Early history defeats the
Teutonic Knights at the
Battle of the Ice in 1242 (20th century work). The earliest contact between
Germans and
East Slavs is unknown, though evidence of
East Germanic loan-words suggest Slavic interactions with the
Goths. Substantive historically recorded contact goes back to the times of the
Teutonic Knights' campaigns in the
Baltic, where the Knights
took control of the land in the 13th century CE. Prince
Alexander Nevsky defeated the Teutonic Knights at the
Battle of the Ice in 1242. Russia before the mid-18th century stood largely aloof from German affairs, while Germany, until the Napoleonic period, remained divided into numerous small states under the nominal leadership of the
Holy Roman Emperor. After Russia's
Great Northern War of 1700–1721 against
Sweden, however, Russia's influence spread definitively into the Baltic area. venerates the mortal remains of
Frederick the Great in the presence of King
Frederick William III and
Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz in 1805.
German migrations eastward Over the centuries, from the Middle Ages onwards, German settlers steadily
moved eastward, often into mostly Slavic areas and areas near to or controlled by Russia. Flegel points out that German farmers, traders and entrepreneurs moved into East and West Prussia, the Baltic region (Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia), the Danzig and Vistula River region,
Galicia,
Slovenia, the
Banat, the
Bachka,
Bukovina,
Transylvania, the
Volga River district of Russia,
Posen, the
Duchy of Warsaw, Polish and Ukrainian
Volhynia,
Bessarabia, and the
Mount Ararat region between the 17th and the 20th centuries. Often they came at the invitation of Russian governments. The Germans typically became the dominant factors in land-owning and in business enterprise. Some groups, such as part of the Mennonites, migrated to North America 1860–1914. The Germans in the Baltic states returned home voluntarily in 1940. Some 12 to 14 million were brutally
expelled from Poland, Czechoslovakia and other countries in Eastern Europe in 1944–46, with the death of 500,000 or more. When the Cold War ended Germany funded the return of hundreds of thousands of people of German descent, whether or not they spoke German. in
Sevastopol, Crimea A number of
Baltic Germans served as ranking generals in the
Russian Imperial Army and
Navy, including
Michael Barclay de Tolly,
Adam von Krusenstern,
Fabian von Bellingshausen,
Friedrich von Buxhoeveden,
Paul von Rennenkampf,
Ivan Ivanovich Michelson and
Eduard Totleben. Many Baltic Germans (such as
Baron Roman von Ungern-Sternberg,
Baron Pyotr Nikolayevich Wrangel,
Yevgeny Miller, and
Anatoly Lieven) sided with the
Whites and related anti-Bolshevik forces (like the
Baltische Landeswehr and the
Freikorps movement) during the
Russian Civil War.
Prussia and Russia With the creation of the
Kingdom of Prussia in 1701 and the proclamation of the
Russian Empire in 1721, two powerful new states emerged that began to interact. They fought on opposite sides during the
War of the Austrian Succession (1740 – 1748), but the war saw both grow in power. Russia defeated Sweden and Prussia defeated Austria. Russia and Prussia again were at odds during the
Seven Years' War (1756–1763) and fought the battles of
Gross-Jägersdorf,
Zorndorf,
Kay and
Kunersdorf. However, when Russian Tsar
Peter III came to power, he made peace with Prussia by signing the
Treaty of Saint Petersburg, allowing Prussian King
Frederick the Great to concentrate on his other enemies. Prussia and Russia in agreement with Austria then cooperated to
carve up Poland-Lithuania between them in 1772, 1793, and 1795. Poland disappeared from the map. .
The Declaration of Victory After the Battle of Leipzig by
Frederick III of Prussia,
Alexander I of Russia and
Francis I of Austria after the
Battle of Leipzig, 1813 Both Russia and Prussia had
absolute monarchies that reacted sharply when the
French Revolution executed the king. They at first were part of the coalition against the new French regime during the
French Revolutionary Wars and later the
Napoleonic Wars. During the Napoleonic era (1799 to 1815) Austria, Prussia, and Russia were at one time or another in coalition with Napoleon against his arch-enemy Great Britain. In the end, the two German states of Austria and Prussia united with Russia and Britain in opposing Napoleon. That coalition was primarily a matter of convenience for each nation. The key matchmaker was the Austrian Chancellor Klemens von Metternich, who forged a united front that proved decisive in overthrowing Napoleon, 1813–1814. Russia was the most powerful force on the continent after 1815 and played a major role in the
Concert of Europe which included France, Russia, Austria and Britain, but not Prussia. In 1815, the
Holy Alliance consisting of Prussia, Russia and Austria was completed in Paris. For forty years (1816–56) Russian-German diplomat
Karl Nesselrode as foreign minister guided Russian foreign policy. The revolutions of 1848 did not reach Russia, but its political and economic system was inadequate to maintain a modern army. It did poorly in the
Crimean War. As Fuller notes, "Russia had been beaten on the Crimean peninsula, and the military feared that it would inevitably be beaten again unless steps were taken to surmount its military weakness." The Crimean War marked the end of the Concert of Europe. Prussia was shaken by the
Revolutions of 1848 but was able to withstand the revolutionaries' call to war against Russia. Prussia did go to war with Denmark, however, and was only stopped by British and Russian pressure. Prussia remained neutral in the Crimean War. Prussia's successes in the
Wars of German Unification in the 1860s were facilitated by Russia's lack of involvement. The creation of the
German Empire under Prussian dominance in 1871, however, greatly changed the relations between the two countries.
The German and Russian Empires with Britain and Russia. As a result, Russia and Germany were now on opposite sides. of Russia and his cousin, Kaiser
Wilhelm II of Germany, 1907 Initially, it seemed as if the two great empires would be strong allies. German Chancellor
Otto von Bismarck formed the
League of the Three Emperors in 1872 binding together Russia, Austria, and Germany. The League stated that
republicanism and
socialism were common enemies, and that the three powers would discuss any matters concerning foreign policy. Bismarck needed good relations with Russia in order to keep France isolated. In 1877–1878, Russia fought a victorious
war with the Ottoman Empire and attempted to impose the
Treaty of San Stefano on it. This upset the British in particular, as they were long concerned with preserving the
Ottoman Empire and preventing a Russian takeover of the
Bosphorus. Germany hosted the
Congress of Berlin (1878), whereby a more moderate peace settlement was agreed to. Germany had no direct interest in the Balkans, however, which was largely an Austrian and Russian sphere of influence. In 1879, Bismarck formed a Dual Alliance of Germany and Austria-Hungary, with the aim of mutual military assistance in the case of an attack from Russia, which was not satisfied with the agreement reached at the Congress of Berlin. The establishment of the Dual Alliance led Russia to take a more conciliatory stance, and in 1887, the so-called
Reinsurance Treaty was signed between Germany and Russia: in it, the two powers agreed on mutual military support in the case that France attacked Germany, or in case of an Austrian attack on Russia. Russia turned its attention eastward to Asia and remained largely inactive in European politics for the next 25 years. A continental alliance of France, Germany, and Russia against Britain was proposed at the time of the
Anglo-Boer War in 1900 but the pact never materialized when Wilhelm II declined due to irreconcilable, prestige and independent policy. Germany was somewhat worried about Russia's potential industrialization—it had far more potential soldiers—while Russia feared Germany's already established industrial power. In 1907 Russia went into a coalition with Britain and France, the
Triple Entente.
Treaty of Björkö was a secret mutual defense agreement signed on 1905, an island near the Swedish coast, between Germany and Russia, aiming to strengthen bilateral ties and counterbalance other European alliances. It was countersigned by
Heinrich von Tschirschky, head of the German Foreign Office, and Naval Minister
Aleksei Birilev. The treaty was sought to isolate France diplomatically by enticing Russia away from its partnership with France and possibly enhance Germany's position in Russo-France alliance towards at Britain, but it ultimately failed to alter the preexisting alliance networks. In June 1909, the Kaiser Wilhelm II and Tsar Nicholas II exchanged cordial visits aboard the Royal yachts Hohenzollern and Standart off Bjorko. This possible rapprochement meeting was significant as it marked a diplomatic moment between the two emperors, who shared a common interest in maintaining European peace and stability the meeting represented a temporary easing of tensions following the
Bosnian Crisis. It demonstrated imperial attempts at leveraged international relations. The visit was accompanied by German Minister for Foreign Affairs
Herr von Schoen and Russian Premier
M. Stolypin. In November 1910 and 1913, wherein two monarchs visited in Potsdam for private discussions aimed at strengthening family ties and easing diplomatic tensions between their empires. The personal rapport between Wilhelm and Nicholas, documented through the
Willy–Nicky correspondence, the visit largely ceremonial it own symbolized the complex interplay of personal diplomacy in ultimately could not overcome the pressures of national alliances and political crise. The ultimate result of this was that Russia and Germany became enemies in
World War I. The
Eastern Front saw Germany successful, with victories at
Tannenberg,
First and
Second Masurian Lakes and
Lake Naroch. The czarist system collapsed in 1917. The Bolsheviks came to power in the
October Revolution. The new regime signed the
Treaty of Brest-Litovsk which was highly advantageous to Germany, although it was reversed when Germany surrendered to the Allies in November 1918.
Interwar period After the peace treaties that ended the Great War, the newly created states of the
Weimar Republic and the
Soviet Union both found themselves outcasts in the international system and gravitated toward each other. The
Treaty of Rapallo (1922) formalized their warming relationship. Until 1933 the Soviet Union secretly provided training camps for the German Armed Forces. The coming to power in 1933 of
Adolf Hitler and the creation of
the Nazi state with its virulent anti-Semitic and
anti-communist rhetoric made for extremely hostile propaganda in both directions. Nazi propaganda, across Europe and Latin America, focused on warnings against Jewish and Bolshevik threats emanating from Moscow. The
Comintern, representing Moscow's international Communist network, moved to a
popular front approach after 1934, allowing the Communists worldwide to cooperate with socialists, intellectuals and workers on the left in opposing Fascism. The worldwide left-wing support for the Republicans in the
Spanish Civil War (1936–39) proved of enormous aid to the Communist cause. Germany and the Soviets both sent military forces and advisors into Spain, as did Italy. in September 1939 The Spanish Civil War was in part a proxy war. The Nationalists led by General
Francisco Franco and the Republican government fought it out for the control of the country. Militarily, the Nationalists usually had the upper hand and they won in the end. Germany sent in the
Condor Legion comprising elite air and tank units to the Nationalist forces. The Soviet Union sent military and political advisors, and sold munitions in support of the "Loyalist," or Republican, side. The Comintern helped Communist parties around the world send volunteers to the
International Brigades that fought for the Loyalists. In August 1939 the two states stunned the world by coming to a major agreement, the
Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact. They agreed to invade and partition Poland and divided up Eastern Europe. The Soviets provided Germany with oil and reversed the anti-Nazi rhetoric of Communist parties around the world. At the same time, the Soviet and German interests were not reconciled in the Balkano-Danubian region. Thus, during 1940-1941 hot Soviet-German discussions concerning a new division of the South-Eastern Europe were going on. In June 1940, Moscow recognized that Slovakia was in the German sphere of influence. Otherwise, Russian request for the exclusive influence in Romania, Bulgaria and Turkey was rejected by Berlin in November 1940.
German invasion of Soviet Union and World War II during
World War II was the deadliest siege of a city in history. In 1941, it was Russia's turn, yet
Joseph Stalin refused to believe the multiple warnings of a German invasion.
Operation Barbarossa began in June 1941, captured or destroyed multiple Soviet armies, and reached the gates of Moscow by December. Stalin fought back and forged close relations with Britain and the United States, both of which provided large amounts of munitions. The
Eastern Front became the horrendous ideological and
race war with more than 27 million killed, including
Soviet prisoners of war and Jews. It was perhaps
the bloodiest conflict in human history.
After the war: the Soviet Union and the two German states The defeat of Germany by the Soviets and the
Western allies eventually led to the occupation and partition of Germany and the
expulsions of most ethnic-Germans from Soviet-conquered areas. The creation of
West Germany and
East Germany complicated relations. West Germany initially tried to claim that it was the only German state and the East was illegitimate and under the
Hallstein Doctrine refused to have relation with any socialist state except the Soviet Union itself. This policy eventually gave way to
Ostpolitik, under which West Germany recognized the East. Gorbachev gave up on trying to support the deeply unpopular East German government. After the
Revolutions of 1989 and the
fall of the Berlin Wall, the Communist regime in East Germany collapsed and
German reunification took place. One issue was the presence of large numbers of Soviet troops; West Germany paid for their repatriation for housing them in the USSR. Remarkably, despite the two 20th century wars, there are very few hard feelings against Germany in modern Russia, particularly on the part of Russians born after 1945. Moreover, in many places in Russia German war cemeteries were established in places of fierce World War II battles, whereas Germans were happy to get rid of the hated
Stasi and Russian occupation.
Federal Republic of Germany and the Russian Federation in
Mosfilmovskaya Street,
Moscow (right) in 2001 Relations between the two nations since the fall of Communism in 1990 have been generally good but not always without tension. German chancellor
Gerhard Schröder placed high value on relations with Russia and worked for the completion of the
Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline between them. His successor
Angela Merkel, an Easterner and former dissident, has been more critical and clashed with Russian
president Vladimir Putin over
human rights and other issues. However, she, like her predecessor, always put a high value on the Nordstream pipeline, due to its ability to increase Russian influence. Most of the human rights issues could be seen as side-shows for the public - whilst the end-goal was always the completion of, and compensation for, NordStream. The project under both the Bush and Obama administration moved forward at rapid pace, but with only 300 km left, the Trump Administration halted the project by putting pressure on the Danish company overseeing the completion of the pipeline. Germany's relations with Russia were never likely to be as cozy under Angela Merkel as under her predecessor, Gerhard Schröder, who adopted a 3-year-old Russian girl and, on his 60th birthday, invited President Vladimir V. Putin home to celebrate. Germany created a German-Russian Forum () in 1993. Alexandra Gräfin Lambsdorff was its first president.
21st century After the failure of the
Soviet Union and troubles of the
early Russian Federation, a policy of rapprochement named
Wandel durch Handel ensued. In 2007 then-
Minister of Foreign Affairs Frank-Walter Steinmeier published a long article explaining his rationale on EU being such an exceptional role model on international cooperation that Putinite
Russia will unavoidably get "like us" by merely "intertwining of interests" (
Verflechtung), and also that "a pan-European peace order and a lasting solution to important security problems (…) can only be achieved with Russia, not without it or even against it". Even after the five-day
Russo-Georgian War in August 2008, Steinmeier argued for a new
Ostpolitik and proposed a comprehensive project of ‘Partnership for Modernisation’ – a continued attempt of ‘westernisation’ of Russia and thus an export of norms, institutions and procedures of the western community. Generations of German foreign ministers helped over many years to admit Putin into the
WTO, Relations turned negative in 2014 in response to Russia's seizure of Crimea from Ukraine and support for insurgents in Ukraine. Germany was a leader between
NATO Quint in imposing round after round of increasingly harsh sanctions against the Russian oil and banking industries and top allies of President Putin. Russia responded by cutting food imports from the EU. Since the crisis began, Chancellor
Angela Merkel told President Putin that the
referendum on accession of Crimea to Russia is illegal.
2014–2021 The European Union, the United States and their allies began using economic sanctions to force Russia to reverse course regarding Ukraine and stop supporting
2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine. The
Los Angeles Times reported that: :Merkel and her fellow Western leaders are angered by Russia's actions in Ukraine, especially its seizure of Crimea, support for pro-Russia separatists in eastern Ukraine and fresh military incursion. Moscow's denial that it has any involvement in Ukraine's blood conflict only irks them more. The German chancellor has signaled a tougher stance toward Russia, spelling out her willingness to sacrifice German economic interests and further boost sanctions to send a strong message that Moscow's actions are unacceptable. [She said,] "Being able to change borders in Europe without consequences, and attacking other countries with troops, is in my view a far greater danger than having to accept certain disadvantages for the economy."
natural gas pipeline, running under the
Baltic Sea. Germany imported 50% to 75% of its natural gas from Russia. On the left, however, former Social Democrat Chancellor
Gerhard Schröder announced his understanding of Russian policies and support for Putin. The
New York Times editorialized that Schröder's decision to "embrace him [Putin] in a bear hug sent an unacceptable signal that some prominent Europeans are willing to ignore Mr. Putin's brutish ways." According to the Russian news agency
ITAR/TASS in September 2014, Russia's Prime Minister
Dmitry Medvedev admitted the sanctions are hurting the Russian economy and slowing its growth. However he expected to support oil industries that are hurt, to seek financing and high technology from Asia, and to import food from new sources. Germany also tried to persuade Russia to return to the
Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe, which it had abrogated in March 2015. Even as late as 2016, "German leaders rejected the proposal to send weapons to the Ukrainian government, as advocated by Republican congressmen in the US and treated as a possibility by
Barack Obama, since pursuit of a military solution to the conflict collided with Germany’s post-war pacific security culture." in Russia Germany has traditionally been one of Russia's key economic partners. The annual trade turnover between the two countries had exceeded the $80 billion-level just before the sanctions were imposed. It is estimated that mutual sanctions entailed the decline in the bilateral trade volume of up to 20% that meant billions of losses for the German economy and, obviously, many jobs being cut. By early 2014, when the conflict was about to start, not only did German exports to Russia constitute the third of the whole EU's, but more than 6,200 German firms operated in Russia itself. In 2017, for the first time since the introduction of anti-Russian sanctions in 2014, bilateral trade increased - by 22.8%, amounting to about $50 billion. In the first eight months of 2018, the volume of mutual trade between Russia and Germany increased by almost a quarter compared to the same period last year. At the same time, Russian exports to Germany in 2018 increased by 35% to $22.1 billion, while imports rose by 12% to $16.9 billion. on 29 July 2019 A
Levada poll released in August 2018 found that 68% of Russian respondents believe that Russia needs to dramatically improve relations with Western countries, including Germany. A Levada poll released in February 2020 found that 80% of Russian respondents believe that Russia and the West should become friends and partners. The
East StratCom Task Force of the
European External Action Service registered an increase in false information
propagated in Russia about Germany as a result of the deterioration in German-Russian relations developed since the
Poisoning of Alexei Navalny. In October 2021, German Defense Minister
Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer had talked about the possibility of deploying
nuclear weapons against Russia. She noted that nuclear weapons are a "means of deterrence."
2022–present on 15 February 2022 After the 2022
Russian invasion of Ukraine started, Germany, as one of the EU countries, imposed
sanctions on Russia, and Russia added all EU countries to the list of "unfriendly nations". Germany joined other countries in spring 2022 in
declaring a number of Russian diplomats persona non grata. In April 2022, the German government said it will send 1 billion euros in
military aid to Ukraine. On 17 May 2022, German Finance Minister
Christian Lindner said he is "politically open to the idea of seizing" the frozen
foreign-exchange reserves of the
Central Bank of Russia —which amount to over $300 billion— to cover the costs of rebuilding Ukraine after the war. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister
Alexander Grushko remarked that it would amount to "complete lawlessness", and that the measure would hurt Germany if adopted. German
Riol Chemie GmbH has allegedly illegally delivered chemicals to Russia, including precursor for
Novichok. By 1 September 2022, the actual volume of
German arms deliveries to Ukraine was only exceeded by that of deliveries by the United States and the United Kingdom. In fall 2022, Russia had halted gas flows via the
Nord Stream 1 pipeline several times, blaming
international sanctions against Russia. This led to an upward jump in energy prices as Russia tried to use energy as a weapon to reduce support for Ukraine. Russia's foreign ministry blamed the
United States for Germany's energy crisis, by pushing its leaders towards a "suicidal" step of cutting economic and energy cooperation with
Moscow, which he claimed had been a reliable energy supplier since Soviet times, despite previous
Russian-Ukrainian gas disputes having affected Russia's natural gas supply to Europe in 2006 and 2009. s, February 2024 A discussion on the legitimacy of economic sanctions against Russia took place. Parties to the right (
AfD) and to the left (
Die Linke) were split on the issue whether economic sanctions are effective to stop the conflict, and how they impact the German economy. Proponents of the right wanted to support the
Nord Stream 2 pipeline, while politicians to the left have voiced similar concerns with regard to Germany's economic viability. The
destruction of Nord Stream 2 in September 2022 changed the debate. In January 2023, Scholz announced the decision to send
Leopard 2 battle tanks to Ukraine. In April 2023, Germany expelled 50 Russian diplomats, the action was reportedly taken "in order to reduce the presence of Russian intelligence in Germany". Russia closed four of the five Russian Consulates in Germany. The
Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs responded by expelling 34 German diplomats from Moscow, stating that Germany "continues to demonstratively destroy the entire array of Russian-German relations". In May 2023, the
German Foreign Ministry stated that hundreds of Germans would be expelled from Moscow at the beginning of June, this due to a decision by Russia to cap the number of German employees in the country. Those expelled include employees from the
German School Moscow. Germany closed consulates general in Novosibirsk and Yekaterinburg on 1 December 2023, having already closed the one in Kaliningrad. In 2022, Scholz stated that Russian deserters and draft evaders who refused to take part in the Russian invasion of Ukraine and
fled Russia should be given protection in Germany. However, in 2024, German authorities ordered the deportation of Russian nationals who wanted to avoid
mobilization and criticized Putin's government on the grounds that they would not face
persecution in Russia. main battle tank in Ukrainian service on display at Moscow's Victory Park on
Poklonnaya Hill, 2024 In May 2024, Scholz gave Ukraine permission to
strike targets inside Russia with German-supplied weapons. In July 2024, the United States announced its intention to deploy
long-range missiles in Germany from 2026 that could hit Russian territory within 10 minutes. In response, Russian President Putin warned of a
Cold War-style missile crisis and threatened to deploy long-range missiles within striking distance of the West. The decision was supported by German Chancellor
Olaf Scholz and German Defense Minister
Boris Pistorius. Critics say the move would trigger a new
arms race. According to Russian military analysts, it would be extremely difficult to distinguish between a conventionally armed missile and a missile carrying a
nuclear warhead, and Russia could respond by deploying longer-range nuclear systems targeting Germany. The disruption of Germany–Russia relations has to do with the paradigm of "
Wandel durch Handel" politics. In basic terms, Germany forged a useful economic relationship with Russia through the imports of natural resources under the chancellorship of
Gerhard Schröder from 1998 to 2004. Subsequent to the
Russia-Ukraine war, this model was abandoned and Germany experienced an economic decline due to strict economic sanctions against the
Russian Federation, particularly in the energy sector. == Trade ==