the late 19th century. Russian Germans were disproportionately represented among Russia's engineers, technical tradesmen, industrialists, financiers, and large landowners, creating resentment amongst the Russian population. 

The abrogation of the privileges granted to the colonists directly resulted from an increase in anti-German sentiments within Russia driven by fears about the newly unified and increasingly powerful German Empire under Kaiser Wilhelm II.
Alexander II
Alexander II, Emperor and Autocrat of All the Russia. Source: Wikipedia.
Alexander III
Alexander III, Emperor and Autocrat of All the Russia. Source: Wikipedia.
The manifesto of Catherine
meant this to Germans inwardly:
To plant and harvest bread and wine
As colonists for an empress fine.

Our fatherland to leave behind,
to Russian lands we're now consigned.
The Russians envied our living here,
because our freedom was long so dear,

they schemed until they brought us hence
to where our colonists days would end.
Aye, colonists no longer we,
arms we must bear, they did agree.

Yes, envy brought this quite complete!
The manifesto destroyed with much deceit!
From German land we've reached this state
to live as Russians is our fate.

-- English translation of a popular Volga German song composed after the reforms of 1871-1874

Sources

Long, James. From Privileged to Dispossessed. Lincoln, Nebraska: U of Nebraska, 1988. 17. Print.

​Preisendorf, Johannes. "Auszüge aus der Chronik der Kolonie Norka and der Wolga." Der Kirchenbote. Date Unknown. 6-7.

Sinner, Peter. Germans in the Land of the Volga. Lincoln, Neb.: American Historical Society of Germans from Russia, 1989. Print.

Wikipedia.com
Last updated November 19, 2023
Copyright © 2002-2025 Steven H. Schreiber
  • Home
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    • Contact
  • People
    • Founders
    • Personal Histories
    • Notable Norkans
    • Stories
    • Photo Identification
    • Photo Gallery
  • Community
    • Village Life
    • Entertainment
    • Agriculture
    • Climate
    • Homesites
    • Geographical Description
    • Government
    • Social Structure
    • Health
    • Education
    • A Land of Ethnic Diversity
    • Cottage Industries >
      • Sarpinka
      • Mills
    • Language
    • Population
    • Military Service
    • Crime and Punishment
  • History
    • Timeline
    • Origins of the Colonists
    • Catherine's Manifesto 1763
    • Why go to Russia?
    • Recruitment 1766
    • Planning 1764-1766
    • Marriages Prior To Emigration 1766
    • Voyage to Russia 1766 >
      • Ship Transport 1766
    • Journey 1766-1767
    • Founding of Norka 1767
    • Early Years 1767-1769
    • Norka 1769
    • Pallas Report 1773
    • Pugachev Raid 1774
    • Norka 1775
    • Norka 1798
    • Norka 1811
    • Napoleons Soldiers
    • Norka 1834
    • Daughter Colonies 1850s >
      • Neu-Norka
      • Oberdorf
      • Brunnental
      • Rosenfeld (am Jeruslan)
      • Neu Hussenbach (Gaschon)
    • Privileges Lost 1871-1874
    • Immigration 1875-1924 >
      • To the United States >
        • Colorado
        • Ft Collins Colorado
        • Globeville Colorado
        • Mason City, Iowa
        • Culbertson, Nebraska
        • Lincoln, Nebraska
        • Sutton, Nebraska
        • Burlington, Oklahoma
        • Weatherford, Oklahoma
        • Canby, Oregon
        • Portland, Oregon
      • To Canada >
        • Duffield, Alberta
        • Ponoka, Alberta
        • Spruce Grove, Alberta
        • Stony Plain, Alberta
        • Vegreville, Alberta
        • Arcola, Saskatchewan
      • To Germany
      • To South America
    • Famine 1891-1892
    • Norka 1898
    • War & Turnoil 1904-1906
    • World War 1914-1918
    • Revolution & War 1917-1922
    • Soviet Rule 1918-1941
    • Famine 1921-1924
    • Famine 1932-1933
    • The Great Terror 1936-1938
    • Deportation 1941
    • Repression 1941-1956
    • Cultural Loss 1957-2006
    • A Culture in Peril
    • Recent Times
  • Traditions
    • Food and Drink
    • Clothing
    • Holidays >
      • New Year
      • Fastnacht
      • Lent
      • Easter
      • Ascension Day
      • Pentecost
      • Founder's Day
      • Harvest Festival
      • Jahrmarkt
      • Christmas
      • Anniversaries & Birthdays
    • Crafts
    • Games
    • Folk Medicine
    • Superstitions
    • Nicknames
    • Folk Music
    • Church Music
    • Funerals and Burials
  • Religion
    • Planning and History >
      • Norka Reformed Church 1767-1864
      • 1909 Norka Parish Report
    • Pastors >
      • Johann Heinrich Fuchs
      • Johann Georg Herwig
      • Johann Baptist Cattaneo
      • Lukas Cattaneo
      • Emanuel Grunauer
      • Friedrich Börner
      • Christian Gottlieb Hegele
      • Christoph H Bonwetsch
      • Gottlieb N Bonwetsch
      • Wilhelm Staerkel
      • Woldemar Sibbul
      • David Weigum
      • Friedrich Alexander Wacker
      • Emil Pfeiffer
    • Church Practices >
      • Baptism
      • Confirmation
      • Weddings
      • Communion
      • Prayers
      • Parochial Certificates
    • Church Buildings
    • Church Organs
    • Bell Tower
    • Brethren Movement
  • Resources
    • Family Research
    • Research Resources >
      • Arrival Records 1766
      • Descendant Charts
      • German EWZ Records
      • Soviet Gulag Records
    • Maps
    • Glossary
    • Bibliography
    • Periodicals >
      • Die Welt-Post Letters
      • Sonntagsblatt der Omaha Tribune
    • Related Links