Origins
Eastern part of the Principality of Moldavia was conquered by the troops of the Russian Czar Alxander I in the Russo-Turkish War between 1806 and 1812. In this Moldavian region, he established the Bessarabia Governorate, the smallest of the Russian Empire. The capital was the central Bessarabian Chişinău.
Nomadic Tatars from the southern region of Bessarabia, Budjak, were banished or emigrated voluntarily after the Russian conquest, leaving the area almost deserted. Russia tried to entice foreign settlers to populate the area and work the farms, since her own farmers were mainly serfs. The aim of this was to re-establish agriculture on the rich black soil. Tsar Alexander I issued a manifesto on 29 November 1813, in which he promised German settlers the following privileges:
- Land donation
- Interest-free credit
- Exemption from taxes for 10 years
- Autonomy
- Freedom of religion
- Exemption from military service
The agents of the Russian crown went with these promises to Württemberg, the northeast German area (Mecklenburg) and into the Duchy of Warsaw, where German settlers had established themselves only a few years before.
Read more about this topic: Bessarabia Germans
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