Russia

• Out of the Vistula delta in western Prussia, Mennonites started migrating to the Ukraine in 1788. Until ca. 1850 several groups followed them.
• The Vistula delta had been a refuge for religiously persecuted people, starting in the 16th century. From the Netherlands and northern Germany, many Mennonites had taken refuge there because the ruling princes were among the few at the time, who granted freedom of conscience in religious matters, provided that the people would activate the economy by cultivating previously useless lands. Swampy terrain was thus drained and dozens of flourishing mennonite villages popped up along the lower course of the Vistula, south of the city of Danzig. Because of large families, the population increased rapidly.
• In the 18th century Prussia was heavily militarized. The Mennonites, being pacifists, came under pressure. Their right to own land was being curtailed, they had to pay heavy war taxes, and there was constant threat of drafting the young men into the army. The invitation of Catherine the great, to come to Russia, was received with enthusiasm, and in late 1788 the first group began its trek to settle new lands. They founded Chortitza colony along the right bank of the Dnjepr river the following year. 1804 another large group came to found Molotshna colony on the left bank of the same river, not far from the black sea. Plenty of land, religious freedom and respect for their pacifist conviction, was the great attraction that encouraged them and other german immigrants to go to Russia.