The very first Slavic state. Russia

Slavic countries are states that have existed or still exist, with most of their population of Slavs (Slavic peoples). The Slavic countries of the world are those countries in which the Slavic population is about eighty to ninety percent.

What countries are Slavic?

Slavic countries of Europe:

But still, to the question “the population of which country belongs to the Slavic group?” The answer immediately suggests itself - Russia. The population of the Slavic countries today is about three hundred million people. But there are other countries in which Slavic peoples live (these are European states, North America, Asia) and speak Slavic languages.

The countries of the Slavic group can be divided into:

• West Slavic.
• East Slavic.
• South Slavic.

Languages ​​in Slavic countries

The languages ​​in these countries originated from one common language (it is called Proto-Slavic), which once existed among the ancient Slavs. It was formed in the second half of the first millennium AD. It is not surprising that most of the words are consonant (for example, Russian and Ukrainian languages ​​are very similar). There are also similarities in grammar, sentence structure, and phonetics. This is easy to explain if we take into account the duration of contacts between the inhabitants of the Slavic states. The lion's share in the structure of the Slavic languages ​​is occupied by Russian. Its carriers are 250 million people.

Interestingly, the flags of the Slavic countries also have some similarities in color scheme, in the presence of longitudinal stripes. Does it have something to do with their common origin? More likely yes than no.

The countries where Slavic languages ​​are spoken are not so numerous. Nevertheless, Slavic languages ​​still exist and flourish. And it's been hundreds of years! This only means that the Slavic people are the most powerful, steadfast, unshakable. It is important that the Slavs do not lose the originality of their culture, respect for their ancestors, honor them and keep traditions.

Today there are many organizations (both in Russia and abroad) that revive and restore Slavic culture, Slavic holidays, even names for their children!

The first Slavs appeared in the second or third millennium BC. It goes without saying that the birth of this mighty people took place in the region of modern Russia and Europe. Over time, the tribes developed new territories, but still they could not (or did not want to) go far from their ancestral home. By the way, depending on the migration, the Slavs were divided into eastern, western, southern (each branch had its own name). They had differences in lifestyle, agriculture, some traditions. But still the Slavic "core" remained intact.

A major role in the life of the Slavic peoples was played by the emergence of statehood, war, and mixing with other ethnic groups. The emergence of separate Slavic states, on the one hand, greatly reduced the migration of the Slavs. But, on the other hand, from that moment on, their mixing with other nationalities also fell sharply. This allowed the Slavic gene pool to firmly gain a foothold on the world stage. This affected both the appearance (which is unique) and the genotype (hereditary traits).

Slavic countries during World War II

The Second World War brought great changes to the countries of the Slavic group. For example, in 1938 the Czechoslovak Republic lost its territorial unity. The Czech Republic ceased to be independent, and Slovakia became a German colony. The following year, the Commonwealth came to an end, and in 1940 the same thing happened with Yugoslavia. Bulgaria sided with the Nazis.

But there were also positive aspects. For example, the formation of anti-fascist trends and organizations. A common misfortune rallied the Slavic countries. They fought for independence, for peace, for freedom. Especially such movements gained popularity in Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia.

The Soviet Union played a key role in World War II. The citizens of the country selflessly fought against the Hitler regime, against the cruelty of the German soldiers, against the Nazis. The country has lost a huge number of its defenders.

Some Slavic countries during the Second World War were united by the All-Slavic Committee. The latter was created by the Soviet Union.

What is Pan-Slavism?

The concept of pan-Slavism is interesting. This is a direction that appeared in the Slavic states in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. It was aimed at uniting all the Slavs of the world on the basis of their national, cultural, everyday, linguistic community. Pan-Slavism promoted the independence of the Slavs, praised their originality.

The colors of Pan-Slavism were white, blue and red (the same colors appear on many national flags). The emergence of such a direction as pan-Slavism began after the Napoleonic wars. Weakened and "tired", the countries supported each other in difficult times. But over time, Pan-Slavism began to be forgotten. But now there is again a tendency to return to the origins, to the ancestors, to the Slavic culture. Perhaps this will lead to the formation of the Neo-Pan-Slavist movement.

Slavic countries today

The twenty-first century is a time of some kind of discord in the relations of the Slavic countries. This is especially true for Russia, Ukraine, EU countries. The reasons here are more political and economic. But despite the discord, many residents of countries (from the Slavic group) remember that all the descendants of the Slavs are brothers. Therefore, none of them wants wars and conflicts, but only warm family relations, as our ancestors once had.

Slavic countries

The history of the formation of the Slavic state

Exist., number of synonyms: 1 Slavic (5) ASIS Synonym Dictionary. V.N. Trishin. 2013 ... Synonym dictionary

Slavic Taxon: branch Range: Slavic countries Number of speakers: 400 500 million Classification ... Wikipedia

C. languages ​​constitute one of the families of the Ario-European (Indo-European, Indo-Germanic) branch of languages ​​(see Indo-European languages). The names Slav, Slavic languages ​​not only cannot be considered etymologically related to the word man, but even impossible ... ... Encyclopedic Dictionary F.A. Brockhaus and I.A. Efron

Slavic peoples Ethnopsychological Dictionary

SLAVIC PEOPLES- representatives of the Slavic nations, Russians, Ukrainians, Belarusians, Bulgarians, Poles, Slovaks, Czechs, Yugoslavs, who have their own specific culture and peculiar national psychology. In the dictionary, we consider only national psychological ... ... Encyclopedic Dictionary of Psychology and Pedagogy

The German language belongs to the West Germanic subgroup of the Germanic languages ​​and is the official state language of such states as the Federal Republic of Germany (about 76 77 million speakers), Austria (7.5 million people), ... ... Wikipedia

South Slavic countries in the XIII-XV centuries. Albania- Bulgaria after liberation from Byzantine domination During the period of existence of the Second Bulgarian Kingdom (1187 1396), which began after the overthrow of the Byzantine yoke, Bulgaria entered, far from overcoming feudal fragmentation. It… … The World History. Encyclopedia

This term has other meanings, see Slavs (meanings). Slavs ... Wikipedia

This term has other meanings, see Bulgaria (meanings). Republic of Bulgaria Republic of Bulgaria ... Wikipedia

West Slavic countries ... Wikipedia

Books

• Series "Millennium of Russian History" (set of 18 books), . How much do we know about the history of our own country? The country in which we live? The books in the Millenniums of Russian History series present the history of our country as a series of mysteries and mysteries, each volume…
• Educational and methodological complex on the history of the Middle Ages. In 5 books. Book 4. The author's program of the course. Seminar plans. Reader, Edited by V. A. Vedyushkin. The purpose of the program is to give teachers the opportunity to build work in such a way that students get the most complete picture of the subject being studied. The purpose of the reader is to provide…

SLAVES, Europe's largest group of kindred peoples. The total number of Slavs is about 300 million people. Modern Slavs are divided into three branches: eastern (Russians, Ukrainians, Belarusians), southern (Bulgarians, Serbs, Montenegrins, Croats, Slovenes, Muslim Bosnians, Macedonians) and western (Poles, Czechs, Slovaks, Lusatians). They speak the languages ​​of the Slavic group of the Indo-European family. The origin of the ethnonym Slavs is not clear enough. Apparently, it goes back to the common Indo-European root, the semantic content of which is the concept of "man", "people", "speaking". In this meaning, the ethnonym Slavs is registered in a number of Slavic languages ​​(including the Old Polabian language, where "Slavak", "Tslavak" meant "man"). This ethnonym (middle Slovenes, Slovaks, Slovenes, Slovenes of Novgorod) in various modifications is most often traced on the periphery of the settlement of the Slavs.

The question of ethnogenesis and the so-called ancestral home of the Slavs remains debatable. The ethnogenesis of the Slavs probably developed in stages (Proto-Slavs, Proto-Slavs and the early Slavic ethnolinguistic community). By the end of the 1st millennium AD, separate Slavic ethnic communities (tribes and unions of tribes) were formed. Ethnogenetic processes were accompanied by migrations, differentiation and integration of peoples, ethnic and local groups, assimilation phenomena in which various, both Slavic and non-Slavic, ethnic groups took part as substrates or components. Contact zones arose and changed, which were characterized by ethnic processes of various types in the epicenter and on the periphery. In modern science, the views according to which the Slavic ethnic community initially developed in the area either between the Oder (Odra) and the Vistula (Oder-Vistula theory), or between the Oder and the Middle Dnieper (Oder-Dnieper theory) have received the greatest recognition. Linguists believe that Proto-Slavonic speakers consolidated no later than the 2nd millennium BC.

From here began the gradual advance of the Slavs in the southwestern, western and northern directions, coinciding mainly with the final phase of the Great Migration of Nations (V-VII centuries). At the same time, the Slavs interacted with Iranian, Thracian, Dacian, Celtic, Germanic, Baltic, Finno-Ugric and other ethnic components. By the 6th century, the Slavs occupied the Danubian territories that were part of the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire, about 577 crossed the Danube and in the middle of the 7th century settled in the Balkans (Moesia, Thrace, Macedonia, most of Greece, Dalmatia, Istria), penetrating partly into Malaya Asia. At the same time, in the VI century, the Slavs, having mastered Dacia and Pannonia, reached the Alpine regions. Between the 6th-7th centuries (mainly at the end of the 6th century), another part of the Slavs settled between the Oder and the Elbe (Labe), partially moving to the left bank of the latter (the so-called Wendland in Germany). Since the 7th-8th centuries, there has been an intensive advance of the Slavs to the central and northern zones of Eastern Europe. As a result, in the IX-X centuries. there was an extensive area of ​​Slavic settlement: from the North-East of Europe and the Baltic Sea to the Mediterranean and from the Volga to the Elbe. Along with this, the Proto-Slavic ethno-linguistic community was disintegrating and the formation of Slavic language groups on the basis of local pra-dialects and later, the languages ​​of individual Slavic ethno-social communities.

Ancient authors of the 1st-2nd centuries and Byzantine sources of the 6th-7th centuries mention the Slavs under different names, either calling them generally Wends, or singling out among them the Antes and Sclavins. It is possible, however, that such names (especially "Vendi", "Antes") were used to refer not only to the Slavs themselves, but also to neighboring or related to other peoples. In modern science, the location of the Antes is usually localized in the Northern Black Sea region (between the Seversky Donets and the Carpathians), and the Sklavins are interpreted as their western neighbors. In the VI century, the Antes, together with the Slavs, participated in the wars against Byzantium and partially settled in the Balkans. The ethnonym "Antes" disappears from written sources in the 7th century. It is possible that it was reflected in the later ethnonym of the East Slavic tribe "Vyatichi", in the generalized designation of Slavic groups in Germany - "Vends". Starting from the 6th century, Byzantine authors increasingly report the existence of "Slavinia" ("Slavii"). Their occurrence was recorded in different parts of the Slavic world - in the Balkans (“Seven clans”, Berzitia among the Berzites, Draguvitia among the Draguvites, etc.), in Central Europe (“the state of Samo”), among the eastern and western (including Pomeranian and Polabian) Slavs. These were unstable formations that arose and again disintegrated, changed territories and united various tribes. So, the state of Samo, which was formed in the 7th century to protect against the Avars, Bavarians, Lombards, Franks, united the Slavs of the Czech Republic, Moravia, Slovakia, Lusatia and (partially) Croatia and Slovenia. The emergence of "Slavinia" on a tribal and intertribal basis reflected the internal changes of the ancient Slavic society, in which there was a process of formation of the propertied elite, and the power of tribal princes gradually developed into hereditary.

The emergence of statehood among the Slavs dates back to the 7th-9th centuries. The date of foundation of the Bulgarian state (the First Bulgarian Kingdom) is considered to be 681. Although at the end of the 10th century Bulgaria became dependent on Byzantium, as further development showed, the Bulgarian people had already acquired a stable self-consciousness by that time. In the second half of the VIII - the first half of the IX centuries. there is a formation of statehood among the Serbs, Croats, Slovenes. In the 9th century, the Old Russian statehood was formed with centers in Staraya Ladoga, Novgorod and Kyiv (Kievan Rus). By the 9th - beginning of the 10th centuries. The existence of the Great Moravian state, which was of great importance for the development of common Slavic culture, is related - here in 863 the educational activities of the creators of Slavic writing Constantine (Cyril) and Methodius began, continued by their students (after the defeat of Orthodoxy in Great Moravia) in Bulgaria. The boundaries of the Great Moravian state at the time of its highest prosperity included Moravia, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, as well as Lusatia, part of Pannonia and Slovenian lands and, apparently, Lesser Poland. In the 9th century, the Old Polish state arose. At the same time, the process of Christianization proceeded, with the majority of the southern Slavs and all the eastern Slavs found themselves in the sphere of the Greek Orthodox Church, and the Western Slavs (including Croats and Slovenes) - the Roman Catholic. Some of the Western Slavs in the XV-XVI centuries had reform movements (Husism, the community of Czech brothers, etc. in the Czech Kingdom, Arianism in Poland, Calvinism among the Slovaks, Protestantism in Slovenia, etc.), largely suppressed during the counter-reformation period.

The transition to state formations reflected a qualitatively new stage in the ethno-social development of the Slavs - the beginning of the formation of nationalities.

The nature, dynamics and pace of formation of the Slavic peoples were determined by social factors (the presence of "complete" or "incomplete" ethno-social structures) and political factors (the presence or absence of their own state-legal institutions, stability or mobility of the borders of early state formations, etc.). ). Political factors in a number of cases, especially at the initial stages of ethnic history, acquired decisive importance. Thus, the further process of development of the Great Moravian ethnic community on the basis of the Moravian-Czech, Slovak, Pannonian and Lusatian tribes of the Slavs that were part of Great Moravia turned out to be impossible after the fall of this state under the blows of the Hungarians in 906. There was a break in the economic and political ties of this part of the Slavic ethnos and its administrative-territorial separation, which created a new ethnic situation. On the contrary, the emergence and consolidation of the Old Russian state in the east of Europe was the most important factor in the further consolidation of the East Slavic tribes into a relatively single Old Russian nationality.

In the 9th century, the lands inhabited by tribes - the ancestors of the Slovenes, were captured by the Germans and from 962 became part of the Holy Roman Empire, and at the beginning of the 10th century, the ancestors of the Slovaks, after the fall of the Great Moravian state, were included in the Hungarian state. Despite the long resistance to German expansion, the bulk of the Polabian and Pomeranian Slavs lost their independence and were subjected to forced assimilation. Despite the disappearance of their own ethno-political base among this group of Western Slavs, separate groups of them in different regions of Germany remained for a long time - until the 18th century, and in Brandenburg and near Lüneburg even until the 19th century. The exception was the Lusatians, as well as the Kashubians (the latter later became part of the Polish nation).

Approximately in the XIII-XIV centuries, the Bulgarian, Serbian, Croatian, Czech and Polish peoples began to move to a new phase of their development. However, this process among the Bulgarians and Serbs was interrupted at the end of the 14th century by the Ottoman invasion, as a result of which they lost their independence for five centuries, and the ethno-social structures of these peoples were deformed. Croatia, in view of the danger from outside, in 1102 recognized the power of the Hungarian kings, but retained autonomy and the ethnically Croatian ruling class. This had a positive effect on the further development of the Croatian people, although the territorial disunity of the Croatian lands led to the conservation of ethnic regionalism. By the beginning of the 17th century, the Polish and Czech nationalities had reached a high degree of consolidation. But in the Czech lands, included in 1620 into the Habsburg Austrian monarchy, as a result of the events of the Thirty Years' War and the counter-reformation policy in the 17th century, significant changes occurred in the ethnic composition of the ruling strata and townspeople. Although Poland remained independent until the partitions of the late 18th century, the general unfavorable domestic and foreign political situation and the lag in economic development hampered the process of nation formation.

The ethnic history of the Slavs in Eastern Europe had its own specific features. The consolidation of the Old Russian people was influenced not only by the closeness of culture and the similarity of the dialects used by the Eastern Slavs, but also by the similarity of their socio-economic development. The peculiarity of the process of formation of individual nationalities, and later - ethnic groups among the Eastern Slavs (Russians, Ukrainians, Belarusians) was that they survived the stage of ancient Russian nationality and common statehood. Their further formation was a consequence of the differentiation of the ancient Russian people into three independent closely related ethnic groups (XIV-XVI centuries). In the XVII-XVIII centuries, Russians, Ukrainians and Belarusians again found themselves in one state - Russia, now as three independent ethnic groups.

In the XVIII-XIX centuries, the East Slavic peoples develop into modern nations. This process proceeded among the Russians, Ukrainians and Belarusians at a different pace (the most intense - among the Russians, the most slow - among the Belarusians), which was determined by the peculiar historical, ethno-political and ethno-cultural situations experienced by each of the three peoples. Thus, for Belarusians and Ukrainians, an important role was played by the need to resist Polonization and Magyarization, the incompleteness of their ethno-social structure, formed as a result of the merger of their own upper social strata with the upper social strata of Lithuanians, Poles, Russians, etc.

Among the Western and Southern Slavs, the formation of nations, with some asynchrony of the initial boundaries of this process, begins in the second half of the 18th century. With a formation commonality, in a stadial relationship, there were differences between the regions of Central and South-Eastern Europe: if for the Western Slavs this process basically ends in the 60s of the XIX century, then for the southern Slavs - after the liberation Russian-Turkish war of 1877-78.

Until 1918, Poles, Czechs, and Slovaks were part of multinational empires, and the task of creating national statehood remained unresolved. At the same time, the political factor retained its significance in the process of formation of the Slavic nations. The consolidation of Montenegrin independence in 1878 created the basis for the subsequent formation of the Montenegrin nation. After the decisions of the Berlin Congress of 1878 and the change of borders in the Balkans, most of Macedonia turned out to be outside Bulgaria, which subsequently led to the formation of the Macedonian nation. At the beginning of the 20th century, and especially in the period between the first and second world wars, when the Western and Southern Slavs gained state independence, this process, however, was contradictory.

After the February Revolution of 1917, attempts were made to create Ukrainian and Belarusian statehood. In 1922, Ukraine and Belarus, together with other Soviet republics, were the founders of the USSR (in 1991 they declared themselves sovereign states). The totalitarian regimes that were established in the Slavic countries of Europe in the second half of the 1940s with the dominance of the administrative-command system had a deforming effect on ethnic processes (violation of the rights of ethnic minorities in Bulgaria, ignoring the autonomous status of Slovakia by the leadership of Czechoslovakia, aggravation of interethnic contradictions in Yugoslavia, etc. .). This was one of the most important reasons for the nationwide crisis in the Slavic countries of Europe, which led here, starting from 1989-1990, to significant changes in the socio-economic and ethno-political situation. Modern processes of democratization of the socio-economic, political and spiritual life of the Slavic peoples create qualitatively new opportunities for expanding interethnic contacts and cultural cooperation, which have strong traditions.

The VIII century is the time when the process of folding the first state associations takes place on the territory of the entire Slavic world. In the ninth century it ends with the emergence of the first Slavic states. The first decades of the 9th century include information about the Principality of Ljudevit in Posavian Croatia, which, by its actions, created serious difficulties for the largest European power of that time - the Carolingian Empire. At the same time, the principality of Borna was formed in Dalmatian Croatia, which marked the beginning of the formation of the Croatian state here.

The first information about the Serbian princes also belongs to the beginning of the 9th century. The first state associations of Serbs arose simultaneously in several areas: in Raska, Dukla, Travuniya, Hum. From the end of the 9th to the beginning of the 11th centuries, Raska was the largest among them. Its zhupans, which were at the head of intertribal associations (zhup), recognized the power of Bulgaria. In 931 Župan Cheslav freed himself from Bulgarian domination and subjugated the neighboring Serbian lands. However, at the end of the 10th century, this state collapsed. Serbian lands were absorbed by the Western Bulgarian state. After its conquest by Byzantium, Serbian župans became vassals of the Empire.

From the beginning of the 9th century, a new large state association of Western Slavs began to take shape with a center in Moravia. At this time, the Slavs had to defend their independence in the fight against the East Frankish (German) state. During the reign of Prince Mojmir I (died c. 846), the Moravans adopted Christianity from Bavaria according to the Latin rite. The Great Moravian state reached its heyday under the successor of Mojmir Rostislav (846-870). He vigorously resisted the German invasion and achieved considerable foreign policy power for his state. In search of allies, he turned to Byzantium.

In an effort to make the country independent of the Bavarian Church associated with the Carolingian state, Rostislav asked Emperor Michael III to send a preacher and bishop from Constantinople who would stand at the head of the Moravian Church. The missionaries Constantine and Methodius sent by the emperor introduced Christian worship in the Slavic language in Great Moravia and wrote the first Slavic books using the newly created alphabet. The creation of Slavic worship and writing strengthened the political independence of the Great Moravian state. Using the contradictions between the Frankish Church and the papacy, Rostislav achieved in 869 the creation of an archbishopric for Great Moravia and neighboring Slavic lands, directly subordinate to Rome, headed by Methodius.

The rapid growth of political influence and the expansion of the borders of the state continued during the reign of Rostislav's nephew - Svyatopolk (870-894). However, the large state formation that had developed under him was very fragile, and with the death of Svyatopolk, a significant part of the lands fell away from Great Moravia. The remaining lands were divided into destinies, divided among his sons. In 895, Bohemia became an independent principality. A little later, in 906, the Hungarians defeated Moravia and captured the eastern Slovak lands. The Great Moravian state ceased to exist.

The educational activity of Methodius took place against the wishes of Prince Svyatopolk and the German clergy, who openly resisted the spread of Slavic writing and worship. After the death of Methodius (885), his disciples were persecuted and expelled from Moravia. They settled in Bulgaria, which later became the largest center of Slavic written culture. In Moravia, the German clergy and ceremonies in Latin were established.

While being part of the Great Moravian state, two principalities formed on the territory of the Czech Republic: one - with a center in Prague, headed by a prince from the Přemyslid family, the other - with a center in Libice, headed by the Zlichansk princes Slavnikovich. Until the tenth century, there was a struggle for supremacy between them. The first steps towards the formation of a single state were taken in the 80s. 9th century Then the prince of the Czech tribe Borzhivoy from the Přemyslid family, who was baptized at the court of the Moravian prince Svyatopolk, managed, with his support, to become the main among the tribal princes of the Czech Valley. The final unification of the tribal principalities under the rule of the Czech princes with the capital in Prague refers to the reign of Prince Boleslav I (935-972) - A Czech bishopric was created in Prague. The vast power, however, was fragile. Part of its lands subsequently went to the Polish state.

Almost all Polish lands were united at the end of the 10th century by the Piast dynasty into a relatively unified Polish state. The first reliably known Polish prince was Mieszko I (969-992). The young state had to constantly defend its independence from the encroachments of the German kings, who were trying to turn the Polish prince into their vassal. In 966, Mieszko I and his associates converted to Christianity according to the Latin rite. Latin writing spread throughout the country. In 1000, a Polish archdiocese was established in Gniezno. By the beginning of the 11th century, Poland had become one of the major states of Eastern Europe.

Bolesław I the Brave (992-1025) pursued an active and successful foreign policy. However, after his death, Poland's international position became more complicated. Germany starts the war again, the Czech Republic and Russia also oppose Poland. The country is defeated, and after a great popular uprising in 1037, suppressed with the help of German feudal lords, it temporarily falls into vassal dependence on the German Empire.

In the first half of the IX century, Bulgaria expanded its possessions and became one of the major European states. In the middle of the century, Khan Boris (852-889) decided to Christianize the country. For a long time, he hesitated over the question of whose help to do this, trying to play on the contradictions between the pope and the Byzantine patriarch. Taking advantage of the severe famine in Bulgaria, the Byzantines invaded its borders. Yielding to their pressure, in 865 Boris and his associates converted to Christianity according to the Byzantine rite. At the same time, Boris achieved the establishment of an archdiocese in Bulgaria. Twenty years later, it was from him that the disciples of Methodius, persecuted in Moravia, found protection and patronage. In 893 the Slavic language was declared the official language of the Bulgarian state and church. From that moment on, all documents and texts had to be written in the Slavic alphabet.

At the end of the 9th century, part of the Bulgarian nobility made an attempt to prevent the strengthening of the central government. In 889, the son and successor of Boris, who had retired to the monastery, Vladimir tried to restore paganism. However, this met with strong resistance. Vladimir was deposed and blinded. The throne was taken by another son of Boris - Simeon (893-927), one of the most prominent rulers of Bulgaria. Highly educated, talented and ambitious, he dreamed of founding a unified Slavic-Byzantine state in the Balkans with its center in Constantinople.

At this time, relations with Byzantium escalated. In 894 Bulgarians were forbidden to trade in Constantinople. This was the reason for Simeon to start hostilities that lasted 30 years and ended in his complete victory. He appropriated to himself the title of "king of the Bulgarians and Greeks", which had not previously been worn by any of the Bulgarian princes, and forced the Byzantines to pay tribute. Simeon was preparing for the siege of Constantinople, but it did not take place, and Simeon's successor Peter (927-969) made peace with Byzantium.

In 931, with the support of the Empire, the Serbs separated from Bulgaria. A third of a century later, Emperor Nicephorus II Phocas refused to pay tribute and began to prepare for war. In 971, the northern part of Bulgaria was captured by Byzantium. Western Bulgaria continued to exist as an independent state for almost 50 more years. However, in 1018, under Emperor Basil II the Bulgar Slayer, the First Bulgarian Kingdom fell and became part of Byzantium.

Modern Slavic peoples and states.

The first information about the Slavs. Wends.

The origin of the word "Slavs"

In this book, addressed mainly to students and students Russia, there is no need to elaborate on the topic of who the Slavs are. The largest Slavic people, Russians, constitutes in our country the so-called "titular" or state-forming nation.

Slavs live mainly in Eastern and Central Europe (and also in Siberia). As a result of immigration processes, there are Slavic diasporas even in the USA, Canada, Australia and a number of other regions of the planet.

Russians, according to the latest available data, more than 145 million. The second largest Slavic people are Ukrainians. There are about 50 million of them. The third largest Slavic people are Poles. Their number approaches the number of Ukrainians and is about 45 million. Further, in descending order of numbers, there are almost 10 million Belarusians, until recently there were at least 10 million Serbs, about 10 million Czechs, more than 9 million Bulgarians, 5 Slovaks. .5 million, Croats too - 5.5 million, Slovenes - up to 2.5 million, Macedonians - 2 million, Muslims - about 2 million, Montenegrins - 0.6 million people16.

For centuries, the Eastern Slavs (Russians, Ukrainians, Belarusians) lived in one state, which changed names (Russian Empire, Union of Soviet Socialist Republics), but united these fraternal peoples, mutually reinforcing them culturally, economically and military-politically. At the end of 1991, due to complex socio-political processes, the USSR collapsed. Since that time, Ukrainians and Belarusians live in their own separate from Russia and Russian national states.

The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia existed on the Balkan Peninsula for several decades, uniting almost all southern Slavs - Serbs, Croats, Slovenes, Macedonians, Muslims and Montenegrins. Since the beginning of the 1990s, due to similar processes, Yugoslavia has gradually disintegrated. At first, the Slovenes, Croats and Macedonians almost simultaneously emerged from it and proclaimed the creation of their own states. In the end, only Serbia and Montenegro remained part of Yugoslavia, but recently Montenegro, as a result of a referendum, declared its independence from Serbia, and Yugoslavia ceased to exist as a state.

In 1993, it broke up into two West Slavic states, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, a single Czechoslovakia that existed since 1918. Only West Slavic Poland and South Slavic Bulgaria remained within the borders that they acquired after the Second World War.

As a result, at the moment there are Russia (the capital is Moscow), Ukraine (Kyiv), Belarus or Belarus (Minsk), Czech Republic (Prague), Slovakia (Bratislava), Poland (Warsaw), Bulgaria (Sofia), Macedonia (Skopje) ), Croatia (Zagreb), Slovenia (Ljubljana), Serbia (Belgrade), Montenegro (Podgorica)17.

Russian readers know what a spiritual tragedy the destruction of the USSR and the SFRY, powerful states in which peoples lived peacefully, created and developed uniquely vibrant cultures, turned out to be for all Slavs. At the same time, for example, the death of Yugoslavia resulted in an ethnic catastrophe.

In the early 1990s, a largely externally provoked war took place between the fraternal peoples - Serbs, Croats and Muslims - in the Yugoslav regions of Bosnia and Herzegovina18.

Many Bosnian Serbs were eventually expelled from the lands where their distant ancestors lived. Homeless people fled en masse to Serbia.

In 1999, Serbia, which had previously accepted them, in turn, became a victim of aggression by a number of countries that are members of the NATO military bloc.

The pretext for aggression was the declared intention of the NATO members to "protect" the Albanians living there from the Yugoslav police in the Serbian province of Kosovo. For 78 days, Serbia was constantly subjected to massive bombing, as a result of which thousands of civilians were killed, ancient cities and architectural monuments were destroyed.

After that, Albanian gangs, in conditions of complete impunity, staged a series of Serbian pogroms in Kosovo with numerous murders of unarmed people, as a result of which the Serb population in the first half of the 2000s almost completely fled this region, leaving their homes and property19.

At the beginning of 2008, with the huge support of the United States and some other NATO countries, Kosovo declared its "state" independence, although such a declaration was accompanied by a flagrant violation of the UN Charter and international law.

Foreign forces in the XXI century. have repeatedly interfered in the internal affairs of the Slavic countries, provoking the so-called "orange revolutions" in them.

At present, the Slavic world is in a state of unprecedented cultural and historical disunity, disintegration.

All the more important now is the task of getting acquainted with Slavic problems within the framework of the course Introduction to Slavic Philology20.

The first information about the Slavs comes from Roman historians Pliny the Elder and Cornelia Tacitus 21. These are brief mentions, and both Roman authors call the Slavs "Venedi".

Thus, Pliny in his natural history" (98 AD) writes: "Some writers convey that these areas up to the Vistula (Vistula) river are inhabited by Sarmatians, Wends, Scythians, Girrs." Somewhat earlier Tacitus in his essay " Germany” also in the form of a passing mention says that the Wends live next to the tribes of Peukins and Fenns. He finds it difficult to attribute them to the Germans, whom he repeatedly criticizes for "barbarism", but argues that "the Wends adopted many of their customs", building similar dwellings and also distinguished by a sedentary lifestyle.

"Venedi" - the Slavs themselves, apparently, never called themselves this word. This is a name from the outside: that is what others called them in ancient times. In a similar way, one can recall all the well-known European people, whose representatives call themselves "Deutsches", and other peoples call them differently - Russians "Germans", French "Alleman", English "Jemen", etc.

Names that refract the word "Venedi" have survived to this day in the Finno-Ugric languages. In Estonian Russian - vene ("vein"), Russian - vene keel.

In the II century. n. e. Claudius Ptolemy in his " geographical guide” once again briefly mentions the Wends, who, according to his information (very vague), live “along the entire Venedsky Gulf” (meaning the Baltic Sea). From the west, the land of the Wends is limited, according to Ptolemy, by the river Vistula (Vistula).

Byzantine author of the 5th c. Priscus of Pannia was part of the embassy sent to the court of Attila. Speaking about the Turkic conquerors, the Huns, he unexpectedly names such words of the “Hunnic” language as the names of the drink - medos and the name of the funeral feast - strava.

Since in the first word it is easy to guess honey, and the second meant a meal in the Old Russian language and is still available in some Slavic languages, insofar as the Czech philologist Pavel Shafarik(1795-1861), author of the work " Slavic antiquities"(1837), made a reasonable assumption about the presence of the Slavs in the multinational horde of Atilla. (By the way, Prisk also calls the drink kamos, in which one has to suspect kvass.)

The Gothic historian of the 6th century knew more concrete about the Slavs. Jordan and Byzantine historians of the VI-VII centuries. n. e.

For the author of the essay About Goths"Jordan, who wrote in Latin (he served the Romans for a long time and only at the age of sixty became the "court historian" of the Gothic king), the Slavs are hated enemies who "now because of our sins" "rage everywhere" and to whom, as well as to others opponents is ready, he regularly expresses emphasized official contempt. In particular, he calls them a “crowd of cowards”, “powerful in their numbers”, and reports that they “now have three names: Wends, Antes and Sklavins”23. However, in relation to the Antes, whose lands stretch “from Danastre to Danapr” (from the Dniester to the Dnieper), Jordan makes an interesting demonstrative reservation, calling them “the bravest” (of the Slavs).

Dig Caesarea(VI century) in his work "War With Goths" divides the Slavs into two categories: he calls the Western "Slavs", and the Eastern (our immediate ancestors) "Antes". Procopius says:

“These tribes, the Slavs and the Antes, are not ruled by one person, but since ancient times they live in democracy (democracy), and therefore they consider happiness and unhappiness in life to be a common cause. And in all other respects, both of these barbarian tribes have the same life and laws.

At the end of the VI century. interesting and detailed information about the Slavs brought in his military leadership " Strategikon» a certain Byzantine Mauritius (the emperor of Mauritius was mistakenly considered the author of this work for a long time, later the author was conditionally called Mauritius Strategist). He writes, for example:

“The tribes of the Slavs and Antes are similar in their way of life, in their customs, in their love of freedom; they can in no way be persuaded into slavery or subservience in their own country. They are numerous, hardy, easily endure heat, cold, rain, nakedness, lack of food. They treat foreigners who come to them kindly and, showing them signs of their favor, when moving from one place to another, they protect them if necessary, so that if it turned out that due to the negligence of the one who receives the foreigner, the latter suffered ( any) damage that took it earlier starts a war (against the guilty), considering it a duty of honor to avenge the stranger. They do not keep those who are in their captivity, like other tribes, for an unlimited time, but, limiting (the term of slavery) to a certain time, they offer them a choice: whether they want to return home for a certain ransom or stay there (where they are) ) in the position of free and friends?”

Here, their military adversary tells about the Slavs, who aims to acquaint his soldiers with the methods of the most effective fight against them. Such an author "will not overpraise". The more valuable is his objective evidence of a special Slavic love of freedom (they cannot be enslaved), endurance, cordiality and hospitality, and an amazingly humane attitude towards prisoners. All these are very informative, testifying features of the national character.

Information coming from Procopius of Caesarea and Mauritius the Strategist will be repeatedly drawn below in various sections of the Introduction to Slavic Philology.

The question of where the ethnonym "Slavs" comes from has been debated for centuries. As is usually the case, the Slavs romanticized and, in particular, glorified their name in various ways. The point of view was popular that they are called so because they "covered themselves with unfading glory."

According to the philologist P.Ya. Chernykh, "in the popular Slavic consciousness, the name of the Slavic tribe was first associated with word, and then contacted glory. As one old Polish writer says: “That is why the peoples of our language were called Slavs that all together, and each in particular, tried to earn a good reputation for themselves by chivalrous deeds.

The original opinion was given by I. Pervolf in the book "Slavs, their mutual relations and connections." A certain Pole Paprocki reasoned that the Slavs “were named either from glory or from the word: they willingly fulfilled this word to everyone ... However, glory and the word do not differ from each other; glory to him who keeps his word.”25

In the medieval Slavic environment, even the so-called “charter” to the Slavic people from Alexander the Great (Macedonian) became widespread. This curious text reads:

“To the bright Slavic generation for its great services for all eternity, the entire part of the earth from the north to Italy itself, and the land in the south, so that no one other than your people dares to stay and settle in them; and if anyone else were found living in those countries, then he must be your servant, and his descendants must be the servants of your descendants.

P.Ya. Chernykh wrote about the word "Slav": "Since ancient times, in the written monuments, this name has been known since about after l and with the suffix -ѣnin. With this suffix, nouns were usually formed in the old days, denoting not only belonging to a tribe, people, but also origin from a particular settlement or locality: Samaritan, Galilean. Therefore, in this case, they make the assumption that the Slavs got their name from the area rich in rivers. Word or from the river The words" 27.

Nevertheless, most likely, the self-name "Slavs" was formed according to the principle that is widespread among world languages.

As correctly wrote the same P.Ya. Chernykh, “since the word was not associated with the word and received the meaning “people, people who speak the word, speaking an understandable language”, all other people who speak not Slavic languages, but other (incomprehensible) languages, were called “silent, dumb”. This concept was expressed by the word nѣmtsi (any foreigners. - Yum.).<...> So, for example, in Moscow at the beginning of the XVII century. they said: “(arrived in Kholmogory) 5000 aglinsky German", go "Danish king Germans", "Spanish king Germans","...in Germans, in Golan land"28.

Peoples in antiquity very often called themselves "having a language", "possessing the word" - in contrast to foreigners, who seemed to them to be speechless, Germans(in fact, foreigners, of course, had a language, but it was different, incomprehensible). Slavs (Slovens) - “having a word”, meaningfully speaking.