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A '''Volga German''' is an [[ethnic German]] living near the [[Volga River]], maintaining [[Germany|German]] culture, German language, German traditions and religions: [[Evangelical Church in Germany|Evangelist Lutheran]]s, [[Roman Catholic]].

After she displaced [[Peter III of Russia|Peter III]] from the Russian throne, German princess Sophie Fredericke Auguste von Anhalt-Zerbst, a native of [[Stettin]], took the vacant imperial throne, under the name of [[Catherine II the Great]]. Catherine II published some manifestos inviting Germans to immigrate and farm Russian lands, maintaining their language and culture.

The [[Autonomous Socialist Soviet Republic of the Volga Germans]] (Autonome Sozialistische Sowjet-Republik der Wolga-Deutschen; &#1040;&#1074;&#1090;&#1086;&#1085;&#1086;&#1084;&#1085;&#1072;&#1103; &#1057;&#1086;&#1074;&#1077;&#1090;&#1089;&#1082;&#1072;&#1103; &#1057;&#1086;&#1094;&#1080;&#1072;&#1083;&#1080;&#1089;&#1090;&#1080;&#1095;&#1077;&#1089;&#1082;&#1072;&#1103; &#1056;&#1077;&#1089;&#1087;&#1091;&#1073;&#1083;&#1080;&#1082;&#1072; &#1053;&#1077;&#1084;&#1094;&#1105;&#1074; &#1055;&#1086;&#1074;&#1086;&#1083;&#1078;&#1100;&#1103;) was established from [[1924]]&ndash;[[1942]] with the capital in [[Engels, Russia|Engels]] (known as "Pokrovsk" before [[1931]]).

Between [[1943]] and [[1944]] under [[Stalin]] the Volga German republic was disbanded, and the Volga Germans were deported to the [[Kazakhstan]].

Similar deportations happenned for other ethnic groups, see [[Polish minority in Soviet Union]].


== Related articles ==

*[[German minority in Russia and Soviet Union]]

== External links ==
* [http://flagspot.net/flags/su-ruwd.html Flag]
* [http://www.webbitt.com/volga/ Volga Germans]

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====References====
* Adapted from the [[Wikipedia]] article, "Volga_German" [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volga_German http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volga_German], used under the [[GNU Free Documentation License]]