The Test of Patriotism: Germany in the Perception of the Baltic Germans during the First World War

The article examines the attitude of the Baltic Germans towards Germany during the Great War. With the outbreak of the war, the Baltic Germans were forced to define their position towards their ethnic homeland, which had gone into war with the Russian Empire. The Baltic Germans' perception of Germany is reflected in a wide variety of sources, resulting in diametrically opposite assessments. The aim of the article is to provide a comparative analysis of official documents of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Council of Ministers, ego-sources, and applications for Russian citizenship from “enemy subjects”, to identify different attitudes towards Germany among the Baltic Germans, which were shaped by a variety of factors, including the anti-German activities of the Tsarist government, general imperial measures prompted by the war, and emotional assessment of what was happening. Previous studies have examined the views of the Baltic Germans mainly on the basis of Russian periodicals and the writings of nationalist publicists. This has left the complex process of searching for the boundary between loyalty to the Russian Empire and attitudes towards Germany, the country of their culture and mother tongue, among the Baltic Germans, outside the realm of research interest. This article aims to fill this gap. The study suggests that the patriotism of the Baltic Germans did not extend so far as to actively and publicly demonstrate rejection of their historic homeland. A considerable proportion of the Baltic Germans sought to strike an acceptable balance between their Russian citizenship and their German background, while attitudes towards Germany among them varied, depending on social background, degree of attachment to Russia and other factors.

Keywords

World War I, Baltic Germans, propaganda, Russia, Germany, Ministry of Internal Affairs

Acknowledgment

The research was carried out with the financial support of the RFBR and the German Research Community within the framework of the academic project “Security and Civil Society in Russia and Germany during the First World War. Correlation of the processes of internment of the civilian population of the belligerent States in 1914–1917”(№ 19-59-12006).

Received

16.06.2022

Publication date

20.06.2022

Number of characters

31815

Cite

GOST	Bahturina A. The Test of Patriotism: Germany in the Perception of the Baltic Germans during the First World War // Novaia i noveishaia istoriia – 2022. – Issue 3 C. 101-112 [Electronic resource]. URL: https://nni.jes.su/S013038640020240-2-1 (circulation date: 26.04.2024). DOI: 10.31857/S013038640020240-2
MLA	Bahturina, Alexandra "The Test of Patriotism: Germany in the Perception of the Baltic Germans during the First World War." Novaia i noveishaia istoriia 3 (2022):101-112. DOI: 10.31857/S013038640020240-2
APA	Bahturina A. (2022). The Test of Patriotism: Germany in the Perception of the Baltic Germans during the First World War. Novaia i noveishaia istoriia (3), pp.101-112 DOI: 10.31857/S013038640020240-2

100 rub.

When subscribing to an article or issue, the user can download PDF, evaluate the publication or contact the author. Need to register.

Number of purchasers: 0, views: 298

Readers community rating: votes 0

1. Abdrashitov E.E., Kryuchkov I.V. Polozhenie rossiyan v Germanii v avguste 1914 goda (po materialam otechestvennoj publicistiki [The situation of Russians in Germany in August 1914 (based on the materials of Russian journalism] // Istoriya i istoricheskaya pamyat' [History and historical memory] 2011. № 4. S. 66–86. (In Russ.)

2. Andreeva N.S. “Konec nemeckomu zasil'yu”: pribaltijskie nemcy i Pervaya mirovaya vojna [“The end of German dominance”: Baltic Germans and the First World War] // Pribaltijskie issledovaniya v Rossii. 2015: Sbornik statej [Baltic Studies in Russia. 2015: Collection of articles]. Moskva, S. 68–80. (In Russ.)

3. Andreeva N.S. V bor'be s “russkoj ugrozoj”: ostzejskaya emigraciya v period Pervoj Mirovoj vojny [In the fight against the “Russian threat”: Russian emigration during the First World War] // Vestnik Sankt-Peterburgskogo universiteta [Bulletin of St. Petersburg University]. 2015. Ser. 2. Vyp. 4. S. 100–111. (In Russ.)

4. Belogurova T.A. Russkaya periodicheskaya pechat' i problemy vnutrennej zhizni strany v gody Pervoj mirovoj vojny (1914 – fevral' 1917 gg.) [The Russian periodical press and the problems of the internal life of the country during the First World War (1914 – February 1917)]. Smolensk, 2006. (In Russ.)

5. Bogomolov I.K. Russkie poddannye v Avstro-Vengrii i Germanii v iyule-oktyabre 1914 g. [Russian subjects in Austria-Hungary and Germany in July-October 1914] // Rossiya i sovremennyj mir [Russia and the modern world]. 2017. № 2 (95). S. 143–160. (In Russ.)

6. Bonch-Bruevich M.D. Vsya vlast' Sovetam. Vospominaniya [All power to the Soviets. Memories]. Moskva, 1957. (In Russ.)

7. Chernova T.N. Problema loyal'nosti i tolerantnosti rossijskih nemcev v gody Pervoj mirovoj vojny (v svete novejshih issledovanij) [The problem of loyalty and tolerance of Russian Germans during the First World War (in the light of the latest research)] // Rossijskie nemcy v inonacional'nom okruzhenii: problemy adaptacii, vzaimovliyaniya, tolerantnosti: materialy mezhdunarodnoj nauchnoj konferencii. Saratov, 14–19 sentyabrya 2004 g. [Russian Germans in a foreign environment: problems of adaptation, mutual influence, tolerance: materials of the international scientific conference. Saratov, September 14–19, 2004]. Moskva, 2005. P. 236–245. (In Russ.)

8. Kappeler A. Rossiya – mnogonacional'naya imperiya. Vozniknovenie, istoriya, raspad [Russia – Multinational Empire. Origin, history, decay]. Moskva, 2000. (In Russ.)

9. Krupnikov P.Ya. Polveka istorii Latvii glazami nemcev (konec XIX v. – 1945 g.) [Half a century of Latvian history through the eyes of Germans (late 19th century – 1945)]. Riga, 1989. (In Russ.)

10. Lor E. Rossijskoe grazhdanstvo: ot imperii k Sovetskomu Soyuzu [Russian Citizenship: from the Empire to the Soviet Union]. Moskva, 2017. (In Russ.)

11. Nelipovich S.G. Problema loyal'nosti nemcev v konfliktah ХХ veka: istoriografiya voprosa i krug istochnikov [The problem of German loyalty in the conflicts of the 20th century: historiography of the issue and the range of sources] // Nemcy Rossii i SSSR. 1901–1941: materialy mezhdunarodnoj nauchnoj konferencii [Germans of Russia and the USSR. 1901–1941: materials of the International scientific conference]. Moskva, 2000. S. 365–380. (In Russ.)

12. Polunin E.S. Nemeckie nacional'nye men'shinstva i immigrantskie diaspory kak instrument politiki Germanii v period mirovyh vojn [German national minorities and immigrant diasporas as an instrument of German policy during the World Wars] // Fenomen mirovyh vojn v istorii ХХ veka: materialy Vserossijskoj nauchno-teoreticheskoj konferencii [The phenomenon of world wars in the history of the 20th century: materials of the All-Russian Scientific and Theoretical Conference]. Voronezh, 2017. S. 65–84. (In Russ.)

13. Rostislavleva N.V. “Byl vse eti nezabyvaemye gody grazhdanskim plennym № 52”: o statuse russkih v Germanii v gody Pervoj mirovoj vojny [“I was a civilian prisoner № 52 all these unforgettable years”: about the status of Russians in Germany during the First World War] // Novyj istoricheskij vestnik [New Historical Bulletin]. 2020. № 3 (65). S. 79–97. (In Russ.)

14. Sovet ministrov Rossijskoj imperii v gody Pervoj mirovoj vojny. Bumagi A.N. Yahontova [The Council of Ministers of the Russian Empire during the First World War. Papers of A.N. Yakhontov]. Sankt-Peterburg, 1999. (In Russ.)

15. Tumanova A.S. Obshchestvennye organizacii v Rossii. Pravovoe polozhenie. 1860–1930-e gg. [Public organizations in Russia. The legal situation of the 1860–1930]. Moskva, 2019. (In Russ.)

16. Vigrab G.I. Pribaltijskie nemcy: ih otnoshenie k russkoj gosudarstvennosti i k korennomu naseleniyu kraya v proshlom i nastoyashchem [Baltic Germans: their attitude to Russian statehood and to the indigenous population of the region in the past and present]. Yur'ev, 1916. (In Russ.)

17. Hagen M. Hochschulunruhen und Regierungspolitik im russischen Reich vor 1914 // Die Universitäten Dorpat/Tartu, Riga und Wilna/Vilnius, 1579–1979. Köln, 1987. S. 51–69.

18. Henriksson A. Vassals and citizens: the Baltic Germans in Constitutional Russia, 1905–1914. Marburg, 2009.

19. Henriksson A. The Tsar's Loyal Germans: The Riga German Community, Social Change and the Nationality Question, 1855–1905. Boulder; Colo, 1983.