https://uncoy.com/2006/01/nazi_intentions.html (many) winters in vienna. theatre, dance, poetry. and some politics. Mon, 04 Apr 2011 17:39:30 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.8.2 https://uncoy.com/2006/01/nazi_intentions.html/comment-page-1#comment-553 Wed, 04 Nov 2009 05:34:17 +0000 http://uncoy.org/2006/01/nazi_intentions.html#comment-553 A Germanic ruling class existed in Russia for centuries, before the Nazis ever showed up. They pretty much were the overlords of Russia until the overthrow of the Czar. In fact, many of the Czars, and Czarinas, were Germanic in origin, and many of their courtiers were as well (correction; there was no Germany, per se, at the time. It was called the Holy Roman Empire or Heiliges Römisches Reich for a time and the German Empire, or Deutsches Reich, for a time as well, both of which encompassed a much larger area than present day Germany). The House of Holstein-Gottorp-Romanov (aka the Romanov dynasty) stemmed from the House of Oldenburg which was one of the most powerful Royal Houses in Europe, originating in northern Germany. In addition to Czars of Russia, the House also produced Kings of Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Iceland, and Greece, and Dukes of Holstein, Schleswig, Lauenburg, and Gottorp. In consequence, many of the Russian Czars encouraged German settlers to migrate to Russia and granted them special privileges within the country; exempting them from taxes, military service, and the like. It wasn’t until the advent of Nationalism, and ultimately the October Revolution, that the German settlers were forced to enter Russian schools, pay taxes, and join the military. Much of the aristocracy and wealthy land owners were German and they were negatively affected by both World War I, in which they were suspected of having German sympathies and sent to Siberia, and the Russian Civil War, in which much of their wealth and property was stripped away from them by the communists (even though many of the poorer Russian-Germans fought alongside the Bolsheviks).

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