Share About Your Ancestry

mmatt9876 said:
The state of Prussia once existed where the state of Germany and the state of Poland now exist, right?
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Prussia was one part of Germany that conquered the rest of what is now Germany. Austria is also ethnically German and it once had a large empire too.
I wonder if Germany and Poland have some French roots or influences too?
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Ever read War and Peace? There was a lot of French cultural influence on eastern Europe as an offshoot of Napoleon's conquests. And I suppose invading soldiers do tend to leave a trail of babies behind but that kind of ancestry would be difficult to trace. (Father: unknown)
What nationalities were your four grandparents born in the Ukraine? Why were they born in Ukraine if they were not Ukrainian?
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Three of them were Mennonites. Mennonites are pacifists and Russia (which owned Ukraine at the time) was willing to accept them because they didn't need them for their army, since they had more men of their own than they could afford to equip and train. My dad also used to say that German settlement was encouraged by Catherine the Great, since she was of German ancestry. The fourth was a Prussian whose parents moved to Russia to work, gravitating toward the German settlements, I guess.
 
sideshowbob said:
Prussia was one part of Germany that conquered the rest of what is now Germany. Austria is also ethnically German and it once had a large empire too.
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I know that the state of Germany has gone through a lot of changes, such as rulers and borders, over the years.

sideshowbob said:
Ever read War and Peace? There was a lot of French cultural influence on eastern Europe as an offshoot of Napoleon's conquests. And I suppose invading soldiers do tend to leave a trail of babies behind but that kind of ancestry would be difficult to trace. (Father: unknown)
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I know Russia was an ally of France during World War 1. Were they also allies during World War 2. I know France was defeated by the Nazi's and then liberated, or defeated, by the Allies.

sideshowbob said:
Three of them were Mennonites. Mennonites are pacifists and Russia (which owned Ukraine at the time) was willing to accept them because they didn't need them for their army, since they had more men of their own than they could afford to equip and train. My dad also used to say that German settlement was encouraged by Catherine the Great, since she was of German ancestry. The fourth was a Prussian whose parents moved to Russia to work, gravitating toward the German settlements, I guess.
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Thanks for sharing. Beyond surname research I know very little of my ancestry. I am really not sure who was born in America and who was born in Europe.
 
sideshowbob said:
I don't know if Russia and France were technically aligned during WW2. France fell while Russia was still aligned with Hitler....
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I know that Germany and Russia collaborated in the invasion of Poland, I believe back in 1939. Why did Russia ally, if that is the correct word, with Germany to invade Poland?
 
mmatt9876 said:
I know that Germany and Russia collaborated in the invasion of Poland, I believe back in 1939. Why did Russia ally, if that is the correct word, with Germany to invade Poland?
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The non-aggression pact was basically a stalling measure by both sides. Russia wanted more time to build up its military, while Germany wanted time to pursue its push to the west without worrying about fighting the USSR to the East. Once Germany had secured most of Europe, they turned around and broke the pact by attacking the USSR without warning.
 
Janus58 said:
The non-aggression pact was basically a stalling measure by both sides. Russia wanted more time to build up its military, while Germany wanted time to pursue its push to the west without worrying about fighting the USSR to the East. Once Germany had secured most of Europe, they turned around and broke the pact by attacking the USSR without warning.
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Thanks for the info. So the political connection between Germany and Russia during World War 2, in the beginning, was a non-aggression pact and not an alliance.
 
I had come across a family surname of mine that I had recently discovered while research family documents that I wanted to share with you guys. I had come across with an ancestor with the last name Halan. I did some internet research on the name and I discovered it may be of English origin.
 
mmatt9876 said:
I had come across a family surname of mine that I had recently discovered while research family documents that I wanted to share with you guys. I had come across with an ancestor with the last name Halan. I did some internet research on the name and I discovered it may be of English origin.
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And is '9876' the modern derivative of Halan? :)
 
According to my online surname research my Halan ancestors, if I have the surname correct, may have been of English ancestry, but the surname sounds like it could be German or Nordic too.
 
There is a lot I am unsure about concerning my ancestry. So far I believe I am a German, Polish, Irish, and Russian American. So far I believe I have ancestry from the Meyer, Rozanski, Colfer, Kelly, and Hesse families.
 
so, my ancestry is convoluted and mostly unknown, but I will share what I've been told and how I was raised:
Oglala, mixed with Hungarian and possibly Scandinavian or German.

Our family (on all sides) is also incredibly diverse having adopted many different cultures and races into it.

short of getting my DNA read, I know only what I've been told and how I've been raised (which is convoluted in an of itself)
mmatt9876 said:
Does anybody here have any royal or notable ancestors?
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My wife has Royal, notable and infamous ancestors galore. Scottish, Irish, English blue-bloods, oh my! LOL
mmatt9876 said:
Does anybody know of any good free ancestry research websites?
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I'll ask the wife when she returns.
 
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