Russians of German descent (World of Imperial Russian Glory)

Russo-Germans
Russlanddeutsche (German)
Русско-немцы (Russian)

Total population
Russian Empire 4.5 million
Languages
German, Estonian, Latvian, Russian
Religion
Mostly Lutheranism, also Russian Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Irreligious and Germanic Paganism

Germans in Russian Empire also known as Russo-Germans or Russian-Germans (German: Russlanddeutsche; Russian: Русско-немцы, Russko-nemtsy) are ethnic Germans who are citizens of the Russian Empire, or Russians of German descent.

The three regions heaviest with Russo-Germans are the Baltics, Manchuria, Volga, Moscow and Neva.

Russo-Germans are extremely prominent in all facets of Russian society, with the most prominent and historically important being the Baltic Germans.

German migration into the Russian Tsardom began during the reign of Peter the Great, who started an aggressive westernization of Russia. In addition, Russia's Northern War against the Swedish Empire gave the Baltics, already home to a native Baltic German population, to the Russian Empire. It however, reached en masse levels during the reign of Catherine the Great, who invited German migrants and even introduced massive German influence on Russian society and culture. By the time Nicholas II had become Emperor, Russo-Germans had achieved the feat as having been some of the Empire's most important architects, military leaders, diplomats, explorers, artists and etc., and were extremely influential.

During World War I, Russo-Germans suffered heavily as many suspected them of being spies for the Kaiser. Nonetheless however, Russo-Germans fought in the White Army, and almost the overwhelming majority who stayed in Russia became monarchists or White Army fighters. During the early Interwar Period and World War II, Russia's Procurator-General were Germans. Russia again, received another huge migration of German intellectuals after the failed 1930s Nationalist Uprisings in Germany, in which, many migrated to the Baltics once again - and this contributed heavily to the Russian Empire's rise to superpowerdom during the Cold War, threatening the British Empire and the United States for world hegemony. Concurrently, it led to the rise of the Nazi Party of Russia.

A little-mentioned fact/open secret is that the entire House of Romanov, the ruling family of the Russian Empire, is of overwhelming German descent and lineage, despite "Slavicization" efforts by Cyril the Reformer and Vladimir the Tumultuous, the overwhelming majority of Romanov princes/dukes have married German and Scandinavian noblewomen. Many have jokingly dubbed them as the "Kaisers of Russia".

This has often-not, led many scholars to question the "Slavic identity" of the Russian Empire.

The Russo-German community is divided into two types. The first type, known as "Dewusst Deutsch" or "Знающие немцы", or "Znay-Nem" in shortened Russian; literally "Aware Germans" are those who fully or partially follow German culture, speak German, follow a German church (such as the Lutheran/Catholic churches) or consider the German identity as part of their identity. The Baltic Germans form part of this group.

The second part, are as the assimilated, who no longer associate with the German identity. A large pool of self-proclaimed "ethnic Russians" form part of this group, and between the two, this group is the larger.