The reason that caused the simultaneous movement of a huge multi-tribal mass of people was a sharp cold snap, which negatively affected the economic conditions of many peoples, prompting them to look for a new habitat in less high latitudes.Moving along the strip, which the Goths walked, to the south of it, archaeologists find historical monuments related to the Slavs.Moving on their way almost simultaneously with the Goths, the Slavs settled a vast territory from the shores of the Baltic to the Dnieper, to the Aegean and Mediterranean seas, and occupied the Balkans.Foreign policy factors were also the main reason for migrations: pressure from some barbarian tribes (most often nomadic) on others and the weakening of the Roman Empire, which turned out to be no longer able to withstand the onslaught from its strengthened neighbors.The invasion of the Huns into the territory of Europe led to the destruction of the entire former ethnopolitical situation in the barbarian world, and led to massive displacements.The Slavs also became participants in the Great Migration of Peoples, who then first appeared in documents under their own name.

The Markomanski wars (166-180) became a kind of prerequisite for this process.In the century preceding the Marcomannic Wars, the Slavs were too distant from the borders of the Roman Empire.Only some of them could participate in the Marcomannian Wars, and later, in the III century, in sea and land campaigns in the Roman Empire.During the Marcomannian Wars, part of the Wislo-Oder Slavs, having joined the German movements, moved to the Middle Danube region.Thus, on the eve of the Resettlement, the bulk of the Slavic tribes occupied the territory from the shores of the Baltic Sea to the northern slopes of the Carpathian Mountains, primarily -. poolVistula.By the 3rd - 4th centuries.the settlement territory of the Slavs has increased significantly.

At the end of the II century.migration waves of the Goths swept through the lands of the Wends.The Wends lived in stripe with the Goths, participating in the military coalitions of the tribes.Before the arrival of the Huns, there were no serious military conflicts between these tribes.The tensions and hostility were not ethnic persecution.Mutual influence and exchange of tradition went on constantly, prevailing in times of peace, enmity on an ethnic basis was alien to the barbaric world.As a result of migrations, the once united community of Wends was divided into two parts - Sklavens and Antes.

Resettlement of the Slavs in the VI century.n.NS.

With the appearance of the Huns in the Northern Black Sea region, a conflict arose between the Goths and the Antes.Moving to the southeast, the Goths entered the "limits of the Antes."The Antes had to submit to the fact that the Goths controlled the main trade routes by which the Antes were connected with other tribes.The war dragged on for several years.The Goths were victorious.Their reprisal against the ants was cruel - the king of the Goths Vinitarius crucified the leader of the ants Bozha with seventy elders.Traces of this conflict have survived not only in the Slavic, but also in the Gothic epic: as evidenced by the unique monument of ancient Russian literature - "The Lay of Igor's Host."

The Slavs in the IV century joined the general flow of migration processes and the opposition to the Roman Empire.And although at the first stage of the Great Migration of peoples, the Goths and Slavs were more often allies, but already in the fourth century AD the Slavs became rivals of the Goths and allies of the Huns, which facilitated the victory of the Huns over the Goths.

At the second stage of the Great Migration of Peoples, the invasion of the Huns forced part of the Slavic population to leave their lands and seek salvation in new places. This invasion at the end of the 4th century. determined the main directions of Slavic migrations - west and southwest. The expansion of the Slavs extended to the interfluve of the Odra and Laba. In Labe, the Slavs appeared at the turn of the 5th-6th centuries. Another wave of Slavic tribes approached the borders of the Byzantine Empire from the east and northeast, occupying areas on the left bank of the Danube. The resettlement of the tribes to the Empire was preceded by almost a century of their stay in the coastal areas. Periods of peaceful relations alternated with conflicts, raids with robberies and the capture of slaves.

The departure to the west of the Goths and the Sarmatians, and then the collapse of Attila's empire allowed the Slavs in the 5th century.to begin extensive colonization of the Northern Danube, the lower reaches of the Dniester and the middle reaches of the Dnieper.At the end of the 5th century.began the advance of the Slavs to the south (to the Danube, to the North-Western Black Sea region) and their invasion of the Balkan provinces of Byzantium.The Antes invaded the Balkan Peninsula through the lower Danube, the Sklavins attacked the Byzantine provinces from the north and northwest.

The first independent raid on the Balkans, recorded in Byzantine sources, was made by the Slavs during the reign of Emperor Justin I (518-527).These were the Antes, who "crossed the river Istres, invaded the land of the Romans in a huge army."But the Ant invasion was unsuccessful, and peace reigned on the Danube border of the empire for a while.

Since 527a continuous series of Slavic invasions ravages the Balkan lands and threatens the very capital of the empire -.Constantinople.The plan of Justinian, who sought to restore the unity of the Roman Empire, was the result of a weakening of the northern border. For some time the empire held back the Slavic pressure. In 531 the talented military leader Hilwoodius was appointed Commander-in-Chief in Thrace. He tried to transfer hostilities to the Slavic lands and organize strong points on the other bank of the Danube, placing troops there in winter quarters. However, this decision caused a great murmur among the soldiers, who complained of intolerable hardship and cold. After the death of Hilwoodia, the Byzantine troops returned to a purely defensive strategy. In 550/551, the transition from raids to the settlement of the occupied territories began.

Danube among the Slavs -.the border of the world of the living and the dead, a semi-fabulous line, beyond which either death or fulfillment awaits a persondesires. According to the remarkable Russian philologists inIvanova I.V.Toporova - "this is a certain main line, beyond which lies the land, abundant in wealth, but fraught with dangers, the border of the fertile land and the longed-for goal of all aspirations."

Ivanov S.V."Death of an immigrant on the way" (1889, Tretyakov Gallery)

The Sklavins and Antes managed to penetrate Thrace and Illyricum almost every year.. Many areas were plundered more than five times.According to Procopius' calculations, each Slavic invasion cost the empire 200,000 inhabitants.killed and taken prisoner. At that timethe population of the Balkans has reached a minimum of its size, having decreased from two to one million people.

Sklavins by this time lived in the area of ​​Lake Balaton.The territory of their settlement extended to the Dniester.The left bank of the Lower Danube and its southeastern regions were inhabited by Antae.The relationship between Sklavins and Antes varied from peaceful to openly hostile.The feuds between the Antes and the Sklavins opened up the opportunity for the Empire to reverse relations with the barbarians.

Ambassadors were sent to the antam, who invited the barbarians to settle as allies ("ensponds") in the city of Turris in order to secure this part of the Danube border. (The relations between the Ensponds and the empire go beyond the purely military sphere, have a long-term permanent character, the status of "ensponds" is characterized by their political independence, the empire had to pay the "ensponds" money). According to Procopius, “... the emperor Justinian promised to give them gifts and help them in settling, as far as he could, as well as to pay them a lot of money, so that they, being henceforth allies of him, would always be an obstacle to the Huns wishing to raid the state of the Romans ".Byzantium preferred to bribe the barbarians rather than fight them.In all likelihood, the negotiations ended successfully.Being flattered by the imperial gifts, the Antes recognized the supremacy of Byzantium, and Justinian included the epithet "Antsky" in his imperial title.In 547 g.a small detachment of antes participated in military operations in Italy against the troops of the Ostrogoth king Totila.Their skills of waging war in wooded and mountainous areas served the Romans well.Having occupied a narrow passage in one of the impassable places of hilly Lucania, the Antes repeated the feat of the Spartans at Thermopylae.“With their inherent valor (despite the fact that the inconvenience of the terrain contributed to them), - as Procopius of Caesarea narrates, - the ants ... overthrew the enemies;and a great slaughter took place.Perhaps the alliance with the Antes was also directed against the Sklavins.

The Sklavens did not join the Byzantine-Ant agreement and continued their devastating raids on the lands of the empire.In 547-548.the barbarians attacked Illyricum and Dalmatia, took Dyrrachium on the Adriatic coast, in 549 BC.again invaded Thrace, plundering, killing and capturing the inhabitants.Encouraged by their success, during the next raids, the Slavs already remained in the Balkans for the winter "as if in their own country, without fear of any danger," writes Procopius indignantly.Even the grandiose defensive system of 600 fortresses erected along the Danube by order of Justinian I did not help to stop their invasions.The Slavs spread over the Thracian and Illyrian regions.During the siege of Topir, they resorted to military cunning.Having lured the garrison out of the city with a feigned retreat, the Slavs surrounded it and destroyed it, after which the whole mass rushed to the attack.The inhabitants tried to defend themselves, but they were driven from the wall by a cloud of arrows, and the Slavs, putting stairs against the wall, burst into the city.The population of Topir was partly massacred, partly enslaved.

An even greater danger hung over the empire in 558 or 559, when the Slavs, in alliance with the Bulgar khan Zabergan, approached Constantinople itself.Finding openings in the Long Wall after the recent earthquake, they penetrated this defensive line and appeared in the immediate vicinity of the capital.The city had only foot guards, and in order to repel the attack, Justinian had to requisition all the city horses for the needs of the army and send his courtiers to guard the gates and on the walls.Expensive church utensils, just in case, were transported to the other side of the Bosphorus.Then the guards, led by the aged Belisarius, launched a sortie.To hide the small number of his detachment, Belisarius ordered the felled trees to be dragged behind the battle lines, which caused a thick dust to rise, which the wind carried towards the besiegers.The trick was a success.Believing that a large Roman army was moving on them, the Slavs and Bulgars lifted the siege and retreated from Constantinople without a fight.

But the way home to the other side of the Danube to the Slavs and Bulgars was cut off by the Byzantine fleet.This forced the khan and the Slavic leaders to negotiate.But at the same time, Justinian set another Bulgar tribe against the horde of Zabergan -.Utigurs, allies of Byzantium.

The movements of the Slavs were intertwined with the invasions of the Balkans and the centralEurope of nomadic Turkic tribes. Afterthe collapse of the Hunnic state in the southern regions of Eastern Europe, numerous tribes remained to roam:Akatzirs, Savirs, Utigurs, Hunugurs, Saragurs, Ugors, Avars, Onogurs, Kutrigurs, Bulgars, Khazars.Soon, most of them began performing under the single name of Bulgarians.

And yet, the successes of the Byzantines in the Balkans were temporary.In the second half of the VI century.the balance of power in the Danube and the Northern Black Sea region, based on the Byzantine-Ant alliance and pitting the nomads, who were once part of the Hunnic empire, against each other, was disturbed by the arrival of new conquerors.Already in 463the embassy of the Saragur Bulgarians arrived in Constantinople.It reported on the attack on them by new nomads - the Avars.This time they were Avars.

It is believed that the Avars - nscraps of the Asiatic Kagan, defeated by the Turks, the Juan-Juan.The Avars in the 6th century followed the path of the Huns from Asia to Europe.The movement of the Avars through the Eastern European steppes was accompanied by fierce clashes with the Slavs.Warlike Avars constantly raided Byzantium and Western Europe, their hordes reached the shores of the North Sea. "The Tale of Bygone Years" tells that the Avars ("obry") enslaved part of the Slavs and subjected them to cruel oppression.Having passed the Eurasian steppe corridor from the Urals, the Lower Volga region and being in the Ciscaucasia, the Avars were sent in 558.embassy to Justinian in Constantinople.They became allies ("simmahs") of Byzantium.(Ethnic units called simmahs (summacoi or symmachoi -. "Allies"), militias, set up by barbarian tribes for money through diplomatic relations with the head of the tribe) . Relations with the new barbarians developed according to the standard pattern.First, an agreement was reached, according to which the Avars undertook an obligation, subject to receiving an annual tribute from Byzantium, to protect the Danube borders from the invasion of other barbarians.But then the Empire refused to pay tribute to them.Began more than half a century of disagreements, conflicts and wars.In 562the Avars approached the Lower Danube.They turned to Byzantium with a request to allocate them lands on the Byzantine borderlands and in the Danube.The Avars demanded from Byzantium permanent places of settlement within certain boundaries and with a sedentary population.Having received a refusal, the Avars occupied the lands inhabited by the Slavs.

The conquered Slavic population of the Middle Danube became the basis of the power of the Avar Kaganate.Since the last decades of the VI century.in the area from the Vienna Woods and Dalmatia in the west to Potis in the east, the Avar culture emerged.Its creators were not only the Avars, but also the larger tribes that were subordinate to them or were included in the conglomerate as allies.The most numerous part of the population of the Avar Kaganate was made up of the Slavs.The influx of the Slavic population into these lands was more numerous in the context of the powerful Avar migration.The Avars tried to subjugate the Slavs from the Lower Danube, but the Lower Danube Sklavins and Antes managed to maintain their independence.

Slavic soldiers, as an auxiliary force, participated in numerous wars of the Kaganate against Byzantium and the Franks.An important role of the Slavs in the kaganate was shipbuilding.Experienced Italian shipbuilders founded the Slavic maritime business in Dalmatia, the center of which was Dubrovnik.Slavic single-tree ships (monoxyls) were used by the kagan when crossing rivers, during the siege of Constantinople in 626, etc.operations.

The Slavs and Avars devastated the Balkans.In 576 and 577.this coalition of tribes attacks Thrace. In 578, a hundred thousandth army of the Slavs, crossing the Danube, devastated Thrace and Greece. The bulk of the Slavic settlers to the Balkan Peninsula and the Peloponnese were sent from the Danube lands, to a lesser extent from the Carpathian region and the Northern Black Sea region.

Byzantium and the Slavs in the first half of the 6th century- The beginning of the VII century.

The relations of Byzantium, the Sklavins and the Khaganate were notable for their inconsistency.When the kagan sent an embassy to Prince Davrit with a demand to obey,Davrit and his elders answered: “Was the man born in the world and warmed by the rays of the sun who would have subjugated our power.Not others of our land, but we are accustomed to possessing someone else's.And we are sure of this as long as there are war and swords in the world. "When Davrit went on a campaign against Byzantium, the kagan opposed him.However, already in 580, the kagan, together with the Slavs, attacked the Byzantine city of Sirmium and took it in 582.

The empire provoked an attack by the Avars on the Slavs, but this did not save it from new invasions. In 581, the Slavs made a successful campaign in the Byzantine lands, after which they settled within the Empire. They "... began to rule on the earth and live on it, ruling as on their own ...".

From 578-581the development of the Slavs and Greece began. In 584, the Slavs besieged Thessaloniki for the first time.The settlement of this vast territory of South-Eastern Europe was the result of a wide infiltration of the Slavic agricultural population, as well as numerous Avar-Slavic military raids on the Byzantine lands, when large masses of Slavs settled in the conquered areas.Military incursions created conditions for the subsequent resettlement of farmers.In the years 585-586.followed by a new Avar-Slavic invasion and a second siege of Thessalonica.The barbarians who appeared from across the Danube from the left bank of the Sava tried to take Thessalonica for seven days.Having failed, they began to plunder Macedonia and Greece.Part of the Slavs, after the invasion, settled on these lands of Byzantium.V587-588 withLavans penetrate Thessaly, Epirus, Attica, Peloponnese.“In the third year after the death of Emperor Justin, -.testified in the VI centurythe author of the "Church History" John of Ephesus, - the accursed people of the Slavs moved, who passed through the whole of Hellas ... He took many cities, fortresses;he burned, robbed and conquered the country, sat down in it powerfully and without fear, as in his own, and for four years, while the emperor was busy with the Persian war and sent his troops to the East, the whole country was given to the mercy of the Slavs.They devastate, burn and plunder ... They have become rich, have gold and silver, herds of horses and many weapons.They learned to wage war better than the Romans ... "

In 593, having invaded the Srem region and besieged Singidun, the Avars once again violated the peace with the Empire.At the same time, the Slavs attacked the regions of Moesia and Thrace.Emperor Mauritius decided to continue fighting the barbarians on their territory.Twice (594, 595) Byzantine troops crossed to the left bank of the Danube, invading the possessions of the Slavs and Avars, exposing their lands to devastation.The punitive expeditions of the Byzantines did not bring the expected results.The Slavs continued their onslaught to the south.In 597they besieged Solun, in 599 g.- Attacked Thrace.In 602 g.Byzantine troops, relying on the support of the Avars, defeat some part of the Antes on their own land.It was not possible to consolidate the victory of the Empire, as soon a soldier revolt broke out, which also affected the Danube garrisons.

The Danube ceased to be the border that separated the barbarians for more than one hundred years from the Roman, and then the Byzantine world.The Slavs were able to freely populate the Balkan Peninsula.A series of incursions into the Balkans from land and sea follows.In 616an attempt was made to take Thessalonica, “.... Having with them on land their families with their belongings.They intended to settle them in the city after the capture. "

The beginning of the resettlement of the Serbo-Croatian tribes to the Balkans and the unsuccessful Avar campaign against Constantinople in 626 led to the weakening of the Kaganate and the withdrawal of part of the Slavs from its rule.In 630-640, the Slavs of Macedonia refused to recognize the power of the kagan, at the same time, perhaps, the Croats also achieved independence.

In 581 g.many Slavs crossed the Danube.They swiftly passed Thrace, Macedonia and all of Hellas, devastated and burned many cities and fortresses, and took prisoners.This time they did not go beyond the Danube, but settled on empty lands.Devastated by three hundred years of invasions and completely depopulated Thrace became their new homeland, the settlements of the Slavs reached almost as far as the capital.From the end of the VI century.and in the 7th century there was a massive settlement by the Slavs of Macedonia, Thrace, Moesia, Greece, and the Peloponnese. During these, like all previous invasions, the Slavic tribes "infiltrated" into the Empire in small groups, mastered the lands of the Balkan Peninsula.

. The main crossing of the Danube by Slavic migrants was carried out in its middle reaches, near Vidin.After crossing the river, the Slavs-settlers, as a rule, moved in two directions.Some mastered the lands of Macedonia, Thessaly, Albania, Greece,.Peloponnese And CreteOther - .... reached the North coast of the Aegean Sea And headed to.Sea of ​​MarmaraIt is believed that the crossing took place both in the lower reaches and in the middle, somewhere in the area of ​​the Iron Gate.

Danube Gate - Djerdap Gorge.The narrowest point is called the Iron Gate.Here the Romanian Carpathians and the Serbian Balkans come closest to each other.

The migration of the Slavs to the Balkans led to the emergence at the end of VI -.Early 7th century Slavic settlements near the Danube border of the Byzantine Empire.In Macedonia, near Thessaloniki (Thessaloniki), a number of Slavic groups inhabited from the end of the 6th century.During the 7th century, they tried several times to take possession of Thessalonica, this is described in The Miracles of St. Demetrius of Thessalonica.Then they were baptized and became subjects of the Byzantine Empire, with certain rights of autonomy.And these subterritories, which were inhabited by these Slavic groups, were called by the Byzantines the term "Slovinia".These tribal associations of the Slavs arose on a territorial basis and some of them existed for several centuries.The area completely inhabited by the Slavs in Northern Thrace, Macedonia, Thessaly, received the name "Slovinia".

On the territory of the former Roman province of Moesia in the 7th century, a large association of the Slavs "the union of seven Slavic tribes" with centers in Ruse, Dorostol and Rossava, which was not yet a state entity, but only a military alliance, arose.But within its framework, the formation of power institutions has accelerated.In. second half of VII centurythe nomadic horde of Proto-Bulgarians invaded the lands of the "Seven Clans".Turkic people. The head of the nomads, Khan Asparukh (from the Dulo clan) managed to lead the Military actions of the tribal unification Against Byzantium And then stand at the head of the new inter-tribal unionByzantium, weakened at that time, recognized the independent position of the unification of the tribes. Thus, the First Bulgarian State was formed in 681, which included many lands inhabited by Slavs, who later assimilated the newcomers and played a major role in the ethnogenesis of the Bulgarians.

The Slavs who invaded Byzantium were at the stage of forming over the communal administration.The need for a military struggle against the empire stimulated its formation.The need to unite forces in the struggle against a common enemy led to the creation of a vast Samo power in Central Europe.This association, led by the Samo franc in the 20-30s of the 7th century, developed on the Middle Danube.

It owes its name to a military leader, and in the past to a Frankish merchant with that name.The former merchant turned out to be not only a strong military leader, but also a capable ruler.For thirty-five years, he retained power in the state created under his leadership, and, pushing back the Avars, later successfully repelled the invasion of the Slavic lands of his ex-compatriots, the Franks.The Slavs, led by Samo, fought the Franks, invading the Frankish "kingdom" several times.This tribal union dealt a strong blow to the Avar Kaganate, after long wars, the Avars ("obry") were defeated by the Franks and disappeared from the pages of history.In the Tale of Bygone Years, the following characteristic of the Avars is preserved: “These cliffs were great in body, and proud in mind, and God destroyed them, everyone died, and not a single obrin remained.And there is a proverb in Russia to this day: "They died like cliffs" - there is no tribe or offspring of them. "

Having freed themselves from the power of the Avars, the Balkan Slavs at the same time lost their military support, which halted the Slavic advance to the south.

In 657/658 Emperor Constant II made a campaign against the Slavs and resettled some of the captured in Asia Minor.A large Slavic colony was placed by the imperial authorities in Asia Minor, in Bithynia, in the position of conscripts.However, at every opportunity, the Slavs broke the oath of allegiance. In 669 g. 5,000 Slavs fled from the Roman army to the Arab commander Abd ar-Rahman ibn-Khalid and after the joint devastation of the Byzantine lands left with the Arabs to Syria, where they settled on the Oronte River, north of Antioch. To 685. most of the Balkan Slavs came under the rule of Byzantium.Under Emperor Justinian II, who occupied the throne twice (in 685-695 and 705-711), the Byzantine authorities organized the resettlement of several more Slavic tribes to Opsikia, a province of the empire in the north-west of Asia Minor, which included Bithynia, where there was already a Slavic the colony.The Bithyn colony of the Slavs existed until the X century.

In the second half of the first millennium, the Slavs occupied the Upper Dnieper region and its northern periphery, which previously belonged to the eastern Balts and Finno-Ugric tribes. A small group of Slavs settled on the coast of the Gulf of Riga, where their remains under the name "Venda" were recorded at the beginning of the 12th century by Henry of Latvia.

By the beginning of the 7th century, in the northern and middle zone of the Balkan Peninsula, the Slavs had become the dominant force that changed the ethnic map of the Balkans. The Slavs became the prevailing population everywhere. The remnants of the peoples that were part of the Byzantine Empire, in fact, survived only in remote mountainous areas. By the IX century. the split of Slavic unity led to the creation of new, previously non-existent peoples. As a result of the mixing of Slavs with Illyrians, Serbs and Croats appeared, and in Thrace, mixing with alien nomads laid the foundation for the Bulgarian ethnos. The territory of the Eastern Roman Empire, from the Danube to the Aegean Sea, was occupied by the Slavs, who subsequently founded their states here: Bulgaria, Croatia and Serbia.

With the extermination of the Latin-speaking population of Illyricum, the last connecting element between Rome and Constantinople disappeared: the Slavic invasion erected an insurmountable barrier of paganism between them. Latin, which was until the 8th century. the official language of the Byzantine Empire, now replaced by Greek and has been forgotten. The “pagan rampart” erected by the Slavs in the Balkans aggravated the gap between the European East and the West, and moreover, precisely at the very time when political and religious factors were increasingly dividing the Constantinople and Roman churches. This obstacle was partially removed in the second half of the 9th century, when the Balkan and Pannonian Slavs adopted Christianity.

The settlement of the Balkans by the Slavs was the result of the third stage of the Migration of Peoples. They settled Thrace, Macedonia, a significant part of Greece, occupied Dalmatia and Istria - up to the coast of the Adriatic Sea, penetrated the valleys of the Alps and into the regions of modern Austria. The colonization of the Balkan Peninsula was not the result of resettlement, but of the settlement of the Slavs, who retained all their old lands in Central and Eastern Europe. Slavic colonization was of a combined nature: along with organized military campaigns, there was a peaceful settlement of new territories by agricultural communities looking for new arable lands.

Slavic colonization of the Balkans became one of the most important migration vectors of the era of the Great Nations Migration. The active phase of colonization fell on the VI-VIII centuries. Information about the first appearance of the Slavs in the Balkans in the 5th century is recorded in the works of Byzantine historians: Procopius of Caesarea and John of Ephesus. By the 7th century, the Slavic tribes were firmly entrenched in the Balkan Peninsula and began to gradually move towards the Peloponnese and the Aegean Islands. Later, some groups of Slavs penetrated into Anatolia. In the 7th-8th centuries, the Slavs created several state entities and over time became a significant force in the Balkan Peninsula.

One of the first authors mentioning the migration of Slavic tribes to the Balkans was the Byzantine Priscus, who wrote "History". In it, he witnessed the fact of the penetration of the Slavs into the Balkan Peninsula. A more complete picture of this process is provided by the "History of the War with the Goths" by Procopius of Caesarea. It describes the territories occupied by the Slavs, the campaigns of the Slavs, their social structure, life and religion in the 6th century. A valuable addition to this information is the "Strategicon" of the Byzantine commander and emperor of Mauritius. Also, the Slavs describe the work of Agathius of Myrenees "On the reign of Justinian." Theophylact Simokatta tells in detail about the settlement of the Slavs within the Byzantine Empire in his "History". The works of the Byzantine Emperor Constantine Porphyrogenitus "On Themes" and "On the Nations" ("On the Administration of the Empire") became valuable sources about the events after the resettlement and about the development of statehood among the Slavic tribes.

Some information about the Slavs during their settlement of the Balkans is also present in the "Church History of John of Ephesus", "Chronography" of Theophanes the Confessor, "History of the Lombards" by Paul the Deacon, "Chronicle" of Fredegar, etc. At the same time, written sources about the Slavs mainly tell about the external events of Slavic history - about the course of wars, the tactics of warfare, the military structure, about the relations of the Slavs with other peoples, and so on.

The social system of the Slavs during the period of the settlement of the Balkans was similar to the system of the Germans during the time of Tacitus. The Slavs settled in forests, or near rivers, lakes or swamps. They preferred to build dwellings in hard-to-reach places. The settlements of the Slavs consisted of several huts and outbuildings located at some distance from each other, since the level of development of the economy and tools required significant areas for each family. The family itself consisted of a head, several adult sons and their families. Several families, occupying a certain territory, formed a community. Several neighboring communities made up the tribe. Each tribe occupied a special district called a zhupa. There were councils of elders and popular assemblies.

The basis of the economy of the Slavs was agriculture. However, depending on natural conditions, preference was given to various types of management. Agriculture was either slash or wood-cutting. In the settlements located near water bodies, fishing played a significant role. Hunting and bee-keeping were widespread in the forested areas. Cattle breeding has also become widespread in the Balkans. The high level of development of agriculture among the Slavs was noted by Byzantine authors. The land was cultivated by bulls harnessed to plows with iron tips. The plow was widely used. The bread was harvested with sickles, the grain was stored in special pits.

At the beginning of our era, the Slavs occupied a huge territory in Central and Eastern Europe north of the Carpathian Mountains and between the Vistula basin and the middle Dnieper region. At different times they contacted the Celts, Goths, Thracian, Sarmatian and other numerous tribes, partially absorbing them, partially dissolving in their midst. The first reliable evidence of written sources about the Slavs dates back to the 1st-2nd centuries. In them, the Slavs appear under the name of the Wends, who are referred to as a large people who lived on the Vistula near the Baltic Sea, beyond the Carpathians. However, until the 6th century, information about the Slavs is scarce and fragmentary, since the Romans and Greeks did not come into direct contact with them. Only at the beginning of the 6th century, when the Slavs began to attack the Byzantine possessions, more detailed and detailed reports about them appeared in the testimonies of historians. At this time, the Slavs were known to their contemporaries under the common names of Sklavins and Antes. The Sklavins occupied the territory west of the Dniester. The Antes, located mainly to the east of it, partially penetrated into the area of ​​settlement of the Sklavins. Slavic settlements in this area by the 6th century spread significantly to the south and moved towards the lower Danube.

The largest movement of the Slavs was their spread from beyond the Carpathians towards the lower reaches of the Danube, to Pannonia and adjacent areas, and then beyond the Danube - to the Balkan Peninsula. Historian DA Machinsky wrote that the migration of the Slavs to the Danube region determined "progressive changes in the life of the Slavs of this period and the Eastern and Southern Slavs of the subsequent era." This spread of the Slavs to the south was in close connection with the movements of other peoples. At the end of the 4th and 5th centuries, many Slavic tribes were affected by the Hunnic invasion of Europe and the subsequent movement of the Gepids and Goths. According to a number of historians, these events accelerated the movement of the Slavs to the south, which apparently began in the first centuries of our era. In the sources of the middle of the 5th century, Slavic tribes are noted in Pannonia and on the left bank of the Danube. The testimonies of the Byzantine Priscus, who traveled in 448 as an ambassador to the camp of the Hunnic leader Attila and described the customs of the people living in Pannonia, are interpreted by many researchers as referring to the Slavs. The movement of the Slavs was probably uneven in time - weaker at the beginning, wide and massive after the fall of the Hunnic state.

As they moved south, the Slavs came to the possessions of the Eastern Roman Empire, better known as Byzantium, which at that time belonged to the Balkan Peninsula. Initially, the Slavs went on campaigns against the power of the Romans as part of the armies of other peoples, but from the first quarter of the 6th century they began to undertake independent attacks. At the end of the 20s of the 6th century, a large Antian army crossed the Danube, but was defeated. In the 30s of the 6th century, the Byzantine troops on this section of the border of the Empire were led by the commander Khilbudy, a Slav from the Antes tribe. For three years, he successfully held back the onslaught of the Slavs and undertook retaliatory campaigns across the Danube, devastating their villages. After the death of Khilbudiy in 533, the raids of the Slavs on the right bank resumed again.

The historian S. A. Ivanov noted that for the bulk of the population of Byzantium, the appearance of the Slavs on its borders was an unexpected phenomenon. He suggested that the Empire did not want to divert its forces to fight the Slavs and preferred to remain silent about the threat posed by them. They started talking about it openly only when Slavic troops began to penetrate deep into the Balkans.

Byzantium was vulnerable during this period. She waged wars with the Vandals in Africa, with the Visigoths in Spain, with the Ostrogoths in Italy, and in Syria and Transcaucasia with the Persians. Protracted wars complicated the internal situation of the country. The increase in taxes caused the impoverishment of broad strata of the population, which was accompanied by a series of uprisings. In these conditions, the invasions of the Slavs into the empire became more and more frequent. In the 30s-40s of the 6th century, they repeatedly devastated Thrace, and in 540 they first approached the walls of Constantinople and captured its suburb. To protect the Danube border, Emperor Justinian restored the old fortifications on the banks of the river and built many new ones. However, this could not hold back the onslaught of the Slavs. Justinian tried to put the Slavs in the position of federates (allies), giving them territory near the Danube for settlement. In exchange, the Slavs had to defend the border of the Empire. However, shortly thereafter, in 548, the Slavs made a devastating campaign in Illyria, reaching as far as Epidamnos (modern Durres) on the Adriatic Sea. A detachment of 3000 soldiers crossed the Danube and began to plunder everything in its path. Separate detachments of the Byzantine army were defeated. The commander Azbad, who was stationed with a garrison in the Tsurul fortress in Thrace, attacked the Slavs with a cavalry detachment, but was defeated and taken prisoner. The Slavs removed the skin from him and then burned him alive. Then they took by storm the Thracian city of Toper, where up to 15,000 men were killed, and women and children were taken into slavery. Those of them who could not be taken across the Danube were burned alive.

In their raids, the Slavs, with the help of the Gepids, crossed the Danube within their possessions. At the same time, returning with rich booty from the plundered Byzantine lands, they paid the Gepids a ducat for each person transported to the left bank of the Danube. As a rule, thanks to them, the Slavs saved all the captured prey, managing to cross the Danube before the Byzantine troops overtook them. According to the estimates of the Serbian historian Vladimir Chorovic, the Byzantine troops left in the Balkans in the middle of the 6th century numbered 15,000 soldiers and could not effectively resist the Slavs.

From about the middle of the 6th century, the Slavs began to arrive in the Balkans not only for plunder, but also for the purpose of resettlement. An increasing number of them settled in different parts of it. In 550, a large detachment of the Slavs crossed the Danube. When the troops of the Empire came out to meet him, the Slavs retreated in the direction of Dalmatia. After some time, they received reinforcements and moved towards Thrace. At Adrianople, the Byzantines blocked their way, who were then forced to attack due to lack of food. In the battle, the attackers were completely defeated, the Byzantine banner became the Slavic trophy for the first time, and the Slavs for the first time remained to winter on the territory of Byzantium. Until that moment, they had never invaded the lands of Byzantium in the winter. On the contrary, in winter it was the Byzantine troops that were recommended to attack the Slavic settlements. Therefore, with the beginning of the settling on the lands of the Empire, the struggle for new possessions was often led not by aliens from across the Danube, but by the inhabitants of the nearest regions.

In 552, the king of the Ostrogoths, Totila, fell in a battle with the troops of Byzantium. The news of his death shocked the Slavs; for some time they stopped raiding across the Danube. Justinian fortified the fortresses on the Danube and reinforced the garrisons located there. In the last years of his reign, the country received a kind of respite, but the weaker the emperor himself became, the more apathy gripped his country. Italy was completely devastated during the war with the Ostrogoths. North Africa was deserted due to war and disease, although until recently it was considered the granary of the Empire. The state treasury was emptied, at the same time taxes were growing. The army was reduced from 645,000 to 150,000, while the remaining troops were in poor maintenance, there were interruptions in their supply.

Historian Valentin Sedov wrote that in addition to military campaigns within the Empire, the Slavs settled the Balkans peacefully. They were mainly farmers. During the 6th century, they penetrated in small groups into the western and central part of the Balkans, where they settled in mountainous areas. Sedov noted that these groups of farmers penetrated into those parts of the peninsula where there was no hostilities and where they could feel safe.

At this time, part of the Slavs (in the Danube and Pannonia region) were subordinate to the Avars. The Slavs accompanied them in raids, in large battles they ensured the mass character of the army of the Avar Kaganate. The Slavs knew how to fight on the water and attacked Byzantine cities from the sea, and on land the main striking force was the maneuverable Avar cavalry. After victories, the Avars returned with booty to the Pannonian steppes, and the Slavs settled in the conquered territory.

The settlement of Slavic tribes in the 7th century is highlighted in orange. The nominal border of the Eastern Roman Empire is marked in purple

After 590, Byzantium made a short-term peace with Persia and its troops began to recapture the Balkan provinces. They managed to recapture Sirmium and Singidunum from the Avars, and also to transfer the hostilities to the other side of the Danube. Thus, the pressure on the borders of the Empire was eased. However, in 602, the Byzantine troops, who were forced to winter in enemy territory, revolted. They overthrew the emperor of Mauritius and supported the newly proclaimed emperor Phoca. To ensure his power, Byzantine troops moved from the border to Constantinople, the defense of the border was significantly weakened. The Slavs took advantage of this. They began a massive resettlement across the poorly guarded border and in a few years flooded the Balkans. In 614 they took Salona, ​​around 617 they besieged Thessaloniki, around 625 they attacked the Aegean Islands. Gradually, the Slavs captured a number of cities on the Adriatic coast. Only Yader (Zadar), Trogir and some others survived.

On July 31, 626, the Slavs under the leadership of the Avars laid siege to Constantinople. They were also joined by the Gepids, Proto-Bulgarians and those Slavs who did not obey the Avars and marched thanks to the promises of great booty. The Slavs were to attack Constantinople from the sea, and the Avars and the rest were to begin the attack of the walls. On the other side of the Bosphorus stood another enemy of Byzantium - the Persians. The Byzantines possessed a strong fleet that did not allow the Avars and their allies to establish contact with the Persians. Using a trick, the Romans' fleet lured the Slavic ships into an ambush, where they suffered heavy losses. The surviving Slavs were killed by the Avars. According to the recollections of contemporaries, the water in the strait turned red from the blood of the Slavs. The Golden Horn Bay was full of corpses and empty ships. After that, the Slavs left the camp of the besiegers, and on August 8 the Avars also left the city walls.

Valentin Sedov noted that if before the 7th century the Byzantines meant the territories north of the Danube under the Slavic lands, then in the 7th century the lands in the center of the Balkans were already considered such. Macedonia and the surrounding areas were covered with Slavic settlements. Only the southeastern regions of the peninsula remained under the control of Byzantium. However, by the end of the 7th century, its troops were able to recapture part of the previously lost possessions. A similar point of view was expressed by the Czech Slavist Lubor Niederle.

The Slavs could not completely and evenly populate the Balkans. Presumably, they moved along the ancient Roman roads and settled in those places that were already developed and suitable for life. In the territories that came under the rule of the Slavs, enclaves of the autochthonous population of the peninsula remained. Their number and exact location are unknown. The Serbian historian Sima Chirkovic believed that the autochthonous population of the Balkans at that time lived in the mountains and hard-to-reach places that were not occupied by the Slavs. Most of the indigenous people were in Northern Albania, Macedonia, Thessaly and the Dinaric Highlands.

Historian DA Machinsky noted that the settlement of Thrace and Macedonia by the Slavs made them less attractive to the Slavs who remained on the left bank of the Danube. The system of military campaigns across the Danube in order to seize wealth and prisoners was disrupted, which, together with the intensification of Byzantium and various civil strife, led to the fact that the Danube ceased to be the center of attraction for Slavic tribes. Separate groups of Slavs from the Danube, Carpathian and more distant regions began to move towards the Vistula and Dnieper regions.

As they moved deeper into the Balkans, the Slavs came into contact with the local population. First of all, they met with the Romans, subjects of the Byzantine emperors. Then they came into contact with the Romanized population of the coastal cities. In the mountains, the Slavs encountered the Vlachs and the ancestors of the modern Albanians. Historians do not have accurate data on the early contacts of the Slavs and the indigenous population. Folk legends compiled later speak of enmity between the Christian population of the Balkans and the pagan Slavs. Borrowing of toponyms and agricultural terminology. For example, the Slavs borrowed the names of large rivers from autochthonous languages, and their tributaries received Slavic names. The names of a significant number of mountains and cities are also of Romanesque origin. In the agrarian terminology of the Albanians and Vlachs, there are terms of Slavic origin, and in the terminology of agriculture of the Slavs there are borrowings from the autochthonous population of the peninsula.

By the beginning of the second quarter of the 7th century, the migration of the Slavs to the Balkans was basically completed. Later, only a few small movements took place.

Some time after the resettlement to the Balkans, the Serbs formed several large communities, which then became state entities. Between the rivers Cetina and Neretva, the Neretvlyansky principality was located, which the Byzantines called Pagania. She also owned the islands of Brac, Hvar and Mljet. The area between Neretva and Dubrovnik was called Zahumle. The lands from Dubrovnik to Boka Kotorska Bay were occupied by Travunia and Konavle. To the south, up to the Boyana River, stretched Duklya, which later became known as Zeta. Raska was between the Sava, Vrbas and Ibar rivers, and Bosnia was between the Drina and Bosna rivers.

In the "Frankish Annals", in information about the events of the beginning of the 9th century, the Serbs appear as a special nation that occupied a significant part of Dalmatia. Presumably, by this time the Serbs had already assimilated the autochthonous population in the occupied territories.

As in other parts of the Balkan Peninsula, in the Serbian lands, the spread of Christianity among the Slavic tribes began soon after their resettlement. The initiator of Christianization in these lands was Byzantium, which hoped in this way to expand its political influence over the Slavs. Emperor Constantine Porphyrogenitus reports that the baptism of the Serbs began during the reign of Emperor Heraclius (610-641), who sent priests from Rome to the Serbs. According to a number of historians, the attempts of Byzantium to spread Christianity in the Serbian lands had somewhat greater results than in Croatia. Christianity initially spread slowly, broad strata of the population hardly perceived it and often returned to paganism. However, part of the Slavic population remained committed to Christianity, especially in the coastal areas bordering on the Byzantine possessions. The new religion finally took root in the Serbian lands only in the second half of the 9th century under Emperor Vasily I, when the princely family was baptized in Raska. Presumably, this happened between 867 and 874. At the same time, some representatives of the Serbian nobility could be baptized earlier, while in some areas (especially in Pagania) and among the peasantry, paganism prevailed even in the 10th century.

The appearance of Croats on the Balkan Peninsula was described in sufficient detail by the Byzantine emperor Constantine Porphyrogenitus. He paid special attention to them, since they conquered a large part of Dalmatia, which was the largest of the western provinces of Byzantium. In Dalmatia there were ancient cities, including numerous ports, the loss of which the Byzantine rulers did not want to put up with. In the description of Constantine Porphyrogenitus, the migration of Croats is shown as the next wave of Slavic colonization. In modern historiography, it is believed that the Croats came to the Balkan Peninsula in the first half of the 7th century, during the reign of Emperor Heraclius, which is confirmed by archaeological data.

The next stage of Croatian history is closely related to the development of expansion by the Franks. In 812, Charlemagne and the Byzantine emperor Michael I of Rangave entered into a treaty, according to which the Frankish Empire received the right to Croatian lands. Her reign lasted until the end of the 870s. After that, Croatia acquired the status of an independent principality, and its rulers began to have the right to collect tribute from cities on the Dalmatian coast, which were still part of Byzantium.

During the uprising of Ludevit Posavsky in Slavonia in 818-822. the prince of Primorsky Croatia Born died. With the consent of Emperor Charles, Born's nephew Ladislav became the successor. This marked the beginning of the rule of the hereditary dynasty, which received the conditional name of the Trpimirovich dynasty, on behalf of one of the heirs of the Frankish vassal. The second half of the 9th and the beginning of the 10th century was the heyday of the Trpimirovichi state.

In the 6th century, the Slavs settled over a wider area in the east of the Alps. The first wave of migration of the Slavs, dated around 550, took place from the direction of present-day Moravia. Another wave of resettlement occurred in 568 after the departure of the Lombards from the territory of modern Slovenia to Italy. Avars and Slavs began to move to the liberated territories. The territory where the Slavs settled was also inhabited by the remnants of the Vlachs, who still partially preserved Christianity. The colonization of the Eastern Alps by the Slavs is confirmed by the collapse of the dioceses in the Eastern Alps region in the second half of the 6th century, the change in population and material culture, but mainly the approval of a new Slavic speech. Even in the course of settling in the new territory, the Quarantine and Pannonian Slavs fell under the rule of the Avars. They not only paid tribute to the Avars, but sometimes had to go with them on campaigns to Byzantium. The dependence of the Slavic tribes in Pannonia was especially strong. Charlemagne conquered Bavaria and Carantania and destroyed the Avar Khaganate. Already at the beginning of the 9th century, Great Carantania became part of the Eastern Carolingian brand.

On the territory of modern Bulgaria, the Slavs created several Sklavinia, the most powerful of which was called the "Seven Clans". Presumably, it was formed on the left bank of the Danube, and when the Slavs that made up it moved to Moesia and Dobrudja, they retained a part of the lands beyond the Danube. Perhaps by the 670s, part of the Slavs of the "Seven Slavic Clans" recognized the sovereignty of Byzantium and were listed as federates of the Empire, obliged to defend the border along the Danube.

The formation of neighboring communities was accompanied by a change in tribal division of territorial divisions. During the resettlement of the Slavs, their tribes intermixed, and tribal ties were broken. This is evidenced by the preservation in different parts of the Balkan Peninsula of toponyms derived from, for example, the names of tribes such as the Dulebs and Croats. When the peninsula was settled, the tribes were territorially delimited. As a result, belonging to a tribe was determined not so much by kinship as by living in the corresponding territory. Basically, the tribes received their names from the territory they occupied. This is evidenced by the appearance of such tribal names as Timochans who lived in the Timok River basin.

The most powerful princes-zhupans in the 7th-8th centuries managed, relying on their retinues, to extend power to several tribes, and, thus, to unite the territory they occupied. These tribal alliances were already much more solid political formations than those that temporarily arose among the Slavs during the period of resettlement. The Byzantines called them Sclavinia. It is known that originally the Byzantines called the Slavic territories on the left bank of the Danube so.

After some time, the Byzantines launched a counteroffensive on the lost lands. Initially, they conquered land around the coastal cities, but then began campaigns inland. The conquered Slavic principalities were usually transformed by the Byzantine emperors into military-administrative units - themes. Themu was headed by a strategist appointed directly by the emperor. The Byzantines made especially large conquests during the reign

The origin and settlement of the Slavs. The Great Migration of Peoples and Its Influence on the Ethnogenesis of the Eastern Slavs.

Most of Europe and much of Asia have long been inhabited by tribes Indo-Europeans that have many things in common, for example, a common language. These tribes were in constant motion, exploring new territories. Gradually, separate groups of Indo-European tribes began to separate from each other. The common language once disintegrated into a number of separate languages.

About four thousand years ago, there was a selection Balto-Slavic Indo-European tribes. They settled in Central and Eastern Europe. In the 5th century BC, these tribes were divided into balts and Slavs. Slavic tribes mastered the territory from the middle course of the Dnieper River to the Oder River and from the northern slope of the Carpathian Mountains to the Pripyat River.

In the 5th century AD, the Slavs rushed to the lands stretching from the Black Sea to the Baltic Sea. In the northern direction they reached the upper reaches of the Volga and Beloozero, in the southern - to Greece. During this movement, the Slavs split into three branches - eastern, western and southern. The Eastern Slavs settled in the 6th-8th centuries a vast territory of Eastern Europe from Lake Ilmen in the north to the Volga in the east. Thus, they occupied most of the East European Plain.

This territory was inhabited by 12 East Slavic tribal unions. The most numerous were glade, lived along the banks of the Dnieper, not far from the mouth of the Desna, and Ilmenian Slavs, who lived on the shores of Lake Ilmen and the Volkhov River. The names of the East Slavic tribes were often associated with the area where they lived. For example, glade - "living in the fields", Drevlyans- “living in the forests.

Resettlement of the Slavs

Archaeological materials indicate that the Slavs mastered new lands, as a rule, without displacing the earlier settlers from these territories - the Baltic and Finno-Ugric tribes. The Baltic tribes related to the Slavs - the ancestors of modern Lithuanians and Latvians - occupied more extensive territories at that time. Their main occupation was slash-and-burn agriculture. Part of the Baltic tribes over time was conquered by the Slavs and dissolved in them. The Baltic tribes had a particularly significant influence on the formation of the Krivich Slavs.

Avars and Slavs brutally devastated the Balkan Peninsula, besieged cities, making no exception for the Byzantine capital. The worst evil for the Byzantine Balkans was the peaceful Slavic colonization. They just came and settled. They did not pay taxes, did not obey, wanting to remain independent. Such a population could neither be defeated, nor driven out, nor forced to live according to local rules.

Intense traffic allowed the Slavic tribes to populate vast territories in a short time.

Trade and political role of the Vikings.

At the end of the 9-10th centuries. Normans in Russia act as "Varangian-kup", trading with the East, West, Constantinople and supplying goods of foreign origin to all countries of the East, South, West. They act as warrior-mercenaries - "Varangians". Most of the Norman Vikings played the role of warriors-warriors of Russian tribal princelings and the Russian kagan (prince).

The beginning of the unification of the Russian lands, the rise of Moscow and its role in the unification of the Russian lands. Ivan Kalita and Alexander Donskoy. The Battle of Kulikovo and its significance.

Workshop 3.

1. The completion of the political unification of the Russian lands, the formation of a single centralized state and its socio-political structure.

By the middle of the XIV century. there were already all the prerequisites for the unification of the Russian lands into a single state. Socio-economic preconditions consist in the development of feudal land tenure, in the desire of the boyars to acquire estates outside their principality. TO political prerequisites can be attributed to the strengthening in Russia of the power and leadership of the Moscow princes, the need for liberation from the Horde yoke. Liberation from the centuries-old Horde domination required a strong centralized government. Among spiritual prerequisites should include the presence in all Russian lands of a common religion - Orthodoxy and awareness of the spiritual and cultural unity of Russia. All these reasons indicated led to the formation of a unified Moscow state. The leading role in the political unification of Russia was played by the son of Vasily the Dark Ivan III Vasilievich (1462-1505). The final stage of the unification of Russia can be attributed to the annexation of Rostov, Yaroslavl, Tver and some other principalities, as well as the Novgorod Republic, the cities of Dmitrov, Vologda, Uglich, Vyatka land. The most difficult task was the elimination of the independence of Veliky Novgorod. His boyars, fearing to lose their privileges, put up stubborn resistance. The boyars entered into an agreement with the Lithuanian prince, agreeing to transfer Novgorod to a vassal dependence on Lithuania. Ivan III organized a campaign against them in 1471. The Novgorod army was defeated by the Moscow prince on the Shelon River. In 1478 the Novgorod Republic finally capitulated. An important achievement of Ivan III's foreign policy was the elimination of the Horde yoke. In 1476 the Moscow prince refused to obey the Horde Khan. In the summer of 1480, the Horde Khan Akhmat set out on a campaign against Russia. The Horde army met with the main forces of the Russians on the Ugra River (a tributary of the Oka). Not daring to give a big battle, Akhmat withdrew his troops. Thus, Russia was freed from the Tatar-Mongol domination that lasted for 240 years. Since the foreign yoke was eliminated without a major battle or a military campaign, the events of the fall of 1480 went down in history as the "standing on the Ugra". At the very beginning of the 16th century, the Golden Horde finally ceased to exist. Relations between Muscovite Rus and the Lithuanian principality were difficult. A series of minor military clashes on the border led to the conclusion of an agreement in 1494, according to which the Moscow prince received a number of possessions along the upper course of the Oka. Under the same treaty, Ivan III was recognized as the "sovereign of all Russia". In 1500-1503. a military conflict broke out again between Moscow and Lithuania. Ivan III managed to conquer a number of Western Russian lands. An armistice took place, as a result of which all the conquered territories were recognized for the Moscow state. An important milestone in the formation of statehood was the adoption in 1497 of the all-Russian code of laws - the Code of Laws of Ivan III, which is often called the Grand Duke. The Code of Law contains articles on the central and local courts, as well as articles defining the basic norms of criminal and civil law, norms of punishment for certain crimes. For the first time, the Code of Laws introduced the rules for the transfer of peasants from one owner to another, limiting it to two weeks a year - a week before St. George's Day (November 26) and a week after - subject to the payment of a certain amount ("elderly") to the former owner. The dominant feudal class of the Muscovite kingdom was formed from the descendants of appanage princes, their boyars, representatives of the old Moscow boyars, and servicemen. There were two forms of feudal land ownership. So, the boyars owned their lands (estates) on the basis of inheritance law. And the grand duke granted the nobles land holdings (estates) for service. By the beginning of the 16th century. in most European countries, a political system has developed, which is usually called estate-representative monarchy... The monarch shared power with the estate-representative assemblies. Such bodies were formed from representatives of the ruling and politically active estates, primarily the nobility and clergy. Close to the estate-representative monarchy in the 15th – 16th centuries. there was also the political system of the Moscow state. The country was headed by the Grand Duke (from 1547 - the tsar). The monarch shared his powers with the Boyar Duma, which consisted of representatives of the highest aristocracy. There were 2 Duma ranks: boyar and okolnichy. Later, the Duma began to replenish with people of less noble origin: nobles and clerks (officials). The basis of the state apparatus was the Palace and the Treasury. The highest officials were treasurers and printers (keepers of the seal). The local government system was built on the principle of "feeding". The grand-ducal governors received the right to part of the court fees and taxes collected in the territories they controlled. "Feeding" led to numerous bribes and abuse officials. The successor of Ivan III was Vasily III Ivanovich (1505-1533). Continuing the policy of his father, in 1510 he liquidated the independence of the Pskov Republic. During his reign, there was a war with Lithuania, as a result of which Smolensk was annexed to the Russian state in 1514. In 1521, the Ryazan principality, which was actually subordinate to Moscow, became part of the state. Thus, the unification of the Russian lands was completed, the remnants of feudal fragmentation became a thing of the past.

2. Internal politics of Ivan IV Vasily III, who died in 1533, was succeeded by his three-year-old son Ivan IV (1533-1584). In fact, the mother, Elena Glinskaya, ruled for the child. The short regency of Elena Glinskaya (1533-1538) was marked not only by the struggle against numerous conspirators and rebels, but also by reform activities. The monetary reform carried out unified the system of monetary circulation. Single banknotes - kopecks - were introduced, and the standard for the weight of coins was determined. The measures of weight and length were also unified. Reform of local government began. With the aim of limiting the power of the governors in the country, the institution of laborers was introduced. This elective position could only be held by a nobleman. Representatives of the upper strata of the urban and rural population were elected to help him. Such people received the right to occupy the position of the zemstvo headman. The government of Elena Glinskaya paid great attention to strengthening the country's defense. To protect the Moscow posad, the walls of Kitai-gorod were built. After Elena's sudden death in 1538, the next few years passed in the struggle for power between the boyar groups of the Shuisky and Belsky. In January 1547, when the heir to Vasily III was 17 years old, Ivan Vasilyevich took royal title. The political meaning of this event was to strengthen the power of the Moscow sovereign, his authority excluded from that moment any claims to the supreme power of the descendants of aristocratic families. The new title equated the head of the Russian state with the khans of the Golden Horde and the emperors of Byzantium. around the young tsar, a circle of confidants formed, which received the name of the government of the Chosen Rada (1548 / 9-1560), which carried out a number of important transformations in the life of the country aimed at strengthening the centralized state. In 1549, the Zemsky Sobor was convened for the first time. This was the name for the meetings periodically convened by the tsar to resolve and discuss the most important issues of domestic and foreign policy of the state. The Zemsky Sobor included representatives of the boyars, nobility, clergy, and the top of the townspeople. It became the supreme deliberative class-representative body. The Zemsky Sobor in 1549 considered the problems of abolishing the "feeding" and suppressing the abuses of the governors, therefore it was named the Sobor of Reconciliation. The Boyar Duma continued to play an important role in governing the country. There were orders - bodies in charge of individual branches of government. Among the first were formed petition, local, zemstvo and other orders, and their servants were called clerks and clerks. a new Code of Laws of the Russian State was adopted. The Code of Laws introduced legal norms defining the punishment of officials for an unjust trial and bribery. The judicial powers of the royal governors were limited. In the Code of Laws there were instructions on the activities of orders. The right of a peasant transition on St. George's Day was confirmed. The Code of Law of 1550 introduced a significant restriction on the enslavement of the children of slaves. A child born before his parents found themselves in bondage was recognized as free. The principles of local government were radically changed. In 1556, the "feeding" system was abolished throughout the state. Administrative and judicial functions were transferred to the province and zemstvo elders. A significant reorganization of the armed forces began. A horse army was formed from service people (noblemen and boyar children). In 1550, a permanent rifle army was created. Infantrymen armed with firearms began to be called archers. The artillery was also strengthened. From the general mass of servicemen, a “chosen thousand” was formed: it included the best noblemen endowed with lands near Moscow. A unified system of land taxation was introduced - “the big Moscow plow

.3. Russia's foreign policy in the second half of the XVI century. Livonian War. In the southern direction, the main task was to protect the Russian borders from the raids of the Crimean Tatars. For this purpose, a new defensive line was built - the Tula notch line. The campaign of Russian troops to the Crimea in 1559 ended in failure. As mentioned above, in 1571 the Crimean Khan Devlet-Girey raided Moscow. The next raid of the Crimeans in the summer of 1572 was stopped. The Khan's army was defeated by Prince M.I. Vorotynsky. The reign of the Chosen Rada was marked by major successes in the foreign policy of the state in the eastern direction. In the early 1550s. 2 large Tatar states, formed after the collapse of the Golden Horde, were annexed to the Russian state: in 1552 the Kazan Khanate was conquered, in 1556 - the Astrakhan Khanate. Thus, the borders of the Muscovy crossed the Volga and approached the borders of Asia. This line was crossed in the early 1580s. Armed at the expense of the wealthy Stroganov merchants, the Cossack expedition led by Ermak Timofeevich made a campaign in Siberia, defeated the troops of the Siberian Khan Kuchum and annexed his lands to the Russian state. From that moment on, the development of Siberia by the Russian people began. After the annexation of the Volga region, the Western direction became a priority in foreign policy. The main goal of the Livonian War, which began in 1558, was Russia's conquest of the outlet to the Baltic Sea. In 1558-1560. military operations were conducted against the knightly Livonian Order, which owned the territory of the Baltic States. The beginning of the war turned out to be successful: the troops of Ivan IV passed through almost all of Livonia, took 20 cities, the Order was actually defeated. In 1561 the Livonian Order fell apart. However, the victories of Russian weapons went against the interests of Poland, Denmark and Sweden, to which the former possessions of the Order passed, so Russia had to fight already with three strong opponents. In 1563-1564. Russian troops suffered a number of serious defeats. Poland and Lithuania, fearing the strengthening of Russia and also striving to seize Livonia, in 1569 united into a single state of the Commonwealth. As a result, Russia lost the Livonian War. In 1582, an armistice was concluded in Yam-Zapolsky, according to which the old state border was preserved between Russia and Poland. An armistice with Sweden was concluded in 1583 in the city of Plyuss. Russia not only did not acquire the desired access to the sea, but was forced to cede Yam, Koporye, Ivangorod and the adjacent southern coast of the Gulf of Finland.

4. Formation of the Russian type of feudalism.

Seminar 4. 1.The struggle of the Russian people against the Polish-Swedish intervention in the era of "Time of Troubles". Seven Boyars.

In the summer of 1610, a coup took place in Moscow. The nobles, led by P. Lyapunov, overthrew Vasily Shuisky from the throne and forcibly tonsured him into a monk. (Shuisky died in Polish captivity, where he was sent in 1612) Power was seized by a group of boyars led by F.I. Mstislavsky. This government, which consisted of seven boyars, received the name "seven-boyars". In August 1610, the seven-boyars, despite the protests of Patriarch Hermogenes, concluded an agreement on calling Vladislav, the son of King Sigismund, to the Russian throne, and let the troops of the interventionists into the Kremlin. On August 27, 1610, Moscow swore allegiance to Vladislav. This was a direct betrayal of national interests. The country faced the threat of losing its independence.

First militia.

Only by relying on the people could it be possible to win and preserve the independence of the Russian state. In 1610, Patriarch Hermogenes called for a fight against the invaders, for which he was arrested. At the beginning of 1611, the first militia was created in the Ryazan land, led by the nobleman P. Lyapunov. The militia moved to Moscow, where an uprising broke out in the spring of 1611. The invaders, on the advice of the traitor boyars, set the city on fire. Troops fought on the outskirts of the Kremlin. Here, in the Sretenka area, Prince D.M. was seriously wounded. Pozharsky, leading the advanced detachments. However, the Russian troops were unable to build on the success. Opponents of P. Lyapunov, who was striving to establish a military organization of the militia, began to spread rumors that he allegedly wanted to exterminate the Cossacks. They invited him to the Cossack "circle" and in July 1611 they killed him. The first militia broke up.

Second militia. Minin and Pozharsky.

In the fall of 1611, the mayor of Nizhny Novgorod, Kozma Minin, appealed to the Russian people to create a second militia. The militia was led by K. Minin and Prince Pozharsky. In the spring of 1612 the militia moved towards Yaroslavl. A provisional government of Russia, the Council of All Earth, was created here. In the summer of 1612, from the side of the Arbat Gate, the troops of K. Minin and D.M. Pozharsky approached Moscow and united with the remnants of the first militia. The victory was won as a result of the heroic efforts of the Russian people.

2.Territorial expansion of Russia in the 17th century. In the XVII century. the territorial expansion of the country continued. The territories of the Wild Field, located between the Don, Upper Oka and the left tributaries of the Dnieper and Desna, are beginning to be developed more actively. An important event was the reunification of Ukraine (Left Bank) with Russia in 1654. The hetman of Ukraine Bohdan Khmelnitsky, who fought against the Commonwealth, appealed for support to the Moscow State, with which the Ukrainians were brought together by a common historical tradition, Orthodox faith and, finally, a relatively slower pace of development of peasant enslavement in Russia compared to Poland. The voluntary transfer of Ukraine under the arm of Moscow provided a legal basis for claiming the rest of the ancient Russian lands. Joining them was only a matter of time. The most important thing was the weakening of the Commonwealth. The international authority of Russia has also grown. In the XVII century. the development of Siberia and the Far East was in progress. By the middle of the century, Russian explorers (S. Dezhnev, E. Khabarov, and others) reached the coast of the Pacific Ocean, and by the end of the century a Russian settlement was founded in Kamchatka - Verkhnekamchatsk. Thus, the state constantly included new vast territories, which became the object of economic development.

Peasant War.

) The main reason for the peasant war of 1773-1775. there was an increase in serfdom, the most brutal exploitation of the lower strata of the population. This was directly manifested in the following:

> generous distribution of land to landowners with serfs;

> sale of peasants without land;

> a sharp increase in taxes;

> an increase in corvee days to 5-6 per week, the introduction of a "month";

> an increase in the monetary rent up to 10 rubles from a man's soul;

> cruel punishment of the peasants by the landlords;

> the plight of working people;

> increased violence against the peoples of the Volga and Ural regions - Tatars, Chuvashes, Bashkirs, etc .; buying up land, extorting bribes, forcible conversion to Christianity;

> the offensive of the state on the former liberties of the Cossacks, the introduction of the hated principles of "regularity".

2) The uprising covers the Southern and Middle Urals, Western Siberia, Bashkiria, the Volga region, Don. In the Urals, 60 factories revolted; Samara, Chelyabinsk, Kurgan were captured. The government sends troops under the command of General A.I.Bibikov to suppress the uprising. In March-April 1774, Pugachev was defeated at the Tatishcheva fortress and the Sakmara town, and his closest associates - Zarubin-Chika and Salavat Yulaev - at Chesnokovka. The siege of Orenburg and Ufa was ended. The main army of Pugachev was practically destroyed, the government announced the suppression of the rebellion. This ended the first stage of the war.

3) After the defeat at Ufa, Pugachev had only 400 people left, he went to the Urals. Many Cossacks remained on Yaik. But in May 1774 the rebel detachment grows to 8 thousand people. This stage of the war was characterized by the massive participation in the uprising of the Bashkirs, who now constitute the majority in the Pugachev detachment, and the working people of the mining plants of the Urals. Pugachev captures a number of fortresses, but is defeated by General de Colong. Pugachev's detachments go west, towards Kazan, capturing the Botkinsky and Izhevsky factories, Elabuga, Sarapul and other cities along the way.

4) Pugachev found himself in the landowners' areas, where he was supported by many serfs. It was now that the uprising took on the character of a peasant war. The rebels captured Alatyr, Saransk, Penza, Saratov; hundreds of nobles were hanged. Panic began in Moscow. Alexander Suvorov was summoned from the army.

Workshop 5.

Kochubei, Vasilchikov, Speransky, Bludov

Analysis of reform projects

Centralization of power

Administrative staff

Easing serfdom.

1841 g.- Law prohibiting the sale of peasants alone and without land

You can’t tear up families, sell peasants “to nowhere”.

1842 g.- Law on "obligated" peasants (continuation of the decree on "free farmers")

The landowner can give the peasant personal freedom and allocate him a piece of land, which the peasant will cultivate, and then give part of the income to the landowner at the expense of the land given to him.

1837-1841- reform of the state peasants.

Initiated by a prominent statesman P.D. Kiselev

Target: satisfaction of the economic and household needs of the subordinate peasants.

Practice: an increase in the allotments of land-poor peasants, a seed fund and grocery stores in case of crop failure, schools, hospitals.

Workshop 6.

Zemskaya reform of 1864.

In accordance with the reform, zemstvo assemblies were created - Rural assemblies. They created executive bodies.

Judicial reform of 1865.

She introduced 2 levels of elected bodies.

Elective - justices of the peace and their congresses. They dealt with minor criminal and civil cases. Designated - Chambers of Justice and District Chambers. In the district court, jury trials played an important role. The reform introduced an adversarial process in Russia. I took away the right to conduct an investigation from the police. Proclaimed publicity and openness of the court.

Military reform of 1874.

Instead of recruiting, general conscription has been introduced. The entire male population of the country who had reached the age of 20 was subject to conscription. Service life 6 years in the ground forces and 7 years in the navy. During the transformation period., The term was shortened. liberal in nature, the reforms were not entirely consistent. They retained the privileges of the nobility. They carried serf features.

3. Social and political life in the 60-70s. 19th century in Russia. Narodnikism, its ideological and political practice. After the Manifesto of February 19, 1861, Alexander II could no longer resist pressure from the court circles and the old bureaucracy, who saw too rapid changes as a danger to the state. At their insistence, in April 1861, Milyutin was removed from the post of Minister of Internal Affairs. He left without finishing work on the draft of the Zemstvo reform (carried out in 1864), far from exhausting his creative potential. However, the social upsurge in the country continued, which began on the eve of the abolition of serfdom. The question arose about the convocation of representatives of the people, about a constitution. In February 1862, a provincial noble assembly gathered in Tver. In their decree, the Tver nobles declared that the government was showing complete failure. And in the address addressed to the emperor, it was emphasized: "The convocation of electives from all over the Russian land is the only means to a satisfactory solution to the issues raised but not resolved by the provision of February 19". A few days later, a meeting of the world mediators of the Tver province met. In an even sharper form, they repeated the main points of the resolution of the noble assembly. All 13 participants in the conference of conciliators were imprisoned in the Peter and Paul Fortress. After 5 months in prison, they were put on trial, which sentenced them to imprisonment for a term of 2 to 2.5 years. True, they were soon pardoned, but they were forbidden to participate in any elections. In early 1863, an uprising broke out in Poland. Soon it spread to Lithuania and Western Belarus. Various forces participated in the uprising, including the landowners, dissatisfied with the liberation of the peasants. Large military forces were sent against the rebels. The leaders of the uprising turned to foreign powers and European public opinion for help. The danger of foreign intervention arose, and Russia at that time had not yet recovered its military potential after the Crimean War. In such a situation, Valuev proposed introducing some kind of representative body in order to deprive the foreign public of a pretext for attacking Russia. In April 1863, Alexander II called a meeting to discuss Valuev's proposal. It was approved, and the minister was instructed to draw up a draft. It was planned to introduce elected representatives from zemstvos into the State Council, while maintaining the fullness of autocratic power. But in November 1863 g. when the project was finished, the threat of foreign interference had already passed. The project was sent to the archives. In January 1865, the Moscow nobility addressed the tsar with the address: "Complete, sir, the state building you have founded by convening a general meeting of elected people from the Russian land to discuss the needs common to the entire state." Alexander was very dissatisfied with this address, but, not wanting to spoil relations with the influential Moscow nobility, he did not resort to repression. He limited himself to declaring in a rescript addressed to Valuev: "No one is called upon to take upon himself before me the petition for the general benefits and needs of the state." In a private conversation with one of the Moscow nobles, he said that he would gladly give "whatever constitution you like, if he were not afraid that Russia would fall to pieces the next day after that." Alexander II was soberly aware that with the introduction of a representative system, such problems could arise that would turn out to be more serious than the previous ones. In December 1865, the St. Petersburg provincial zemstvo also raised the question of convening a representative meeting. This time, the authorities again responded with reprisals. The chairman of the zemstvo council N.F. Kruse was expelled from the capital, and the St. The government, on the other hand, began to pursue an antizeme policy, interfering with the work of local self-government by endless quibbles and restrictions. Populism Populism - the ideology and movement of the rascal intellectuals came to the conclusion that it was necessary to replace the "flying propaganda", which was "going to the people" in 1874, with systematic, systematic work in the village: settle in it and start with conversations about everyday, everyday life, the urgent needs of the peasants, gradually instilling in them their ideas in a popular form. Again, young people, leaving their families, universities, gymnasiums, dressed in peasant clothes, learned blacksmithing, carpentry, carpentry and other crafts, and also settled in the village as teachers and doctors. It was “the second going to the people”. The Narodniks also carried on propaganda among the urban workers, in whom they saw the same peasants who had only temporarily left for factories and plants, but more literate and, therefore, more susceptible to revolutionary ideas. The success of such propaganda was also limited. Only a small stratum of people who came from the people in the person of the peasant Andrei Zhelyabov, the workers Stepan Khalturin and Pyotr Alekseev and some others found a common language with the populists, subsequently becoming active participants in the populist and workers' organizations. The failures of “going to the people” made it necessary to create a centralized revolutionary organization, with a clear structure and a developed program of actions and goals. Such an organization was created by the end of 1876. Initially it was called the "Northern Revolutionary Populist Group", and in 1878 it was named "Land and Freedom". This was the second "Land and Freedom", in contrast to the first, at the beginning of the 60s.

4. Acceleration of the capitalist development of Russia in the 2nd half of the 19th century. Changes in the social structure of the population. The beginning of the labor movement.

The Russian countryside at the turn of the century remained the focus of the remnants of the feudal era. The most important of them were, on the one hand, latifundist landownership, large landlord estates, widely practiced labor services (a direct relic of corvée), on the other hand, peasant land shortages, medieval allotment land tenure. The rural community remained, with its redistribution, overlap, which hindered the modernization of the peasant economy. All these reasons together led to the impoverishment of most of the peasant households, were the basis of bondage in the countryside. The peasantry underwent property differentiation, albeit at a slow pace.

In the 60s and 80s, capitalist elements began to emerge in the countryside - about 20% of all peasant farms. By means of lease and purchase, they concentrated in their hands almost all the land subject to purchase and sale, and a third of the allotment land. In their hands were more than half of all working livestock, agricultural machinery, they worked the bulk of agricultural hired workers.

At the same time, the land was emptied of the bulk of the peasantry. The difficult economic situation, civil and political lawlessness, repression and persecution caused the constantly growing emigration from Russia. Peasants flocked to work in the border states, and then to the USA, Canada, Argentina, Brazil and even Australia.

The landlord economy was extremely slowly acquiring a capitalist character. In the central black earth regions, where the soil has a high yield, the landowners rented out part of the land for rent, the cost of which the peasants worked out on the lordly plowing with their implements (according to the feudal system of working off). For the rented land in a number of regions, the peasant paid with his share of the harvest, which could be equal to half or more of the total product he received (sharecropping).

However, certain shifts took place in agriculture as well. They found expression in the expansion of sown areas, the growth of gross agricultural crops, higher yields, the use of fertilizers, machines, etc. But on the whole, the agrarian sector of the Russian economy was strikingly behind the industrial sector, and this lag more and more took the form of an acute contradiction between the needs of the country's bourgeois modernization and the inhibiting influence of feudal remnants in agriculture.

Since the beginning of the XX century. the labor movement in Russia has risen to a new level and has become, in the words of V. I. Lenin, "... a constant phenomenon in our life ..." (Poly. sobr. soch. T. 5. S. 15). From 85 thousand (1901) to 270 thousand (1903) workers went on strike annually in the country. And although most of the strikes were of an economic nature, the percentage of political actions of the proletariat rose from 8.4% in 1898 to 53% in 1903. In addition to the traditional form of class struggle (strikes, strikes), workers began to use new forms - demonstrations. Sometimes economic strikes were combined with political demonstrations, which gave the workers' movement an even greater social and political significance. The largest events in the labor movement of this time were the celebration of May 1 in Kharkov (1900), when the workers first put forward the slogan "Down with the autocracy!" May 7, 1901, named "Obukhov Defense". In November 1902, the economic strike in Rostov-on-Don grew into a broad political movement of over 30,000 workers. All these speeches took place under the leadership of the Social Democrats. The international proletariat of various industries took part in strikes and demonstrations. The organization, cohesion and solidarity of the working class grew, becoming more receptive to the propaganda of the Social Democrats.

The struggle of the workers at the beginning of the 20th century was of the highest intensity. reached in 1903 during the general strike of workers in the south of Russia. About 225 thousand workers went on strike in Baku, Batumi, Odessa, Kiev, Nikolaev, Kerch, Tiflis and other cities. The workers were joined by sales clerks, telephone operators, and printers. Economic demands were combined with political ones: higher wages, better working conditions, an 8-hour working day, freedom to strike, assembly, speech, press, the abolition of the autocracy and the establishment of a democratic republic. With the help of the troops, the government suppressed the strike. The workers' demands were not met. However, the general strike of 1903 was of great importance - it was the first mass political strike in the history of the international workers' movement. The movement of workers in 1903 showed that Russia is "on the eve of the barricades" (see: Lenin V. I. Poli. Sobr. Op. T. 9. P. 251).

In 1904, strikes and demonstrations continued in various parts of the country. The largest of these was the 18-day general strike of the Baku workers (December 1904). It was attended by up to 50 thousand people. The Baku committee of the RSDLP led the strike. The workers demanded the convocation of a Constituent Assembly, an improvement in their position, an 8-hour working day, and an end to the Russo-Japanese war. The Baku strike was supported by the workers of St. Petersburg, Moscow, Samara and other cities, and a general strike was being prepared. The scale of the movement, the solidarity and cohesion of the workers frightened the government. The strike in Baku ended in victory for the workers: for the first time in the history of the labor movement in Russia, a collective agreement was concluded between workers and entrepreneurs. In it, the length of the working day was set at 9 o'clock, and on pre-holiday days - 8 hours.

Demonstration strike movement 1900-1904 proved that the multinational proletariat of Russia has become the most active social force, ready for a decisive battle with tsarism, and is the hegemon of the entire democratic movement.

Under the direct influence of the struggle of the working class, other strata of the population of Russia were also drawn into the social movement.

Workshop 7.

1.Social, economic and political development of Russia at the beginning of the 20th century. Bourgeois-democratic revolution 1905-1907 Territory and population.

At the beginning of the XX century. Russia remained an agrarian-industrial country. Its population was 130 million people, of which about 75% lived in rural areas. Petersburg and Moscow had more than 1 million inhabitants. Russia was divided into 97 provinces. More than a hundred peoples lived on the territory of the empire, which differed in spiritual traditions, professed religion, and the level of enlightenment. Industry and transport. Russia at the beginning of the XX century. was covered by rapid modernization processes. The industry developed especially rapidly.

Slavs during the "Great Migration of Peoples" (VI-VIII centuries)

The ancestors of the Slavs, the so-called Proto-Slavs, belonged to the ancient Indo-European unity that inhabited the vast territory of the Eurasian continent. Gradually, among the Indo-Europeans, there are related tribes that are close in language, economic activity, and culture. One of these tribal associations was the Slavs. The area of ​​their settlement in Central and Eastern Europe - from the Oder in the west to the Dnieper in the east, from the Baltic in the north to the European mountains (Sudetes, Tatras, Carpathians) in the south. Later, the western (Wends) and eastern (Antes) branches appeared in the Slavic massif. The Eastern Slavs who inhabited the steppe expanses of the Dnieper region were in constant contact with the nomadic tribes. Their relationship was far from always peaceful. Military clashes with the Sarmatians (II century AD), Goths (III century AD), Huns (IV century AD) led to the decline of the economy, the search for new lands protected from warlike neighbors.

The resettlement of the Slavs took place in the southern and northern directions. They were also caused by the natural increase in the population and the beginning of social differentiation. The settlement of the Eastern and Western Slavs was especially intensive at the end of the 5th-6th centuries. AD At this time, the territories of the Balkan Peninsula, which were part of the Byzantine Empire, were settled. The colonization of the new region led to the emergence of the southern branch of the Slavs.

In the VI-VII centuries. the Slavs were at the last stage of the development of the communal-clan system. The basis of social organization is the patriarchal family community. There is no state yet, society is governed on the principles of military democracy: it meant the power of the elected military leaders of the princes) while maintaining the power of the elders and the remnants of primitive collectivism and democracy. All questions are decided by a popular assembly of free communes, priests and military leaders belonging to the nascent tribal nobility, which is more and more distinguished from the bulk of the communes by its property status. The process of property differentiation accelerated with the beginning of the powerful military campaigns of the Slavs - mainly against the wealthy Byzantine Empire. The seizure of military booty exacerbated economic and social inequality, and contributed to the growth of private property.

Cities arose either as defensive centers, or as places of bargaining and centers of crafts. Indicators of the progress of the East Slavic civilization during this period are evident. If in the VI century. AD Byzantine historian Procopius from Caesarea pointed out that the Slavs live in forests in huts and dugouts, then already in the 9th century. AD the Scandinavians called Russia - Gardariki - the country of cities.

The oldest large, well-fortified Russian cities were: Ladoga on the Volkhov, Novgorod. As is known from the "Tale of Bygone Years" by the Russian chronicler Nestor, in the territories that became part of Kievan Rus, twelve Slavic unions of tribal principalities lived, formed in the 6th - 8th centuries. He singles out the glades with the center in Kiev; the Drevlyans lived to the north and west of the meadows; north of the meadows and Drevlyans, on the left bank of the Pripyat, the Dregovichi lived; in the upper reaches of the Southern Bug - Buzhans or Volynians; in the Dniester region - Ulmichi and Tivertsy; in Transcarpathia - White Croats; on the left bank of the Dnieper, in the basin of the Sula, Seim, Desna rivers - northerners; to the north of them, between the Dnieper and the Burn - Radimichi; to the north of the Radimichi, in the upper reaches of the Volga, Dnieper and Dvina - Krivichi; in the basin of the Western Dvina - regiments; in the area of ​​Lake Ilmen - Slovenia; finally, the easternmost tribe was the Vyatichi, who settled in the region of the upper and middle reaches of the Oka and the Moskva River. The economic activity of the Eastern Slavs was based on agriculture, cattle breeding, hunting, and fishing. Later, the craft began to develop. Agriculture was the main branch of the economy. The main agricultural crops were wheat, rye, oats, barley, millet, peas, beans, buckwheat, flax, hemp, etc. In the second half of the first millennium AD, plow farming with iron plowshares gradually replaced slash farming. The active use of iron made it possible to produce surplus agricultural products for exchange with other peoples. Cultivated: rye, barley, oats, flax, etc. The craft separated from agriculture in the 6th-8th centuries. AD Iron and non-ferrous metallurgy and pottery developed especially actively. From steel and iron alone, Slavic craftsmen produced over 150 types of various products. Trades (hunting, fishing, bee-keeping - collecting honey from wild bees, etc.), livestock raising also occupied a prominent place in the economy of the Eastern Slavs. Trade between the Slavic tribes and with neighboring countries, primarily with the eastern ones, was highly active. This is evidenced by numerous finds of treasures of Arab, Roman, Byzantine coins and jewelry. The main trade routes passed along the rivers Volkhov-Lovati-Dnepr (route "From the Varangians to the Greeks"), Volga, Don, Oka. The goods of the Slavic tribes were furs, weapons, wax, bread, slaves, etc. Expensive fabrics, jewelry, spices were imported. The life of the Slavs was determined by the nature of their activities. They lived sedentary, choosing hard-to-reach places for settlements or erecting defensive structures around them. The dwelling was a semi-dugout with a two- or three-pitched roof.

The beliefs of the Slavs testify to their enormous dependence on environmental conditions. The Slavs identified themselves with nature and worshiped the powers that embody it: fire, thunder, lakes, rivers, etc. and did not know the historical time. The deification of the powerful forces of nature - the sun, rain, thunderstorms - was reflected in the cults of the god of sky and fire Svarog, the thunder god Perun, and rituals of sacrifice.

Little is known about the culture of the Slavic tribes. Samples of applied art that have survived to our time testify to the development of jewelry. In the VI-VII centuries. writing emerges. An essential feature of Old Russian culture is the religious and mystical coloration of almost all of its manifestations. The custom of burning the dead is widespread, the erection of burial mounds over the funeral pyres, where things, weapons, food were put. Birth, wedding, death were accompanied by special ceremonies.

The disintegration of clan relations, the strengthening of the squads and princely power also affected the pagan cult. Huge mounds were poured over the dead princes. They began to build magnificent pagan temples, stone sculptures of deities appeared.

Slavs belong to the Indo-European language group. In 5-3 thousand BC. NS. Indo-Europeans occupied the territory of the northeastern Balkans, Asia Minor, possibly between the Black and Caspian seas. In 3-2 thousand BC. Indo-Europeans spread widely across Eastern Europe. The transition to agriculture forced them to settle in a certain area. The tribes gradually formed large ethnic tracts. One of these massifs was the Pre-Slavs, who inhabited the territory from the Middle Dnieper to the Oder, from the northern slope of the Carpathians in the south to Pripyat. The first mentions of the Slavs date back to the 1-2 century. n. NS. Under their name, the Slavs are mentioned in Byzantine and Arab sources from the 6th century. The Slavs were not native to Eastern Europe. Before the settlement of the Slavs along the Dnieper, these territories were apparently inhabited by dews (Rus) - ancient Germanic ethnic formations.

"The Great Migration of Peoples". Migration processes in the history of mankind did not stop for a minute, but they are best known to us in connection with the collapse of the Roman Empire (476 g), when the waves of the Germanic (as well as Sarmatian and Slavic tribes) destroyed the Western Roman Empire. This process, taking place in the IY-VII centuries, went down in history as the “Great Migration of Nations”. This theory at least explains the presence of Germanic tribes, both in Europe and Asia.

Slavic tribes also took part in the great migration of peoples. The question of the origin of the Slavs is not entirely clear, as is the ethnogenesis of most of the ethnic groups that formed on the borders of the Roman Empire. It is reliably known that during the period of the "great migration of peoples" the Slavic tribes settled in the center of Europe. The Slavs were active participants in the European maelstrom. In the Y-YI centuries, Slavic tribes moved into the territory of the Eastern Roman Empire and settled in the Balkan Peninsula, where the Slavic population has since become predominant. Other Slavic tribes failed to maintain their integrity, and some moved to the North, others went to the East.

Thus, as a result of the "Great Migration of Nations", the Slavs were divided into three large groups - southern, western and eastern Slavs. These groups have become the ethnic basis for the formation of modern Slavic peoples. Southern - Bulgarians, Croats, Serbs. Western - Poles, Czechs, Slovaks. Eastern - Ukrainians, Russians, Belarusians.

East Slavs. After the division of the Slavic tribes into three main groups, the Eastern Slavs settled in vast areas of eastern Europe. Unfortunately, the process of this resettlement is poorly known to us. Sources, both written and archaeological, can often be controversial. Most historians adhere to the concept set forth in the Tale of Bygone Years, although, as you know, it was compiled not earlier than the XII century, and we use lists of it dating back to a much later period. The compiler of the "Tale of Bygone Years" was the monk of the Kiev-Pechersk monastery Nestor. It is assumed that he used an "initial record" that has not come down to us.

In the VI-VIII centuries. Eastern Slavs settle over a large territory, mainly along the middle and upper reaches of the Dnieper and its tributaries. There is a mixture with local indigenous tribes, in the northeast with the Finno-Ugric tribes, in the southeast with the Turkic tribes and apparently with the remnants of the ancient Germanic tribes. The natural conditions of the new settlement territory had a great influence on the development of the Old Russian ethnos. First, the predominance of plains and the abundance of rivers flowing in different directions (“primitive roads” by V.O. Klyuchevsky), which contributed to the rapid settlement over a large territory and the development of trade. Secondly, quite fertile land and an abundance of forests, which predetermined the main types of economic activities of the Eastern Slavs: agriculture, forestry, hunting, fishing.

Since the 6th - 7th centuries, the Eastern Slavs have been rapidly developing a process of social stratification. The tribal nobility, led by the prince, appropriated a significant part of the war booty and prisoners who turned into slaves. The authority and power of the prince rested on the support of the squad. The princely squad was created not only to protect against the raids of nomads, but also to protect the interests of the tribal nobility and collect taxes from the subordinate population. The location of the prince and his squad was fenced off and fortified. This is how the first ancient Russian cities appeared, which performed, first of all, the role of centers of administrative control and defensive fortifications.

The most important questions of the life of the tribal union were decided by the prince together with the squad. For example, when Princess Olga tried to baptize her son Svyatoslav, he, as reported by The Tale of Bygone Years, refused, citing the fact that the squad might not approve of this step (“and what the squad will say”). This proto-state form of government was called "military democracy". The prince's squad was divided into "senior", which included the prince's men. They constituted the "princely Duma" and its representatives were appointed to the highest administrative positions. The bulk of the vigilantes was made up of the "young (junior) squad".

By the beginning of the IX century. "Rus", "Russian land" were somewhat, according to academician B.A. Rybakov about 15, military tribal unions. At the head of each was a prince with a retinue. By the middle of the century, they united into two large formations: South Russia and North Russia. The Polyan tribe was the unifier of Southern Russia. The administrative center was the city of Kiev, founded, as the chronicle says, back in the 6th century. the legendary prince Kiy. In the North, around Novgorod, a tribal union headed by the Slovenes, the so-called Northern Russia, was formed. As we can see, at this time, centripetal tendencies dominate in the development of ancient Russian society. The objective reason for this process was the need to unite the entire territory along the trade route "From the Varangians to the Greeks" and ensure its security, as well as the need to jointly fight the nomads.

2. Norman and anti-Norman theory of the origin of the ancient Russian state. Activities of the first princes. "The Tale of Bygone Years" connects the beginning of the formation of the state with the vocation of the Varangian prince Rurik to the Novgorod reign with his brothers. The chronicle reports that they took their entire clan - "all Russia", and came to rule over the Slovenes. "And from those Varangians the Russian land appeared."

The chronicle story about the vocation of the Varangian princes became the basis for the formation in the 30s of the 18th century of the "Norman theory" of the origin of the Old Russian state, at the origins of which were German scientists invited to the Russian Academy of Sciences - Georg Bayer and Siegfried Miller. They hypothesized that the Varangians-Rus were Normans, Scandinavians. Thus, it turned out that the state of the Eastern Slavs owes its origin to foreigners. As a consequence, far-reaching conclusions were drawn from this thesis about the inability of the Russian people to independent historical development. MV Lomonosov was the first to draw these conclusions and from these positions criticized the concept of Z. Miller and G. Bayer. But for a long time, it was the Norman theory of the origin of the Old Russian state that dominated Russian historiography. It was supported by N. M. Karamzin, S. M. Soloviev and other historians.

In Russian anti-Normanism in the second half of the 20th century, two trends can be distinguished. The first (B.A. Rybakov and others) struggled with the extremes of "Norman theory", with tendentious political conclusions. They argued that the state began to form among the Slavs before the Varangians were called; emphasized the insignificant role of the Varangians in the state life of Ancient Rus, its culture; noted that the Vikings were at a lower stage of development and therefore quickly assimilated and became Russified.

The second direction adhered to more rigid positions on the origin of the Old Russian state (A.G. Kuzmin and others). Its representatives believed that the Varangians, called to Russia, had nothing to do with the Scandinavians, the Normans had no relation. The Varangians meant a tribe on the southern coast of the Baltic, which belonged to the ancient Germanic tribes, which became Slavic by the 9th century. The Varangians (var - water) are simply the Pomorians who lived on the southern coast of the Baltic Sea. From this point of view, it becomes clear that the Tale of Bygone Years indicated that the Novgorodians were "from the Varangian clan" and that in Kiev the speech of Novgorodians and Varangians understood.

An important question is who was meant by the name "Varangians-Rus". Interesting, but not indisputable is the point of view of S.V. Yushkov. He believed that "Russia" is not an ethnic term, but a social one, reflecting the allocation of a special social group, moreover, in all Slavic tribes, and opposes the identification of the Polyans or another tribe with Russia. In his opinion, such social groups in Western Europe were the Franks, Burguns, etc. I must say that this point of view is not unfounded. In the documents, including the "Russian Pravda", there is certain evidence of the social nature of "Rus".

Nevertheless, archaeological burials of the 9th-10th centuries are found on the territory of the Novgorod land. with objects characteristic of the Scandinavian culture. For example, sculptures of the Scandinavian god of thunder with the characteristic hammers of Thor. But, it should be noted that hundreds of Viking squads sailed across the Baltic Sea in search of wealth and luck. They were hired to serve both the Russian princes and the Byzantine Basileus. It is important to note that the formation of a state can hardly act as an item of export or import in history. Without the internal readiness of society, its compulsory creation is not possible.

The activities of the first princes (Rurik, Oleg, Igor, Olga, Svyatoslav). The figure of Rurik in Russian history is very "vague". Only the following can be said definitely. In the 60s of the 9th century in Novgorod, as a result of an acute internal political struggle, power in the city was seized by the Varangian Rurik, who was apparently hired by representatives of the Novgorod boyars. The first dynasty of kings came from this legendary Rurik. V 882 year Rurik's relative - Oleg (Prophetic), having gathered a squad of Varangians, Slovenians, Krivichi descended along the Dnieper to Kiev, killed the Kiev princes Askold and Dir and captured the city. From this year, the countdown of Russian history is being conducted. Oleg made Kiev the center of the young nascent state - the main control point on the trade route "From the Varangians to the Greeks." Thus, Northern and Southern Russia were united.

Oleg subdued a number of Slavic tribes, forced to pay tribute to Kiev by force or through an agreement. Most of the Slavic tribes in Byzantine sources were called "paktions of Kiev" (pact - treaty). Oleg collected tribute from Novgorod and the North Russian lands (Ilmen Slovenes), from the Krivichi, from the Mer and the whole (Finnish tribes). Force "tortured" (subdued) the Drevlyans. He conquered the Chernigov lands of the northerners and Radimichs from the Khazars. Oleg led an active foreign policy, several times went to war against Byzantium. In 907, 912, political and trade agreements were concluded, beneficial for the Russians, which speaks of the victories of Oleg's army in these wars.

Oleg's successor - Igor Rurikovich - "tortured" (added) the Uliches and Tivertsy. He led a long struggle against the Drevlyans. In one of the campaigns for tribute (945) he was killed. His wife, the Grand Duchess Olga, took revenge on the Drevlyans: she destroyed the capital of the Drevlyans, the city of Iskorosten, destroyed the Drevlyane nobility and finally subdued this tribe to Kiev. She was the first in Russian history to debug the system of interaction between regions and the center. She established the size and place of collection of tribute from the tribes, the so-called "tracts". Princess Olga, as reported by the PVL, was beautiful, smart, “outwitted” (outwitted) the Emperor of Constantinople himself. She, unlike her son Svyatoslav, tried to regulate relations with Byzantium not by military, but by diplomatic means. Therefore, she is called the "first diplomat" in the history of Russia. "

Territorial growth and strengthening of Russia continued under Svyatoslav Igorevich. According to Byzantine sources, we have the first detailed description of the appearance and habits of the prince. With heroic speeches, he inspired the squad before the battle. He made campaigns against the Vyatichi, subjugated the Circassians, defeated Khazaria and Volga Bulgaria, made the cities of Itil and Tamarkh (Tmutaranan) Russian, fought against Byzantium, conquered Korchev (Kerch). Thus, he made an attempt to free the trade route along the Volga, and gain a foothold on the Black Sea coast.

Prince Svyatoslav fought against the Pechenegs, who, after the defeat of the Khazars, occupied the Caspian and Black Sea territories. But his squad was exhausted in endless military campaigns. And, returning after an unsuccessful campaign against Byzantium, Svyatoslav's squad was defeated by the Pechenegs on the Dnieper rapids. The prince himself was also killed.

3. Baptism of Rus. Vladimir I. A special role in strengthening the unity of the young Old Russian state was played by the son of Svyatoslav and the grandson of Olga, Prince Vladimir I. He can be called the first great reformer in our history. First of all, he strengthened the status of Kiev - as the capital of the new state. He built a number of defensive structures east of Kiev. In 983-984. he carries out the first religious reform, which ended in failure. Of the many pagan gods, Vladimir I tried to choose five, and make them the main ones for all the East Slavic tribes that became part of the young state. In their honor, a temple (a place of worship and sacrifice) was erected near Kiev, where five wooden idols (sculptures) were erected. But paganism did not unite, but divided the tribes. Each tribe had its own pagan deities, and the prince's voluntaristic action could hardly lead to the strengthening of unity. This required a fundamentally different religion, not polytheistic (paganism), but monotheistic. It was on Vladimir I that the historical mission of choosing a state religion fell.

The author of the Tale of Bygone Years describes in detail the long process of this choice of state religion. But, based on historical research, we can say that it was largely predetermined. What are the main reasons for adopting Orthodox (Eastern) Christianity? Firstly, long-term ties with Byzantium, which was the generally recognized world leader at that time. Secondly, Kievan Rus was surrounded by states that had already adopted Christianity (Bulgaria, Georgia, Armenia). Thirdly, the process of Christianization of the population of Russia began in the 7th-8th centuries. Before the official baptism, there were many Orthodox among the warriors and merchants of Russia. In Kiev and other southern Russian cities, Christian churches were built already in the 9th-10th centuries. Historians believe that the first attempt at Christianization of Kievan Rus was made back in the middle of the 9th century under the Kiev princes Askold and Dir. Fourthly, Byzantium also aspired to Christian Rus, and wanted, with the help of religion, to make Kievan Rus a conductor of a policy that was beneficial to it. There is also a subjective moment, Vladimir I was raised by his grandmother, Grand Duchess Olga, the first Christian Russia, and, obviously, knew the basics of Orthodox Christianity well.

Let us note right away that Russia did not become an obedient conductor of Byzantine influence. Baptism took place not "in the Byzantine way, but" according to the Kiev scenario. " When the Byzantine king forgot to fulfill his promise and give his sister, Princess Anna, to the Kiev prince, Vladimir began a war with Byzantium. He took the city of Korsun, and threatened: "The same will happen with Constantinople." The Byzantine Tsar Vasily immediately gathered his sister and sent her to Korsun. Here, first, according to the chronicle, Vladimir I himself was baptized, and then a wedding with a Byzantine princess took place. A year later, officially in 988g. Kiev was baptized. This year officially became the year of the baptism of Rus.

The establishment of Christianity in Russia as a state religion became an event of great historical significance. First, Kievan Rus has strengthened its economic, political, dynastic and cultural ties with the world leader Byzantium. Ties with Western Europe became more active, that is, isolationism was overcome. Kievan Rus became a Christian state, which entered the family of other Christian peoples. Secondly, thanks to Christianity, a new system of social relations began to form. The elimination of local, tribal pagan ideas accelerated, which contributed to the unification into a single people. Christianity helped to strengthen the power of the prince, i.e. strengthened the early feudal monarchy. The power of the prince was now considered God-given. Relations between people began to be built on the basis of the Christian value system (slavery was prohibited, polygamy was prohibited). Thirdly, with the adoption of Christianity, the church and church hierarchy began to take shape, which took an important place in ancient Russian society. And last but not least, the rapid development of ancient Russian culture begins (writing, literature, architecture, court etiquette, etc.).

4. The flourishing of the Kiev state. Yaroslav the Wise and Vladimir Monomakh. The reforms of Vladimir I created conditions for the rapid development of the country. The time of the reign of Vladimir I and his son Yaroslav is considered the heyday of Kievan Rus, when the foundations of the Old Russian state and the Old Russian people were laid. The chronicler in the Tale of Bygone Years notes that Vladimir plowed, Yaroslav sowed, and we (descendants) are reaping the fruits of their labors.

Under Yaroslav the Wise, the borders of the state were expanded, southwestern Russia, the entire Chernigov and Tmutarakan lands were annexed. The fortress city of Yuryev (Tartu) was built to anchor on the western borders. The capital of the state was decorated with the St. Sophia Cathedral, a new fortress wall was erected around the city with the "golden" main entrance gates. Foreigners called Kiev "the pearl of the east", "the rival of Constantinople."

It is not for nothing that Yaroslav received the nickname “wise”. We can say that this is the first person in our history of "book culture", because he believed that the main wisdom can be gleaned precisely from books ("there is great benefit from the teaching of books"). First of all, under him was created the first written state law in our history - the famous "Russian Truth". With his active assistance, a layer of educated people is formed in Russia, the first schools for boys and girls, the first libraries appear. Yaroslav creates a whole staff of translators who translated foreign books into Old Russian. He seeks to pursue a policy independent from both Western countries and Byzantium. On the initiative of the Kiev prince in 1051, for the first time the head of the Russian church was not appointed from Byzantium, but was elected from among the Russian priests. It was Metropolitan Hilarion, the author of the famous philosophical treatise "The Word of Law and Grace," which substantiated the need for a single religion, a single power, a single law.

Thus, by the XI, Kievan Rus was a single state created on the basis of an advanced (at that time) culture, a written law, a single religion, which became the basis for the formation of a new, ancient Russian ethnos. Kievan Rus was not inferior to European countries either in economic, military, cultural, respect.

After the death of Yaroslav in the middle of the 11th century, centrifugal tendencies intensified in Russia, and the unity of Kievan Rus began to weaken. Only Yaroslav's grandson Vladimir Monomakh for a short time managed to rally Russia to fight the Polovtsy. He was nicknamed Monomakh in honor of his maternal grandfather, the Byzantine emperor Constantine Monomakh.

Vladimir Monomakh was the initiator of the "congresses" of princes from 1097 to 1110, at which the question of ending the enmity between them was decided. Very quickly, the princes forgot their agreements, killed each other, trying to seize new principalities for themselves. The wildest case of this enmity was the blinding of his brother Vasily by the Kiev prince Svyatopolk. After the death of Svyatopolk, Vladimir Monomakh was called to rule by the Kievites. Although his accession to the princely throne was associated with the suppression of the uprising of the smerds, nevertheless, his reign was characterized by concern for the smerds. For example, he streamlined the collection of taxes. When he was reprimanded that the campaign against the Polovtsians would begin in the spring, it was impossible to tear off the stink from the plow, Vladimir replied to his opponents: “You are not worrying about stinks, about a horse. A stink will go out into the field, and then the Polovtsian will fly in, kill, the horse will lead away, the wife and daughter will be taken away to the full. "

Vladimir Monomakh for a short period of his reign (1113-1125) left a good memory. The charter of Vladimir Monomakh became an integral part of the code of ancient Russian laws "Russian Truth". Both in the Charter and in his famous "Teaching ..." to his sons, he acts as a peacemaker who believes in the power of the law and common sense. For a short time he managed to rally the Russian principalities around him, but after his death feudal strife became irreversible.

The complex of documents of this time, first of all "Russian Truth" and "Charter of Vladimir Monomakh" give us the opportunity to describe the social structure of ancient Russian society and identify the features of the country's management system. The highest layer of Kievan Rus was represented by the Kiev prince and representatives of the princely family in all cities, the top of the princely squad, the local land aristocracy. With the adoption of Christianity, a large layer of white and black clergy began to take shape. The bulk of the country's free population was made up of peasants (smerds, people, syabras). But there were also semi-dependent (purchases) and completely dependent peasants (servants, mongrels, slaves). A significant part of the population of ancient Russian cities was made up of princes with their administration, merchants, artisans.

The system of political administration of Kievan Rus it was peculiar. The clan of the great Kiev prince was considered the owner of the Russian land, and the state was ruled by the entire clan of Rurikovich. Representatives of the princely family were distributed among the cities in accordance with the "ladder" (in turn and according to seniority), i.e. the older the prince, the more significant the city he received in management. In addition, in ancient Russian cities there was a city veche headed by the local nobility (elders of the city). Veche was the organ of city self-government and decided all the main issues of city life, elected a tysyatsky (head of the city militia), tax collectors, judges, and sometimes, like, for example, in Novgorod, and a metropolitan. In addition, the veche had the right to invite the prince or expel the prince. Between the prince and the city veche there was a constant struggle for primacy. But while the relative unity of Kievan Rus was preserved, the opinion of the Grand Duke, “the keeper of the Russian land”, played a decisive role.

Summing up, we will draw the following conclusions. The formation of the ancient Russian state is a long process that covers the 9th-11th centuries, and is the result of the unification of the East Slavic tribes, their development of a vast territory and protection from both the Catholic West and nomads from the south. The emergence of any state is a consequence of the internal development of society. Therefore, statehood cannot be an object of export or import, but is a natural result of historical development. Early feudal monarchies, such as the Empire of Charlemagne, Kievan Rus, etc., were the most important condition for the emergence of private ownership of land, and the development of feudal relations.

Terminological dictionary:

Varangians (Normans), Verv, Veche, military democracy, patrimony, state, feudalism, early feudal monarchy, code of laws, "Russian Truth", tribal union, Norman and anti-Norman theory of the origin of the Old Russian state, chronicle, chronicle, ladder (tribal) principle of inheritance , subsistence farming, polyudye, Christianity, Western Christianity (Catholicism), Eastern Christianity (Orthodoxy), paganism, dual faith, clan community, neighboring community.