Modern Slavic peoples and states. Slavic countries

The largest Slavic state in terms of area is currently Russia (Russian Federation). It covers an area of ​​17,075,400 square kilometers, which is 76% of the area of ​​the former USSR. More than a third of the country is located in Europe, the rest is in Asia. The general geographical position of the country is defined as the northeast of Eurasia. Russia borders on China, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Ukraine, Belarus, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Finland and Norway, has access to the Barents Sea, Kara Sea, Laptev Sea, East Siberian, Chukchi, Bering, Okhotsk , Japanese, Caspian, Black and Baltic seas.

The population is about 150 million people, among them 76% - urban population, 24% - rural. In addition to Russians, representatives of more than a hundred other nationalities live in Russia, including Slavic ones (Ukrainians, Belarusians, Poles).

The state language is Russian.

Russia is currently a federal republic. The state is headed by a president.

Moscow the capital.

Brief outline of history

On the territory of modern Russia (Russian Federation), various state formations were located at different times. The earliest of them is, which arose at the end of the 8th century and united the Eastern Slavs for more than three centuries. By the 12th century, Kievan Rus fell into decay and disintegrated into several independent principalities at war with each other: Polotsk, Galicia-Volyn, Turov-Pinsk, Kiev, Pereyaslav, Novgorod-Seversk, Chernigov, Muromo-Ryazan, Smolensk. The strongest among them are Vladimir-Suzdal Principality and Novgorod Republic. The specific principalities are constantly waging internecine wars, very cruel and bloody. These wars are used by the neighbors of the Russians, and in the XIII century the Novgorod principality had to constantly repel the attacks of the Swedes and Germans (the Battle of the Neva in 1240 and the Battle of the Ice in 1242). The eastern principalities are subject to the Tatar-Mongol invasion and for almost two hundred and fifty years they are subject to the khans of the Golden Horde; the western principalities become dependent on the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Poland. Novgorod lands retain their independence. Feudal fragmentation leads not only to the political weakening and disintegration of the state, but in terms of language it also brings an increase in dialect differences between dialects, which ultimately served as the basis for the formation of three independent East Slavic peoples and their languages.

Russian principalities in the 12th century (according to Golubtsov; borders are generalized)

Among the East Slavic lands, the importance of the Vladimir-Suzdal principality is gradually growing. Andrei Bogolyubsky, son of Yuri Dolgoruky, makes Vladimir the capital of the principality and begins to unite the Russian lands around him. Some time later, he moved the capital to Moscow, and since the 14th century there has already been a strong centralized Moscow State, whose formation actually ended in 1547, when Ivan IV the Terrible was crowned tsar. With the creation of a single centralized state, the emergence of Great Russian people. In the 16th - 17th centuries, Russia expanded its borders, and the Volga region, the Urals, Western Siberia - in the east, some territories previously captured by the Commonwealth - in the west, became part of the Russian kingdom. This turns Russia into a great multinational power vast in territory. It begins to play an important role in European affairs and attracts more and more attention from Western countries.

In the middle of the 17th century, Alexei Mikhailovich, the first of the Romanov dynasty, who ruled the state until 1917, became Tsar of Russia. At the end of the 17th century, his son, Peter I, ascended the throne of Russia, whose reign radically changed the fate of the country. Following the model of European states, factories and manufactories are being opened in Russia, a fleet is being built (Russia received access to the Baltic Sea), and a regular army is being created. The state administration also underwent fundamental changes: instead of the boyar duma and orders, the Senate and subordinate collegiums were established. In 1722, it was introduced, according to which all civil and military ranks were divided into fourteen degrees, or ranks. It was necessary to start the service from the lowest, fourteenth rank, regardless of the origin of the employee. Promotion in ranks was directly dependent on the personal success of each. A number of changes also affected the church. In 1721, the patriarchate was destroyed in the country, and it was replaced by the Holy Governing Synod, headed by a secular person - the chief prosecutor. The Church, thus, submits to the power of the civil, is made dependent on it. For a clear delineation of secular and ecclesiastical literature, civil type was introduced, after which only theological and liturgical books were printed in the old type. In 1721 Russia was proclaimed an empire.

heyday Russian Empire considered to be the reign of Catherine II the Great. At this time, huge steps are being taken along the path of enlightenment, Moscow University is opening.

Of the most significant events before 1917, the Patriotic War of 1812 should also be noted; the reform of 1861, which abolished serfdom in Russia; the revolution of 1905, which led to the creation in Russia of the first parliament - the Duma, which lasted until 1918.

By the beginning of the twentieth century (1914), the Russian Empire occupied about twenty-two million square kilometers. It includes Eastern Europe, the Grand Duchy of Finland, most of Poland, the Caucasus, Siberia, and part of Central Asia.

Among the most significant political events of the 20th century are the February and October revolutions of 1917; civil war; formation of a new state Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), which included Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR); collectivization; repressions of the 1930s; Great Patriotic War; the period of the "Thaw" of the early 60s and the period of stagnation that followed it. After the collapse of the USSR in December 1991 Russia (Russian Federation) became an independent state.

A Brief Outline of Culture

The Russian cultural tradition originates in the culture of Kievan Rus and, deeper, in the culture of the Slavic and non-Slavic tribes that made up the Old Russian nationality. Over the centuries, it not only developed independently, but also experienced the influence (sometimes significant) of the peoples who in one way or another interacted with the Russians (Finno-Ugric, Norman, Baltic, Turkic tribes); pagan and Christian ideology, which contributed to the development of architecture, sculpture (idols carved from wood and stone), painting, and writing.

The pre-Christian architectural tradition was mostly wooden. Some forms of wooden construction later entered stone architecture and became a hallmark of Russian architecture. Few pre-Christian cultural monuments have survived to this day, however, the main pagan motifs have been present in the ornamentation of not only secular, but also religious buildings for a long time. For example, in stone carvings on the walls of the Christian Cathedral of the Intercession on the Nerl (Vladimir), in addition to traditional Christian symbols for places of worship, floral ornaments are intertwined with images of lions, griffins, and mythical man-beasts.

Saint Sophia Cathedral. Kyiv

After the baptism of Kievan Rus, ancient Russian culture was strongly influenced by the Byzantine artistic and literary tradition. It is no secret that when Prince Vladimir chose Orthodoxy, an important role was played by the cultural and aesthetic criterion mentioned in "Tales of Bygone Years". The envoys of the Russian prince attended a solemn service in the church of St. Sophia in Constantinople and were shocked both by the beauty of the church itself and by the splendor and harmony of the rite they saw. With the baptism of Russia, church Byzantine art was accepted and reworked under the influence of local traditions by the Russians.

The chronicles say that soon after the baptism in Kyiv, Byzantine craftsmen erected a stone Church of the Tithes. We cannot say exactly what this building was, since it was destroyed by the Mongol-Tatars in 1240, but in 1037 - 1054, the St. Sophia Cathedral was erected in Kyiv by Russian and Greek masters, the beauty of which we can admire to this day. The design of the 11th century was significantly different from the one presented now, after the reconstruction of the cathedral in the 17th - 18th centuries, when baroque motifs were introduced into the general appearance of the structure. Five apses protruded from the eastern facade, reflecting the internal five-aisled structure; open galleries surrounded the cathedral from the north, west and south.

The cathedral was crowned with thirteen hemispherical domes covered with lead. Two asymmetrically placed stair towers on the western façade led to the choir stalls. At the eastern end of the northern gallery was the grand ducal tomb (the stone sarcophagi of Yaroslav the Wise, Vsevolod Yaroslavich, Vladimir Monomakh and other political figures of Ancient Russia stood here).

The cathedral is built of dark red rubble stone, interspersed with layers of thin bricks (plinths), the masonry is based on pink cement mortar. Initially, the masonry was open, but at the turn of the 17th - 18th centuries, the walls of the cathedral were plastered and whitewashed. The first renewal of the frescoes (1) also dates back to the 17th century, which was repeated several times during the 18th – 19th centuries. Of particular value is the mosaic (2), covering about two hundred and sixty square meters of the walls of St. Sophia Cathedral. The mosaic has survived to this day almost unchanged.

From the middle of the XII century, the Byzantine influence in architecture was weakening, but in painting it continued to be preserved for a long time.

Sophia Cathedral. Veliky Novgorod

Elements of Western European culture began to penetrate into Russia from the middle of the 11th century and especially intensified in the second half of the 12th - early 13th centuries, during the heyday of the Romanesque style and the weakening of Byzantine influence in Russia. Elements of the Romanesque style can be found in the architecture of St. Sophia Cathedral in Veliky Novgorod. One of the Western European elements of the temple is its location on a hill, which emphasizes the elevation of the divine above the earthly. In addition, as a Romanesque building, St. Sophia Cathedral has massive walls, narrow window openings, recessed portals, which give the building a special solemnity and power. An obligatory and important architectural element of the Romanesque style is the presence of towers. Sophia Cathedral, according to the traditions of Romanesque construction, is a system of simple stereometric volumes (cubes, parallelepipeds, prisms, cylinders), the surface of which is divided by blades, arched friezes and galleries.

The appearance of Novgorod Sophia preserved its original appearance better than other pre-Mongolian churches. Initially, according to the ancient Russian tradition, the cathedral was made of wood, later the wooden walls were replaced with brick walls made of local white stone, which were fastened with lime mortar. It must be said that the use of local building material is also a tradition of the Romanesque style.

Novgorod St. Sophia Cathedral served as a model for the construction of Antoniev (1117 - 1119) and Yuriev (1119) monasteries, St. Nicholas Cathedral (1113).

New Novgorod buildings are four-pillar cubic temples with one dome and three apses. Churches of the Annunciation in Arkazhy (1179), Paraskeva Pyatnitsy at the Market (1207) and others built in the Novgorod Republic with the money of parishioners are small and very simple in design. This is also due to the fact that churches in the Novgorod Republic were often used as warehouses for goods, a place for storing citizens' property.

The architecture of Pskov (the Church of the Savior in the Mirozhinsky Monastery, the middle of the 12th century) is distinguished by the absence of pillars and three-domed structures. In general, the ancient Russian architecture of this time (especially the Vladimir-Suzdal school) is distinguished by the interweaving of proper Russian traditions with the traditions of the Romanesque Western European school. A distinctive feature of Russian churches is architectural plasticity, filled, in contrast to the Romanesque style, with life-affirming forces.

In the XII-XIII centuries, local schools of painting were formed. The most formed among them are Novgorod, Pskov and Vladimir-Suzdal, which differed in skill and way of transferring characters. Novgorod fresco painting is characterized by simplification of artistic techniques and expressiveness in the transfer of human faces. The images presented in the Pskov school are distinguished by their simplicity and psychological intensity. The faces of saints painted in the Rostov-Suzdal school can be said to be lyrical and warm.

The Mongol-Tatar invasion weakened the rise of Russian culture. Many cities were destroyed, monuments of writing, painting, architecture were destroyed, and along with them some artistic traditions were lost. During internecine wars, which caused no less damage to culture than the Tatar-Mongols, it was not easy to restore what was lost. A new upsurge of culture in Russia begins only with the emergence of a new strong political center, which becomes first Vladimir, and then Moscow, that is, from the middle of the 14th century.

In the architecture of the XIV-XVI centuries, the traditions of the regional architectural schools of Russia, which had developed before the XIII century, receive a new direction of development. At the turn of the 13th-14th centuries, stone construction resumed in Novgorod and Pskov. Novgorod buildings, as before, are made at the expense of individual citizens (boyars, merchants) and collectives of "convicts". New buildings are distinguished by lightness, an abundance of light. Churches of a new type - Spas on Ilyina Street (1374) and Fyodor Stratilat (1360 - 1361) - are decorated with decorative niches, which are filled with frescoes, sculptural inset crosses, triangular depressions (Spas on Ilyina).

Conducted in Novgorod and civil construction. Stone chambers with box vaults are being built. In 1302, a stone citadel was laid in Novgorod, which was subsequently rebuilt several times.

Pskov architecture is developing in the direction of building fortresses. So, in 1330, Izborsk, one of the largest military structures of that time, was surrounded by Pskov stone walls; A large stone Kremlin was built in Pskov. Pskov architectural structures are distinguished by their austere appearance, conciseness, and almost no decorative decoration is used in them. Pskov masters are developing a special system of overlapping the building with crossed arches, which makes it possible to abandon pillars during the construction of the temple.

Russian architects in 1367 erected a white-stone Kremlin in Moscow, and at the end of the 15th - beginning of the 16th century, masters Pietro Antonio Solari, Aleviz Novy and Mark Ruffo, ordered from Italy, put up new red-brick walls and towers. By this time, the Assumption Cathedral (1479) had already been erected on the territory of the Kremlin by the Italian Aristotle Fioravanti, the Palace of Facets (1487–1489) was built by Novgorod builders, and the Annunciation Cathedral (1484–1489) was built next to it by Pskov craftsmen. A little later, the same Aleviz Novy completes the Cathedral Square ensemble with the Archangel Cathedral, the tomb of the Grand Dukes (1505–1509). Behind the Kremlin wall on Red Square in 1555-1560, in honor of the capture of Kazan, the nine-domed Intercession Cathedral (St. Basil's Cathedral) was erected, crowned with a high multifaceted pyramid - a tent. This detail gave the name "roof" to the architectural style that arose in the 16th century (the Church of the Ascension in Kolomenskoye, 1532).

Painting of the second half of the XIV-XV centuries is the time when Feofan the Greek and Andrei Rublev create. The murals of the Novgorod (Savior on Ilyin) and Moscow (Annunciation Cathedral) churches of Theophanes the Greek and Rublev’s icons (“Trinity”, “Savior”, etc.) are turned to God, but they tell about a person, his soul, moral perfection, about the search for harmony and ideal. The painting of this time in Russia in terms of themes and genres (icon painting, frescoes) remains deeply religious, but in it there is an appeal to the inner world of a person, softness, philosophy, humanism.

In the middle of the 15th century, Byzantium, which had been a stronghold of Orthodoxy for a long time, finally fell. In this regard, in the Muscovite state, from that time on, the dogma “Moscow is the third Rome” arises, which in art is embodied in the attraction to everything magnificent, big, “great”. At the end of the 16th century, Andrei Chokhov cast the Tsar Cannon, which did not fire a single shot, a little later, under Anna Ioannovna, the father and son of Motorina created the huge Tsar Bell (1733–1735).

In the 17th and especially the 18th centuries, the process of “secularization” of culture continued. The church is losing its former role in the dissemination of cultural values, which is gradually moving into secular circles. At this time, attempts are made to comprehend and systematize the accumulated scientific knowledge. Various kinds of “Herbals” and “Healers” containing descriptions of herbs and their properties, instructions for healing various diseases are widely used. Athanasius Kholmogorsky in his work "Shestodnev", based on the geocentric theory of Ptolemy, describes the structure of the world, representing the Earth as a ball. Many scholars are attempting a geographical, toponymic and historical description of various places in Russia. So, around 1640, “Painting to Siberian Cities and Ostrog” appears; in 1667 - "Godunovsky drawing", named after the Tobolsk governor P.I. Godunov; in 1701 - "The Drawing Book of Siberia" by S.U. Remezov.

In church architecture, the traditions of tent architecture, which appeared in the 15th century, continue to develop, but churches are becoming more and more like secular buildings - palaces. Such, for example, are the Trinity Church in Murom, the Trinity Church in Nikitinki (Moscow).

Chambers of the Duma Clerk Avery Kirillov

Stone residential houses appear in the possession of nobles and wealthy merchants. A characteristic feature of these buildings is the rich decorative design of the facades. So, when decorating the chambers of the Duma clerk Averky Kirillov on Bersenevskaya Embankment, elegant tiles with a blue pattern on a white background were used. Similar residential buildings appear in Kaluga, Yaroslavl, Nizhny Novgorod.

At the turn of the 17th - 18th centuries, during the reign of Peter I, a new style appeared in Russian architecture, called the "Naryshkin Baroque", or "Moscow Baroque", in which the Western European "fancy" (3) style is intertwined with Russian decorativeness, airiness. "Moscow baroque", transforming elements of the Western European style, still remains dominant. The main decoration of sacred and secular buildings are decorative lace, which came to this style from folk craft - woodcarving. White-stone carving, baroque curvilinear lines, elements of an architectural order (4) give this style a life-affirming, bright beginning. In addition to the Church of the Intercession in Fili (1693), the Church of the Trinity in the Novogolutvin Monastery in Kolomna (1680s), the Church of St. Sergius of Radonezh in the Trinity-Sergius Lavra (1686), the cell building with the chambers of the Naryshkins in the Vysokopetrovsky Monastery in Moscow (1690) were built in the Naryshkin style. ), the Church of the Annunciation in the Nikitsky Monastery in Pereslavl-Zalessky (1690), the Church of Stefan in the Mirozhsky Monastery in Pskov (the end of the 17th century), the bell tower of the Church of John the Baptist in Tolchkovo in Yaroslavl (1700), the bell tower of the Transfiguration Cathedral in Uglich (1730) and others secular and ecclesiastical structures.

Church of the Intercession in Fili (1693)

The "Naryshkin baroque" completes the development of ancient Russian architecture and begins its new stage.

Under Peter I, Russia becomes a mighty empire, and extensive construction of cities and individual structures for various purposes is carried out throughout the territory. New types of buildings appeared: shipyards, arsenals, hospitals, theaters, museums, libraries. The architecture of the Petrine era affirms the power of Russia. Conventionally, this period is called "Peter's baroque", but it must be borne in mind that elements of classicism are often found in the works of Russian and invited foreign masters.

Significant transformations in the architecture of Russia are associated with the construction of a new capital. The first project of St. Petersburg was drawn up by the Frenchman A. Leblon, but the radial layout of the city, proposed by Russian architects P.M. Eropkin, M.G. Zemtsov and I.K. Korobov. Nevsky Prospekt became the main beam, the beams of the three main highways converged at the Admiralty (the first building of the Admiralty was built according to the project of I.K. Korobov in the early 20s of the XVIII century). In 1703, the Peter and Paul Fortress was laid in St. Petersburg, in 1704 - a shipyard, in 1708-1711 the stone Summer Palace of Peter was built (architects M.G. Zemtsov, N. Michetti, A. Schluter.

The leading types of buildings in St. Petersburg are not churches, but public buildings, urban and suburban palace and park ensembles with a symmetrical layout of objects. The buildings are built in the spirit of French classicism.

Russian architecture of the 40-50s of the 18th century is called Russian, "Elizabeth", or "Rastrelli" baroque. The Italian Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli arrived in Russia together with the famous architect Bartolomeo Carlo Rastrelli at the invitation of Peter I in 1715. Together with him, they created wonderful architectural ensembles and palaces during the time of Peter the Great and the reign of Anna Ioannovna, and also built two palaces on the territory of the Duchy of Courland for Biron. But the real flowering of creativity FB Rastrelli falls on the reign of Elizabeth. In the 1950s and 1960s, according to the design of the chief architect, the palace in Peterhof, the Winter Palace were built, the palace in Tsarskoye Selo and other buildings were rebuilt. The master introduced his own distinctive features into the Baroque style - he decorates all the facades of the building, and not just the main one, as was customary in Western architecture, he makes extensive use of shell-shaped decorative details. In the traditions of ancient Russian architecture, Rastrelli actively uses the possibilities of color, openwork plastic.

With the coming to power of Catherine II, the "Elizabethan" baroque was replaced by classicism - a strict style using classical order forms. Not only administrative buildings were built in this style (Academy of Arts - A. Kokorinov, V. Delamotte, Marble Palace - A. Rinaldi), but also landowners' estates, merchant houses, palaces of petty nobility. V. Bazhenov (Pashkov's house, Kamennoostrovsky Palace of Catherine II), M. Kazakov (the building of the Moscow Senate in the Kremlin, Moscow University), I. Starov (Tauride Palace) create in the style of late classicism.

Distinctive features of classicism are uniformity, consistency, order, the creation of the illusion of harmony and rationality of the monarchy, the policy of enlightened absolutism. The buildings are distinguished by a clear layout, post-and-beam tectonic scale. New in the methods of architectural composition of the times after the Patriotic War of 1812 was the free use of the forms of the colonnade, arcade, portico and their combinations in contrast to the large field of a smooth, often lightly rusticated wall; the use of forms of the Doric order in order to create a heroic image of architecture; the use of light-colored facades in combination with white reliefs. Decorative sculpture was also used in a new way, reflecting the triumphal and heroic themes: molded wreaths, medallions, military paraphernalia.

Since the 40s of the 19th century, a departure from Russian classicism has been visible. The development of architecture is influenced by the need to build industrial buildings - large buildings of factories, plants - and apartment buildings, which housed a large number of apartments. In the construction of these structures, new materials are also used: cast iron, rolled iron, reinforced concrete.

By the end of the 19th century, a new style was being created - Art Nouveau, in which the pretentiousness of lines, emphasized asymmetry are combined with stylized floral ornaments (lilies, orchids, irises are used as decor) and soft colors of facades. An example of a building made in the Art Nouveau style is the Ryabushinsky mansion (1900, architect F. Shekhtel).

In the architecture of Russia of the twentieth century, four stages are distinguished:

1) 1917 - 1932 - a period of innovation, attempts to move away from traditional architectural forms (the building of the Dnieper Hydroelectric Station in Zaporozhye - 1929 - 1932, V. Vesnin; the mausoleum of V.I. Lenin - 1929 - 1930, A. Shchusev; four-five-story apartment buildings sectional residential type, kitchen factories, department stores, workers' clubs);

2) 1933 - 1954 - return to the classical heritage (Palace of Soviets in Moscow - 1939, V. Gelfreikh, B. Iofan, V. Shchuko; metro - from 1935; apartment buildings from large blocks; enlarged residential areas; from 1947 – construction of high-rise buildings as a symbol of victory in the Great Patriotic War;

3) since the mid-1950s - architecture aimed at solving the problems of industrialization, reducing the cost of objects;

4) from the late 70s - early 80s, individual design of buildings is gradually returning, which becomes especially noticeable in the late 90s, when the country's economy begins to rise.

Literature

Bulakhov M.G., Zhovtobryuh M.A., Kodukhov V.I. East Slavic languages. M., 1987.
All countries of the world. Encyclopedic reference book / Authors-comp. I.O. Rodin, T.M. Pimenova. M., 2003.
Gromov M.N., Uzhankov A.N. Culture of Ancient Russia / History of the cultures of the Slavic peoples. In 3 vols. T.1: Antiquity and the Middle Ages. M., 2003. S. 211-299.
Gumilyov L.N. From Russia to Russia. M., 1995.
Janitor F. Slavs in European history and civilization. M., 2001.
Zezina M.R., Koshman L.V., Shulgin V.S. History of Russian culture. M., 1990.
Architects of St. Petersburg XIX - early XX century. SPb., 1998.
Trubetskoy N.S. Story. Culture. Language. M., 1995.
Notes

1. Fresco - a drawing made with water-based paints on wet plaster.
2. Mosaic - images typed from multi-colored smalt cubes.
3. Baroque - from Italian. barocco, fr. baroque - strange, wrong, bizarre.
4. Order - a combination of load-bearing and carried parts of a rack-and-beam structure, their structure and artistic processing. The order includes a column with a capital, a base, a pedestal, as well as carried parts: archi-grass, frieze and cornice. The classical order system developed in Ancient Greece (Doric, Ionic, Corinthian).

Slavs constantly entered into cultural interaction and mixing with neighbors and invaders. Even during the migration of peoples, the Slavs were under the influence of the Avars, Goths and Huns. Later, we were influenced by the Finno-Ugric peoples, the Tatar-Mongols (who, characteristically, did not leave a trace in our genetics, but had a strong influence on the Russian language and even more strongly on our statehood), the nations of Catholic Europe, the Turks, the Balts and many other nations. Here the Poles fall away immediately - their culture was formed under the strong influence of their Western neighbors.

In the XVIII-XX centuries. Poland was divided between neighboring powers, which also affected the national culture and self-consciousness. Russians too - there are a lot of Finnish and Turkic borrowings in our language, the Tatar-Mongols, Greeks, as well as quite alien, from the point of view of tradition, Peter's transformations had a very strong influence on our traditions. In Russia, for several centuries it has been customary to build a tradition to Byzantium or to the Horde, and at the same time completely forget about, for example, Veliky Novgorod.

The southern Slavic peoples without exception were subject to the strongest influence of the Turks - we can see this in the language, and in the cuisine, and in traditions. The least influence of foreign peoples was experienced, first of all, by the Slavs of the Carpathians: Hutsuls, Lemkos, Rusyns, to a lesser extent Slovaks, Western Ukrainians. These peoples were formed in the area of ​​Western civilization, however, due to isolation, they were able to preserve many ancient traditions and protect their languages ​​from a large number of borrowings.

It is also worth noting the efforts of peoples who are striving to restore their traditional culture spoiled by historical processes. First of all, they are Czechs. When they fell under the rule of the Germans, the Czech language began to rapidly disappear. By the end of the 18th century, it was known only in remote villages, and Czechs, especially in cities, did not know any other language than German.

Maria Yanechkova, a teacher at the Department of Bohemianism at Karollav University in Prague, says that if a Czech intellectual wanted to learn the Czech language, he went to a special linguistic circle. But it was precisely such national activists who restored bit by bit the almost lost Czech language. At the same time, they cleared it of all borrowings in a rather radical spirit. For example, theater in Czech is divadlo, aviation is leitadlo, artillery is shooting, and so on. The Czech language and Czech culture are very Slavic, but this was achieved through the efforts of the intellectuals of the New Age, and not through the continuous transmission of the ancient tradition.

The 8th 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 state's borders 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.

The emergence of medieval states in Europe, the first Slavic states. Polotsk and Turov principalities.

The medieval civilization of Europe developed quite rapidly. In the early period, many small and large states were formed.

The largest was the Frankish. The Roman region of Italy also became an independent state. The rest of Medieval Europe broke up into many large and small principalities, which were only formally subordinate to the kings of larger entities.

This, in particular, applies to the British Isles, Scandinavia and other lands that are not part of the big states. Similar processes also took place in the eastern part of the world. So, for example, on the territory of China at different times there were about 140 states. Along with the imperial power, there was also feudal power - the owners of the fiefs had, among other things, the administration, the army, and in some cases even their own money.

As a result of this fragmentation, wars were frequent, self-will was clearly manifested, and the state was generally weakened. Medieval refers to the period between modern times and ancient times. Chronologically, this period is placed within the boundaries of the end of the 5th-6th centuries. up to 16th c. (or including it). This period, in turn, is divided into: - the early Middle Ages (6-10 centuries), - the high or middle Middle Ages (11-13 centuries), - and the later or Renaissance (14-16 centuries).

On the territory of Western Europe during the early Middle Ages, many large and small states arose, among them the state of the Franks was the largest. The Roman region of Italy became an independent state. In other territories (Scandinavia, the British Isles, on lands that were not included in larger states in Western and Eastern Europe), many small and large principalities were formed, only formally subordinate to the kings of larger entities. In certain periods, there were up to 30 in France, 7 in the British Isles, and so on.

states. A similar process took place in the East. At various times, up to 140 states existed on the territory of China. Therefore, along with the imperial power on the ground, there was the power of many feudal lords who had at their disposal all the attributes of power: the army, the court and the administration, and often their own money.

This gave rise to self-will, frequent military clashes between the feudal lords, and the weakness of the state as a whole.

Medieval culture was not homogeneous in terms of social countries either. It distinguishes subcultures: urban (burgher), which should include merchants and artisans, feudal (knightly) and peasant. The question of the emergence of statehood among the Slavs has been worrying scientists for many years.

Quite a few theories have been put forward, each of which, perhaps, is not devoid of logic. But in order to form an opinion about this, you need to familiarize yourself with at least the main ones. If we talk about the history of the emergence of statehood among the ancient Slavs in these territories, then scientists usually rely on several theories, which I would like to consider.

The most common version today of when the first Slavic states arose is the Norman or Varangian theory. It originated at the end of the 18th century in Germany. The founders and ideological inspirers were two German scientists: Gottlieb Siegfried Bayer (1694-1738) and Gerhard Friedrich Miller (1705-1783). In their opinion, the history of the Slavic states has Nordic or Varangian roots.

Such a conclusion was made by pundits, having thoroughly studied The Tale of Bygone Years, the oldest opus created by the monk Nestor. There really is a reference, dated 862, to the fact that the ancient Slavic tribes (Krivichi, Slovenes and Chud) called the Varangian princes to their lands to reign. Allegedly, tired of the endless internecine strife and enemy raids from outside, several Slavic tribes decided to unite under the leadership of the Normans, who at that time were considered the most experienced and successful in Europe.

The history of the Polotsk principality begins simultaneously with the creation of the city of Polotsk. The first official mention of the city dates back to 862. However, historians say that it appeared much earlier.

So, even in the undated part of The Tale of Bygone Years (the oldest chronicle in the Slavic lands), the name "Polotchane" is mentioned simultaneously with the "Krivichi". From this we can conclude that even in the days of the Krivichi, a separate state stood out with its capital in Polotsk. Long before the first Varangians appeared on those lands and the Old Russian state was formed. The city got its name due to the river on the banks of which it is located. As already mentioned, not far from this settlement, the Polota River flowed into the Western Berezina.

The Polotsk and Turov principalities were located on extremely infertile lands. However, Polotsk had one important advantage. It was here that the intersection of significant trade routes along the Berezina, Dvina and Neman was located. That is, the waterway "from the Varangians to the Greeks." This contributed not only to the development of trade and economy in the state, but also caused a massive migration of other peoples and tribes to the Polotsk lands. And the territories of the principality were surrounded by impenetrable forests, which served as a reliable defense against enemies.

And Polotsk residents made more and more enemies every year. Since the control of the principality over trade routes did not like the neighboring states - Kyiv and Novgorod. Which eventually led to territorial disputes and mass bloodshed. The Principality of Polotsk included not only the Polotsk lands, but also part of the territory of the Dregovichi, Lithuanian and Finnish tribes. Polochans settled throughout the Western Dvina, Polota, as well as in the basins of the Berezina, Svisloch and Neman.

The principality included such large cities as Minsk, Vitebsk, Orsha, Borisov, Logoisk, Zaslavl, Drutsk, Lukoml and others. Thus, during the IX-XIII centuries it was a large and strong European state. The first mention of the sovereign who united the Principality of Polotsk dates back to the second half of the 10th century. As the chronicles say, "valadaryu, trymau i prince Ragvalod Polatsk land."

Norman Rogvolod "came from beyond the sea" and ruled from 972 to 978. This period is considered the final stage in the formation of the Polotsk principality. The state had its own borders, the political and administrative systems were established, a strong army was formed, trade relations began to be established. The city of Polotsk became the historical core and center. The history of the Principality of Polotsk is the history of the struggle for independence, which was eventually lost.

So, already in 980, the lands were listed as part of the Old Russian state. The principality became a bargaining chip between the then warring Novgorod and Kyiv. As the chronicles say, in 978, Prince Rogvolod, in order to strengthen the borders of his state, decided to marry his daughter Rogneda to the Kyiv prince Yaropolk, while refusing Vladimir Svyatoslavich (the sovereign of Novgorod from the Rurik dynasty). Unable to bear the insult, Vladimir took Polotsk by storm, killed Rogvolod and his two sons, and forcibly made Rogneda his wife, giving her the name Gorislava.

Then the prince of Novgorod captured Kyiv and introduced a new religion in the Polotsk lands - Christianity. According to The Tale of Bygone Years, Rogneda and Vladimir had four sons: Izyaslav (Prince of Polotsk), Yaroslav the Wise (Prince of Kyiv and Novgorod), Vsevolod (Prince Vladimir-Volynsky) and Mstislav (Prince of Chernigov). And also two daughters: Premislava, who later married Laszlo the Lysy (Ugric king), and Predslava, who became the wife of Boleslav III the Red (Czech prince). After Rogneda tried to kill Vladimir, she, along with her son Izyaslav (who stood up for his father for his mother), was sent to the Polotsk lands, to the city of Izyaslavl.

The princess cut her hair as a nun and took a third name - Anastasia. In 988, the inhabitants of Izyaslavl invited the son of Rogneda and Vladimir Izyaslav to reign. He became famous as a sovereign-scribe and a distributor of a new belief, Christianity, in the Polotsk land. It is with Izyaslav that a new branch in the Rurik dynasty begins - the Izyaslavichi (Polotsk). The descendants of Izyaslav, unlike the children of his brothers, emphasized their kinship with Rogvolod (on the maternal side).

And they called themselves Rogvolodovichi. Prince Izyaslav died young (in 1001), outliving his mother Rogneda by only one year. His younger son Bryachislav Izyaslavich began to rule the Polotsk principality.

Until 1044, the sovereign pursued his own policy aimed at expanding the land. Taking advantage of civil strife and the weakening of Russia, Bryachislav captured Veliky Novgorod and held power for five years together with his uncle Yaroslav the Wise. At the same time, the city of Bryachislavl (modern Braslav) was built. The Principality of Polotsk reached the peak of its power in 1044–1101, during the reign of Vseslav the Prophet, son of Prince Bryachislav. Knowing that he was facing life-and-death battles, the prince prepared for war until the mid-60s of the 11th century - he fortified cities, raised an army.

So, Polotsk was moved to the right bank of the Western Dvina, to the mouth of the Polota River. Vseslav began to expand the Polotsk lands far to the north, subjugated the tribes of Latgalians and Livs. However, in 1067, when his campaigns in Novgorod ended unsuccessfully, the prince, along with his sons, was captured by Izyaslav Yaroslavich, and the state was captured.

But a year later, the rebellious people freed Vseslav, and he managed to return the lost lands. From 1069 to 1072, the Principality of Polotsk waged a relentless and bloody war with the Kyiv sovereigns. The principality of Smolensk was captured, as well as part of the Chernigov lands in the north. In those years, the population of the capital of the principality was more than twenty thousand people. After the death of Vseslav in 1101, his sons divided the principality into destinies: Vitebsk, Minsk, Polotsk, Logoisk and others.

And already in 1127, the son of Vladimir Monomakh, taking advantage of the disagreements between the princes, captured and plundered the Polotsk land. Izyaslavichi were taken prisoner, and then completely exiled to distant Byzantium.

Thus, by the end of the 12th century, the authority of the Principality of Polotsk in the international arena had finally fallen, and Novgorodians and Chernigovians seized part of the territories.

State of Samo -

Prince Vladimir of Polotsk, then ruling, fought with the crusaders for more than twenty years, but he was unable to stop them.

This was the beginning of the end of independence. And in 1307 Polotsk became part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. It was this principality that became the place where Belarusian statehood was born, as well as culture and writing.

Polotsk is associated with such names as Euphrosyne of Polotsk, Lazar Bogsha, Francysk Skaryna, Cyril of Turovsky and Simeon of Polotsk. They are the pride of the Belarusian nation.

With the advent of Christianity in the Polotsk lands, architecture began to develop. So, the first monumental building made of stone was the Polotsk St. Sophia Cathedral, built in the 1050s. And in 1161, the jeweler Lazar Bogsha created a masterpiece of applied art of the Eastern Slavs - a unique cross of Euphrosyne of Polotsk.

The 13th century was the time when the Belarusian language appeared.

§ 12. Formation of the Slavic states.

Questions and tasks.

1. Study the first map of the paragraph and name the Slavic tribes that entered the first Slavic states.

What tribe names can you explain?

The composition of the Bulgarian state included: Bulgarians, Serbs, Vlachs.
The composition of Great Moravia included: Lusatian Serbs, Czechs, Moravians, Slovaks.
The composition of Russia included: Dregovichi, Tivertsy, Volhynians.
Pomeranians are those who live by the sea. Poles are those who live in the fields.

2. Why did the states of the Slavs form later than the states of the Germans?

The German states were formed earlier, because this was facilitated by the unification of all German lands under the rule of Charlemagne.

After the collapse of his empire, the territories inhabited by the Germans formed the East Frankish kingdom. And on the territory of Russia, the tribal unions of the Slavs retained their independence for a long time, and each new Kyiv prince had to conquer them again.

3. Fill in the table "Formation of the Slavic states."

Table "Formation of the Slavic states"

State name	Age of State Formation	The ruler under whom the heyday of the state came	Reasons for the weakening of the state
Bulgarian kingdom	7th century	Prince Boris	internal strife, attacks by the Hungarians, Pecheneg nomads, the Byzantine army
Principality of Samo	7th century	Prince Samo	the union of several West Slavic tribes turned out to be fragile, and the state soon broke up into separate principalities
Great Moravia	9th century	Svyatopolk	after the death of Svyatopolk, the state was divided between his sons, then the Hungarian nomads captured most of the territory of the state and it ceased to exist
Principality of the Czech Republic	9th century	Wenceslas I	The Czech Republic recognized the authority of the German emperor and became part of the Roman Empire
Poland	X century	Boleslav I the Brave	the son of Boleslav Mieszko II, forced to fight simultaneously with Germany, Bohemia and Russia, lost almost all the conquests of his father, including the royal title, which he renounced in 1033

A very important source on the history of the Czech Republic is the written source "Czech Chronicle" by Kozma of Prague. He collected traditions, legends, letters and compiled a chronicle of the Czech Republic.

First Slavic state

The chronicle is written in Latin. Explain why a Czech wrote down the history of his country in a foreign language.

In the 11th century, the Czech Republic officially adopted Christianity according to the Western Christian, Catholic, pattern and became part of the Holy Roman Empire, where the main language was Latin.

In addition, all written documents in Western Europe were in Latin, which was in common use.

First Slavic state

The vast space between the two largest powers of the early Middle Ages - the empire of Charlemagne and Byzantium - was occupied by the barbarian tribes of the Slavs.

At the beginning of our era, the Slavs, according to most scientists, lived between the Vistula and the Dnieper, primarily in the Carpathian region (Proto-Slavic territory, or the territory of the ancient Slavs).

From there they began to spread throughout Europe. One part of the Slavs headed west - to the Elbe River, another moved to the lands of present-day Russia, displacing the tribes of the Finno-Ugric peoples, and the third came close to the borders of the Byzantine Empire on the Danube.

Slavic invasions of Byzantium

At the end of the 5th century the invasion of the southern Slavs into the Byzantine Empire through its Danube border begins.

Emperor Justinian managed to stop the Slavs and prevent them from entering the Balkans. To do this, he built many fortresses along the Danube border. However, the southern Slavs became an increasingly formidable force. In subsequent centuries, they not only conquered the northern regions of the Balkan Peninsula from Byzantium, but also settled in large groups in the central and southern parts of the Balkans, in the heart of Byzantium. From these Slavic tribes came the South Slavic peoples: Bulgarians, Serbs, Croats, etc.

The ancient Slavs, like all barbarians, were pagans.

Franks and Greeks often argued for influence over these tribes. There was even a rivalry between Rome and Constantinople over who would convert the Slavs to Christianity first. That church, which in missionary work among the Slavs will outstrip its rival, will receive power over vast lands.

The rivalry between the West and the East for influence on the Slavic world largely determined the fate of the Slavic peoples and their states.

Principality of Samo?

Historians often call the principality of Samo on the land of present-day Czech Republic and Moravia the first Slavic state.

Information about him is extremely scarce and uncertain. In sparing words, the chronicler reports that a certain man named Samo rallied the Slavic tribes and raised them to fight first with the Avars, and then with the Franks. In 627, Samo was elected prince, and he ruled for 35 years. Apparently, immediately after his death, the state he created collapsed. Most likely, it was not yet a real state, but an unstable union of tribes.

It is not entirely clear whether Samo was a Slav. According to some reports, he is a Frank by birth, who for some reason left his homeland. The second major political formation among the Slavs arose in the same century, but already in the south.

The first Bulgarian kingdom of the 7th-11th centuries.

In 681, Khan Asparukh from the Turkic tribe of the Bulgarians, who had moved shortly before that from the Volga region to the Danube, united the Danubian Slavs and created a powerful state, the so-called First Bulgarian Kingdom. Very soon, the newcomer Turks dissolved among the numerous Slavs, while the name "Bulgarians" passed to the Slavic people.

Neighborhood with Byzantium greatly contributed to their cultural development. In 864 Tsar Boris accepted Christianity from the Byzantines. The Patriarch of Constantinople did not insist that the language of worship and Christian literature in Bulgaria must be Greek.

Therefore, all Christian literature was translated from Greek into Slavonic, understandable to both noble and simple Bulgarians. Ancient Bulgarian literature flourished in the reign of Simeon, son of Boris.

The tsar in every possible way encouraged theologians, poets, historians who wrote in the Slavic language.

In foreign policy, the Bulgarian tsars competed with Byzantium for a long time. But in 1018, the Byzantine basileus from the Macedonian dynasty, Vasily II the Bulgar Slayer, won a complete victory over the Bulgarians and annexed the Bulgarian kingdom to Byzantium.

Vasily II treated the captured Bulgarian soldiers very cruelly - he blinded 15 thousand soldiers, leaving one guide for every hundred blind, who could see in one eye.

This was the end of the First Bulgarian Kingdom.

Saints Cyril and Methodius. Great Moravia

In the ninth century north of the Bulgarian kingdom, approximately where the legendary principality of Samo was, another Slavic power arose - Great Moravia. The Moravian prince Rostislav was very afraid of his neighbor - the East Frankish kingdom, and therefore sought support from the Byzantines. Rostislav asked to send a spiritual mentor from Byzantium to Moravia: he thought that Greek teachers would help weaken the influence of the East Frankish Church in his lands.

In response to the request of Rostislav in 865

Two brothers arrived in Moravia - Constantine and Methodius. It must be said that Konstantin is better known under the name Cyril, which he took just before his death when he was tonsured a monk. Cyril (Konstantin) and Methodius came from the city of Solun (in Greek - Thessaloniki).

Both received a very good education in Constantinople. Although they were Greeks, both brothers were fluent in the Slavic language from childhood. In order to more successfully spread Christianity among the Slavs, they created the Slavic alphabet. Cyril and Methodius were the first to translate the Bible into Slavic, writing the translation in a new Slavic script. The first Slavic alphabet was called Glagolitic.

The brothers took part of the Glagolitic letters from the Greek alphabet, part from the Semitic languages, and several characters were new.

Subsequently, Cyril's students created another Slavic alphabet, now exclusively based on the Greek alphabet with the addition of a few new characters. In honor of their teacher, they named it Cyrillic. We still use this alphabet. It is also common in Bulgaria, Serbia, Belarus, Ukraine and some other countries.

The activities of the brothers Cyril and Methodius are of great importance for the entire Slavic culture.

The Slavic writing and translation of the Bible brought by them to Moravia quickly spread throughout all the Slavic lands. Therefore, Cyril and Methodius are considered the enlighteners of the Slavs, who brought them Christianity, and the founders of their literature.

In the Slavic countries they are revered as "equal-to-the-apostles" saints, that is, equal to the apostles themselves.

Byzantium and Russia

Pagan Rus from the 9th century.

organized robbery campaigns against Byzantium.

One of these Rus attacks on Constantinople turned out to be so sudden that the residents of the Byzantine capital, not ready for defense, no longer hoped to save the city.

Desperate Romans with prayers carried around the walls of the city the main shrine of Constantinople - a cover that once belonged, as they believed, to the Mother of God. Immediately after this, the barbarian army lifted the siege from the city. The Byzantines considered the inexplicable departure of the Rus as a miracle, accomplished thanks to the intercession of the Mother of God.

The Rus not only fought, but also traded with the Romans. An important trade route "from the Varangians to the Greeks" passed through the lands of the Eastern Slavs, which connected the northern regions of Russia and Scandinavia with Byzantium.

The Varangians - immigrants from Russia, as well as the Rus themselves served as mercenaries in the Byzantine army and even once saved the basil from the rebels. However, during the reign of Emperor Basil II Bulgar-Slayers, relations between the Romans and the Rus deteriorated. In 988 Prince Vladimir of Kyiv laid siege to the Byzantine fortress of Kherson in the Crimea. Although the Byzantines made concessions to the Slavs, passing off the emperor's sister Anna as Vladimir, the Byzantines also managed to achieve their goals.

Vladimir accepted Christianity from them and spread the new religion in Russia.

At the origins of Slavic writing

Now the prince of Kyiv became a true ally of Byzantium.

The value of Byzantium in the history of the Slavs

Byzantium had the strongest influence on the culture of the southern and eastern Slavic peoples. They adopted Christianity from Byzantium, joined the high and refined Greco-Roman culture. Architecture, fine arts, literature, many customs came to the Slavs from Byzantium.

Byzantium, itself gradually fading away, seemed to give strength to the Slavic peoples. In this sense, the history of Byzantium is closely connected with the history of all the southern and eastern Slavs, in particular, with the history of the peoples of Russia.

From the "Strategikon" ("Strategikon" - instruction on military affairs) by an unknown author (Pseudo-Mauritius) about the Slavs

The tribes of the Slavs 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 and cold, rain, nakedness, lack of food. Foreigners who come to them are treated kindly and, showing them signs of their location (when they move) from one place to another, guard them if necessary ...

They have a large number of different livestock and fruits of the earth lying in heaps, especially millet and wheat.

The modesty of their women exceeds all human nature, so that most of them consider the death of their husband their death and voluntarily strangle themselves, not counting being a widow for life.

They settle in forests, near impassable rivers, swamps and lakes, arrange many exits in their dwellings due to the dangers they encounter, which is natural.

They bury the things they need in hiding places, do not openly own anything superfluous and lead a wandering life ...

Each is armed with two small spears, some also have shields, strong but difficult to carry. They also use wooden bows and small arrows soaked in a poison special for arrows, which is very effective if the wounded person does not take an antidote beforehand, or (does not use) other auxiliary means known to experienced doctors, or does not immediately cut off the wound with a sharp cut so that the poison does not spread throughout the body.

Byzantine chronicler about the meeting of the Byzantine basileus Roman I and the Bulgarian king Simeon

In September (924)…

Simeon with his army moved to Constantinople. He devastated Thrace and Macedonia, set fire to everything, destroyed it, cut down trees, and approaching Blachernae, he asked to send Patriarch Nicholas and some nobles to him for peace negotiations.

The parties exchanged hostages, and the first to go to Simeon was Patriarch Nikolai (followed by other messengers) ... They began to talk with Simeon about the world, but he sent them away and asked to meet with the tsar (Roman) himself, since, as he claimed, he had heard a lot about his intelligence, courage and intelligence.

The king was very happy about this, for he longed for peace and wanted to stop this daily bloodshed. He sent people to the shore ... to build a reliable pier in the sea, to which the royal trireme could approach. He ordered to enclose the pier on all sides with walls, in the middle to build a partition where they could talk to each other. Simeon, meanwhile, sent soldiers and burned the temple of the Most Holy Theotokos, showing by this that he did not want peace, but was fooling the king with empty hopes.

The tsar, having arrived in Blachernae together with Patriarch Nicholas, entered the holy tomb, stretched out his hands in prayer ... asked the All-Glorious and Immaculate Mother of God to soften the unbent and inexorable heart of proud Simeon and convince him to agree to peace. And so they opened the holy kivot, ( Kivot (kiot) - a special cabinet for icons and relics) where the holy omophorion was kept (i.e.

e. cover) of the Holy Mother of God, and throwing it on, the king seemed to cover himself with an impenetrable shield, and instead of a helmet, he hoisted his faith in the Immaculate Mother of God and so left the temple, defended by reliable weapons. Having supplied his retinue with weapons and shields, he appeared at the appointed place for negotiations with Simeon ... The king was the first to appear at the mentioned pier and stopped in anticipation of Simeon.

The parties exchanged hostages, and the Bulgarians. They carefully searched the pier: was there any trick or ambush, only after that Simeon jumped off his horse and entered the king. After greeting each other, they began to negotiate for peace. They say that the king said to Simeon: “I heard that you are a pious and true Christian, however, as I see, words do not agree with deeds.

After all, a pious person and a Christian rejoices in peace and love… but a wicked and unfaithful one enjoys murders and unrighteously shed blood… What account will you give God, having departed to another world, for your unrighteous murders? With what face will you look at the formidable and just Judge?

If you do this for the love of wealth, I will feed you your fill of it, just hold on to your right hand. Rejoice in the world, love harmony, so that you yourself live a peaceful, bloodless and calm life, and Christians will get rid of misfortunes and stop killing Christians, for it is not worth it for them to raise a sword against fellow believers.

So the king said and fell silent. Simeon was ashamed of his humility and his speeches and agreed to make peace. Having greeted each other, they dispersed, and the king pleased Simeon with luxurious gifts.

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.

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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…