History UsefulNotes / GermanRussians

After this time, UsefulNotes/WorldWarI and the [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarII Great Patriotic War]] tends to colour Russian perceptions of Germans, as can be seen by Communist propaganda. Whereas Americans may be depicted as fat capitalists, Germans are imperialistic brutes and monsters. Surprisingly ([[RussianGuySuffersMost or maybe not]]), this was strictly limited to wartime media, and even in WWII official propaganda encouraged differentiating between ThoseWackyNazis and Germans as a people--as Stalin said in 1945, as his armies were marching into heart of Germany, "Hitlers come and go, but the German people go on forever." Germany's ''Vernichtungskrieg'' to totally annihilate the Soviet peoples disinclined Soviet citizens to actually go along with that, however, as in their anger many found it difficult to remind themselves that there was a difference between the inherently genocidal Nazis and [[PunchClockVillain the genocidal-for-now ordinary Germans]] [[note]] Official Soviet policy seemed to go back and forth, but there were some widely-published-by-the-official-Soviet-propaganda-ministry "gems" (for varying values of "gem") such as a number of ''[[http://rense.com/general75/ehr.htm extremely heavy-handed]]'' pieces from Ilya Ehrenburg from 1942. To be fair, Ehrenburg, being Jewish, has had [[UsefulNotes/TheHolocaust his own bone with the Germans]], and he actually took flak from some Soviet officials on that, and was denounced in ''Magazine/{{Pravda}}'' just as the war was ending, possibly to try and downplay the excruciatingly bad PR that the USSR took on their alleged mistreatment of the Germans in Berlin and elswhere.[[/note]]

--> — Why Napoleon could never conquer Russia?

* German pop-star Helene Fischer was born in Krasnoyarsk, Siberia by a family of ethnic Germans who moved to Germany after the end of USSR. Her paternal grandparents were Volga Germans deported to Siberia in 1941 as stated by Stalin during the UsefulNotes/GreatPatrioticWar.

After this time, UsefulNotes/WorldWarI and the UsefulNotes/GreatPatrioticWar tends to colour Russian perceptions of Germans, as can be seen by Communist propaganda. Whereas Americans may be depicted as fat capitalists, Germans are imperialistic brutes and monsters. Surprisingly ([[RussianGuySuffersMost or maybe not]]), this was strictly limited to wartime media, and even in WWII official propaganda encouraged differentiating between ThoseWackyNazis and Germans as a people--as Stalin said in 1945, as his armies were marching into heart of Germany, "Hitlers come and go, but the German people go on forever." Germany's ''Vernichtungskrieg'' to totally annihilate the Soviet peoples disinclined Soviet citizens to actually go along with that, however, as in their anger many found it difficult to remind themselves that there was a difference between the inherently genocidal Nazis and [[PunchClockVillain the genocidal-for-now ordinary Germans]] [[note]] Official Soviet policy seemed to go back and forth, but there were some widely-published-by-the-official-Soviet-propaganda-ministry "gems" (for varying values of "gem") such as a number of ''[[http://rense.com/general75/ehr.htm extremely heavy-handed]]'' pieces from Ilya Ehrenburg from 1942. To be fair, Ehrenburg, being Jewish, has had [[UsefulNotes/TheHolocaust his own bone with the Germans]], and he actually took flak from some Soviet officials on that, and was denounced in ''Magazine/{{Pravda}}'' just as the war was ending, possibly to try and downplay the excruciatingly bad PR that the USSR took on their alleged mistreatment of the Germans in Berlin and elswhere.[[/note]]

Much of this ethnic mix-up dates back to the time of UsefulNotes/PeterTheGreat, who recruited a great many German artisans and nobles to as part of his plans for modernizing [[TsaristRussia Russia]]. They also formed the nobility and gentry of the Baltic provinces which he conquered from the Swedish Empire (This is one reason why the city of St. Petersburg has a Germanic name[[note]]wich though was originally Dutch Sankt-Piter-Boerch but soon changed a bit[[/note]]). (Incidentally, the Baltic Germans predate the rise of Russian Empire by centuries--many German merchants, mercenaries, and crusaders settled in the Baltic regions from high Middle Ages on). Since the direct line of Romanovs was finished on Peter's daughter Elisabeth Petrovna, Russian throne was occupied by descendants of his other daughters married into Germany, who were effectively ethnic Germans (UsefulNotes/CatherineTheGreat was born as a German princess); with their encouragement, a large number of Germans emigrated to St. Petersburg and made colonies in other parts of Russia, including a region around part of the Volga River (becoming known as the Volga Germans) and, later on, modern Southern Ukraine (Novorossiya). Between 1795 (the third partition of {{UsefulNotes/Poland}}) and 1919 (the re-creation of Poland), Russia shared a border with UsefulNotes/{{Prussia}}/Germany. And then, you have all the Russians who moved from the SovietUnion to UsefulNotes/EastGermany, and who are now citizens of a [[UsefulNotes/TheBerlinRepublic united Germany]]. Meanwhile in WestGermany, the laws made it relatively easy for Russians to gain citizenship there too, provided that they were able to prove German descent (like e.g. the aforementioned Volga Germans). The situation in today's united Germany is similar.

Right up until 1943, Germans were found right across Eastern Europe - and not just as Order Police or Wehrmacht troopers. They lived there as naturalised citizens. One consequence is that when reading accounts of the North-Eastern (Polish/Baltic) and South-Eastern (Belorussian/Ukrainian) Fronts of UsefulNotes/WorldWarI it is nigh-impossible to tell which side a general is on. For instance, on the one side you might have General Paul von Hindenburg and on the other, Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim (or, as was the case during the disastrous--for the Russians--invasion of East Prussia by the Russians in 1914, German general Hermann von Francois--a descendant of French Huguenots who settled in Prussia, itself worthy of a trope--opposing his Russian counterpart, Paul von Rennenkampf, a Baltic German).

* ''Literature/CrimeAndPunishment'' has the Marmeladov landlady Amalia Ivanovna Lippewechsel and her FunetikAccent.

* ''Literature/CrimeAndPunishment''

Much of this ethnic mix-up dates back to the time of UsefulNotes/PeterTheGreat, who recruited a great many German artisans and nobles to as part of his plans for modernizing [[TsaristRussia Russia]]. They also formed the nobility and gentry of the Baltic provinces which he conquered from the Swedish Empire (This is one reason why the city of St. Petersburg has a Germanic name[[note]]wich though was originally Dutch Sankt-Piter-Boerch but soon changed a bit[[/note]]). (Incidentally, the Baltic Germans predate the rise of Russian Empire by centuries--many German merchants, mercenaries, and crusaders settled in the Baltic regions from high Middle Ages on). Since the direct line of Romanovs was finished on Peter's daughter Elisabeth Petrovna, Russian throne was occupied by descendants of his other daughters married into Germany, who were effectively ethnic Germans (UsefulNotes/CatherineTheGreat was born as a German princess); with their encouragement, a large number of Germans emigrated to St. Petersburg and made colonies in other parts of Russia, including a region around part of the Volga River (becoming known as the Volga Germans) and, later on, modern Southern Ukraine (Novorossiya). Between 1795 (the third partition of {{UsefulNotes/Poland}}) and 1919 (the re-creation of Poland), Russia shared a border with {{Prussia}}/Germany. And then, you have all the Russians who moved from the SovietUnion to EastGermany, and who are now citizens of a [[TheBerlinRepublic united Germany]]. Meanwhile in WestGermany, the laws made it relatively easy for Russians to gain citizenship there too, provided that they were able to prove German descent (like e.g. the aforementioned Volga Germans). The situation in today's united Germany is similar.

After this time, UsefulNotes/WorldWarI and the UsefulNotes/GreatPatrioticWar tends to colour Russian perceptions of Germans, as can be seen by Communist propaganda. Whereas Americans may be depicted as fat capitalists, Germans are imperialistic brutes and monsters. Surprisingly ([[RussianGuySuffersMost or maybe not]]), this was strictly limited to wartime media, and even in WWII official propaganda encouraged differentiating between ThoseWackyNazis and Germans as a people--as Stalin said in 1945, as his armies were marching into heart of Germany, "Hitlers come and go, but the German people go on forever." Germany's ''Vernichtungskrieg'' to totally annihilate the Soviet peoples disinclined Soviet citizens to actually go along with that, however, as in their anger many found it difficult to remind themselves that there was a difference between the inherently genocidal Nazis and [[PunchClockVillain the genocidal-for-now ordinary Germans]] [[note]] Official Soviet policy seemed to go back and forth, but there were some widely-published-by-the-official-Soviet-propaganda-ministry "gems" (for varying values of "gem") such as a number of ''[[http://rense.com/general75/ehr.htm extremely heavy-handed]]'' pieces from Ilya Ehrenburg from 1942. To be fair, Ehrenburg, being Jewish, has had [[UsefulNotes/TheHolocaust his own bone with the Germans]], and he actually took flak from some Soviet officials on that, and was denounced in ''{{Pravda}}'' just as the war was ending, possibly to try and downplay the excruciatingly bad PR that the USSR took on their alleged mistreatment of the Germans in Berlin and elswhere.[[/note]]

** Her niece Olga Chekhova (she was married to Chekhov's nephew Mikhail, an actor) was an actress herself, settled in Germany for the rest of her life. She had good relationships with UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler and Joseph Goebbels, but she was rumored to be a Soviet spy.
* Alexander Schmorell from the German Anti-Nazi student group known as White Rose. Schmorell was born in Orenburg, Russia from a ethnic German father and a Russian mother. After the revolution his family settled in Germany and he grew up cosindering himself as both German and Russian. He was even baptised in the Russian Orthodox Church and now glorified as a Passion bearer by the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia.
* German pop-star Helene Fischer was born in Krasnoyarsk, Siberia by a family of ethnic Germans which come to Germany at the end of USSR. Her paternal grandparents were Volga Germans deported to Siberia in 1941 as stated by Stalin during the UsefulNotes/GreatPatrioticWar.

* The doctor from [[Creator/NikolaiGogol Gogol]]'s play ''The Revisor'', who can't even speak Russian.

[[folder:{{UsefulNotes/Television}}]]

Right up until 1943, Germans were found right across Eastern Europe - and not just as Order Police or Wehrmacht troopers. They lived there as naturalised citizens. One consequence is that when reading accounts of the North-Eastern (Polish/Baltic) and South-Eastern (Belorussian/Ukrainian) Fronts of WorldWarOne it is nigh-impossible to tell which side a general is on. For instance, on the one side you might have General Paul von Hindenburg and on the other, Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim (or, as was the case during the disastrous--for the Russians--invasion of East Prussia by the Russians in 1914, German general Hermann von Francois--a descendant of French Huguenots who settled in Prussia, itself worthy of a trope--opposing his Russian counterpart, Paul von Rennenkampf, a Baltic German).

After this time, UsefulNotes/WorldWarOne and the UsefulNotes/GreatPatrioticWar tends to colour Russian perceptions of Germans, as can be seen by Communist propaganda. Whereas Americans may be depicted as fat capitalists, Germans are imperialistic brutes and monsters. Surprisingly ([[RussianGuySuffersMost or maybe not]]), this was strictly limited to wartime media, and even in WWII official propaganda encouraged differentiating between ThoseWackyNazis and Germans as a people--as Stalin said in 1945, as his armies were marching into heart of Germany, "Hitlers come and go, but the German people go on forever." Germany's ''Vernichtungskrieg'' to totally annihilate the Soviet peoples disinclined Soviet citizens to actually go along with that, however, as in their anger many found it difficult to remind themselves that there was a difference between the inherently genocidal Nazis and [[PunchClockVillain the genocidal-for-now ordinary Germans]] [[note]] Official Soviet policy seemed to go back and forth, but there were some widely-published-by-the-official-Soviet-propaganda-ministry "gems" (for varying values of "gem") such as a number of ''[[http://rense.com/general75/ehr.htm extremely heavy-handed]]'' pieces from Ilya Ehrenburg from 1942. To be fair, Ehrenburg, being Jewish, has had [[UsefulNotes/TheHolocaust his own bone with the Germans]], and he actually took flak from some Soviet officials on that, and was denounced in ''{{Pravda}}'' just as the war was ending, possibly to try and downplay the excruciatingly bad PR that the USSR took on their alleged mistreatment of the Germans in Berlin and elswhere.[[/note]]

[[AC:{{Film}}]]

[[AC: Jokes]]

[[AC:{{Literature}}]]

[[AC:{{UsefulNotes/Television}}]]

[[AC:RealLife]]

After this time, UsefulNotes/WorldWarOne and the UsefulNotes/GreatPatrioticWar tends to colour Russian perceptions of Germans, as can be seen by Communist propaganda. Whereas Americans may be depicted as fat capitalists, Germans are imperialistic brutes and monsters. Surprisingly ([[RussianGuySuffersMost or maybe not]]), this was strictly limited to wartime media, and even in WWII official propaganda encouraged differentiating between ThoseWackyNazis and Germans as a people--as Stalin said in 1945, as his armies were marching into heart of Germany, "Hitlers come and go, but the German people go on forever." Germany's ''Vernichtungskrieg'' to totally annihilate the Soviet peoples disinclined Soviet citizens to actually go along with that, however, as in their anger many found it difficult to remind themselves that there was a difference between the inherently genocidal Nazis and [[PunchClockVillain the genocidal-for-now ordinary Germans]] [[note]] Official Soviet policy seemed to go back and forth, but there were some widely-published-by-the-official-Soviet-propaganda-ministry "gems" (for varying values of "gem") as this one from Ilya Ehrenburg from 1942 (emphasis added): "Slavers - they would like to enslave our people. They take some Russians home, mistreat them, make them lose their wits by hunger, to the point that they eat grass and worms, and then a repulsive German with a stinking cigar can philosophise: "Are these perhaps human beings?" We know everything. We remember everything. We have understood: ''Germans are not human beings''. Henceforth the word German means to us the most terrible curse. From now on the word German will trigger your rifle. We shall not speak any more. We shall not get excited. We shall kill. ''If you have not killed at least one German a day, you have wasted that day.'' If you think that instead of you, the man next to you will kill him, you have not understood the threat. If you do not kill the German, he will kill you. If you cannot kill your German with a bullet, kill him with your bayonet. ''If there is calm on your part of the front, if you are waiting for the fighting, kill a German before combat. If you leave a German alive, the German will hang a Russian and rape a Russian woman. If you kill one German, kill another - there is nothing more amusing for us than a heap of German corpses. Do not count days; do not count miles. Count only the number of Germans you have killed.'' Kill the German - this is your old mother's prayer. Kill the German - this is what your children beseech you to do. ''Kill the German - this is the cry of your Russian earth. Do not waver. Do not let up. Kill.''" To be fair, Ehrenburg took flak from some Soviet officers on that and was denounced in ''{{Pravda}}'' just as the war was ending, possibly to try and downplay the excruciatingly bad PR that the USSR took on their mistreatment of the Germans in Berlin and elswhere.[[/note]]

Right up until 1943, Germans were found right across Eastern Europe - and not just as Order Police or Wehrmacht troopers. They lived there as naturalised citizens. One consequence is that when reading accounts of the North-Eastern (Polish/Baltic) and South-Eastern (Belorussian/Ukrainian) Fronts of WorldWarOne it is nigh-impossible to tell which side a general is on. For instance, on the one side you might have General Paul von Hindenburg and on the other, Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim (or, as was the case during the disastrous invasion of East Prussia by the Russians in 1914, German general Hermann von Francois--a descendant of French Huguenots who settled in Prussia, itself worthy of a trope--opposing his Russian counterpart, Paul von Rennenkampf, a Baltic German).

Much of this ethnic mix-up dates back to the time of UsefulNotes/PeterTheGreat, who recruited a great many German artisans and nobles to as part of his plans for modernizing [[TsaristRussia Russia]]. They also formed the nobility and gentry of the Baltic provinces which he conquered from the Swedish Empire (This is one reason why the city of St. Petersburg has a Germanic name[[note]]wich though was originally Dutch Sankt-Piter-Boerch but soon changed a bit[[/note]]). (Incidentally, the Baltic Germans predate the Russian Empire by centuries--many German merchants, mercenaries, and crusaders settled in the Baltic regions from high Middle Ages on). Since the direct line of Romanovs was finished on Peter's daughter Elisabeth Petrovna, Russian throne was occupied by descendants of his other daughters married into Germany, who were effectively ethnic Germans (UsefulNotes/CatherineTheGreat was born as a German princess); with their encouragement, a large number of Germans emigrated to St. Petersburg and made colonies in other parts of Russia, including a region around part of the Volga River (becoming known as the Volga Germans) and, later on, modern Southern Ukraine (Novorossiya). Between 1795 (the third partition of {{UsefulNotes/Poland}}) and 1919 (the re-creation of Poland), Russia shared a border with {{Prussia}}/Germany. And then, you have all the Russians who moved from the SovietUnion to EastGermany, and who are now citizens of a [[TheBerlinRepublic united Germany]]. Meanwhile in WestGermany, the laws made it relatively easy for Russians to gain citizenship there too, provided that they were able to prove German descent (like e.g. the aforementioned Volga Germans). The situation in today's united Germany is similar.

After this time, UsefulNotes/WorldWarOne and the UsefulNotes/GreatPatrioticWar tends to colour Russian perceptions of Germans, as can be seen by Communist propaganda. Whereas Americans may be depicted as fat capitalists, Germans are imperialistic brutes and monsters. Surprisingly ([[RussianGuySuffersMost or maybe not]]), this was strictly limited to wartime media, and even in WWII official propaganda encouraged differentiating between ThoseWackyNazis and Germans as a people--as Stalin said, "Hitlers come and go, but the German people go on forever." Germany's ''Vernichtungskrieg'' to totally annihilate the Soviet peoples disinclined Soviet citizens to actually go along with that, however, as in their anger many found it difficult to remind themselves that there was a difference between the inherently genocidal Nazis and [[PunchClockVillain the genocidal-for-now ordinary Germans]] [[note]] Official Soviet policy seemed to go back and forth, but there were some widely-published-by-the-official-Soviet-propaganda-ministry "gems" (for varying values of "gem") as this one from Ilya Ehrenburg from 1942 (emphasis added): "Slavers - they would like to enslave our people. They take some Russians home, mistreat them, make them lose their wits by hunger, to the point that they eat grass and worms, and then a repulsive German with a stinking cigar can philosophise: "Are these perhaps human beings?" We know everything. We remember everything. We have understood: ''Germans are not human beings''. Henceforth the word German means to us the most terrible curse. From now on the word German will trigger your rifle. We shall not speak any more. We shall not get excited. We shall kill. ''If you have not killed at least one German a day, you have wasted that day.'' If you think that instead of you, the man next to you will kill him, you have not understood the threat. If you do not kill the German, he will kill you. If you cannot kill your German with a bullet, kill him with your bayonet. ''If there is calm on your part of the front, if you are waiting for the fighting, kill a German before combat. If you leave a German alive, the German will hang a Russian and rape a Russian woman. If you kill one German, kill another - there is nothing more amusing for us than a heap of German corpses. Do not count days; do not count miles. Count only the number of Germans you have killed.'' Kill the German - this is your old mother's prayer. Kill the German - this is what your children beseech you to do. ''Kill the German - this is the cry of your Russian earth. Do not waver. Do not let up. Kill.''" To be fair, Ehrenburg took flak from some Soviet officers on that and was denounced in ''{{Pravda}}'' just as the war was ending, possibly to try and downplay the excruciatingly bad PR that the USSR took on their mistreatment of the Germans in Berlin and elswhere.[[/note]]

Right up until 1943, Germans were found right across Eastern Europe - and not just as Order Police or Wehrmacht troopers. They lived there as naturalised citizens. One consequence is that when reading accounts of the North-Eastern (Polish/Baltic) and South-Eastern (Belorussian/Ukrainian) Fronts of WorldWarOne it is nigh-impossible to tell which side a general is on. For instance, on the one side you might have General Paul von Hindenburgh and on the other, Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim.

This ethnic mix-up dates back to the time of UsefulNotes/PeterTheGreat, who recruited a great many German artisans and nobles to as part of his plans for modernizing [[TsaristRussia Russia]]. They also formed the nobility and gentry of the Baltic provinces which he conquered from the Swedish Empire (This is one reason why the city of St. Petersburg has a Germanic name[[note]]wich though was originally Dutch Sankt-Piter-Boerch but soon changed a bit[[/note]]). Since the direct line of Romanovs was finished on Peter's daughter Elisabeth Petrovna, Russian throne was occupied by descendants of his other daughters married into Germany, who were effectively ethnic Germans (UsefulNotes/CatherineTheGreat was born as a German princess); with their encouragement, a large number of Germans emigrated to St. Petersburg and made colonies in other parts of Russia, including a region around part of the Volga River (becoming known as the Volga Germans) and, later on, modern Southern Ukraine (Novorossiya). Between 1795 (the third partition of {{UsefulNotes/Poland}}) and 1919 (the re-creation of Poland), Russia shared a border with {{Prussia}}/Germany. And then, you have all the Russians who moved from the SovietUnion to EastGermany, and who are now citizens of a [[TheBerlinRepublic united Germany]]. Meanwhile in WestGermany, the laws made it relatively easy for Russians to gain citizenship there too, provided that they were able to prove German descent (like e.g. the aforementioned Volga Germans). The situation in today's united Germany is similar.

After this time, UsefulNotes/WorldWarOne and the UsefulNotes/GreatPatrioticWar tends to colour Russian perceptions of Germans, as can be seen by Communist propaganda. Whereas Americans may be depicted as fat capitalists, Germans are imperialistic brutes and monsters. Surprisingly ([[RussianGuySuffersMost or maybe not]]), this was strictly limited to wartime media, and even in WWII official propaganda encouraged differentiating between ThoseWackyNazis and Germans as a people. Germany's ''Vernichtungskrieg'' to totally annihilate the Soviet peoples disinclined Soviet citizens to actually go along with that, however, as in their anger many found it difficult to remind themselves that there was a difference between the inherently genocidal Nazis and [[PunchClockVillain the genocidal-for-now ordinary Germans]] [[note]] Official Soviet policy seemed to go back and forth, but there were some widely-published-by-the-official-Soviet-propaganda-ministry "gems" (for varying values of "gem") as this one from Ilya Ehrenburg from 1942 (emphasis added): "Slavers - they would like to enslave our people. They take some Russians home, mistreat them, make them lose their wits by hunger, to the point that they eat grass and worms, and then a repulsive German with a stinking cigar can philosophise: "Are these perhaps human beings?" We know everything. We remember everything. We have understood: ''Germans are not human beings''. Henceforth the word German means to us the most terrible curse. From now on the word German will trigger your rifle. We shall not speak any more. We shall not get excited. We shall kill. ''If you have not killed at least one German a day, you have wasted that day.'' If you think that instead of you, the man next to you will kill him, you have not understood the threat. If you do not kill the German, he will kill you. If you cannot kill your German with a bullet, kill him with your bayonet. ''If there is calm on your part of the front, if you are waiting for the fighting, kill a German before combat. If you leave a German alive, the German will hang a Russian and rape a Russian woman. If you kill one German, kill another - there is nothing more amusing for us than a heap of German corpses. Do not count days; do not count miles. Count only the number of Germans you have killed.'' Kill the German - this is your old mother's prayer. Kill the German - this is what your children beseech you to do. ''Kill the German - this is the cry of your Russian earth. Do not waver. Do not let up. Kill.''" To be fair, Ehrenburg took flak from some Soviet officers on that and was denounced in ''{{Pravda}}'' just as the war was ending, possibly to try and downplay the excruciatingly bad PR that the USSR took on their mistreatment of the Germans in Berlin and elswhere.[[/note]]

After this time, UsefulNotes/WorldWarOne and the UsefulNotes/GreatPatrioticWar tends to colour Russian perceptions of Germans, as can be seen by Communist propaganda. Whereas Americans may be depicted as fat capitalists, Germans are imperialistic brutes and monsters. Surprisingly ([[RussianGuySuffersMost or maybe not]]), this was strictly limited to wartime media, and even in WWII official propaganda encouraged differentiating between ThoseWackyNazis and Germans as a people. Germany ''Vernichtungskrieg'' disinclined people to actually go along with that, however, as in their anger many found it difficult to remind themselves that there was a difference between the inherently genocidal Nazis and [[PunchClockVillain the genocidal-for-now ordinary Germans]] [[note]] Official Soviet policy seemed to go back and forth, but there were some widely-published-by-the-official-Soviet-propaganda-ministry "gems" (for varying values of "gem") as this one from Ilya Ehrenburg from 1942 (emphasis added): "Slavers - they would like to enslave our people. They take some Russians home, mistreat them, make them lose their wits by hunger, to the point that they eat grass and worms, and then a repulsive German with a stinking cigar can philosophise: "Are these perhaps human beings?" We know everything. We remember everything. We have understood: ''Germans are not human beings''. Henceforth the word German means to us the most terrible curse. From now on the word German will trigger your rifle. We shall not speak any more. We shall not get excited. We shall kill. ''If you have not killed at least one German a day, you have wasted that day.'' If you think that instead of you, the man next to you will kill him, you have not understood the threat. If you do not kill the German, he will kill you. If you cannot kill your German with a bullet, kill him with your bayonet. ''If there is calm on your part of the front, if you are waiting for the fighting, kill a German before combat. If you leave a German alive, the German will hang a Russian and rape a Russian woman. If you kill one German, kill another - there is nothing more amusing for us than a heap of German corpses. Do not count days; do not count miles. Count only the number of Germans you have killed.'' Kill the German - this is your old mother's prayer. Kill the German - this is what your children beseech you to do. ''Kill the German - this is the cry of your Russian earth. Do not waver. Do not let up. Kill.''" To be fair, Ehrenburg took flak from some Soviet officers on that and was denounced in ''{{Pravda}}'' just as the war was ending, possibly to try and downplay the excruciatingly bad PR that the USSR took on their mistreatment of the Germans in Berlin and elswhere.[[/note]]

After this time, UsefulNotes/WorldWarOne and the UsefulNotes/GreatPatrioticWar tends to colour Russian perceptions of Germans, as can be seen by Communist propaganda. Whereas Americans may be depicted as fat capitalists, Germans don't even get to be human. Surprisingly ([[RussianGuySuffersMost or maybe not]]), this was strictly limited to wartime media, and even in WWII official propaganda encouraged differentiating between ThoseWackyNazis and Germans as a people. [[note]]YMMV on that. Official Soviet policy seemed to go back and forth, but there were some widely-published-by-the-official-Soviet-propaganda-ministry "gems" (for varying values of "gem") as this one from Ilya Ehrenburg from 1942 (emphasis added): "Slavers - they would like to enslave our people. They take some Russians home, mistreat them, make them lose their wits by hunger, to the point that they eat grass and worms, and then a repulsive German with a stinking cigar can philosophise: "Are these perhaps human beings?" We know everything. We remember everything. We have understood: ''Germans are not human beings''. Henceforth the word German means to us the most terrible curse. From now on the word German will trigger your rifle. We shall not speak any more. We shall not get excited. We shall kill. ''If you have not killed at least one German a day, you have wasted that day.'' If you think that instead of you, the man next to you will kill him, you have not understood the threat. If you do not kill the German, he will kill you. If you cannot kill your German with a bullet, kill him with your bayonet. ''If there is calm on your part of the front, if you are waiting for the fighting, kill a German before combat. If you leave a German alive, the German will hang a Russian and rape a Russian woman. If you kill one German, kill another - there is nothing more amusing for us than a heap of German corpses. Do not count days; do not count miles. Count only the number of Germans you have killed.'' Kill the German - this is your old mother's prayer. Kill the German - this is what your children beseech you to do. ''Kill the German - this is the cry of your Russian earth. Do not waver. Do not let up. Kill.''" To be fair, Ehrenburg took flak from some Soviet officers on that and was denounced in ''{{Pravda}}'' just as the war was ending, possibly to try and downplay the excruciatingly bad PR that the USSR took on their mistreatment of the Germans in Berlin and elswhere.[[/note]]

Germans up to 18th century were found everywhere across the Eastern Europe; thus UsefulNotes/PeterTheGreat has many of them among the foreignes recruited for his plans of modernizing [[TsaristRussia Russia]]. They also formed the nobility and gentry of the Baltic provinces acquired by him. (This is one reason why the city of St. Petersburg has a Germanic name[[note]]wich though was originally Dutch Sankt-Piter-Boerch but soon changed a bit[[/note]]). Since the direct line of Romanovs was finished on Peter's daughter Elisabeth Petrovna, Russian throne was occupied by descendants of his other daughters married into Germany, who were effectively ethnic Germans (UsefulNotes/CatherineTheGreat was born as a German princess); with their encouragement, a large number of Germans emigrated to St. Petersburg and made colonies in other parts of Russia, including a region around part of the Volga River (becoming known as the Volga Germans) and, later on, modern Southern Ukraine (Novorossiya). Between 1795 (the third partition of {{UsefulNotes/Poland}}) and 1919 (the re-creation of Poland), Russia shared a border with {{Prussia}}/Germany. And then, you have all the Russians who moved from the SovietUnion to EastGermany, and who are now citizens of a [[TheBerlinRepublic united Germany]]. Meanwhile in WestGermany, the laws made it relatively easy for Russians to gain citizenship there too, provided that they were able to prove German descent (like e.g. the aforementioned Volga Germans). The situation in today's united Germany is similar.

--> Russia and Germany has nothing to divide (them). Except Poland.

--> When the court historians informed Alexander III that he's most probably descended not from Peter III, but from on of UsefulNotes/CatherineTheGreat's numerous lovers, Count Saltykov,[[note]]Catherine II's son and heir, Paul I, greatly resembled Saltykov in appearance/[[/note]] he proclaimed:

--> Russia and Germany has nothing to divide. Except Poland.

Germans formed the nobility and gentry of the Baltic provinces acquired by [[TsaristRussia Russia]] under UsefulNotes/PeterTheGreat. (This is one reason why the city of St. Petersburg has a Germanic name). Under UsefulNotes/CatherineTheGreat (born a German princess), a large number of Germans emigrated to a region around part of the Volga River, becoming known as the Volga Germans. Between 1795 (the third partition of {{UsefulNotes/Poland}}) and 1919 (the re-creation of Poland), Russia shared a border with {{Prussia}}/Germany. And then, you have all the Russians who moved from the SovietUnion to EastGermany, and who are now citizens of a [[TheBerlinRepublic united Germany]]. Meanwhile in WestGermany, the laws made it relatively easy for Russians to gain citizenship there too, provided that they were able to prove German descent (like e.g. the aforementioned Volga Germans). The situation in today's united Germany is similar.

* An old one, going as far back as UsefulNotes/NapoleonicWars, inquires:

--> Why Napoleon could never conquer Russia?
--> Don't you know? A Frenchman could never be a Russian Tsar! The Russian Tsar could only be German![[note]][[DoNotExplainTheJoke The joke here being]] that ever since UsefulNotes/PeterTheGreat the Romanov dynasty begun to Germanize increasingly fast, and by the times of Peter III and UsefulNotes/CatherineTheGreat, both full-blood Germans, there wasn't a drop of Russian blood in a dynasty's veins.[[/note]]

--> Don't you know? A Frenchman could never be a Russian Tsar! The Russian Tsar could only be German![[note]][[DoNotExplainTheJoke The joke here being that ever since UsefulNotes/PeterTheGreat the Romanov dynasty begun to Germanize increasingly fast, and by the times of Peter III and UsefulNotes/CatherineTheGreat, both full-blood Germans, there wasn't a drop of Russian blood in a dynasty's veins.[[/note]]

[[AC:{{Television}}]]