‘Undisputed and Eternal Hereditary Possession of Lands Assigned to the Colony of Sarepta’: On the Settlement of Herrnhut Brethren in Kalmyk Steppe

Abstract

Introduction. Relocations of foreigners would be conducted by the Tsarist government under Catherine II, Paul I and Alexander I to populate steppes of South Russia, secure the latter from attacks launched by nomadic groups, and gain additional economic benefits from land use. Under Catherine II, another reason for inviting the former became the urgent need to populate the newly acquired lands — southern territories captured in the aftermath of the two Russo-Turkish wars, and some western domains obtained through the partitions of Poland. So, the Government tended to welcome foreign colonists en masse — the French, Swedes, Bulgarians, Serbs, Germans and others. Goals. The paper attempts a reconstruction of how Germans representing the Unity of Brethren of Herrnhut appeared and settled in Russia’s south. To facilitate these, the work shall analyze eighteenth- and nineteenth-century government documents, examine ethnographic and statistical accounts authored by scholars and officials from the period in question, with due attention be paid to notes of travelers from the period in question and writings of modern researchers. Results. The study shows why and how foreigners would choose to settle in Russia — from the reign of Peter the Great and his predecessors to the government measures under Catherine II and subsequent emperors. Conclusions. The first and only Russia’s settlement of the Herrnhut Brethren (Germany) proved a successful experience of colonization across the undeveloped agricultural areas of South Russia. Sarepta did make a significant contribution to the development of the Lower Volga — and would serve an important economic and cultural stronghold of the region.