Reasons for the emigration from southern Germany to the Russian Empire in the 19th century

Abstract or Introduction

The text attempts to explore the reasons of this emigration wave, taking into account some testimonies and narratives of emigrants that firmly decided to move towards a better life in unknown lands. The predominant debate concerning the reasons for emigrating focuses on whether the main motives for emigration were religious, political or economic. On one side, the pietist historiography and the testimonies of emigrants suggest that the massive migration movements in the first decades of the 19th century were mainly religious motivated. On the other hand, a contrary thesis introduced by the contemporary socio-historical migration studies assumes that economic and political factors -resulting from the crisis period at the beginning of the 19th - were the main reasons for leaving the region.

Migration processes have shaped the European history since the beginning of the humankind. Indeed, the conditions, motives and consequences of migration have evolved and adapted to the economic, political and social circumstances, nevertheless the willingness of acquiring better life conditions has never been fully attenuated. Perhaps migration and specifically the reasons behind it seem to be more present than ever. The topic of research of the following text focuses on the first decades of the 19th century and thematizes the reasons for the emigration from southern Germany, more specifically from Württemberg to the Russian Empire at the time.