Migration is an everyday and ubiquitous phenomenon for us today. In recent decades, many people from the countries of the South Caucasus have migrated to Europe and other places across the globe. At the beginning of the 19th century, the situation was reversed: Europeans arrived from the west to live and work in the South Caucasus. At this time, the borders of the Russian Empire were extended over the Caucasian foothills through conquests. Already in the 18th century, Catherine the Great (1729–1796) had initiated not only scientific exploration of these remote regions but also the settlement of foreigners in the newly conquered territories. The so-called Invitation Manifestos of 1762– 64, outlining the rights and duties of the new settlers, laid the legal framework for future settlement. The recruitment and settlement of mainly German migrants
had begun.