Talk:Germans from Russia

There are some significant errors on this site. Some examples:

- Under Catherine's picture, it states that she invited Germans to Russia. In fact, she invited ALL Europeans to come to Russia. Migrations to the Black Sea regions of Ukraine occurred through negotiations with her son and were not conducted under the terms of her original 1762 and 1763 Manifestos.

- Opening remarks indicate the page has to do with people from Germany. In fact, Germany did not exist when Catherine created her Manifesto.

I also question why, in the opening remarks, Germans in the western fringes of historic Russia are excluded from the context of this portal when the portal name clearly includes them. Perhaps some day there should be separate portals for Volga River, Black Sea, Bessarabia, Volhynia, etc. but until that happens, this portal should include all.

I look forward to contributing new material to these pages over the coming months.

Jerry Frank

Thanks for your input.

The caption on Catharine's portrait now mentions that she also invited others besides German-speakers. The "History" page talks about the later founding of the Black Sea colonies.

If you can figure out a way to word the first sentence more precisely regarding what-was-to-eventually-become-Germany without making the sentence any more awkward than it already is, go for it.

We had to draw a line somewhere when identifying the Russian Empire. We chose to include Russia and Ukraine, and exclude other states on the western fringes. That particular boundary like most boundaries is subject to negotiation. Do you have some reason you think most genealogists researching German-speaking people who settled in Moldova, Poland, or Hungary are apt to expect such people to be called Germans from Russia?

Your contributions will be welcome. This is a neglected corner of our Wiki, and we look forward to your help. Diltsgd 06:39, 28 February 2009 (UTC)

I will start making some changes as time permits. Some changes will be minor. In other areas I may add detailed clarification. I suspect that you, as moderator, will be notified about them as they are posted. If you see any problems with the changes, we can discuss as required.

To identify Russian Empire boundaries, I generally use those applicable pre WWI. Hungary would not be included but certainly Moldova (previously Bessarabia) would be. It is covered in detail by GRHS and in part by AHSGR, the dominant GR support groups. Technically, Russian Poland should also be included. However, this region will be covered under the Poland portal. We can provide links to that from these pages.

Jerry

The Wiki Users' Group has been suggesting its time to move away from Portal pages because Google Search Engine spiders apparently don't work well in our portals. So I'm going to start shifiting the Portal:Germans from Russia to a regular page format. Diltsgd 18:18, 7 March 2009 (UTC)

The Germans from Russia Research Outline was a publication that never made it into print form at the Family History Library, but now sees new life on the Wiki. It was originally developed in 1998 by Baerbel Johnson, David Dilts, and Tom Edlund, among others. Diltsgd 20:28, 7 March 2009 (UTC)

This page was created/moved from previous portal page of the same name on 7 March 2009 in order to better handle Google Search Engine spiders. Diltsgd 20:28, 7 March 2009 (UTC)