The Slavs are perhaps one of the largest ethnic communities in Europe, with numerous myths circulating about the nature of their origin.
But what do we really know about the Slavs?
Who are the Slavs, where did they come from, and where is their ancestral home, we will try to figure it out.
Origin of the Slavs
There are several theories of the origin of the Slavs, according to which some historians attribute them to a tribe permanently residing in Europe, others to the Scythians and Sarmatians, who came from Central Asia There are many other theories as well. Let's consider them sequentially:
The most popular theory is Aryan origin Slavs.
The authors of this hypothesis are called theorists of the “Norman history of the origin of Rus'”, which was developed and put forward in the 18th century by a group of German scientists: Bayer, Miller and Schlozer, to substantiate which the Radzvilovskaya or Königsberg Chronicle was concocted.
The essence of this theory was as follows: the Slavs are Indo-European people, who migrated to Europe during the Great Migration of Nations, and was part of some ancient "German-Slavic" community. But as a result of various factors, having broken away from the civilization of the Germans and being on the border with wild Eastern peoples, and having become cut off from the advanced Roman civilization at that time, it was so behind in its development that the paths of their development radically diverged.
Archeology confirms the existence of strong intercultural ties between Germans and Slavs, and in general, the theory is more than worthy of respect if the Aryan roots of the Slavs are removed from it.
Second popular theory has a more European character, and it is much older than the Norman.
According to his theory, the Slavs did not differ from other European tribes: Vandals, Burgundians, Goths, Ostrogoths, Visigoths, Gepids, Getae, Alans, Avars, Dacians, Thracians and Illyrians, and were of the same Slavic tribe
The theory was quite popular in Europe, and the idea of the origin of the Slavs from the ancient Romans, and Rurik from the emperor Octavian Augustus, was very popular with historians of that time.
The European origin of the peoples is also confirmed by the theory of the German scientist Harald Harman, who called Pannonia the homeland of the Europeans.
But I still like it more simple theory, which is based on a selective association of the most plausible facts from other theories of the origin of not so much Slavic as European peoples in general.
The fact that the Slavs are strikingly similar to both the Germans and the ancient Greeks, I think you do not need to tell.
So, the Slavs came, like other European peoples, after the flood, from Iran, and they landed in Illaria, the cradle European culture, and from here, through Pannonia, they went to explore Europe, fighting and assimilating with local peoples from which they acquired their distinctions.
Those who remained in Illaria created the first European civilization, which we now know as the Etruscans, the fate of other peoples depended largely on the place they chose for settlement.
It is hard for us to imagine, but in fact all European peoples and their ancestors were nomads. So were the Slavs...
Remember the ancient slavic symbol, which so organically fit into Ukrainian culture: the crane, which the Slavs identified with their most important task, reconnaissance of territories, the task of walking, settling and covering more and more new territories.
Just as the cranes flew to unknown distances, so did the Slavs across the continent, burning the forest and organizing settlements.
And as the population of the settlements grew, they gathered the strongest and healthiest young men and women and poisoned them on a long journey, like scouts, to explore new lands.
Age of the Slavs
It is difficult to say when the Slavs stood out as united people from the common European ethnic mass.
Nestor attributes this event to the Babylonian pandemonium.
Mavro Orbini by 1496 BC, about which he writes: “At the indicated time, the Goths and the Slavs were of the same tribe. And having subjugated Sarmatia to its power, the Slavic tribe was divided into several tribes and received different names: Wends, Slavs, Antes, Verls, Alans, Massaets .... Vandals, Goths, Avars, Roskolans, Polyans, Czechs, Silesians .... ".
But if we combine the data of archeology, genetics and linguistics, we can say that the Slavs belonged to the Indo-European community, which, most likely, came out of the Dnieper archaeological culture, which was located between the Dnieper and Don rivers, seven thousand years ago during the Stone Age.
And from here, the influence of this culture spread to the territory from the Vistula to the Urals, although no one has yet been able to accurately localize it.
About four thousand years BC, it again broke up into three conditional groups: the Celts and Romans in the West, the Indo-Iranians in the East, and the Germans, Balts and Slavs in Central and Eastern Europe.
And around the 1st millennium BC, the Slavic language appeared.
Archeology nevertheless insists that the Slavs are the bearers of the "culture of under-closing burials", which got its name from the custom of covering the cremated remains with a large vessel.
This culture existed in the V-II centuries BC between the Vistula and the Dnieper.
Ancestral home of the Slavs
Referring to a number of authors, Orbini sees Scandinavia as the original Slavic land: “The descendants of Japheth the son of Noah moved to Europe to the north, penetrating into the country now called Scandinavia. There they multiplied innumerably, as St. Augustine points out in his City of God, where he writes that the sons and descendants of Japheth had two hundred homelands and occupied the lands located north of Mount Taurus in Cilicia, along the Northern Ocean, half of Asia, and throughout Europe all the way to the British Ocean.
Nestor calls the homeland of the Slavs the land along the lower reaches of the Dnieper and Pannonia.
The prominent Czech historian Pavel Safarik believed that the ancestral home of the Slavs should be sought in Europe in the neighborhood of the Alps, from where the Slavs left for the Carpathians under the onslaught of the Celtic expansion.
There was even a version about the ancestral home of the Slavs, located between the lower reaches of the Neman and Western Dvina, and where the Slavic people themselves were formed, in the 2nd century BC, in the Vistula River basin.
The Vistula-Dnieper hypothesis about the ancestral home of the Slavs is by far the most popular.
It is sufficiently confirmed by local toponyms, as well as vocabulary.
Plus, the areas of the culture of underclothe burials already known to us fully correspond to these geographical features!
Origin of the name "Slavs"
The word "Slavs" is firmly in use already in the VI century AD, among Byzantine historians. They were spoken of as allies of Byzantium.
The Slavs themselves began to call themselves that in the Middle Ages, judging by the annals.
According to another version, the name comes from the word "word", since the "Slavs", unlike other peoples, knew how to write and read.
Mavro Orbini writes: “During their residence in Sarmatia, they took the name “Slavs”, which means “glorious”.
There is a version that relates the self-name of the Slavs to the territory of origin, and according to it, the name of the river "Slavutich" is the basis of the name, the original name of the Dnieper, which contains a root with the meaning "wash", "cleanse".
An important, but completely unpleasant for the Slavs, version says that there is a connection between the self-name "Slavs" and the Middle Greek word "slave" (σκλάβος).
It was especially popular in the Middle Ages.
The idea that the Slavs, as the most numerous people Europe, at that time, were in their mass the largest number slaves and were a sought-after commodity in the slave trade, there is a place to be.
Recall that for many centuries the number of Slavic slaves supplied to Constantinople was unprecedented.
And, realizing that the executive and hardworking slaves, the Slavs in many respects surpassed all other peoples, they were not just a sought-after product, but also became the standard representation of the “slave”.
In fact, by their own labor, the Slavs forced other names of slaves out of use, no matter how insulting it may sound, and again, this is only a version.
The most correct version lies in the correct and balanced analysis of the name of our people, by resorting to which one can understand that the Slavs are a community united by one common religion: paganism, who glorified their gods with words that could not only pronounce, but also write!
The words that had sacred meaning, and not the bleating and lowing of the barbarian peoples.
The Slavs brought glory to their gods, and glorifying them, glorifying their deeds, they united into a single Slavic civilization, a cultural link in the pan-European culture.
Slavic peoples belong to one of the most numerous ethno-linguistic groups in Eurasia and Europe. Despite this, their history is replete with white spots. Moreover, some scientists believe that the history of the Slavs was rewritten more than once, which means that it is incredibly difficult to identify reliable facts from the abundance of information. However, year by year historians manage to gather together more and more data about the life of our ancestors and their cultural traditions. And they, as experts say, are very diverse. After all, the Slavs have never been a single people with identical beliefs, culture and language. They were settled over fairly vast territories, so over time they acquired more and more differences among themselves.
Our article discusses the historical development of the Western Slavs, their identity and religious beliefs, which differ significantly from the peoples that are commonly called Eastern and Southern Slavs.
Brief description of the ethno-linguistic group
Western Slavs, as our reader probably already understood, represent a kind of community of tribes united by a single name, cultural values and traditions. Historians claim that this group It stood out as a result of the settlement of tribes in different territories. This became the catalyst that launched the process of separating some Slavs from others.
For many, it remains unclear who belongs to the Western Slavs. After all, quite a lot of tribes are included in the common ethno-linguistic group. by the most prominent representatives of the named bloc are Croats, Czechs, Poles, Polans and similar nationalities.
The Slavic peoples, according to historians, were never united even at the initial stage of historical development. They had certain differences due to living in a particular area. Initially, it was difficult to call them noticeable and somehow significant, however, after a while, the cultural gap between the Slavic peoples only began to increase. This was mainly due to two factors:
- mass migration to new territories;
- interbreeding with representatives of other ethnic groups.
The first wave of resettlement was replaced by a new one, and gradually communities were created on the developed lands that differed significantly from their prototypes. Cultural and trade ties between the Slavic tribes began to break, which was largely influenced by distance. You can say exactly what this moment is considered the starting point at which the isolated history of the Western Slavs originates.
If we consider the topic of the settlement of tribes in a little more detail, then it should be noted that it took place in three directions: south, east and west. The Slavs, who later became known as Western, headed for the lands of the Middle Danube, and also settled the territories between the Oder and the Elbe.
Territory of the Western Slavs
Historians write that the process of separation of this Slavic branch began even before our era and continued for several centuries. It was during this period that the very features that in the future became the basis of a new ethnic group were formed. The first thing that united the resettled tribes was territorial boundaries.
The resettlement of the Western Slavs was a long process, as a result of which vast territories were occupied:
- the river Odra;
- the river Labe;
- the Zaala river;
- middle Danube.
According to the latest data, it can be judged that the Slavs reached up to modern Bavaria and even entered into military conflicts with the ancient Germanic tribes. It is interesting that today more than a hundred tribes are classified as Slavic, of which approximately fifty ethnic groups are western, bringing their traditions to new lands.
Historians, studying the language and culture of peoples leading their history from the West Slavic group, noted that the latter have much in common with their ancestors. This can be traced in the etymology of names and, first of all, in religious beliefs, which played very important role until the adoption of Christianity.
By the way, many scientists consider the fact that the Slavs, who had mastered the western territories, accepted christian religion by the type of Catholicism, another nuance that once divided fraternal peoples. However, even in the time of the ancient Western Slavs, a religious schism between them was already observed and later on only changed its shape and scale.
Religious beliefs
Before the adoption of Christianity, the described people belonged to the pagans, revering not only certain deities, but also the spirits of nature, as well as animals. hallmark Slavic religious cults is the fact that they often did not single out individual gods, but worshiped spirits as a whole. For example, according to the beliefs of the ancient tribes, a huge number of deities lived in the forest. Therefore, going hunting or collecting forest gifts, our ancestors turned to everyone at once, asking for their mercy and protection.
It is noteworthy that the Slavs also believed in demons. However, in their minds, they were not evil entities. Ancient peoples believed that demons are just the souls of animals, plants and stones. They can live in certain objects, but if necessary, they leave them and travel the world.
Totemism or veneration of the animal progenitor was also widespread among the tribes. This cult was especially important for the Western Slavs. Each tribe chose their own totem animal and worshiped it, but killing the sacred animal was not considered something criminal. This fact is a significant difference between Slavic totemism and the form that it later took, for example, in Egypt. It is interesting that some historians consider the werewolf legends so widespread in Europe to be the result of the influence of such cults. Many Slavic communities revered wolves and put on their skins during ritual events. Sometimes the ritual required movement in such a form around the area, which, of course, looked wild and even terrifying for casual travelers.
In the paganism of the Western Slavs, it was customary to serve the gods in specially constructed places where idols were installed. The temples, as they were called, were arranged mainly on the hills, which were perfectly visible from all sides. Nearby there was a place for sacrifices or a breviary. Pagan cults always involve the sacrifice of animals during the ritual service.
The Western Slavs, after their final registration as a separate community, slightly modified the temples. They began to build them closed and placed inside all the idols at the same time. It is noteworthy that only the Magi could enter this semblance of a temple. Ordinary members of the tribe had the opportunity to attend some rituals near the temple, but most of the rites were hidden from prying eyes.
The gods of the Western Slavs differed little from the deities of their eastern and southern counterparts. And this is quite natural, because all the Slavs had a common pantheon of gods. Although each tribe separately revered its own idol, which is considered the patron of this particular community. If we turn to the classification of deities, we can say that they are divided into three groups:
- higher;
- medium;
- lower.
Such a division corresponded to the understanding of the world order, according to which our world consists of three levels: Yav, Rule and Nav.
Slavic deities
In the religion of the ancient Slavs, the highest group of gods included representatives celestial sphere such as Perun, Svarog, Dazhdbog and others. For most tribes, Perun was the supreme deity, since he was responsible for thunder and lightning. A little later, he began to be considered the patron of the princely squad and was in this status until the adoption of Christianity. However, the Western Slavs revered him as an ordinary deity. top level. Among them he was known as Perkūnas.
It is interesting that the described group honored Svarog above other spirits and gods. Once for all the tribes he was higher power, as he owned fire and metal. Our ancestors believed that he not only gave the people fire and taught them how to melt metal, but also sent down from above a certain set of rules and regulations relating to all aspects of life. For example, it was Svarog who ordered the man to have only one woman and marry her until the end of his days.
The Western Slavs called him Sventovit, and over time he turned into a god of war. To glorify him, sanctuaries were built, where absolutely everything, including the walls and roof, was red. The deity itself was depicted with four heads turned in all directions of the world. Usually in his hands was a hunting horn, which the priests filled with wine once a year. At the end of this period, they looked at how much wine was left at the bottom of the vessel and made an assumption about the future harvest.
Gods middle group were close to the earth, human needs and fears. Among them, Lada, the goddess of fertility, was very revered. The lower group included various spirits and entities: mermaids, goblin, brownies.
Summarizing, we can say that the religion of the ancient Slavs practically did not change as a result of the settlement of tribes in different territories. Before the adoption of Christianity, common recognizable features were traced in it.
A few words about tribes
The article has already mentioned in passing what nationalities can be attributed to the Western Slavs. However, this information does not reveal the full diversity of these groups that have common roots. I would like to note that at the first stage of their settlement in new territories, the Slavs actively created military tribal unions. Such communities had clear advantages, as they made it possible to quickly develop land, establish trade, build fortified settlements, and even gradually move from defense to capturing new territories.
Historians divide all Western Slavs into several groups. The most numerous of them were the Polabian Slavs. Under this name, several tribes and military-tribal unions are united. The largest unions were considered Bodrichi, Lusatians and Lutichi. The latter, by the way, worshiped wolves and inspired real horror in their neighbors. Their military-tribal union united fifteen tribes among themselves.
Scientists also distinguish Polish (Kuyavians, Lubushans, Hoplians), Silesian (Polyans, Slupyans, Dedoshans) and Czech tribes (chodes, dudlebs, ganaks). In addition to those listed, there were Pomeranians (Slovenians, Kashubians, and so on).
If we mention the resettlement, then to the west of all were obodrites. They equipped their settlements, starting from the Kiel Bay and further along the rivers. Their southern and eastern neighbors were the Lyutichi. Since they were a large tribe, they actively populated the Baltic coast. Almost very close to them was the island of Rügen. He completely belonged to the Ruyans. And the vast territory from the Odra to the Vistula was occupied by the Pomeranians. Also, their settlements were often found near the Notech River. The neighbors of the Western Slavs of this group were Polish tribes, settled in small communities on fertile lands suitable for agriculture.
Interestingly, despite the common roots and a large number of identical cultural traditions, Slavic tribes were disjointed. Communications were not established between them, and the unification took place only under the influence of a common threat. Scientists believe that it was the unwillingness of the tribes to pursue a policy of unification and develop in this direction that hampered the transition to statehood, despite the abundance of prerequisites for the emergence of a single centralized authority.
Emergence and assimilation of the Western group
The origins of the Slavic ethnic group scientists are looking for around the 1st century BC. It was during this period that the small pro-Slavic tribes united with the Wends, who lived east of the German lands. By the 2nd century, other tribes also joined this group, which began to form a single cultural layer with a similar language base.
From the 3rd to the 6th centuries, the Slavs began their settlement in various territories, occupying the Baltic coast, the Elbe, Vistula, Oder and Danube basins. Byzantine chroniclers noted that they constantly met numerous tribes of Slavs, as the Slavs were then called. They confidently moved along the Danube territories and in the process established contacts with the native local population - the Germans.
Their main occupation until the 8th century was agriculture. Cattle breeding was in second place after him, since cattle was used for plowing. By the VI century. Western Slavs managed to master two types of agriculture:
- slash and fire;
- arable.
The latter was more advanced and required the use of iron tools. Each tribe produced them independently and did it very skillfully.
It is interesting that, having moved to new lands, the Slavs began to closely contact not with their brethren, but with their neighbors, gradually adopting their cultural traditions. Western Slavs, depending on their place of residence, fell under the influence of the Germans, Greeks, Thracians and other peoples. As a result, they literally assimilated, acquiring more and more traits from more advanced cultures.
The first Slavic states
TO 7th century Western Slavs began to form the first states. They arose in the basin of the Danube and Laba. The reason for their formation was class stratification and constant wars with the Germanic tribes. First Slavic state was formed by Czech and Slovene tribes, as well as Polabs. All of them united under the rule of one single prince, who ruled until the middle of the 7th century.
The capital of the Western Slavs during the reign of Prince Samo was located near today's Bratislava and was a fairly fortified settlement. The young state very quickly established trade relations with neighboring tribes, which caused discontent among the Germans. The war with them was successful for Samo, but his state did not last long. The death of the prince led to its collapse. On the site of the once single center, several small associations arose, created on the principles of statehood.
From the 7th to the 9th century, more than thirty such centers already existed on the Moravian plain. They were fortified settlements that provided a roof over their heads and protection for the entire community. Its head was the prince, and inside settlements handicraft, shipbuilding, ore mining, agriculture and cattle breeding were actively developing.
The beginning of the VIII century was marked by the formation of the Great Moravian Power, which became the second West Slavic state in history. It was based on the lands of several tribes:
- Moravians;
- Czechs;
- Slovenes;
- Serbs;
- Polabian Slavs;
- Polish Slavs.
The territory of the state was quite extensive and bordered on Bavaria, Bulgaria and Khorutania. Since the 9th century, the principality began to strengthen, which was facilitated by the wise policy of its ruler, Moymir. The next century, the state expanded due to the seizure of neighboring lands and the political course of the princes, who advocated strengthening the state and its ties with the Orthodox world.
For these purposes, even the well-known Cyril and Methodius were invited to the principality, who held services according to the Orthodox model, which did not suit the Catholic priests, who dreamed of taking such rich lands under their power.
Over time, they managed to bring discord between the Moravian princes and at the end of the 9th century. small specific principalities gradually began to stand out from a single power. The Czech Slavs were the first to break away, creating two independent principalities that sought to improve relations with Russia.
Formation of Polish states
The Polish Slavic tribes went their own way of development. First stage their association dates back to the 9th century. Initially, this process took place around several centers, but soon two centers were formed. independent states: Lesser Poland and Greater Poland. The first was captured by the Moravian rulers at the end of the 9th century, and the second became the only ancient Polish state.
Its formation took place at the beginning of the 11th century, when the system government controlled. It was based on cities and their rulers. They simultaneously performed a lot of functions, among which were, for example, military and judicial.
Interestingly, relations between Greater Poland and its neighbors have always been difficult. Often, military conflicts arose between them, which were not resolved in favor of the Polish state. It is worth noting that his position was rather weak, therefore, approximately from the middle of the 11th century. it periodically fell into vassal dependence on more powerful neighbors.
Culture of Western Slavs
cultural traditions West Slavic group formed under the influence of more developed states. On the one hand, they contributed to the rapid cultural growth of the tribes, but deprived the Slavs of the opportunity to go their own way and preserve their identity. Since the adoption of Christianity, the influence of the West has only increased, now it was reinforced by priests who planted their rites and even language. Western Slavs on long years were forced to speak and write in Latin. Only to XIII century some states began to develop their own written language.
The cultural traditions of different West Slavic tribes differed markedly, so it is quite difficult to talk about all of them in one article. It suffices to cite a few characteristic features cultural development of this group on the example of comparing two states - the Czech principalities and Greater Poland.
In the Czech state chronicles on mother tongue were conducted from the XII century, which allowed two centuries later to develop a literary and theatrical art. It is interesting that on the stage they often put satirical works. This was a rarity for that time. But Polish literature began to take shape only in the 13th century. Moreover, for a long time, teaching was conducted only on Latin, which significantly hindered the development of the literary direction.
Czech architecture is distinguished by a kind of symbiosis of Romanesque and Gothic styles. greatest flourishing this art has reached XIV century, while Polish architecture reached its peak only by the 15th century. In Greater Poland dominated gothic style, which includes most of the monuments of West Slavic architecture.
In general, we can say that by the XV century. in many West Slavic states there was an upsurge in painting, architecture, sculpture and science. The cultural achievements of this period today are the real property of modern states.
Instead of a conclusion
The history of the Slavs is more interesting and eventful than it might seem at first glance. However, until now it has not been fully studied and keeps many secrets.
There are many blank spots in the history of the Slavs, which makes it possible for numerous modern “researchers” to put forward the most fantastic theories about the origin and formation of the statehood of the Slavic peoples on the basis of conjectures and unproven facts. Often even the concept of "Slav" is misunderstood and is regarded as a synonym for the concept of "Russian". Moreover, there is an opinion that the Slav is a nationality. All these are delusions.
Who are the Slavs?
The Slavs constitute the largest ethno-linguistic community in Europe. Within it there are three main groups: (i.e. Russians, Belarusians and Ukrainians), Western (Poles, Czechs, Lusatians and Slovaks) and South Slavs (among them we will name Bosnians, Serbs, Macedonians, Croats, Bulgarians, Montenegrins, Slovenes) . A Slav is not a nationality, since a nation is a narrower concept. Separate Slavic nations formed relatively late, while the Slavs (or rather, the Proto-Slavs) stood out from the Indo-European community one and a half thousand years BC. e. Several centuries passed, and ancient travelers learned about them. At the turn of the epochs, the Slavs were mentioned by Roman historians under the name of "Vendi": from written sources It is known that the Slavic tribes waged wars with the Germans.
It is believed that the homeland of the Slavs (more precisely, the place where they formed as a community) was the territory between the Oder and the Vistula (some authors argue that between the Oder and the middle course of the Dnieper).
Ethnonym
Here it makes sense to consider the question of the origin of the very concept of "Slav". In the old days, peoples were often called by the name of the river on the banks of which they lived. The Dnieper in ancient times was just called "Slavutich". The very root "glory" may go back to the common word for all Indo-Europeans kleu, meaning rumor or fame. There is another common version: "Slovak", "Tslovak" and, ultimately, "Slav" is simply "a person" or "a person who speaks our language." Representatives of the ancient tribes of all strangers who spoke an incomprehensible language were not considered people at all. The self-name of any people - for example, "Mansi" or "Nenets" - in most cases means "man" or "man".
Economy. social order
A Slav is a farmer. They learned to cultivate the land back in those days when all Indo-Europeans had mutual language. In the northern territories, slash-and-burn agriculture was practiced, in the south - fallow. Millet, wheat, barley, rye, flax and hemp were grown. They knew garden crops: cabbage, beets, turnips. The Slavs lived in the forest and forest-steppe zones, so they were engaged in hunting, beekeeping, and also fishing. They also raised cattle. The Slavs made high-quality weapons, ceramics, and agricultural tools for those times.
On early stages development among the Slavs existed which gradually evolved into a neighboring one. As a result of military campaigns, nobility emerged from the community members; nobility received land, and communal system changed to feudal.
General in ancient times
In the north, the Slavs coexisted with the Baltic and in the west - with the Celts, in the east - with the Scythians and Sarmatians, and in the south - with the ancient Macedonians, Thracians, Illyrians. At the end of the 5th century A.D. e. they reached the Baltic and Black Seas, and by the 8th century they reached Lake Ladoga and mastered the Balkans. By the 10th century, the Slavs occupied lands from the Volga to the Elbe, from the Mediterranean to the Baltic. This migration activity was due to the invasions of nomads from Central Asia, the attacks of German neighbors, as well as climate change in Europe: individual tribes were forced to look for new lands.
History of the Slavs of the East European Plain
East Slavs(ancestors of modern Ukrainians, Belarusians and Russians) by the 9th century AD. e. occupied lands from the Carpathians to the middle reaches of the Oka and the Upper Don, from Ladoga to the Middle Dnieper. They actively interacted with the local Finno-Ugric peoples and Balts. Already from the 6th century, small tribes began to enter into alliances with each other, which marked the birth of statehood. At the head of each such union was a military leader.
The names of tribal unions are known to all of school course history: these are the Drevlyans, and the Vyatichi, and the northerners, and the Krivichi. But most famous received, perhaps, glade and Ilmen Slovenes. The former lived along the middle reaches of the Dnieper and founded Kyiv, the latter lived on the banks of Lake Ilmen and built Novgorod. The “path from the Varangians to the Greeks” that arose in the 9th century contributed to the rise and, subsequently, to the unification of these cities. Thus, in 882, the state of the Slavs of the East European Plain - Rus' - arose.
Supreme mythology
The Slavs cannot be named Unlike the Egyptians or the Indians, they did not have time to develop a developed mythological system. It is known that the Slavs (i.e. myths about the origin of the world) have much in common with the Finno-Ugric ones. They also contain an egg, from which the world is “born”, and two ducks, by order of the supreme god, bringing silt from the bottom of the ocean to create the earth's firmament. At first, the Slavs worshiped Rod and Rozhanitsy, later - the personified forces of nature (Perun, Svarog, Mokosh, Dazhdbog).
There were ideas about paradise - Iria (Vyria), (Oak). Religious performances Slavs developed in the same way as other peoples of Europe (after all, ancient slav- this is a European!): from deification natural phenomena to the recognition of one God. It is known that in the 10th century A.D. e. Prince Vladimir tried to "unify" the pantheon, making Perun, the patron saint of warriors, the supreme deity. But the reform failed, and the prince had to pay attention to Christianity. Forced Christianization, however, could not completely destroy pagan ideas: they began to identify Elijah the Prophet with Perun, and they began to mention Christ and the Mother of God in the texts of magical conspiracies.
Inferior mythology
Alas, the myths of the Slavs about gods and heroes were not written down. On the other hand, these peoples created a developed lower mythology, the characters of which - goblin, mermaids, ghouls, mortgages, banniks, barnyards and half-days - are known to us from songs, epics, proverbs. As early as the beginning of the 20th century, peasants told ethnographers how to protect themselves from a werewolf and negotiate with a water man. Some remnants of paganism are still alive in the popular mind.
traditionally divided into three major branches: eastern, western and southern. This is the most numerous ethno-linguistic group in Europe. Eastern Slavs are represented by three peoples: Russians, Ukrainians and Belarusians. The western branch includes Poles, Czechs, Slovaks, Slovenians, Koshubians, Luzhans, etc. The southern Slavs include Serbs, Bulgarians, Croats, Macedonians, etc. The total number of all Slavs is about three hundred million.
The historical regions of residence of the Slavs are the eastern and southern and central parts of Europe. Modern representatives The Slavic ethnic group inhabit most of the Eurasian continent up to Kamchatka. Slavs also live in Western Europe, USA, Canada and other countries. By religion, the majority of Slavs are Christians, Orthodox or Catholics.
East Slavs
Reliable information about the origin and settlement of the East Slavic tribes in prehistoric period very little. It is known that around the fifth - seventh centuries, the Eastern Slavs settled in the territory of the Dnieper basin, and then spread to the upper reaches of the Volga in the east and the southern coast of the Baltic in the northeast.
Most researchers believe that by the ninth - tenth century, various tribal unions united into an integral ancient Russian ethnos. It was he who formed the basis of the Old Russian state.
Most of the representatives of the people adhere to the Roman Catholic faith. However, among the Poles there are Lutherans and Orthodox.
Slavic peoples today
The Slavic countries, sandwiched between East and West, were (and remain) a battlefield and a zone of expansion. Due to this disadvantageous position, the Slavs often mixed with other peoples. But some were affected to a greater extent, while others were able to avoid it. Tell us which nations Slavic peoples by far the most original and purebred.
By haplogroup
Genetically Slavic peoples are very heterogeneous. In the genetics of the Slavs, mixing with other peoples is clearly visible. The Slavs were always ready to make contact with foreigners, they never shut themselves up and thus saved themselves from the features of degeneration that are sometimes traced among peoples living in isolation.
Haplogroups are such a genetic marker that indicates the relationship of different human populations, allows you to identify human groups, common ancestor who lived most recently. Haplogroup R1a1 in Europe is most characteristic of the Slavic peoples - among the Slavic peoples, its content in the genome ranges from 60% to 30%, which allows scientists to draw conclusions about the highest purity of those populations in which it dominates.
By the way, the highest concentration of this haplogroup in the genetics of the Brahmins of northern India, among the Kirghiz and the Mongol-Turkic people of the Khotons. But that doesn't make them our closest relatives. Genetics is much more complex than our ideas about peoples and their kinship.
The highest concentration of R1a1 is observed in Poles (57.5%), Belarusians (51%), Russians from the South (55%) and Center (47%). This is quite logical, because the Slavic peoples appeared precisely on the territory of Poland. The lowest concentration of these genes is found in Macedonians, Bulgarians and Bosnians.
These figures may seem indicative, but from the point of view of ethnology, they can say little. After all, many Slavic peoples took shape much later than the processes of formation of haplogroups. The main thing these groups talk about is about the migration routes of our ancestors, about where they lingered on their way, where they left their seed. Also, these data allow us to correlate the genesis of language groups with archaeological cultures. That is, on the basis of these figures, we can, for example, assert that among the ancestors of the Slavs and Poles there were representatives of the Yamnaya culture, and that they were Indo-Europeans, but we cannot assert that the Macedonians are less Slavs than Belarusians.
By culture and language
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 among neighboring powers, which also affected national culture and self-awareness. 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 Western civilization, however, due to isolation, they were able to preserve many ancient traditions and protect their languages from a large number borrowings.
It is also worth noting the efforts of peoples who are striving to restore their spoiled historical processes traditional culture. First of all, they are Czechs. When they fell under the rule of the Germans, the Czech language began to rapidly disappear. late XVIII For centuries, 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. Czech and Czech culture is very Slavic, but this was achieved through the efforts of the intellectuals of the New Age, and not through the continuous transmission of ancient tradition.
By political succession
Most of the Slavic states that exist today are quite young. Exceptions are Russia, Poland and Serbia. These countries throughout their history fought for their independence, sought to preserve their individuality and resisted the invaders to the end.
The Poles, the heirs of an ancient and strong state that arose in the 10th century, fought to the last drop of blood for their independence with the Russians and Germans. Nose early XVIII century and until 1917 fell under the rule of other powers. Even more ancient Serbia fell under the rule of the Turks in 1389. But for all 350 years of the Ottoman yoke, the Serbian people fiercely resisted, and on their own were able to defend their freedom, culture and faith.
But the only Slavic state that has never been dependent on others is Russia (except for Iga). The Russian people have absorbed a lot from their neighbors, Russian traditions and the Russian language have changed greatly under the onslaught of foreigners. However, we have always fought fiercely for our identity and independence.
