Cultivating the Steppe: The Origins of Mennonite Farming Practices in the Russian Empire

TY - JOUR

T1 - Cultivating the Steppe

T2 - The Origins of Mennonite Farming Practices in the Russian Empire

AU - Moon, David Gerard

N1 - The subtitle was revised by the journal editor after the text of the article was agreed, hence the difference between the published title and that on the text attached.

PY - 2017/5/1

Y1 - 2017/5/1

N2 - The main part of this article is presented in two sections. The first considers the practices for cultivating grain introduced by Mennonite farmers in Molotschna in the 1830s; the second analyzes the wider contexts in which the Mennonites developed the practices and the motivations behind them. The article is based on a range of primary sources including reports by Mennonite leaders to the Russian authorities, studies of Mennonite agriculture by visiting specialists, and articles by Mennonite and Russian authors published in contemporary Russian agricultural periodicals and preserved in archives in Russia and Ukraine. It also draws on the recent edition of the correspondence of pioneering Mennonite farmer and leader Johann Cornies. Reference is made to a selection of the extensive secondary literature on the Mennonite colonies and steppe farming. In keeping with recent Ukrainian scholarship, the Mennonites are considered as part of the wider population of southern Ukraine.

AB - The main part of this article is presented in two sections. The first considers the practices for cultivating grain introduced by Mennonite farmers in Molotschna in the 1830s; the second analyzes the wider contexts in which the Mennonites developed the practices and the motivations behind them. The article is based on a range of primary sources including reports by Mennonite leaders to the Russian authorities, studies of Mennonite agriculture by visiting specialists, and articles by Mennonite and Russian authors published in contemporary Russian agricultural periodicals and preserved in archives in Russia and Ukraine. It also draws on the recent edition of the correspondence of pioneering Mennonite farmer and leader Johann Cornies. Reference is made to a selection of the extensive secondary literature on the Mennonite colonies and steppe farming. In keeping with recent Ukrainian scholarship, the Mennonites are considered as part of the wider population of southern Ukraine.

KW - Mennonites

KW - Agriculture

KW - Steppe

KW - Ukraine

KW - History

M3 - Article

SN - 0824-5053

VL - 35 (2017)

SP - 241

EP - 268

JO - Journal of Mennonite Studies

JF - Journal of Mennonite Studies

ER -