The ancestors of the Eastern Slavs lived in Central and Eastern Europe. By language they belonged to the Indo-European peoples. Tribes can be traced back to 2000 BC. The ancestors of the Slavs (Proto-Slavs) are found among the tribes that inhabited the basins of the Odra, Vistula, Oka, Dnieper and Danube rivers. Ancient authors called Slavs Wends, Ants. The estimated territory of settlement of the ancestors of the Slavs reached the Elbe, in the north to the Baltic Sea, in the east to the Oka. From the single European group of tribes, the east was separated. Glory to the branch: Russians, Ukrainians, Belarusians. The ancestors of the Slavs belonged to the ancient Indo-European unity. Gradually, related tribes emerged among the Indo-Europeans, similar in language, economic activity, and culture. The Slavs became one of them. Later, western (Vends) and eastern (Antes) branches appeared in the Slavic massif.

At the end of the 5th century. the settlement of the Slavs stopped: the eastern branch came to the Dnieper, gradually settling to the lake. Ilmen and the upper reaches of the river. Okie.

The Polyans, the Drevlyans, were founded on the right bank of the Dnieper and its tributaries.

Northerners, Radimichi and Vyatichi are on the left bank of the Dnieper.

Krivichi - in the upper reaches of the Volga and Western. Dvina.

An important factor in the formation of the people and the state are the neighboring peoples and tribes, which differ in their language, way of life, way of life, morals and customs, culture, etc. At different times, neighboring peoples subjugated the Slavic tribes and drew them into the sphere of their economic activity or, conversely, were under the influence of the Slavs.

The neighbors of the Eastern Slavs (late 9th century) were:

1) in the west: Baltic tribes: Litas, Lithuanians, Yatvingians, etc.; Western Slavs: Poles (Poles), Slovaks, Czechs, Hungarians (Ugrians); 2) in the northeast: Finno-Ugric tribes: Karelians, Mordovians, Mari, Muroma, etc.; 3) in the Lower Volga: Khazars; 4) in the east : Volga Bulgarians; 5) in the south in the Black Sea region: Pechenegs and other Turkic tribes. As they settled, the Eastern Slavs displaced peoples or assimilated them. After settling in new places, the Eastern Slavs created the foundations of their social and economic life. The convenience of river routes ensured that diverse ties were maintained between tribes and facilitated the formation of a single state. In the beginning. I thousand. The Slavs lived in tribal communities. However, the development of agriculture, which was quite high for its time, and the presence of excess product led to the fact that the tribal community was replaced by a neighboring community, the unity of which was maintained not by blood, but by economic ties.

From the 6th century - the process of stratification of tribal relations. The manifestation of property inequality and the development of product exchange led to the formation of separate social groups. In the 6th-8th centuries, the first associations of the Eastern Slavs appeared.

At the beginning of the 9th century. the process of forming statehood is underway. The religion of the Eastern Slavs was complex and varied. In the pre-Christian era, the Eastern Slavs were pagans. They deified the forces of nature and believed in good and evil spirits. Their most important gods were: Perun - the god of thunder and lightning, war; Svarog - god of fire; Dazhdbog (aka Yarilo, Khoros) - god of the sun and fertility; Volos is the god of wealth and fertility; Stribog is the god of thunder and bad weather; Mokosh is a goddess who protected the female part of the household; Veres god, patron of cattle breeding; Semark is the god of the underworld. The Eastern Slavs had temples - places where prayers took place and sacrifices were made to idols. A noticeable role in the life of the Slavs was played by magicians, believers, etc. There was a cult of ancestors. The remains of the dead were burned and mounds were built over them. At first, ancestral tombs were built, then, with the decomposition of the clan system and the emergence of a paired family, separate mounds began to be erected over each burial. There were pagan holidays associated with the seasons and agricultural work. At the end of December, they caroled - mummers went from house to house with songs and jokes, praising the owners, who were supposed to give gifts to the mummers. The big holiday was seeing off winter and welcoming spring - Maslenitsa. On the holiday of Ivan Kupala, rituals with fire and water, fortune-telling, round dances were held, and songs were sung. In the fall, after the end of field work, a harvest festival was celebrated: a large honey loaf was baked. Much attention was paid to wedding and funeral rites. The Slavs believed in the immortality of the soul and the afterlife, which would be happy if the living correctly escorted the deceased to another world.

According to the Tale of Bygone Years, the Radimichi, Vyatichi, Northerners and Krivichi burned the dead, put the ashes and remains of bones in a vessel and placed them on poles in small log houses near the roads. The Vyatichi sometimes buried log-coffins; burnt ashes into the ground. In many places, mounds were built over the graves, next to which rites were held - military competitions in memory of the deceased and memorial feasts - funeral feasts.

In the 9th century. The Slavs began to bury their dead without burning them. Food, tools, weapons, and jewelry were placed next to the deceased. It is known that the Eastern Slavs still retained blood feud: the relatives of the murdered man took revenge on the murderer by death.

With the adoption of Christianity in 988 (already during the time of Kievan Rus), the Slavs began to have two names. “Real” - given at baptism (Hebrew or Greek names), and worldly - “from the evil eye”: a pagan nickname, a Scandinavian or West Slavic name. Moreover, in life a person was called by a “false” name. And many did not remember that Prince Vladimir the Red Sun was actually Vasily, Yaroslav the Wise was Yuri (George), and Vsevolod the Big Nest was called Dmitry.

Even before their settlement across the East European Plain, the Slavs were engaged in arable farming, cattle breeding, hunting and beekeeping. While settling in new places, they continued their previous activities and mastered new ones. The Slavs of the forest-steppe zone were dominated by the arable farming system - fallow, when a plot of land was sown for several years until it was exhausted, and then moved to a new one. In the forest zone, they used a slash-and-burn farming system: they cut down and uprooted a section of the forest, burned the trees, fertilized the ground with ash and also used it for two to three years, and then cleared a new area. On the cleared lands they grew rye, wheat, barley, millet, oats, and from garden crops - turnips, cabbage, beets, carrots, etc., they also engaged in livestock breeding: horses, cattle, pigs, sheep, goats. The tools used were an axe, a hoe, a harrow, a spade, a sickle, flails, stone grain grinders and hand millstones. In the southern regions, the main tool was the plow, and later a wooden plow with an iron tip - a ploughshare. Oxen were used as draft animals in the south, and horses in the forest zone. The economy was of a subsistence nature: it produced agricultural and livestock products necessary to satisfy basic needs.

Crafts played a secondary role in the economy of the Eastern Slavs. These were hunting, fishing and beekeeping. Crafts have not yet completely separated from agriculture. Furriers, weavers and carpenters were the same grain growers, who alternated work in the field with occupations and crafts. However, potters and blacksmiths lived at some distance from the villages and did not engage in agriculture. In the VIII-IX centuries. Modeled dishes were replaced by dishes made using a potter's wheel. The emergence of surplus products contributed to active exchange, and later to the emergence and development of trade, which went mainly along numerous rivers and their tributaries.

The route from the “Varangians to the Greeks” was actively used by the Scandinavian peoples, whom the Slavs called the Varangians (hence the name of the route itself). The Varangians traded with coastal tribes, including the Slavs. They not only traded peacefully, but often also robbed, and sometimes were hired to serve in squads of Slavic princes.

The Slavs conducted active trade with the Khazars, Bulgarians, Arabs and, of course, the Greeks (Byzantines). The main items of foreign trade were furs, wax, honey, and servants (slaves). Silks, silver and gold items, luxury goods, incense, weapons, and spices came from the East and Byzantium. The emergence of cities among the Slavs was associated with the development of trade. The Tale of Bygone Years already names the cities of Kyiv, Chernigov, Smolensk, Lyubech, Novgorod, Pskov, Polotsk, Murom, etc. In total, by the 9th century. there were about 24 large cities. The Varangians called the Slavic land Gardarika - the country of cities. The chronicles brought to us the legend about the emergence of Kyiv. Kiy, his brothers Shchek and Khoriv and their sister Lybid founded their settlements (courtyards) on three hills on the Dnieper. Then they united into one city, which they named Kiev in honor of Kiy. The first principalities appeared: Kuyabiya (Kuyaba - around Kyiv), Slavia (in the area of ​​Lake Ilmen with the center in Novgorod). The emergence of such centers testified to the emergence of new intra-tribal relations in the organization of the Eastern Slavs, which created the preconditions for the emergence of a state among them.

In the VI century. The Eastern Slavs lived in a tribal system. The main unit of society was the clan. The clan was headed by elders, and on the most important issues a council of all relatives met; 3-5 clans close in origin made up a tribe. Tribes united in alliances with chiefs at their head. In the VII-IX centuries. clan relations among the Eastern Slavs began to disintegrate due to the advent of metal tools and the transition from slash to arable farming. The main economic unit became the individual family.

Gradually, the clan community is being replaced by a neighboring, territorial one, the members of which were no longer blood relatives, but simply neighbors. The neighboring community in the south was called “mir”, in the north - “rope”. In the neighboring community, communal ownership of arable land, forest and hay land, etc. was retained, but the family was already allocated plots of arable land for use - “allotments”. These plots were cultivated by each family with its own tools, which received ownership of the harvest it collected. In the tribal environment of the 7th - early 9th centuries. the “deliberate children” stood out - leaders, elders, famous warriors. Power and wealth were concentrated in their hands. Many of the “deliberate children” began to live in separate fortified estates. Private property was born. The improvement of tools led to the production of not only what was necessary in a subsistence economy, but also a surplus product. There was an accumulation of surplus product, and on its basis - the development of exchange between individual families. This led to differentiation of the community, increased wealth inequality, and accumulation of wealth by elders and other nobility.

The most important governing body among the Slavs continued to be the veche - popular government, which jointly resolved all the most important issues. But gradually its importance fell. The Eastern Slavs fought numerous wars with their neighbors, repelling the onslaught of nomadic peoples. At the same time, they made campaigns in the Balkans and Byzantium. Under these conditions, the role of the military leader - the prince, who, as a rule, was the main person in the management of the tribe - increased enormously. When wars were rare, all the men of the tribe took part in them. In conditions of frequent wars, this became economically unprofitable. The growth of the surplus product made it possible to support the prince and his squad. The military squad nobility declared themselves the owners of lands or a tribal union, imposing tribute (tax) on their fellow tribesmen. Another way of subjugating neighboring communities was the transformation of the old tribal nobility into boyars - patrimonial lands and the subordination of the community members to them.

By the VIII-IX centuries. At the head of the East Slavic tribal unions were princes from the tribal nobility and the former clan elite - “deliberate people”, “best husbands”. Princes and warriors grew rich from war booty: they turned captured prisoners of war into slaves, forcing them to work on their lands. In the VI-IX centuries. The slaves of the Eastern Slavs were mainly prisoners captured in the war. At that time, the Slavs had customary law. Slaves were used mainly in the household, in the most difficult jobs. Slavery among the Slavs was of a patriarchal nature, when slaves do not form a class, but are considered junior members of the family. Thus, the Eastern Slavs experienced a process of differentiation (stratification) of society. The prerequisites for the formation of the state were created.

Ethnogenesis is the initial stage of the emergence of a people and the further formation of its anthropological, ethnographic, linguistic characteristics.
Eastern Slavs - Russians, Ukrainians, Belarusians.
Most of Europe and a significant part of Asia have long been inhabited by Indo-European tribes. The Slavs are part of the Indo-European language family. This Indo-European language family already existed around the 4th millennium BC. e. There were constant migrations of various tribes. During this movement, the Slavs were divided into three branches - eastern, western and southern. The Eastern Slavs were located on the territory of modern Eastern Europe. Disputes about the origin of the Eastern Slavs are still going on.
The Slavs were not the first inhabitants; at least 4 nationalities lived before them:
Scythians - had a developed culture and statehood (in the 1st millennium BC, the ancient Greeks wrote about various peoples of the northern Black Sea region, calling them “Scythians” (but does not mean that all of them were Scythians));
The ancient Greek colonists were neighbors of the Scythians;
Sarmatians - nomadic people from Asia;
Finno-Ugrians are a people who came from Siberia.
At the beginning of the 1st millennium AD. e. the Romans wrote about “barbarians,” among whom could also be the ancestors of the Slavs.
In the 4th-7th centuries AD e. There was a great migration of peoples, among whom were the Slavs.
In the 5th-7th centuries AD e. The Slavs occupied lands from the Elbe River (lava) in the West to the Dnieper River in the East. From the Baltic in the north to the Mediterranean in the south.
The historical community of the Eastern Slavs, who gave rise to the Old Russian state, was formed on the territory of the Dnieper region.
Neighbors are Baltic (modern Lithuanians and Latvians), Finno-Ugric, Finnish tribes (Estonian, Finnish).
In the steppes of the northern Black Sea region lived nomadic pastoralists - Turkic tribes.
Neighboring states: Byzantium (medieval Greece), Khazaria (Khazar Khaganate; control over the Great Silk Road; Khazaria was in the lower reaches of the Volga and Don), Volga Bulgaria (Kazan).
The Eastern Slavs consisted of 15 large tribes (Polyans, Dvevlyans, Krivichi, Slovenes - the most developed). Each tribe had its own internal organization, tribal leaders. Kyiv became a major Polyana center.
Main occupations of the Eastern Slavs:
Forestry (assigning type of economy);
Farming (arable) Most of the forests were forested, so trees had to be cut down, stumps uprooted and burned. When the soil became unsuitable, they moved to another. This is a slash-and-burn farming system. They plowed with a plow, plow, and harrow, then harvested the grain with sickles. Grain crops – wheat, millet, barley, buckwheat, rye, oats.
Animal husbandry (cows, goats, sheep, pigs, horses)
Domestic crafts (blacksmithing), and also engaged in beekeeping, fishing and hunting;
Weaving (goat wool, sheep wool, linen.)
The main religion is paganism (beliefs that arose at the stage of tribal relations; it is characterized by the animation of the surrounding world, the worship of the forces of nature and ancestors). There are 2 main cults - the cult of nature and the cult of ancestors. The Slavs were distinguished by their love of freedom.
In the 9th century, Varangians (mercenary warriors) appeared in the land of the Eastern Slavs. Version - people from Scandinavia and the Baltic Sea coast.
As the Eastern Slavs settled over large areas, blood ties began to disintegrate. In the 9th century, the clan community turned into a neighborly one, where unity was maintained not by family ties, but by economic ones. The harsh natural conditions determined the longevity of the neighboring community, since often large amounts of work had to be done in a short time.
In Slavic communities there are tribal nobility (1-2%), warriors, and elected leaders. This stage of development of society is military democracy.
At this time, elements of the future statehood are emerging. Pre-state stage of social development.

The problem of ethnogenesis of the Eastern Slavs. The main stages of the formation and evolution of East Slavic statehood.

Contents:

1. Introduction.

2.Features of Slavic settlement.

3. Disputes about the origin of the Russian princely dynasty.

4. Formation of the Old Russian state.

5. List of used literature:

1. Introduction

Russia in its main features was formed within the framework of the Moscow state. However, it has deep historical roots from the Slavic civilization, in Ancient Rus'.

The formation of the ancient Russian state is one of the most important and complex scientific problems in Russian history. Researchers have developed various concepts of its nature and genesis. I (it seems that the question “Where did the Russian land come from?” posed by the ancient Russian chronicler Nestor turned out to be one of the eternal questions of our history.

The problem of the origin of Ancient Rus' is connected primarily with the question of the origin of the people who created it. Today it remains one of the most controversial in domestic historiography (it maintains its relevance and acquires political overtones in the context of the growth of national self-awareness of the Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian and other peoples inhabiting the spaces of Russia-Russia-the former USSR.

One of the newest concepts of Slavic ethnogenesis comes down to the following. In the 1st millennium BC. The Slavs have not yet emerged as an independent ethnic group. It is still not clear on what territory and when the Slavs separated from the Indo-European ethnolinguistic unity. An analysis of the vocabulary of the Old Slavic language allowed scientists to assume that the ancestors of the Slavs were part of the Balto-Slavic linguistic community, which occupied the territory south of the Western Dvina - Oka line. In the north they coexisted with Finno-Ugric, and in the south with Iranian ethnocultural massifs.

At the beginning of the 1st millennium AD. The Proto-Slavic group stands out from the single Balto-Slavic community. In the II-IV centuries. its neighbors are two large interethnic associations, led by the Goths in the south and the Vandals in the west. The famous St. Petersburg scientist G.S. Lebedev argues that as part of or in contact with these formations, the Proto-Slavs went through an important stage of ethnic consolidation: by the 4th century. include the first news of the political activity of the Wends and Antes."

It seems appropriate to us to dwell here on the name of the Slavs in those distant times. After all, the very presence of a name serves as definite evidence of the emergence of ethnic self-awareness, without which the existence of an ethnic community is impossible. The name “Slavs” appeared only in the 6th century. Ancient authors mentioned the Slavs under the name of the Wends, the Gothic chroniclers called them Ants (some authors believe that the steppe people called the Slavs Ants), the Byzantines called them Sklavins. According to I.M. Dyakonov, to the IV-V centuries. The Proto-Slavs were divided into three groups: the Wends in the west, the Sklavins in the south, and the Antes in the east.

The Great Migration of Peoples, which took place from the 4th to the 7th centuries, significantly changed the ethnic picture of the world. The Northern Black Sea region became the main route for the movement of ethnic groups from east to west. Wave after wave of nomadic tribes covered Eastern and Central Europe. Huns in the IV-V centuries. defeated the Gothic power, then the Goths, Gepids, Vandals and others, pressed by the steppe inhabitants, moved to the west and southwest, “breaking the borders of the Roman Empire” (G.S. Lebedev).

The Proto-Slavs rushed into the resulting geographic niche and, during a powerful expansion, populated vast spaces. Starting from the V-VI centuries. they are recorded (both archaeologically and written sources) in the territory from the southern coast of the Baltic Sea in the north to the Danube in the south, from the Vistula and Oder in the west to the middle Dnieper and Don in the east. They reached the upper reaches of the Volga, the Adriatic, and penetrated the Peloponnese and Asia Minor.

The period of ancient Slavic unity ends in the last quarter of the 1st millennium, when the Slavic community splits into three branches: eastern, western and southern. “Thus, unlike their Aryan counterparts, for example the Romans and Germans, the Slavs entered the field of world history relatively late. Such a delay contributed to the long-term preservation of the closeness of language, spiritual and material culture, the main features of the social structure of the Slavic peoples.”

The independent history of the Eastern Slavs begins in the VIII-IX centuries. By this time, the East Slavic tribes of the Polyans, Drevlyans, Volynians and Dregovichi occupy the forest-steppe and forests of the Dnieper right bank, the Tivertsy and Ulichi - the Carpathian region and the interfluves of the Prut, Dniester, Southern Bug, the Northerners and Radimichi - the Dnieper left bank, the Vyatichi - the basin of the upper reaches of the Oka, the Krivichi - the upper reaches [Nepra, Volga, Western Dvina and Pskov region, Ilmen Slovenes - the territory north of Lake Ladoga almost to Lake White, the beret of Lake Peipus and Lake Ilmen.

2.Features of Slavic settlement:

Development of the vast territory of Eastern Europe;

Remoteness from the main centers of civilization;

Contact with ethnic groups that were at a lower stage of development;

Preservation of the local population, primarily Finno-Ugric tribes, in their habitats;

The permanent nature of Slavic colonization;

Assimilation of part of the Finno-Ugric and Baltic tribes.

During the settlement of the Slavs in Eastern Europe, the prerequisites were laid for the formation of the Old Russian people. Peculiarities of settlement influenced the formation of statehood and the nature of the socio-economic and political system.

The rivers of Eastern Europe, along the banks of which the Eastern Slavs settled, became a connecting thread between “Europe and Asia, the north and south of Europe. Already from the 8th century, the great Volga route connected the Eastern Slavs with the tribes of the Middle Volga region and further through the Caspian Sea - with the countries of the East. Dnieper the path led to Byzantium.

And by the end of the 9th century. both the Volga and Dnieper routes “from the Varangians to the Greeks” continued north all the way to the Baltic states, thereby turning into trade routes of pan-European importance.

The formation of East Slavic statehood took place in constant clashes with eastern and southeastern nomads and semi-nomads, primarily with Bulgaria and the Khazar Khaganate.

In the VI century. In the Eurasian steppes, a change of languages ​​began as the Iranian-speaking Scythians, Sarmatians, and Saks left the historical scene, and the territories that previously belonged to them found themselves under the rule of Turkic-speaking peoples. In the VI century. Turkic-speaking Avars (Obras, according to the Russian chronicle) created the Avar Khaganate in the southern Russian steppes, uniting nomadic tribes. It was defeated by the Franks in the 8th century. The great Avars disappeared without a trace. And in the Azov region, a strong proto-Bulgarian union of tribes of the Turkic linguistic group, called the Bulgarian kingdom, was formed. As a result of its collapse, part of the tribes under the leadership of Khan Asparukh migrated to the Danube, where they were assimilated by the southern Slavs who lived there, who took the name Asparukh’s warriors, i.e. Bulgarian Another part of the Turkic Bulgarians settled in the middle reaches of the Volga, where they formed the state of Volga Bulgaria (Bulgaria). From the middle of the 7th century. it coexisted with an extremely complex and somewhat mysterious historical phenomenon - the Khazar Kaganate. The story of its appearance is as follows.

From the middle of the 6th to the middle of the 8th century. The largest political entity in the East was the Turkic Kaganate. Its center was initially a union of Altai tribes that adopted the name “Turk,” which became an ethnonym for peoples who spoke related languages. Then the Kaganate split into Eastern and Western. The first was located between the Syr Darya and Manchuria, the second extended from Altai to the steppes of the Black Sea region. His successor was the Khazar Khaganate, which occupied the Lower Volga region, the steppes of the North Caucasus, the Black Sea region and part of the Crimea. Having turned into the 8th century. into the largest political entity, the Kaganate began to compete with Byzantium and the Arab Caliphate in the struggle for the Caucasus, the Black Sea region and Slavic lands. The Khazars managed to create a vibrant culture that absorbed the traditions of many tribes and peoples that inhabited the territory from China to Byzantium. The cities of Itil, Sarkel, Semender were important centers of European trade. Khazar trade revived the ancient routes from the Black Sea region to Byzantium and expanded communication with the Asian world.

The spiritual basis of the state was paganism, but gradually, under the influence of Byzantium, Christianity began to spread here, and under the pressure of the Arab Caliphate, Islam began to spread here. Those who moved here in the 7th century. Jews (according to some sources, they came from Byzantium, according to others - from the Arab East) brought Judaism with them. It was proclaimed the official religion of the Kaganate, although it spread only among the top of society. In general, religious tolerance remained in the state.

The history of the confrontation between Rus' and the Khazar Kaganate is complex, multi-valued, and not entirely clear. The role of the Khazars in the history of Rus' was usually assessed negatively: they raided Slavic lands and forced the Slavs to pay them tribute. Indeed, from the 9th century. and until the mid-60s. X century There was a constant and intense struggle between Russia and the Kaganate. But assessments of these events by modern experts differ. Summarizing them, we highlight the following.

Supporters of the first point of view believe that the Khazars “robbered according to the law,” i.e. imposed a small tribute on the Slavic tribes. At the same time, the existence of a stable political unity in the east guaranteed the Slavic lands from recent catastrophes, when a wild horde that appeared out of nowhere could, within one

day to burn, ruin, destroy everything created and accumulated over decades 1.

Researcher V.Ya. Petrukhin notes that “the Khazar yoke contributed to the flourishing of Slavic culture in the Middle Dnieper region, because the Slavs were spared from the raids of the steppe inhabitants” 2. Moreover, the new state formation of the Eastern Slavs, in his opinion, was maturing in the shadow of a stronger neighbor. As soon as their neighbor began to show signs of weakness, the Slavs began to free themselves from the dependence of the Kaganate.

Another way of looking at the problem is that Khazaria was a shield that shielded the countries of Eastern Europe from the Arabs 3 . But we can rather agree with those authors who claim that the Arab threat from which the Khazars allegedly saved Eastern Europe did not exist. Khazaria itself acted in relation to the people of the Caucasus, the Slavs, and the Volga Bulgars as an enslaver, and these peoples fought for liberation from the power of the Khazars.

How did the Eastern Slavs live? Their main occupation was agriculture. They sowed rye, oats, millet, and wheat. In the north, the slash-and-burn farming system prevailed: in the first year, trees were cut down, in the second year they were burned and the ash was used as fertilizer. Such land gave a good harvest for three years, then it was necessary to look for a new place. In the south, fallow was used, when after two or three years of sowing the land was abandoned and a new area was developed. The tools were primitive, and farming required enormous amounts of labor. Only the collective could cope with this, so the community played a large role in the village - the “world”, or rope (first clan, and then territorial). The Slavs were also involved in hunting, fishing, and beekeeping. Gradually, their sphere of economic activity began to include cattle breeding.

Social structure among the Eastern Slavs in the 8th-9th centuries. was built on the simple principles of “friend - foe” and “free - unfree”. In conditions of preservation of tribal traditions, the exploitation of fellow tribesmen was excluded. Slaves, used for the most difficult jobs, were formed from prisoners and their descendants. At the head of the clan were the elders, at the head of the tribe were the prince and the council of elders (“city elders”). All the most important issues in the life of the tribe were decided at popular meetings - veche. Leaders were chosen to conduct military operations - the most courageous and successful warriors who stood at the head of squads that appeared already in the 7th century.

The Slavs, distinguished by their courage and extraordinary physical characteristics, nevertheless often became victims of the Avars, Bulgarians, Byzantines, Khazars, and Varangians, since they were more united. The Muslim author Al-Bekri wrote that “the Slavs are a people so powerful and terrible that, if they had not been divided into many tribes and clans, no one in the world could resist them” 2.

So, initially the Eastern Slavs lived in clans and tribes, but the vast expanses of exploration pushed them to establish territorial ties instead of consanguineous ones. In the VIII-IX centuries. they united into tribal unions that had signs of nascent statehood. The unions were headed by princes, who, in addition to military functions, had rights in the sphere of foreign policy, administration, court, and religion.

The inheritance of the reign went along the family line; the prince could be elected or gain power through murder, which was not uncommon in those days. They carried out campaigns against Byzantium and other neighbors, capturing rich booty and slaves. These campaigns contributed to the enrichment of the tribal elite, which accelerated the collapse of primitive communal relations. But although the prince had supreme power, the main subject of power was still the people as a whole, since in the mechanism of power “prince - council of elders - people's assembly” the final word remained with the latter.

The next step in the development of social organization was tribal unions, or super-unions, which in the scientific literature are also called proto-state formations. The first of them was the northern one, with the center in Novgorod, led by the Slovenes, the second was the southern one, led by the Polyans and the center in Kyiv. A number of researchers believe that there was a third association, but some call it Ryazan, others Chernigov. According to Academician B.A. Rybakov, on the basis of the Polyansky Union of Tribes (the middle reaches of the Dnieper) and part of the northerners (between the mouths of the Desna and Ros rivers in the Chernigov region), a large super-union of Rus was formed.

3. Disputes about the origin of the Russian princely dynasty

To this day, debates around the topic of the ethnic origin of the Russian princely dynasty and the Russians, popular in Russian Historiography, have not subsided. The researchers were divided into two camps - Normanists and anti-Normanists. Each of the parties in its own way illuminates the question of the role of the Norman Vikings (or Varangians, as they were called in Rus') in the formation of the Old Russian state.

Viking tribes attacked Europe back in the 8th century. In the 9th century. they conquered Ireland and northern England, besieged Paris and were the first Europeans to reach the shores of North America. Having mastered the rivers of the East European Plain, they reached Khazaria and Byzantium without encountering much resistance on the Slavic lands. To fight Khazaria and Byzantium, the Vikings began to attract Slavic nobility and tribal militia.

The Slavic and Finnish tribes that occupied the north-west of the East European Plain, in 862, according to the chronicle legend, brought three Varangian princes to reign on their lands - the brothers Rurik, Sineus and Truvor. Why did this happen? Oppressed by the Varangians, local Slavic-Finnish tribal unions united and expelled the offenders “over the sea.” But soon discord began between them, and they considered it best to invite the prince from the outside. After the death of the brothers, Rurik (862-879) united their possessions and laid the foundation for the princely Rurik dynasty.

The second group of researchers does not recognize the Norman origin of the Russian princes. Anti-Normanists insist on their Slavic, Khazar, Finnish, Baltic or even Gothic origin.

As for the plot with the calling of the Varangians to reign in Novgorod, it is very complex. The question remains open: were the Slavic and Finnish tribes conquered by the Normans or did they themselves call upon the Varangians? Chronicle data, foreign sources (primarily the works of Byzantine authors and Arab chronicles), archaeological, anthropological and linguistic information speak of the Scandinavian origin of the first princes of Ancient Russia. Another question is whether they created Russian statehood?

One can rightfully give a negative answer to this. Rurik and his squad united the Slavic and Finnish tribes, firstly, in order to search for tributaries and objects of robbery, and secondly, to establish themselves on trade routes, so that they could sell the loot in Byzantium and the East. The Varangian dynasty was called to the already existing “table” (after all, one can only be called to reign when there is somewhere to reign) in order to protect local residents from raids by foreign tribes. In addition, the Varangians themselves did not have statehood.

Regarding the origin of the word “Rus”, without going into the essence of the debate on this issue, we note the following. The Russian tribes, together with the Varangians, raided Slavic territories. The Russes are apparently a special ethnic group of Swedish or North German origin. Muslim authors wrote that “the Slavs dress in long linen shirts and high boots, are armed with spears and shields, burn the dead and bury them in an urn in a mound.” At the same time, “Russians are dressed in short jackets, caftans with gold buttons, hats, raincoats, wide knee-length trousers, and leggings.”

G.S. Lebedev emphasizes that the Rus were armed with swords, axes and knives, and burned the dead in the boat. The Russians, like the Germans, washed themselves in a tub of water, “then he blew his nose and spit in it,” and the Slavs washed themselves with pouring water. He derives the word “Rus” from the Scandinavian verb “to row.” Other scholars associate it with the Finnish name for the Swedes, "ruotsi".

4. Formation of the Old Russian state.

The formation of the Old Russian state is traditionally conventionally dated to 882, when Oleg (879-912) with his Varangian-Russian and Slavic-Finnish army approached Kiev, where Askold and Dir ruled, captured the city and turned it into the center of a united state.

Despite the Varangian origin of Rurik and Oleg, the created state was Slavic, not Varangian. The success of the Varangians was explained by the fact that their activities objectively contributed to the unification of the Slavic tribes into one state, which began long before the Varangians and independently of them.

Ethnocultural processes in the Eastern Slavs did not experience any significant Varangian influence. Small in number and lower in level of culture than the Slavs, the Varangians could not maintain their ethnic isolation for long. They assimilated very quickly, merging with the Slavic tribal nobility and together with them formed an ethnically single ruling layer of Rus'.

If in the north the East Slavic tribes came into contact with the Scandinavians, then in the south - with the Khazars. Distribution of the Khazars in the Azov and Don regions in the 8th century. served as an impetus for the creation of a large tribal association led by the Polans. Its security was ensured by the military power of Khazaria, which controlled the Black Sea steppes. In foreign sources, Kyiv was called Samvatos, as the Khazars called it. By the way, in ancient times it enjoyed much less fame than Novgorod. The Khazars did not attach much importance to it, and gradually it became glorified 1 .

In the study of V.V. Puzanov we find a statement that tribes lived on the lands around Kyiv who paid tribute to the Khazars. “After Oleg gained a foothold in the Middle Dnieper, he imposed tribute on the northerners and Radimichi, prohibiting giving tribute to the Khazars. He addressed them with the words: “Don’t give it to the kozar, but give it to me.” This territory will become the core of ancient Russian statehood after Oleg is established in it” 2.

() the Khazar influence in these lands is evidenced by the fact
that the first Rurikovichs called themselves “Khakans”, i.e. even before Ryu-
Rikovich, the Kyiv princes accepted the Turkic title “Khakan”
(khagan) - title of the head of the Khazar Khaganate, corresponding to the euro-
Pei's title of emperor.

The emergence of Rus' as an early medieval state fits into the process of formation of states in Northern, Central and Eastern Europe - the Great Moravian Principality, the Czech and Polish states, the Kingdom of Denmark, etc. The state in Russia was created simultaneously with the European medieval states.

4. List of used literature:

1. Lebedev G.S. The Viking Age in Northern Europe: East Archaeol. Essays. L., 1985

2. Dyakonov I.M. Paths of history. M., 1994 P.92

3. Puzanov V.V. At the origins of East Slavic statehood // History of Russia. People and power. St. Petersburg, 1997. P.6

4.Novosiltsev A.P. The Khazar state and its role in the history of Eastern Europe and the Caucasus. M., 1990.

Ethnogenesis is the moment of origin and subsequent process of development of a people, leading to a certain state, type, phenomenon. Includes both the initial stages of the emergence of a nation and the further formation of its ethnographic, linguistic and anthropological characteristics.

The East Slavic peoples include Russians, Ukrainians and Belarusians, as well as sub-ethnic groups of small numbers: Pomors, Don Cossacks, Zaporozhye Cossacks, Nekrasov Cossacks, Russian Ustyintsy, Markovtsy and some others. The territory of residence of these peoples is compact, limited from the west by Poland, the Baltic countries, the Scandinavian countries, from the north - the Arctic Ocean, then from the east by the Dvina and Volga rivers and from the south - the Black Sea. The main part falls on the East European Plain, which dictates the main landscape of the territory (plains, deciduous forest zone). The climate is moderate.

The prehistory of the Eastern Slavs begins with the 3rd millennium BC. e. The Proto-Slavic tribes already knew hoe farming and cattle breeding. It has been established that within the 4th millennium BC. e. pastoral and agricultural tribes, carriers of the Balkan-Danube archaeological culture, occupied the region of the lower reaches of the Dniester and the Southern Bug.

The next stage was the settlement of the “Trypillian” tribes - III millennium BC. These were tribes with a developed cattle-breeding and agricultural economy for their time, inhabitants of huge settlements.

During the Middle Ages, the following tribes of the Eastern Slavs stood out:

Slovenes Novgorod;

Radimichi;

Dregovichi;

northerners;

Drevlyans.

In general terms, the genesis of the Eastern Slavs is depicted as follows.

The settlement of the Slavs in Eastern Europe was carried out from Central Europe. Dolichocrane, relatively broad-faced southern forms were represented here. The former are more manifested in tribes associated with the genesis of Belarusians and Russians, the latter - with Ukrainians.

As they advanced, they included the indigenous Finno-, Balto- and Iranian-speaking populations. In the southeastern areas of settlement, the Slavs also came into contact with nomadic Turkic-speaking groups. The anthropological composition of the Eastern Slavs of the Middle Ages reflects the participation of local groups to a greater extent than in subsequent centuries. Apparently, some Slavic groups of the Middle Ages, for example, the Vyatichi and the Eastern Krivichi, were not so much Slavs as the Finnish population assimilated by the Slavs. Approximately the same can be said in relation to the Polyans, who there is reason to consider as assimilated Chernyakhovites.

As for the Finno-Ugric substrate in the Eastern Slavs, in the Middle Ages it manifests itself among the Vyatichi and northeastern Krivichi - tribes that took part in the formation of the Russian people. The Vyatichi, reflecting the features of the Finno-Ugric population of the East European Plain, through the Dyakontsy go back to the Neolithic population of this territory, known from isolated, albeit gracile, Caucasoid skulls from the Volodarskaya and Panfilovskaya sites.

The northeastern Krivichi exhibit features characteristic of the Neolithic population of the Pit-Comb Ware culture of the forest belt of Eastern Europe.

The features of the Finno-Ugric substrate can be traced in the anthropological appearance of the Russian people, but their proportion in the modern population is less than in the Middle Ages. This is explained by the spread of the Slavic population from the western and northwestern territories, apparently in the late Middle Ages.

The Ukrainians, being associated in their genesis with the medieval Tivertsy, Ulichs and Drevlyans, included in their anthropological composition the features of the Central European substrate - relatively broad-faced, mesocranial, known from the Neolithic tribes of the Bell-Beaker culture and the population of the 1st millennium BC. e. left bank of the Danube.

At the same time, taking into account their anthropological similarity with the glades, we can conclude that, along with Slavic elements, elements of a pre-Slavic substrate, apparently Iranian-speaking, took part in the formation of the physical appearance of the Ukrainian people. As already noted, the Polyans are the direct descendants of the Chernyakhovites, who, in turn, show anthropological continuity with the Scythians of the forest belt.

The Belarusians, judging by the similarity of their physical appearance with the Dregovichi, Radimichi and Polotsk Krivichi, were formed on the basis of that branch of Slavic tribes that is associated with the northern part of the Slavic ancestral home. At the same time, the territorial differentiation of the anthropological composition of Belarusians allows for the assumption of the participation in their genesis of the Balts, on the one hand, and the East Slavic tribes of more southern territories, in particular Volyn, on the other.

The formation of the Russian population took place on a relatively homogeneous anthropological basis; its composition largely included not only morphologically, but also genetically heterogeneous elements.

Issues of the ethnic history of the Russian population are inextricably linked with the ethnic history of the Letto-Lithuanian and Finno-Ugric populations; ethnic ties were formed during the period of Slavic colonization of the East European Plain and are clearly evident to this day. It is possible that the origins of these connections go back to more ancient times.

Theories of the origin of Ancient Rus'. State and social system, economic life, culture of Kievan Rus

In the 30-60s of the 18th century. German scientists Johann Gottfried Bayer and Gerard Friedrich Miller, who worked at the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences, in their scientific works for the first time tried to prove that the Old Russian state was created by the Varangians. They laid the foundation for the Norman theory of the origin of the Russian state.

This theory was strongly opposed by M.V. Lomonosov, who was commissioned by Empress Elizabeth I to write the history of Russia. With his research, Lomonosov laid the foundation for the anti-Norman theory. This is how two schools appeared: Norman and anti-Norman (Slavic). Both sides refer to two chronicles: Laurentian and Ipatiev.

The Normanists are unanimous on two fundamental issues. Firstly, they believe that the Normans achieved dominance over the Eastern Slavs through external military conquest or through peaceful conquest (an invitation to reign); secondly, they believe that the word “Rus” is of Norman origin.

Anti-Normanists believe that the term “Rus” is of pre-Varang origin and dates back to very ancient times. There are places in The Tale of Bygone Years that contradict the legend about the calling of three brothers to reign. For the year 852 there is an indication that during the reign of Michael in Byzantium there was already Russian land. The Laurentian and Ipatiev Chronicles say that the Varangians were invited to reign by all northern tribes, including Rus'.

Soviet researchers M.N. Tikhomirov, D.S. Likhachev believe that the record of the calling of the Varangian princes appeared in the chronicle later in order to contrast two states - Kievan Rus and Byzantium. For this, the author of the chronicle needed to indicate the foreign origin of the princely dynasty. So B.A. Rybakov in the book “The First Centuries of Russian History” writes: “... and in place of the story about Polyany and Kyiv, the Novgorod legend about the imaginary “calling” of the Varangian princes to Novgorod was inserted by someone else’s hand.” According to the research of A. A. Shakhmatov, the Varangian squads began to be called Russia after they moved to the south. And in Scandinavia, it is impossible to find out about any Rus tribe from any sources.

For more than two centuries now, there have been disputes between representatives of the Norman and Slavic schools in history. Many of them build their hypotheses about the formation of a state in Rus'. Basically, all these hypotheses are based on different interpretations of the chronicles. Historians also argue about the city in which this state was born.

Rybakov presents such a hypothesis in his book. “In the old agricultural region of the forest-steppe on the banks of the Ros River there was a tribe called Ros, or Rus. The tribe was mainly Slavic. The center of the tribe was the city of Roden at the mouth of the river. Roshi.

In the 6th century, when the Slavs recovered from the Hunnic defeat, and a new enemy appeared in the steppes - the Obry (Avars), the tribes of the forest-steppe rallied into a large union under the hegemony of the most southern, closest to the steppes, Transnistrian tribe of the Ros, or Rus. Within this union, a unique culture developed that distinguished the tribes included in the union from other Slavic tribes. Union of tribes VI - VII centuries. received the name Rus, or Russian land. The core of the union was the lands along the river. Rosi with the city of Rodney.

Somewhat later, the primacy in the union of tribes of Transnistria passed to the northern neighbor of the Rus of Porosye - to Polyany, with its center in Kyiv, in the very north of the forest-steppe strip. But the glades did not pass on their name to other tribes.

When in the 9th century. The first feudal state was formed among the Eastern Slavs; according to a long 300-year tradition, it continued to be called Russia.

The Old Russian state was dominated by the feudal mode of production and the corresponding socio-economic system, which was characterized by the dominance of a natural economy and, accordingly, weak foreign economic ties between the principalities. The state united many lands, in which a number of features began to appear over time.

According to Professor S.V. Yushkov they were:

in different degrees of intensity of the process of feudalization;

greater or lesser degree of enslavement of the rural population;

in the methods of transforming free producers into a feudal-dependent peasantry;

the greater or lesser importance in political life of the main types of feudal estates - princely exchange, church or boyar lordships;

in the process of emergence and legal registration of the class of feudal lords and the class of dependent peasantry;

in a greater or lesser role of the prince, the boyars or the urban population.

With the efforts of the principalities and the development of large land holdings, these features determined centrifugal tendencies and complicated the preservation of the unity of the Old Russian state.

ethnogenesis Rus' nomad fragmentation

Relationships of Ancient Rus' with nomads, with Byzantium, with the Horde

One of the significant factors in the historical development of the southern Russian principalities of the 11th - early 13th centuries. was their border position. The problem of defending the borders of the state was very acute: Kievan Rus had restless neighbors - the nomadic tribes of the Khazars, Guzes, Pechenegs, and later the Polovtsians. Already Oleg, the first all-Russian prince who made Kyiv the capital of the new state, faced opposition from the Khazar Kaganate. The Khazars, who created a state centered in the lower reaches of the Volga and the North Caucasus, controlled vast territories where the Slavic tribes of the Polyans, Northerners, and Vyatichi lived, who paid tribute to the Khazars.

The fight against the Khazars ended with the campaigns of Svyatoslav, which ended the existence of the Kaganate. To the south and southeast of them lies the Polovtsian steppe. For almost two centuries, nomadic Turkic-speaking tribes of the Polovtsians lived here, entering into various relations with Russia. Sometimes they were peaceful, accompanied by marriages and military alliances, but more often, as discussed above, they were hostile. It is no coincidence that Russia was so acutely faced with the task of strengthening its southern and southeastern borders. The famous call of the author of “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign” - “Block the gates of the field”, addressed to the Russian princes in 1185, was topical throughout the entire history of Russian-Polovtsian relations.

The invasion of the Horde troops ended off the Adriatic coast, after which Batu returned to the Volga steppes, and Sarai appeared in the lower reaches of the Volga - the headquarters of the Great Khan and the capital of the new state - the Golden Horde.

The supreme power of the Great Khan was established in Rus'; all princes at his headquarters were to receive the right to reign in their principalities - the so-called yarlyk. Grand dukes also received similar labels.

All Russian lands were subject to tribute, which reached 10% of all property income. The Mongols took the best artisans to Sarai and kidnapped many people to be sold into slavery.

In addition, raids by Tatar troops continued into Rus' throughout the second half of the 13th century. A heavy burden fell on Rus' to pay the Horde tribute, which mainly had to be paid by the cities. Payments to the Horde were not limited to tribute, since the adoption of any decision at the khan's headquarters was accompanied by numerous gifts to officials, khan's wives, etc. In addition, Russian princes were obliged to participate with their squads in the Golden Horde campaigns of conquest; in the 13th century, wars with the Hulaguid ulus in Transcaucasia were especially frequent.

Relations with Byzantium were determined mainly by an interest in equal trade relations with it. To achieve this goal, many Kyiv princes undertook military campaigns against Constantinople, which, if successful, ended in trade agreements. The only exception is the activity of Svyatoslav Igorevich, who tried to create his own power in the Balkans in 970-971 and because of this came into conflict with Byzantium and Bulgaria. At the same time, the process of incorporating the East Slavic tribes into Kievan Rus continued, ending with the reign of Svyatoslav’s son, Vladimir. But the main influence of Byzantium on the Slavic world was carried out through its Christianization. It also served as the ideological basis for the unification of the Slavic tribes into a single Russian state.

Christianity penetrated into Kievan Rus already in the first half of the 10th century. From Igor's treaty with the Greeks (945) we learn that at that time there were many Christians among the Kyiv Varangians, and that in Kyiv there was a Christian church of St. Ilya. After Igor's death, his widow and ruler of the state, Grand Duchess Olga, herself converted to Christianity (around 955), and some members of the princely squad followed her example. Under Prince Vladimir of Kiev (978-1015), an event of the greatest significance took place, which determined the further path of development of Rus' - the adoption of Christianity.

The problem of ethnogenesis of the Eastern Slavs.

Ancient population in the era of the “Great Migration of Peoples”.

According to Herodotus, the oldest population of the Northern Black Sea region were the CIMMERIANS. There is no consensus among scholars about what they represented ethnically. It is known that the Cimmerians came to Asia in the 8th century. BC.

The exodus of the Cimmerians was not connected with the campaigns of the Scythians in Transcaucasia, Egypt and Syria in the 7th century. BC. The Scythians came to the Northern Black Sea region from the east because of the Don. As a result, a powerful tribal union developed here. From the point of view of Herodotus, not all Scythians were nomads; some of them were engaged in agriculture. The Scythians occupied the territory between the Danube and the Don, and the city of Nikopol in Crimea became their capital.

Under the onslaught of the Iranian-speaking nomads SORMAT, who came from beyond the Don and Volga, the Scythian kingdom fell, which lasted until the 3rd century. AD The Sormatians occupied the steppes from Tabol to the Danube.

During the era of the “Great Migration of Peoples” (IV-VII centuries), the ethnic map of Europe changes significantly. The Northern Black Sea region is turning into a main route for the movement of ethnic groups (historically established ethnic communities - tribes, nationalities) from East to West.

Replaced by the Sarmatians in the 3rd century. AD The GOTHES come to the Black Sea steppes, in the middle. IV–V centuries - HUNS, and in the VI century. - ACCIDENTS. In the 30s of the 7th century. As a result of the collapse of the Avar Kaganate, a strong proto-Bulgarian union of tribes was formed in the Azov region. The Bulgar Union began to play a major role in the North Caucasus, and the area where the BULGAR lived was called Great Bulgaria.

During the first half of the 7th century. There was a struggle for hegemony between the Bulgars and Khazars. Unlike the Bulgars, who passed on their name to the Slavic population of ancient Thrace (present-day Bulgaria) and thereby retained their name to this day, the Khazars disappeared from the world map many centuries ago. In the 10th century Khazaria was significantly weakened, whose main enemy was Rus', which defeated the Khazar Kaganate.

The natural cradle of the East Slavic peoples and Russian statehood was the East European Plain. Ethnic and state borders are formed here in connection with military-political conflicts and colonization processes. By the middle of the 1st century AD. In the forest, forest-steppe and steppe zones of Eurasia, stable economic and cultural complexes have already formed, and the process of ETHNOGENESIS (origin) is actively developing.

By the VI-VII centuries. The stage of separating the Eastern Slavs from the general Proto-Slavic unity, who occupied the territory from Lake Ladoga to the forest-steppe of the middle Dnieper region, ends. The Eastern Slavs arose as a result of the merger of the so-called Proto-Slavs, speakers of Slavic speech, with various other ethnic groups of Eastern Europe. This circumstance can be explained by differences in anthropological type.

The first written evidence about the Slavs dates back to the 1st century AD.

As evidenced by the Greco-Roman and Byzantine writers Procopius of Caesarea (6th century), Mauritius the Strategist (late 6th century) and others, the Slavs were called Veneds, Antes, Sklavins, Dews.

In the 6th century AD Three new phenomena took shape in the life of the Slavs:

· thanks to the development of productive forces, the clan system among the Eastern Slavs reached its highest peak and gave rise to such contradictions that led to the formation of class relations;

· for strengthened tribal squads, as a result of the “Great Migration of Peoples,” the opportunity opened up to carry out distant military campaigns and move to them;

· the abundance of warlike and poorly governed nomadic hordes in the steppes posed a constant danger to the lives of the Slavs.

The interaction of these three phenomena led to the consolidation of the Slavic tribes and the formation of large alliances. From approximately 150 Slavic tribes, 15 Slavic unions were formed: the Northerners, the Polyans, the Drevlyans, the Vyatichi, the Croats, etc. The names of the Slavic tribal unions are mostly associated not with unity of origin, but with the area of ​​settlement.

Subsequently, on the basis of the unions of Slavic tribes, three large unions of unions were formed - Slavia (Veliky Novgorod), Artania (Ryazan) and Cuiaba (Kyiv).

The formation of alliances of Slavic tribes led society to the formation of classes and statehood. A reliable form of economy was needed, which would become the basis of Slavic society.

In the VII-VIII centuries. Such an economy begins to take shape in the Slavic lands. This process was expressed as follows:

· craft developed and the quality level of iron processing increased;

· agriculture improved;

There was a change in the clan system itself. The neighboring territorial community is highlighted.

At the same time as the neighboring community, the tribal nobility turns into feudal lords, forcefully asserting their “right” to the land and forcing communal peasants to give up part of their harvest. Schematically, the process of disintegration of tribal relations among the Slavs was as follows:

NEIGHBORHOOD COMMUNITY

Vigilantes

In the VI-VII centuries AD. the East Slavic tribal system, called military democracy, begins the transition to feudalism. The highest body of power among the Slavs continued to be the people's council, which ensured the political and economic equality of all members of the tribe. Gradually its importance fell. The disintegration of clan communities and the destruction of old tribal structures led to the strengthening of tribal elders, heads of clans, and patriarchal families.

During the period of numerous wars, the role of the military leader - the prince, who was at the same time the highest person in the executive power of tribal administration - increases. Initially, the prince was elected at the assembly, and the leaders of the tribal army - the governors - were also elected there. The increasing importance of the prince in the conditions of constant wars led to the fact that his power became hereditary. The growth of surplus product among the tribes made it possible to support people whose main occupation was military affairs.

Around the tribal princes, squads began to form, which were created from representatives of the tribal nobility and common people who had personal courage. The squad was not accountable to the people's assembly. She was devoted only to the prince personally.

In the VII-IX centuries. Military-military corporations are formed, in which all power is concentrated. They create a system of exploitation of the free agricultural population. Having declared themselves the owners of the lands of a tribe or tribal union, they no longer exist due to the voluntary offerings of their fellow tribesmen, but due to the imposition of tribute on them - a tax. The income received is distributed among the members of military-combat corporations and becomes the main means of subsistence for the nobility.

Deep political and socio-economic preconditions led to the formation of a state among the Eastern Slavs in the form of an early feudal monarchy. The city of Kyiv became the center of the Old Russian state.

The power structure of the ancient Russian early feudal monarchy in the 9th – 12th centuries. next:

LOCAL TEAM

Pogosts, camps, volosts

Unlike Kyiv, a different political system developed in Veliky Novgorod, the so-called veche.

CITY-WIDE EVENING

Konchansky veche gatherings

Council of gentlemen

300 “golden belts”

Posadnik Archbishop Thousand Prince

The question of the origin of the Old Russian state is connected with the formation of the Old Russian nationality. Most pre-revolutionary historians connected the origin of the Russian state with issues of the ethnic formation of the “Rus” people. Rus' was a vast state that already united half of the East Slavic tribes. The Russian tribal union, which turned into a feudal state, subjugated the neighboring Slavic tribes and equipped distant campaigns. In the literature there is information about the Rus who lived on the Black Sea coast, participated in campaigns against Constantinople and about the baptism of some Russians in the 60s. 9th century

In the 18th century During the reign of Anna Ioannovna, the so-called NORMAN THEORY on the problem of the origin of the state among the Slavs was developed by the German scientists Bayer, Miller and Schlozer. According to their statement, statehood was brought to the Eastern Slavs by the Varangians. The authors refer to the story of Nestor's bygone years, in the initial part of which it is said: “Where did the Russian land come from” and about the calling of the Varangian princes (kings) to Veliky Novgorod. No one denies the historical fact of the calling of the Varangian princes to Rus'. But the fact is that the state was formed among the Slavs long before the appearance of the Varangians. The Varangian prince did not have full power in Veliky Novgorod. The Novgorod veche set a number of conditions for him so that he would not interfere in the affairs of the townsman, would not issue laws, would not judge courts and would not issue letters of charter, i.e. real power in the Novgorod boyar republic was retained for the veche. From the point of view of many historians (Kostomarov and others), the Varangian prince was a mercenary whose main task was to protect Veliky Novgorod from the raids of nomads and lead squads in military campaigns against Byzantium.

The emergence of the state is based on the social division of labor, the emergence of private property, classes and authorities.

With all the diversity of points of view on the problem of the origin and formation of the ancient Russian state, it is obvious that the Russian state developed independently of the Varangians. It occupied a vast territory from the Baltic to the Black Sea and from the Western Bug to the Volga. Under the rule of the Kyiv prince there were a number of Slavic tribal unions of the Middle Dnieper region, several Lithuanian-Latvian tribes of the Baltic states and numerous Finno-Ugric tribes of north-eastern Europe. The center of the unification was the Polyan tribe, which in the second half of the 9th century. was the strongest economically.

2. MAIN STAGES OF STATE FORMATION.

The formation of the Russian early feudal state was a natural phenomenon. When determining the reasons for the emergence of the Old Russian state, it is necessary to take into account both the interests of the Kyiv feudal lords and the interests of the feudal lords of those lands that fell under the supreme power of the Kyiv prince. The political system of Kievan Rus can be defined as an early feudal monarchy. The supreme ruler of the state was the Grand Duke, who in his activities relied on the squad and the council of elders. Local administration was carried out by his governors (in cities) and volostels (in rural areas).

The Grand Duke was in contractual or suzerain-vassal relations with other princes. Local princes could be forced to serve by force of arms. The strengthening of local feudal lords (in the 11th-12th centuries) led to the emergence of a new body of power - the FEUDAL CONGRESS (“snema”), at which issues of war and peace, division of land, and vassalage were resolved.

Local administration was carried out by the prince's trusted people, his sons, and relied on military garrisons led by thousands, centurions and tens. During this period, a numerical or decimal control system continued to exist, which originated in the depths of the druzhina organization, and then turned into a military administrative system. Local governments received resources for their existence through the FEEDING system (fees from the local population).

The territorial community – VERV – remained the body of local peasant self-government.

Second half of the 9th century. in the history of Ancient Rus' is characterized by a further expansion of the borders of the state. At this time, the Kyiv feudal lords established their dominance in the northern lands of Rus' and in the Novgorod land.

In the political development of Rus' until the end of the 11th century. Four stages can be distinguished:

I - from the political rise of Kyiv to its subordination at the beginning of the 10th century. Veliky Novgorod. This time is characterized by the emergence of contradictions between the Kyiv feudal lords and the feudal lords of the lands under their control.

II – (913 to 972) – growth and aggravation of contradictions that arose at the first stage.

III - (972 to 1015) - a time of intense struggle of the Kyiv feudal lords to preserve the unity of the early feudal Old Russian state against the separatist aspirations of the feudal lords of the lands subject to Kyiv.

IV - (1015 to 1097) - the time of transition to the feudal fragmentation of Rus', due to the entire course of socio-economic development of the Old Russian state in the X-XI centuries.

The established ancient Russian state needed the legal formalization of institutions of power, forms of ownership and regulation of relations between various social strata of society. During the reign of Yaroslav the Wise in 1016, the first set of laws of Ancient Rus' was compiled, which went down in history under the name “Russian Truth”, which played a huge role in the formation, development and strengthening of Russian statehood.

ANCIENT Rus' AND NOMADS.

The Old Russian state, having included certain non-Slavic ethnic groups, remained predominantly Slavic. Along with him, there were various peoples of different ethnicities, who were at different stages of historical development.

For many centuries, the steppe expanses of Eurasia were inhabited by nomadic peoples, first mainly Iranians, then Turks. The latter, having come to Europe from Asia, assimilated part of the former inhabitants of the steppe, mainly Iranians and Ugrians. The Turkic (later) substrate of the Magyar ethnic group was no less powerful. Magyar (Ugric) tribes came to Eastern Europe around the 8th century. under pressure from the Turks from the east, as well as under the influence of the Khazars, who became allies and patrons of the Hungarians. Several decades later, as a result of the war between the Khazars and the troops of Prince Oleg, whose allies were the Pechenegs, the Hungarians were defeated and forced to retreat to the Carpathians.

The place of the Ugrians in the southern steppes was taken by the Pechenegs. These were Turks who belonged to the so-called Oguz group of tribes, related in language to the current Turkmens. The Pecheneg horde was not united. In the middle of the 10th century. There were 8 Pecheneg associations. Four of them were on the left side of the Dnieper, four on the right. In the east, the Pechenegs bordered on the Khazar possessions (on the Don), in the north – on Russia, in the south – on the Crimean possessions of Byzantium, under whose control was the entire lower reaches of the Dnieper, i.e. "The path from the Varangians to the Greeks." The Pechenegs were sometimes allies of the Russians, and sometimes enemies. In particular, the first clashes between Rus' and the Pechenegs date back to 915.

Initially, the Pechenegs remained enemies of the Khazars, but due to the strengthening of Rus' and the incitement of the Greeks, they increasingly became the main opponents of the Russians in the south. In 1036, Vladimir's son Yaroslav and the Novgorod army defeated the Pechenegs near Kiev. In the 80s of the 11th century. The Pechenegs were exterminated by the Byzantines.

Ancient Rus' had complex relationships with the Polovtsians (Kypchaks). For the first time, the Polovtsian hordes inflicted a terrible defeat on the three sons of Yaroslav the Wise on the Alta River (not far from Pereslavl South)

in 1068. Then followed a series of Russian-Polovtsian conflicts that were unsuccessful for Rus'.

Only as a result of titanic efforts did Vladimir Monomakh manage to rally the Russian princes and inflict a series of heavy defeats on the Polovtsians. After the death of Vladimir Monomakh, conflicts with the Polovtsy became acute. There were successful campaigns against the Polovtsy Russian squads, but along with them there were also heavy defeats (the famous campaign of Igor Svyatoslavich).

The long proximity of the Polovtsians to Ancient Russia led not only to wars. Russian princes and Polovtsian khans became related to each other, and there was constant trade between the Russians and the nomadic Polovtsians. There was a tendency towards partial settlement of the Polovtsians under the influence of Rus'. However, the rapprochement between the Polovtsians and the Russians in various spheres of life was interrupted by the Mongol invasion in the 20-30s. XIII century, which became a national tragedy for both the Polovtsians and Rus'.

BYZANTINE-ANCIENT RUSSIAN CONNECTIONS.

The historical experience of Russia indicates that at turning points in its existence, the question of the attitude towards the spiritual heritage of Byzantium every time arose. This was the case in the 10th century. when Prince Vladimir I, in connection with the crisis of paganism, decided to ACCEPT CHRISTIANITY in Rus'. In 1439, Rus' rejected the Union of Florence (an agreement to unite the Catholic and Orthodox churches) and remained faithful to the Byzantine heritage. Scientists believe that Byzantinism influenced Russia. Some focus on the church-religious and spiritual-moral spheres, while others explain this influence more broadly, extending it to the political area, relations between states, the church, state and society, state and individual.

Byzantinism had a great influence on Russia through CHRISTIANITY, which in its Orthodox form came to Rus' in 988 from Byzantium. Byzantine influence was carried out by the church, and was aimed at the formation, first of all, of religious and moral values.

Relations between Rus' and Byzantium were contradictory. Russian princes sought to strengthen their positions in the Black Sea region and Crimea. They built a number of Russian cities. Byzantium sought to limit the influence of Rus' in the Black Sea region. All this led to frequent clashes, which brought success, either to Byzantium or to Rus'.

A new stage in relations between Rus' and Byzantium occurred during the reign of Svyatoslav. In an effort to weaken Rus' and Danube Bulgaria, the Byzantine emperor Nicephorus II Phocas invited Svyatoslav to make a campaign in the Balkans, hoping for the defeat of the Russian squads. The hopes of the Byzantine emperor were not justified. Russian troops won. This outcome of the battle was not desirable for the Byzantines, so they started a war with Russia. In 971, peace was concluded between Russia and Byzantium, according to which Svyatoslav’s squad was given the opportunity to return home with their weapons, and Byzantium promised not to carry out attacks. However, Byzantium used the Pechenegs, who attacked the Russian army on the Dnieper rapids. Grand Duke Svyatoslav died in this unequal battle.

During the reign of Vladimir, Byzantium was assisted in suppressing the uprising of the commander Bardas Phocas, who captured Asia Minor and, threatening Constantinople, laid claim to the imperial throne. For which the Byzantine emperor had to marry his sister Anna to Vladimir. The emperor was in no hurry to fulfill his promise. After which Vladimir began military operations against Byzantium. Having defeated Byzantium, he not only achieved the fulfillment of the treaty, but also ensured the independence of the foreign political activities of Rus' from Byzantium. Rus' became on a par with the largest Christian powers of medieval Europe.

3. FEATURES OF THE SOCIAL STRUCTURE OF ANCIENT Rus'.

They were that Russian political institutions of the Kyiv period were based on a free society. In ancient Rus' there were no insurmountable barriers between different social groups of free people, there were no hereditary castes or classes, and it was still easy to leave one group and find yourself in another. From the point of view of G.V. Vernadsky, the presence of social classes in Rus' at this time can only be spoken of with reservations.

The main social groups of this period:

The upper classes are princes, boyars and other owners of large land estates, rich merchants in cities.

Middle class - merchants and craftsmen (in cities), owners of medium and small estates (in rural areas).

The lower classes were the poorest artisans and peasants who inhabited state lands.

In addition to free people in Kievan Rus there were also semi-free and slaves.

At the top of the social ladder were the princes, led by the Grand Duke of Kyiv. From the middle of the 11th century. In Rus', appanage principalities appeared - “fatherlands”, which were inherited in accordance with the “queue”.

In addition to the princely boyars - governors, governors of the regions, there was also a tribal aristocracy - “deliberate children”: children of former local princes, clan and tribal elders, relatives of the first two groups. By origin, the boyars were a heterogeneous group.

Merchants were closely connected with the princely power. Rich merchants carried out large trade operations inside and outside Rus'. Less wealthy merchants founded their own guilds.

Craftsmen of each specialty usually settled and traded on the same street, creating an association or “street” guild.

With the growth of the church, a new social group emerged, the so-called “church people.” The Russian clergy was divided into two groups: the “black clergy” (monks) and the “white clergy” (priests and deacons). According to Byzantine rules, only monks were ordained bishops in the Russian Church. Contrary to the practice of the Roman Church, Russian priests were usually chosen from among those willing.

The free population of Rus' was usually called “people”. The bulk of it were peasants. One of the social groups of peasants were the Smerds. They were free people, who were still under the protection and special jurisdiction of the prince. For the use of the plot they paid rent in kind and performed work: transportation, construction, repair of houses, roads, bridges, etc. Smerds had to pay a state tax (“tribute” which was not paid by city residents or middle-level (class) landowners. If the smerd did not have a son, the land was returned to the prince.

The dependent category of the peasantry included ZAKUPY - people who took out a kupa (in debt). If it was possible to return the kupa, while paying interest (cuts), the person became free again; if not, he became a slave. In the patrimony on the land or in the boyar's house, RYADOVICHI worked - people who entered the service under an agreement (in a row).

The most powerless members of society were SLAVES and CLEANS. Slavery in Kievan Rus was of two types - temporary and permanent.

ECONOMIC RELATIONS IN ANCIENT Rus'.

The main economic activities of the Slavs were agriculture, animal husbandry, hunting, fishing, and crafts. Agriculture played the main role in the economy of Kievan Rus, in which 90% of the population was employed.

In modern historical science, there are two main concepts that differently interpret the issues of the political, social and economic structure of the ancient Russian state.

According to the concept of the pre-feudal nature of the social system of Kievan Rus, the socio-economic basis of ancient Russian society was communal land ownership and free peasants - community members (I.Ya. Froyanov). There was also private land ownership - the estates of princes, boyars, churches.

Most historians classify Kievan Rus as an early feudal state, agreeing with the concept of B.D. Grekova.

According to this concept, large feudal land ownership developed in Rus' in the 10th-12th centuries. in the form of princely, boyar estates and church estates. The form of land ownership becomes feudal VOTCHINA (fatherland, i.e. paternal ownership), but not only alienable (with the right to buy and sell) but also inherited.

The second form of feudal land tenure becomes LAND, i.e. conditional, the land on which was transferred into temporary possession to the feudal lords for service.

From the 9th to the 11th centuries. In Rus' there was a process of separation of crafts from agriculture. In Kievan Rus, more than 60 types of crafts were developed (carpentry, pottery, linen, leather, blacksmithing, weapons, jewelry, etc.).

Kievan Rus was famous for its cities. At first these were fortresses and political centers. Later they become the basis of craft production and trade. In the X-XI centuries. a new generation of political, trade and craft centers is being created: Ladoga, Suzdal, Yaroslavl, Murom, etc.

Foreign economic relations acquired particular importance in the economic life of Rus'. Russian merchants were well known abroad and were given significant benefits and privileges

4. Acceptance of Christianity. Spread of Islam.

In the IX-X centuries. Rus' was experiencing a transition from the primitive system to feudalism. The pagan religion that dominated in Rus' interfered with this process. She

no longer corresponded to the higher level of development of the country's productive forces.

The crisis of paganism was caused by the following circumstances:

· according to pagan ideology, human life did not end with death; each person enters the other world in the same capacity in which he was on earth. Therefore, enormous wealth and human resources were burned on funeral pyres. This could not suit the emerging feudal nobility, which was interested in transferring these wealth by inheritance;

· the preservation of paganism prevented the establishment of international relations between Rus' and other states. Rus' until the 10th century remained politically isolated;

· paganism began to hinder the development of trade with other Christian countries. The goods of pagan merchants on international markets were declared “filthy.” It was immeasurably easier for Christian merchants to carry out trade transactions;

· paganism prevented cultural ties with neighboring states. It prevented the penetration of philosophical, scientific, literary works and various kinds of foreign specialists into Rus'.

Prince Vladimir made an attempt to revive paganism, but it was unsuccessful. Therefore, in 988 he introduced Christianity to Rus'.

Reasons for the Christianization of Rus':

· the state of Rus' was faced with the urgent question of the need to strengthen military, economic, political and cultural ties with Byzantium and other countries;

· monotheism (monotheism) began to replace polytheism, which contributed to the strengthening of a single state headed by a monarch;

· instead of pagan moral norms, more humane Christian norms began to be introduced;

· Vladimir’s rival in the struggle for power, Yaropolk, focused on an alliance with the papacy.

The meaning of accepting Christianity:

· the international position of Rus' was strengthened, and a stronger alliance was established with Byzantium;

· writing and literacy became widespread in Rus';

· there was a rapprochement between Rus' and other Christian countries of Europe;

· there was a rapprochement and unification of the entire population of Rus' into a single Russian nation.

Ancient Rus' was a multi-confessional state. Along with Christianity, ISLAM spread in Rus'.

Islam (from Arabic submission) is a monotheistic religion whose followers are Muslims. Islam arose in Arabia in the 7th century. Founder: Mohammed. Islam developed under the significant influence of Christianity and Judaism. The main principles of the Islamic religion are set out in the Koran. The main tenets of Islam are the worship of the one omnipotent god - Allah and the veneration of Muhammad as the prophet-messenger of Allah. Muslims believe in the immortality of the soul and the afterlife. There are five basic duties prescribed for adherents of Islam:

· the belief that there is no god but Allah, and Muhammad is the messenger of Allah (shahadah);

· five times daily prayer (salad);

· alms for the benefit of the poor (sunset);

· fasting in the month of Ramadan (Sawi);

Pilgrimage to Mecca (Hajj).

The main directions of Islam are SUNNISM and SHIISM. Sunnism is the main, “orthodox” direction of Islam, whose followers base their teaching on the Koran and Sunnah, and recognize the KHALIFA as their spiritual head.

Shiism developed mainly in Persia. Shiites subject the Koran to a special interpretation, have their own sacred tradition that replaces the Sunnah, do not recognize the Sunni caliphs and contrast them with their dynasty of 12 imams, who are considered direct descendants of Muhammad.

Islam began to spread on the territory of the ancient Russian principalities during the period of the Mongol conquest of Rus'.

5.Political and socio-economic changes in Rus' during the period of feudal fragmentation.

From the middle of the 11th – beginning of the 12th centuries. The Old Russian state entered a new stage in its history - the era of political and feudal fragmentation. Kievan Rus was a vast but unstable state entity. The tribes that became part of Rus' retained their isolation for a long time. Due to the dominance of subsistence farming, there was no single economic space in the Russian state.

The first division of Russian lands took place under Vladimir Svyatoslavich. From his reign, princely feuds began to flare up, the peak of which occurred in 1015-1024. The divisions of land between princes and strife did not determine one or another form of state organization. They did not create a new phenomenon in the political life of Rus'. The economic basis and main cause of feudal fragmentation is often considered to be subsistence farming, the consequence of which was the absence of close economic ties. Subsistence farming is the sum of economically independent, closed economic units in which a product passes from its manufacturer to the consumer. The reference to natural farming is only a correct statement of the fact that took place. However, its dominance, which is characteristic of feudalism, does not yet explain the reasons for the collapse of Rus', since subsistence farming dominated both in united Rus', and during the period of its collapse, and in the XIV-XV centuries. when in the Russian lands there was a process of formation of a single state on the basis of political centralization.

The essence of feudal fragmentation was that it represented the corresponding stage of the state-political organization of society, which corresponded to a complex of relatively small feudal worlds not connected with each other and the state-political separatism of boyar unions.

Feudal fragmentation is a progressive phenomenon in the development of feudal relations. The collapse of early feudal states into independent principalities was an inevitable stage in the development of feudal society. Such processes took place in Eastern and Western Europe and in other countries of the world.

Feudal fragmentation was progressive because it was a consequence of the development of feudal relations, the deepening of the social division of labor, which resulted in the rise of agriculture, the flourishing of crafts and the growth of cities.

For the development of feudalism, a different scale and structure of the state was needed, adapted to the needs and aspirations of the feudal lords, especially the boyars.

Early feudal fragmentation indicated that the old institutions of power could no longer ensure the internal and external security of the country;

There comes a development of the productive forces of individual regions that allows them to exist independently.

The first reason for feudal fragmentation was the growth of boyar estates and the number of dependent smerds. In the XII - early XIII centuries. There was a further development of boyar land ownership in various principalities of Rus'. The boyars expanded their possessions by seizing the lands of free community members, enslaving them, and buying lands. In an effort to obtain a large surplus product, they increased the natural rent and labor that the dependent smerds performed. As a result, the boyars became economically powerful and independent. In various lands of Rus', economically powerful boyar corporations began to take shape, striving to become sovereign masters of the lands where their estates were located. They wanted to administer justice to their peasants themselves and receive fines from them. Many boyars had feudal immunity (the right of non-interference in the affairs of the estate). “Russian Truth” determined the rights of the boyars. However, the Grand Duke of Kiev sought to retain full power in his hands. He interfered in the affairs of the boyar estates, sought to retain the right to judge the peasants and receive vir from them in all the lands of Rus'. The Grand Duke considered all princes and boyars as his servants. The emergence of acute contradictions between the Grand Duke, the appanage princes and the boyars led to the acceleration of the process of the collapse of Rus'.

The second reason for feudal fragmentation was the increase in clashes between smerds and townspeople and the boyars. The need for local princely power and the creation of a state apparatus forced local boyars to invite princes and their retinues to their estates, in whom they tended to see only a police and military force that did not interfere in boyar affairs. But the princes, as a rule, were not satisfied with the role that the boyars assigned to them. They sought to concentrate all power in their hands, limiting the rights and privileges of the boyars. All this inevitably led to an aggravation of contradictions between them.

The third reason for feudal fragmentation is due to the growth and strengthening of cities as new political and cultural centers. During this period, there were approximately 224 cities in the Russian lands. Their political and economic role as centers of a particular land increased. Thus, cities, as local political and cultural centers in different lands, turned into strongholds of the decentralization aspirations of local princes and nobility.

The reasons for feudal fragmentation also include the decline of the Kyiv land from constant Polovtsian raids and the weakening of the power of the Grand Duke of Kyiv, whose land patrimony in the 12th century. decreased significantly.

As a result of the collapse of Rus' in the middle. XII century 15 principalities were formed at the beginning of the 13th century. - about 50, and in the XIV century. – about 250. The largest of them are Vladimir-Suzdal, Galicia-Volyn, Novgorod, etc.

The Grand Duke was the first (senior) among equal princes. The princely congresses at which issues of all-Russian politics were discussed have been preserved. The princes were bound by a system of vassal relations.

For all the progressiveness of feudal fragmentation, it also had significant drawbacks:

· division into principalities did not stop strife and discord between the princes;

· weakened the defense capability of Rus';

· the principalities began to be divided among the heirs;

· Conflicts emerged between the princes and the local boyars.

The collapse of Rus' did not lead to the collapse of the ancient Russian nationality, a historically established linguistic, territorial, economic and cultural community. In the Russian lands, a single concept of Rus', the Russian land, continued to exist.

6. RUSSIA AND THE HORDE:

PROBLEMS OF MUTUAL INFLUENCE.

The Tatar-Mongol invasion of Rus' took place in the period from 1236 to 1240. It is generally accepted that with the capture of Kyiv in 1240, the Tatar-Mongol yoke was established in the Russian state. The term “yoke” in the meaning of oppression was first used in 1275 by Metropolitan Kirill, which refers to the political, economic and cultural dependence of Rus' on the Golden Horde. 49 of the 74 known cities were destroyed, and in 14 of them life did not resume. As a result of the invasion, the population of Rus' sharply decreased, the flower of the Russian people - the princely squads - were destroyed, many crafts perished, stone construction ceased, cultural values ​​were significantly damaged, and international ties were severed.

After the invasion, the conquerors left the territory of Rus', periodically carrying out punitive raids - more than 15 in a quarter of a century. During the first decade, the conquerors did not take tribute, they were engaged in robbery, but then they moved on to the long-term practice of collecting systematic tribute from the Russian population.

The specifics of the relationship between Rus' and the Golden Horde were determined by the factors of remoteness of the oppressors from the vanquished, the collection of fairly moderate tribute per capita, the conclusion of periodic alliances by the Russian princes with the Golden Horde to protect the territories of their principalities and the participation of Russian troops in the Tatar-Mongol military campaigns. This uniqueness of Russian-Horde relations was explained by the need to combat the aggression of the Catholic West.

In the feudal relations that have developed in Rus', traditions of oriental despotism begin to develop. Vassal-combat relations are replaced by subject relations. By handing out labels for reign to the Russian appanage princes, the Golden Horde turned them not into their vassals, but into subjects, servants. Then the princes begin to extend the subject type of relationship to the Russian nobility.

The Horde yoke had a powerful impact on the culture and language of the Russian people, contributed to the mixing of part of the Mongols and the population of North-Eastern Rus', and stimulated language borrowing. BUT this influence did not become dominant and decisive. The Russian language and the culture of Rus' as a whole have retained their qualitative characteristics.

The situation was much worse with regard to the political consequences. The yoke preserved the stage of feudal fragmentation for two centuries and the transition to the centralization of the Russian state, which began with a significant delay compared to Western European countries.

The struggle to gain state independence, recreate Russian statehood, strengthen national identity and social consolidation developed on the basis of foreign policy confrontation with the Horde. After the belated achievement of independence, an “ideology of survival,” isolationism and political conservatism began to form in the public consciousness, which led to the evolution of the country along the lines of “catch-up development” in relation to Western European countries.

Historians at different times took different positions on the issue of the role of the Mongols in Russian history. The famous Russian historian N.M. Karamzin wrote: “Moscow owes its greatness to the khans.” Suppression

political freedoms and toughening of morals, he noted, are the result of the Mongol yoke.

N.I. Kostomarov emphasized the role of khan’s labels in strengthening the power of the Moscow Grand Duke within his state.

F.I. Leontovich argued that Mongolian law influenced Russian law.

A different opinion was held by S.M. Soloviev, who denied the possibility of a huge Mongol influence on the internal development of Russia, except for his destructive raids and wars. He draws attention to the fact that “we have no reason to recognize any significant influence (of the Mongols) on the (Russian) internal administration, since we do not see any traces of it.”

V.O. Klyuchevsky made general remarks about the importance of the policy of the khans in the unification of Rus'.

M.F. Vladimirsky-Budanov allowed only a slight influence of Mongolian law on Russian law.

In modern historical science, two points of view have developed on the Mongol yoke. One of them, which is traditional, views it as a disaster for Russian lands. The other interprets Batu’s invasion as an ordinary raid of nomads.

Supporters of the traditional point of view extremely negatively assess the impact of the yoke on all aspects of life in Rus':

· there was a massive movement of the population, and with it the agricultural culture, to the west and north-west, no less convenient territories with a less favorable climate;

· the political and social role of cities has sharply decreased;

· the power of the prince over the population increased;

· there was also a certain reorientation of the policy of the Russian princes to the East.

Another view sees the Mongol invasion not as a conquest, but as a "great cavalry raid":

· only those cities that stood in the way of the army were destroyed;

· the Mongols did not leave garrisons;

· permanent power was not established;

· with the end of the campaign, Batu went east (to the Volga).

When clarifying the concepts of “Mongol-Tatar invasion” and “Mongol-Tatar yoke”, it is necessary to keep in mind the following:

Firstly, “Batu’s presence” had such a strong impact on the Russian lands and the fate of their inhabitants that it would be more correct to talk about the pre-Mongol and Horde eras of Russian history;

Secondly, the ongoing struggle of the Russian people against the invaders allowed Rus', without directly being part of the Golden Horde, to preserve its statehood.

The choice of the East as an object of mutual influence for Rus' turned out to be quite stable. It manifested itself not only in adaptation to eastern forms of state, society, culture, but also in the direction of expansion of the centralized Russian state. From the point of view of I.N. Ionov, Europeans noted Russia’s tendency to give “eastern” answers to the “questions” of the West.

At this difficult time for Rus', German knights and Swedish feudal lords carried out aggression on Western Russian lands. Grand Duke Alexander Yaroslavovich showed great military leadership talent and in fierce battles in 1242 and 1240 he defeated the German knights and Swedish feudal lords. For his victory on the Neva he received the title Alexander Nevsky. These victories for Rus' were of great historical significance, which not only made it possible to defend the western borders of Rus', but also made a significant contribution to the consolidation of the Russian people in the fight against aggressors.