This series of posts is from a presentation entitled “German Geography of the Russian Empire 1721-1914” that I gave in the summer of 2025 at the conferences of the American Historical Society of Germans from Russia (AHSGR) and the Foundation for East European Family History Studies (FEEFHS). At a high level, it explores the territorial growth of Imperial Russia and shows its significance to German settlement and migration across the empire in the 18th and 19th centuries.
Geography of German Settlement in the Russian Empire
VIII. Summary
My father always said never hesitate to go where there is opportunity. Imagine how many other fathers represented above said the same thing.
Originally, I had wanted to present this all as a single timeline, but Russia tested many of its borders at once. As you can see below, it would have meant jumping all over the map.
Year | Event Leading to Territorial Growth | Impacted Region(s) | |
1700 | Great Northern War (1700–1721) | ||
1703 | St. Petersburg founded | ||
1712 | St. Petersburg capital city of Russia | ||
1721 | August: Treaty of Nystad October: Russia declared an empire | ||
1732 | Russian America (1732-1867) | ||
1740 | Kamchatka annexed | ||
1741 | Russo-Swedish War (1741–1743) | ||
1743 | Treaty of Åbo | ||
1763 | Russo-Circassian War (1763-1864) | ||
1768 | Russo-Turkish War (1768-1774) | ||
1772 | First Partition of Poland | ||
1774 | Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca | ||
1783 | Crimea annexed by ukase | ||
1784 | Treaty of Georgievsk | ||
1787 | Russo-Turkish War (1787-1792) | ||
1792 | Polish-Russian War | ||
1792 | Treaty of Jassy | ||
1793 | Second Partition of Poland | ||
1794 | Kościuszko Uprising | ||
1794 | City of Odessa founded | ||
1795 | Third Partition of Poland | ||
1800 | Russia declared possession of Georgia | ||
1803 | Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) | ||
1804 | 1st Russo-Persian War (1804-1813) | ||
1806 | War of the 4th Coalition (1806–1807) | ||
1806 | Russo-Turkish War (1806-1812) | ||
1807 | Treaty of Tilsit | ||
1807 | Grand Duchy of Warsaw | ||
1808 | Finnish War (1808–1809) | ||
1809 | Treaty of Fredrikshamn | ||
1812 | Treaty of Bucharest | ||
1813 | Treaty of Gulistan | ||
1815 | Treaty of Vienna | ||
1817 | Caucasian War (1817-1864) | ||
1826 | 2nd Russo-Persian War (1826-1828) | ||
1828 | Treaty of Turkmenchay | ||
1828 | Russo-Turkish War (1828-1829) | ||
1829 | Treaty of Adrianople | ||
1830 | November Uprising | ||
1847 | Fort Raim constructed | ||
1850 | Founding of Nikolayevsk-on-Amur | ||
1853 | Siege of Ak-Mechet | ||
1856 | Second Opium War (1856-1860) | ||
1858 | Treaty of Aigun | ||
1860 | Convention of Peking | ||
1860 | Amur region annexed | ||
1864 | Siege of Chimkent | ||
1865 | Siege of Tashkent | ||
1868 | Siege of Samarkand | ||
1873 | Khiva captured | ||
1875 | Treaty of St. Petersburg | ||
1876 | Annexation of Kokand | ||
1877 | Russo-Turkish War (1877-1878) | ||
1878 | Treaty of San Stefano | ||
1884 | Merv captured | ||
1905 | Russo-Japanese War (1904–1905) |
As interesting as that timeline is, breaking it up into regions made more sense to me even if there was some overlap. If you saw me present this, note that each post in this series is a little longer with more details and narration. There are only so many words I can say at a reasonable pace of 120 words per minute. This only means that I chose too large a topic for the time allotted. But I felt that without seeing the big picture, you miss the pattern of German settlement. It clearly parallels territorial growth in the Russian Empire and is not always presented as such in maps where only clusters of German settlement are shown with no context of why there and not somewhere else.
I hope found this series and all the maps that illustrate it useful in your understanding of the geography of German settlement in the Russian Empire.
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Related Posts and Sources:
- Geography of German Settlement in the Russian Empire
I. Introduction (posted 20 September 2025)
II. The Baltics & Finland (posted 21 September 2025)
III. Eastern Europe (posted 22 September 2025)
IV. The Black Sea Region (posted 23 September 2025)
V. The Caucasus Region (posted 24 September 2025)
VI. Central Asia and Western Siberia (posted 25 September 2025)
VII. Russian Far East (posted 26 September 2025)
VIII. Summary (posted 27 September 2025) - Images from the series Geography of German Settlement in the Russian Empire