The Volga Germans in Old Russia and in Western North America: Their Changing World View

Abstract

After more than a century of living in autonomous colonies on the steppes of Russia, the Volga Germans had developed a distinctive world view that set them apart from the peasants of their German homeland as well as neighboring Russian villagers. Ethnocentrism, fatalism, intense pietism, and idealization of work characterized the Weltanschauung of the Volga Germans in pre-revolution Russia. When emigration to the New World began, the Volga Germans attempted to recreate their former way of life, but were largely unsuccessful. Their idealization of work however, proved valuable in establishing an ecological niche in the undeveloped agricultural areas of western North America. Many second and third generation Volga German Americans became increasingly ambivalent toward a heritage that emphasized hard work as an end in itself, and tended to reject other values once shared by their ancestors in Old Russia. This paper examines the historical and cultural background of the Volga Germans with particular reference to their Weltanschauung which has undergone considerable change in the New World.