Russia Germans in the Turkestan Governorate-General: resettlement and economic activity (the last third of the 19th — beginning of the 20th century)

Abstract

The paper is concerned with the history of the resettlement of Germans to the Turkestan Governorate-General in the last third of the 19th — beginning of the 20th c. This territory was actively developing after the ac-cession to the Russian Empire. This process was joined also by German settlers from the Ekaterinoslav, Taurida, Samara, and Saratov governorates. Some of them sought to acquire land, as they suffered from the land scarcity or even its total lack in the ‘mother colonies’. Others wanted to obtain easement in the military service for religious reasons. The aim of the research is the analysis of the economic activity of the Germans and their adaptation to the new natural-climatic and agricultural conditions. The paper is based on various sources: publications of the 19th — early 20th century, reports of the officials, and archival materials. Methodologically, the authors draw upon the theory of modernisation and consider the resettlement process through the prism of the Central Asian model of frontier modernisation at the turn of the 19th — 20th century. This enabled us to reconsider the topic, which is partially covered in Russian and foreign historiography. It has been found that there were two waves of resettle-ment to the Central Asian region. The first one is related to the acquisition by the German colonists of the status of resettlers-proprietors in 1871 and to the military reform conducted in 1874. The second reason is related to the famine that affected the European part of the country. The Germans could get land plots in this region in several ways: from the authorities, or by buying or taking them on lease from the local population. The Germans managed the land reserves at their own discretion, distributing them for domestic purposes amongst the members of the settlements or keeping them for the community. First years were difficult for the Germans because of the lack of funding and knowledge of farming conditions. However, following the financial assistance from the authorities and familiarisation with the area, they managed to decide on the management model. Cereal crops and potatoes were grown on the land suitable for agriculture. In other areas, they started breeding improved livestock of cows and horses. Agricultural products and animals were in high demand at the local markets. Moreover, the local popula-tion adopted many agricultural improvements from the Germans. The economic and natural-geographical surveys of this region conducted by the authorities demonstrated that the German settlers by the beginning of the 20th cen-tury managed to set up prosperous farming units. Their products won numerous awards at agricultural exhibitions.