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

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

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

Slavic peoples Ethnopsychological dictionary

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

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

South Slavic countries in the XIII-XV centuries. Albania- Bulgaria after liberation from Byzantine rule feudal fragmentation. This… … The World History. Encyclopedia

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

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

West Slavic countries ... Wikipedia

Books

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

Germanic peoples

Germans. The basis of the German ethnos was the ancient Germanic tribal associations of the Franks, Saxons, Bavarians, Alemanni, and others, mixed in the first centuries of our era with the Romanized Celtic population and with the Rhets. After the division of the Frankish Empire (843), the East Frankish kingdom stood out with a German-speaking population. The name (Deutsch) has been known since the middle of the 10th century, which indicates the formation of the German ethnos. The capture of the lands of the Slavs and Prussians3 in the X-XI centuries. led to the partial assimilation of the local population.

English. The ethnic basis of the English nation was made up of the Germanic tribes of the Angles, Saxons, Jutes and Frisians, who conquered in the 5th-6th centuries. Celtic Britain. In the 7th-10th centuries an Anglo-Saxon people developed, which also absorbed Celtic elements. Later, the Anglo-Saxons, mixed with the Danes, Norwegians, and after the Norman conquest of England in 1066 by immigrants from France, laid the foundation for the English nation.

Norse. The ancestors of the Norsemen - Germanic tribes of pastoralists and farmers - came to Scandinavia at the end of the 3rd millennium BC. e. In Old English sources of the ninth century. the term "nordmann" is encountered for the first time - " northern man"(Norwegian). The formation of an early feudal state in the X-X! centuries and Christianization contributed to the formation of the Norwegian people around this time. In the Viking Age (IX-XI centuries), settlers from Norway created colonies on the islands North Atlantic and in Iceland (Faroese, Icelanders).

Slavic peoples

The Slavs are the largest group of related peoples in Europe. It consists of Slavs: eastern (Russians, Ukrainians, Belarusians), western (Poles, Czechs, Slovaks, Lusatians) and southern (Bulgarians, Serbs, Croats, Slovenes, Muslims, Macedonians, Bosnians). The origin of the ethnonym "Slavs" is not clear enough. It can be assumed that it goes back to the common Indo-European root, the semantic content of which is the concepts of "man", "people". The ethnogenesis of the Slavs probably developed in stages (Proto-Slavs, Proto-Slavs and the early Slavic ethnolinguistic community). By the second half of the 1st millennium AD. e. formed separate Slavic ethnic communities(tribal unions).

Slavic ethnic communities were originally formed in the area either between the Oder and the Vistula, or between the Oder and the Dnieper. Various ethnic groups took part in ethnogenetic processes - both Slavic and non-Slavic: Dacians, Thracians, Turks, Balts, Finno-Ugric peoples, etc. From here, the Slavs began to gradually move in the southwestern, western and northern directions, which coincided in mainly with the final phase of the Great Migration of Nations (U-UI centuries). As a result, in the K-X centuries. an extensive area of ​​Slavic settlement developed: from the modern Russian North and the Baltic Sea to the Mediterranean and from the Volga to the Elbe.

The emergence of statehood among the Slavs dates back to the UP-GH centuries. (The first Bulgarian kingdom, Kievan Rus, the Great Moravian state, the Old Polish state, etc.). The nature, dynamics and pace of formation of the Slavic peoples were largely influenced by social and political factors. So, in the ninth century. the lands inhabited by the ancestors of the Slovenes were captured by the Germans and became part of the Holy Roman Empire, and at the beginning of the 10th century. the ancestors of the Slovaks after the fall of the Great Moravian state were included in the Hungarian state. The process of ethno-social development among the Bulgarians and Serbs was interrupted in the XIV century. Ottoman (Turkish) invasion, stretching for five hundred years. Croatia in view of the danger from the outside at the beginning of the XII century. recognized the power of the Hungarian kings. Czech lands at the beginning of the 17th century. were included in the Austrian monarchy, and Poland survived at the end of the XVIII century. several sections.

The development of the Slavs in Eastern Europe had specific features. The peculiarity of the formation process individual nations(Russians, Ukrainians, Belarusians) consisted in the fact that they equally survived the stage of the Old Russian nationality and were formed as a result of the differentiation of the Old Russian nationality into three independent closely related ethnic groups (XIV-XVI centuries). In the XVII-XIII centuries. Russians, Ukrainians and Belarusians ended up in one state - the Russian Empire. The process of formation of nations proceeded among these ethnic groups at a different pace, which was determined by the peculiar historical, ethno-political and ethno-cultural situations experienced by each of the three peoples. So, for Belarusians and Ukrainians important role played the need to resist Polonization and Magyarization, the incompleteness of their ethno-social structure, formed as a result of the merger of their own upper social strata with the upper social strata of Lithuanians, Poles, Russians, etc.

The process of formation of the Russian nation proceeded simultaneously with the formation of the Ukrainian and Belarusian nations. In the conditions of the liberation war against the Tatar-Mongol yoke ( mid-twelfth- the end of the XV century) there was an ethnic consolidation of the principalities of North-Eastern Rus', which formed in the XIU-XU centuries. Moscow Rus'. The Eastern Slavs of Rostov, Suzdal, Vladimir, Moscow, Tver and Novgorod lands became the ethnic core of the emerging Russian nation. One of the most important features of the ethnic history of Russians was the constant presence of sparsely populated areas adjacent to the main Russian ethnic territory, and the centuries-old migration activity of the Russian population. As a result, a vast ethnic territory of Russians gradually formed, surrounded by a zone of constant ethnic contacts with peoples of different origin, cultural traditions and language (Finno-Ugric, Turkic, Baltic, Mongolian, Western and South Slavic, Caucasian, etc.).

The Ukrainian people was formed on the basis of a part of the East Slavic population, which was previously part of a single ancient Russian state(IX-

XII centuries). The Ukrainian nation was formed in the southwestern regions of this state (the territory of Kyiv, Pereyaslav, Chernigov-Seversky, Volyn and Galician principalities) mainly in the 11th-16th centuries. Despite the capture in the XV century. a large part of Ukrainian lands by Polish-Lithuanian feudal lords, in the 17th-17th centuries. in the course of the struggle against the Polish, Lithuanian, Hungarian conquerors and opposition to the Tatar khans, the consolidation of the Ukrainian people continued. In the XVI century. the Ukrainian (so-called Old Ukrainian) book language was formed.

In the 17th century Ukraine reunited with Russia (1654). In the 90s of the XVIII century. Russia included the Right-bank Ukraine and the southern Ukrainian lands, and in the first half of the 19th century. - Danubian. The name "Ukraine" was used to designate various southern and southwestern parts of the Old Russian lands as early as the 12th century.

13th century Subsequently (by the 18th century), this term in the meaning of "krajina", i.e. country, was fixed in official documents, became widespread and became the basis for the ethnonym of the Ukrainian people.

The oldest ethnic basis of the Belarusians were East Slavic tribes, partially assimilated Lithuanian Yotvingian tribes. In the IX-XI centuries. were part of Kievan Rus. After a period of feudal fragmentation from the middle of the XIII - during the XIV century. the lands of Belarus were part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, then in the 16th century. - part of the Commonwealth. In the XIV-XVI centuries. the Belarusian people were formed, their culture developed. At the end of the XVIII century. Belarus reunited with Russia.

Other peoples of Europe

Celts (Gauls) - ancient Indo-European tribes that lived in the second half of the 1st millennium BC. e. on the territory of modern France, Belgium, Switzerland, southern Germany, Austria, northern Italy, northern and western parts of Spain, the British Isles, the Czech Republic, partly Hungary and Bulgaria. By the middle of the 1st c. BC e. were conquered by the Romans. The Celtic tribes included the Britons, Gauls, Helvetians, and others.

Greeks. Ethnic composition of the territory Ancient Greece in the III millennium BC. e. was motley: Pelasgians, Lelegs and other peoples who were pushed back and assimilated by the proto-Greek tribes - Achaeans, Ionians and Dorians. The ancient Greek people began to form in the II millennium BC. e., and in the era of Greek colonization of the Mediterranean and Black Seas (VIII-VI centuries BC), a common Greek cultural unity was formed - Hellenes (from the name of the tribe that inhabited Hellas - a region in Thessaly). The ethnonym "Greeks" originally referred, apparently, to one of the tribes in northern Greece, then was borrowed by the Romans and extended to all Hellenes. The ancient Greeks created a highly developed ancient civilization that played an important role in the development of European culture. In the Middle Ages, the Greeks were the main core Byzantine Empire and were officially called Romans (Romans). Gradually, they assimilated the groups of Thracians, Illyrians, Celts, Slavs, and Albanians that migrated from the north. Ottoman domination in the Balkans (XV - first half of the XIX century) was largely reflected in the material culture and language of the Greeks. As a result of the national liberation movement in the XIX century. the Greek state was formed.

Finns. The Finnish nationality was formed in the process of merging the tribes that lived on the territory of modern Finland. In the XII-XIII centuries. Finnish lands were conquered by the Swedes, who left a noticeable imprint on the culture of the Finns. In the XVI century. Finnish writing appeared. WITH early XIX until the beginning of the 20th century. Finland was part of the Russian Empire with the status of an autonomous grand duchy.

The ethnic composition of the population of Europe as a whole is given in Table. 4.3.

Table 4.3. ETHNIC COMPOSITION OF THE POPULATION OF EUROPE (data are given as of mid-1985, including the former USSR)

Starting a conversation about the Eastern Slavs, it is very difficult to be unambiguous. There are practically no sources that tell about the Slavs in antiquity. Many historians come to the conclusion that the process of the origin of the Slavs began in the second millennium BC. It is also believed that the Slavs are a separate part of the Indo-European community.

But the region where the ancestral home of the ancient Slavs was located has not yet been determined. Historians and archaeologists continue to debate where the Slavs came from. It is most often stated, and Byzantine sources speak about this, that the Eastern Slavs already lived in the territory of Central and Eastern Europe in the middle of the 5th century BC. It is also believed that they were divided into three groups:

Wends (lived in the Vistula River basin) - Western Slavs.

Sklavins (lived between the upper reaches of the Vistula, Danube and Dniester) - southern Slavs.

Antes (lived between the Dnieper and the Dniester) - Eastern Slavs.

All historical sources characterize the ancient Slavs as people who have the will and love for freedom, temperamentally distinguished by a strong character, endurance, courage, and solidarity. They were hospitable to strangers, had pagan polytheism and thoughtful rituals. Initially, the Slavs did not have much fragmentation, since tribal unions had similar languages, customs and laws.

Territories and tribes of the Eastern Slavs

An important issue is how the development of new territories by the Slavs and their settlement in general took place. There are two main theories about the appearance of the Eastern Slavs in Eastern Europe.

One of them was put forward by the famous Soviet historian, academician B. A. Rybakov. He believed that the Slavs originally lived on the East European Plain. But the famous historians of the XIX century S. M. Solovyov and V. O. Klyuchevsky believed that the Slavs moved from the territories near the Danube.

The final settlement of the Slavic tribes looked like this:

Occupations of the Eastern Slavs

The main occupations of the Eastern Slavs include agriculture, which was associated with the characteristics of local soils. Arable agriculture was widespread in the steppe regions, and slash-and-burn agriculture was practiced in the forests. Arable land was quickly depleted, and the Slavs moved to new territories. Such farming required a lot of labor, it was difficult to cope with the processing of even small plots, and the sharply continental climate did not allow counting on high yields.

Nevertheless, even in such conditions, the Slavs sowed several varieties of wheat and barley, millet, rye, oats, buckwheat, lentils, peas, hemp, and flax. Turnips, beets, radishes, onions, garlic, and cabbage were grown in the gardens.

The main food was bread. The ancient Slavs called it "zhito", which was associated with Slavic word"live".

IN Slavic farms bred livestock: cows, horses, sheep. Crafts were of great help: hunting, fishing and beekeeping (collection of wild honey). Fur trade has become widespread. The fact that the Eastern Slavs settled along the banks of rivers and lakes contributed to the emergence of shipping, trade and various crafts that provide products for exchange. Trade routes contributed to the emergence major cities, tribal centers.

Social order and tribal unions

Initially, the Eastern Slavs lived in tribal communities, later they united into tribes. The development of production, the use of draft power (horses and oxen) contributed to the fact that even a small family could cultivate their allotment. Family ties began to weaken, families began to settle separately and plow new plots of land on their own.

The community remained, but now it included not only relatives, but also neighbors. Each family had its own piece of land for cultivation, its own tools of production and the harvest. Private property appeared, but it did not extend to forests, meadows, rivers and lakes. The Slavs shared these benefits.

IN neighborhood community the property status of different families was no longer the same. The best lands began to concentrate in the hands of the elders and military leaders, they also got most of the booty from military campaigns.

At the head of the Slavic tribes began to appear rich leaders-princes. They had their own armed detachments - squads, and they also collected tribute from the subject population. The collection of tribute was called polyud.

The 6th century is characterized by the unification of Slavic tribes into unions. The most powerful militarily princes led them. Around such princes, the local nobility gradually strengthened.

One of these tribal unions, as historians believe, was the union of the Slavs around the Ros (or Rus) tribe, who lived on the Ros River (a tributary of the Dnieper). Later, according to one of the theories of the origin of the Slavs, this name passed to all the Eastern Slavs, who received common name"Rus", and the whole territory became the Russian land, or Rus.

Neighbors of the Eastern Slavs

In the 1st millennium BC, the Cimmerians were neighbors of the Slavs in the Northern Black Sea region, but after a few centuries they were supplanted by the Scythians, who founded their own state on these lands - the Scythian kingdom. Later, the Sarmatians came from the east to the Don and the Northern Black Sea region.

During the Great Migration of Nations, the East German tribes of the Goths passed through these lands, then the Huns. All this movement was accompanied by robbery and destruction, which contributed to the resettlement of the Slavs to the north.

Another factor in the resettlement and formation of Slavic tribes was the Turks. It was they who formed the Turkic Khaganate on the vast territory from Mongolia to the Volga.

The movement of various neighbors in the southern lands contributed to the fact that the Eastern Slavs occupied territories dominated by forest-steppes and swamps. Communities were created here that were more reliably protected from alien raids.

In the VI-IX centuries, the lands of the Eastern Slavs were located from the Oka to the Carpathians and from the Middle Dnieper to the Neva.

nomad raids

The movement of nomads created a constant danger for the Eastern Slavs. Nomads seized bread, livestock, burned houses. Men, women and children were taken into slavery. All this required the Slavs to be in constant readiness to repel raids. Every Slavic man was also a part-time warrior. Sometimes the land was plowed by armed men. History shows that the Slavs successfully coped with the constant onslaught of nomadic tribes and defended their independence.

Customs and beliefs of the Eastern Slavs

The Eastern Slavs were pagans who deified the forces of nature. They worshiped the elements, believed in kinship with various animals, and made sacrifices. The Slavs had a clear annual cycle agricultural holidays in honor of the sun and the change of seasons. All rituals were aimed at ensuring high yields, as well as the health of people and livestock. The Eastern Slavs did not have a single idea of ​​\u200b\u200bGod.

The ancient Slavs did not have temples. All rituals were performed at stone idols, in groves, in glades and in other places revered by them as sacred. We must not forget that all the heroes of the fabulous Russian folklore come from that time. Goblin, brownie, mermaids, water and other characters were well known to the Eastern Slavs.

In the divine pantheon of the Eastern Slavs, the leading places were occupied by the following gods. Dazhbog - the god of the Sun, sunlight and fertility, Svarog - the blacksmith god (according to some sources, the supreme god of the Slavs), Stribog - the god of wind and air, Mokosh - the female goddess, Perun - the god of lightning and war. A special place was given to the god of the earth and fertility Veles.

The main pagan priests of the Eastern Slavs were the Magi. They performed all the rituals in the sanctuaries, turned to the gods with various requests. The Magi made various male and female amulets with different spell symbols.

Paganism was a clear reflection of the occupations of the Slavs. It was the worship of the elements and everything connected with it that determined the attitude of the Slavs to agriculture as the main way of life.

Over time, the myths and meanings of pagan culture began to be forgotten, but much has come down to our days in folk art, customs, and traditions.

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

What countries are Slavic?

Slavic countries of Europe:

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

The countries of the Slavic group can be divided into:

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

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

Interestingly, the flags of the Slavic countries also have some similarities in color solution, in the presence of longitudinal stripes. Is it somehow related to their common origin? More likely yes than no.

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

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

The first Slavs appeared in the second or third millennium BC. Of course, the birth of this mighty people took place in the region modern Russia and Europe. Over time, the tribes developed new territories, but still they could not (or did not want to) go far from their ancestral home. By the way, depending on the migration, the Slavs were divided into eastern, western, southern (each branch had its own name). They had differences in lifestyle, agriculture, some traditions. But still the Slavic "core" remained intact.

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

Slavic countries during World War II

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

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

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

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

What is Pan-Slavism?

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

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

Slavic countries today

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

Western Slavs — these are Croats, Czechs, Serbs, Obodrites, Lyutiches, Moravians, Slovenes, Slovaks, Slenzane, Pomeranians, Polyana, Kuyavy, Seradzyan, Lenchane, Duleby, Vislyane, Mazowshan, Prussians, Yatvyags, Volyanyans. The Slavs are a kind of community of different peoples.

The Slavs have never been a single entity in the full sense of the word. They, like every ethnic group, there have always been somatological, cultural, linguistic and territorial differences. These initial differences for a long time were insignificant, then increased due to migration and interbreeding with other ethnic groups. After the initial impulses of resettlement, the Slavic united community broke up into a number of new formations that finally took shape over the following centuries. The settlement of the Slavs took place in three main directions: - to the south, to the Balkan Peninsula; - to the west, to the Middle Danube and the region between the Oder and the Elbe; - to the east and north along the East European Plain. The path to the north was blocked by the sea, as well as lakes and swamps. As a result of settlement, tribes of eastern, western and southern Slavs were formed, on the basis of which numerous Slavic peoples later arose. Their fate was different.
Part of the Slavs moved to the northeast, to the East European Plain, into the dense forest jungle, where there is no cultural heritage it was not East Slavs. They left in two streams: one part of the Slavs went to Lake Ilmen, the other - to the middle and lower reaches of the Dnieper. Others stayed in Europe. Later they will be named southern Slavs . The southern Slavs, the ancestors of the Bulgarians, Serbs, Croats, Macedonians, Montenegrins, went south, to the Adriatic Sea and the Balkan Peninsula, fell into the sphere of influence of the Mediterranean civilization. And the third part of the Slavs - Western Slavs - these are Czechs, Poles, Slovaks moved further west to the Odra and Laba, and even further on this river - to the Saale, and in a southwestern direction - to the middle Danube up to present-day Bavaria.

The process of isolating the West Slavic branch began even before our era and ended in in general terms in the first millennium AD. The place of settlement of the Western Slavs was the eastern half of a vast region, which from the 1st century BC. e. It was called Germany and the border, which in the west was the Rhine, in the south - first the Main River and the Sudeten Mountains, and later the Danube, was established along the Vistula in the east. Western Slavs, from ancient times subjected to other cultural influences than the Eastern Slavs, in the course of time they found themselves in new, even more distinctive conditions and in a new environment. The delimitation of the Eastern and Western Slavs began in the 10th century, when two competing states arose - Kievan Rus and Poland. The alienation was deepened by the fact that in the countries there was Christianity of various rites (Catholicism and Orthodoxy). The connection with the eastern branch of the Slavs was weakened also because between it and the western branch stretched on the one hand the endless and impenetrable Rokyten swamps, and on the other hand the Lithuanian Prussians and Yotvingians wedged in. So the western branch of the Slavs, its language, culture and foreign policy destinies began to develop further independently and independently of the southern and eastern Slavs.

A large group of West Slavic tribes at the end of the 1st beginning of the 2nd millennium AD. e. inhabited the territory from the Laba River and its tributary Sala River in the west to the Odra River in the east, from the Ore Mountains in the south to the Baltic Sea in the north. To the west of all, starting from the Kiel Bay, the obodrites settled, to the south and east along the Baltic coast lived the Lutichi, on the island of Rügen, adjacent to the territory of the Lutichi, the Ruyans lived. The Pomeranians related to them lived along the southern coast of the Baltic Sea, approximately from the mouth of the Odra to the mouth of the Vistula, in the south along the Notech River, bordered on Polish tribes. Those Slavs who in past centuries occupied vast areas on the coast of the Baltic are usually called the Baltic Slavs. The groups were independent of each other. Only danger forced them for some time to unite with each other or with other West Slavic tribes in tribal unions:

• bodrichi (military-tribal union), vagrs, clays, drevanes;
• lyutichi (military-tribal union), ratari, ruyans, slovintsy, smolintsy;
• Lusatian Lusatian Serbs (military-tribal union), Milchane;
• Pomeranians, the ancestors of the current Kashubians, Slenzhane, Bohemians and others.

All these tribes are still called Polabian Slavs . They lived along the Laba, hence their name, which was collective for a number of small tribes. Each of these groups consisted of smaller tribes, to which belonged the Vetnichi, or Betenchi, Pyzhichans, Volinians, Vyzhychans, and others, who settled along the banks of small rivers. As a result of the lack of a reliable relationship, small tribes were not connected into an independent state association. In the second half of the 6th century, at least a third of the lands of the modern German state in the north and northeast were covered by the Polabian Slavs. The Slavs replaced the "Germanic" tribes of the Lombards, Rugs, Lugis, Hezobrads, Varins, Velets and others who lived here in ancient times and headed south from the coast of the Baltic Sea. The eastern half of Germany (up to the Elbe), which had become considerably empty with the departure of most of the Germanic tribes living there, was gradually occupied by the Slavs. Confirmation that the Slavs lived on the territory of Germany from the very first centuries of our era, there is a coincidence of the tribal names of the Polabian, Pomeranian and other Western Slavs with the oldest ethnic names known in this territory, mentioned in Roman sources. In total, about fifteen such paired, coinciding ancient and medieval Slavic names of the tribes that lived in the area are known. This is evidenced by the multiple toponyms that they left behind. "German" Berlin is a distorted name of the ancient city of the Polabian Slavs, founded in the 1st millennium BC. e., and in translation meaning (burlin) "dam".
Since the 10th century, the German feudal lords began a systematic offensive against the Polabian Slavs, first for the sake of receiving tribute, and then with the aim of spreading their power on their lands by founding military regions (marks). The German feudal lords managed to subjugate the Polabian Slavs, but as a result of powerful uprisings (983, 1002), most of them, with the exception of the Lusatian Serbs, became free again. Scattered Slavic tribes could not provide proper resistance to the conquerors. The rallying of individual tribes under a single princely authority was necessary for their joint protection from the aggression of the Saxon and Danish feudal lords. In 623, Polabian Serbs, together with Czechs, Slovaks, Moravians, Black Croats, Dulebs and Horutans, united under the leadership of the merchant Samo to resist the Avars. In 789 and 791, together with the Czechs, the Polabian Serbs again participate in the campaigns of Charlemagne against the Avar Khaganate. Under the successors of Charlemagne, the Polabian tribes several times got out of Saxon power and again fell into dependence.

In the 9th century, part of the Polabian Slavs submitted to the Germans, the other part became part of the Great Moravian state that arose in 818. In 928, the Polabian Slavs united to successfully resist the Saxon king Heinrich the Fowler, who seized the territory of the Polabian-Serbian tribe of the Glomachs and imposed tribute on the Lyutichs. However, under Otto I, the Lusatian Serbs were again completely enslaved by the Germans, and their lands were given into fief possession to knights and monasteries. In the Polabian lands, German feudal lords were appointed as petty princes. In 983, the Polabian Slavs revolted. Their detachments destroyed the fortresses built by the Germans, devastated the border areas. The Slavs regained their freedom for another century and a half.
The Slavic world, both evolutionarily and under the pressure of the Roman Empire, has long passed the stage of tribal organization. It was, although not clearly organized, but a system of proto-states. Long wars with the German feudal lords had a detrimental effect on economic development Polabian Slavs, hindered the formation of relatively large early feudal states. Vendian power - the early feudal state of the Polabian Slavs: Bodrichi, Lutichi and Pomeranians, existed from the 1040s to 1129 on the coast of the Baltic Sea between the mouths of the Laba and Odra rivers. At the head was Gottschalk (1044-1066) - the prince of the Bodrichs. In an attempt to rally the emerging alliance of the Polabian Slavs in the struggle against the Billungs and their allies, Gottschalk chose Christianity as the dominant religion for the Obodrites and Luticians. As a result of his reign, churches and monasteries were again revived on the lands of the Obodrite tribes, the chairs were restored: in Stargard among the Vagrians, in Veligrad (Mecklenburg) among the Obodrites and in Ratibor among the Polabs. They began to translate into Vendian liturgical books. The process of Christianization undermined the local power of the Polabian tribal nobility, which was actually removed from government on the lands of the Vendian state. Against the policy of Gottschalk, a conspiracy arose among members of his family, representatives of the tribal nobility, pagan priests, and Luticians who had been conquered by him. At the head of the conspiracy of the tribal nobility stood Bluss, whose wife was Gottschalk's own sister. In 1066, simultaneously with the removal of Archbishop Adalbert from power and the loss of political influence, an uprising against Gottschalk began in Slavonia, the center of which was the city of Retra, located in the land of the Luticians. "Because of fidelity to God" the prince was captured and killed in the church by pagans. They also killed Bishop John of Mecklenburg, who "cut off his arms and legs, and stuck his head on a spear as a sign of victory and offered it as a sacrifice to the gods." The rebels ravaged and destroyed Hamburg, as well as the Danish border lands in the Hed region. The popular uprising was suppressed by Prince Heinrich (son of Gottschalk), he called back the German bishops and ruled as a vassal of the Saxon Billungs. Some tribes, such as the wounds, did not recognize Henry and, together with the Polish princes, continued to fight against German aggression. Weakened by territorial losses and internal dynastic turmoil, the Vendian Empire finally disintegrated around 1129. In the XII century. the final stage of the struggle of the Polabian Slavs, led by the Bodrich prince Niklot, against the German aggression began, the organizers of which were Henry the Lion and Albrecht Medved, who sought to finally enslave the Slavs beyond Laboya with the forces of the original crusaders.

Bishops took part in the campaign, and above all the bishops of the Slavic regions, forced after the Slavic uprisings of the late 10th and early 11th centuries. leave their dioceses. These bishops, led by the bishop of Havelberg, who was appointed papal legate under the crusaders, dreamed of returning the lost tithes and other incomes and lands once granted to them by Otto I. The Danes, who suffered from Slavic raids, and even Burgundian, Czech and Polish feudal lords. After failing at the first Crusade against the Slavs in 1147, Henry the Lion succeeded, as a result of subsequent campaigns to the east, to capture almost the entire territory of the Bodrichi and become the owner of a vast territory east of the Elbe. Thus, from 1160, the possessions of the Slavic princes in Mecklenburg became dependent on the Germans. In 1167, the lands of the Bodrichians, with the exception of the County of Schwerin, were returned to the son of Niklot Pribislav, who converted to Christianity and recognized himself as a vassal of Henry the Lion. In 1171 he founded the Doberan Monastery, provided funds for the Bishopric of Schwerin, and accompanied Henry to Jerusalem in 1172. Christianization was for the German feudal lords only a plausible pretext for theft in the Slavic lands beyond Laba.

The Slavs did not have an organizing policy, which the Germans met in the south - in the former Rome, having adopted Christianity, and in fact assimilating many of the principles by which the Roman Empire was built. Since the second half of the 12th century, the Polabian-Baltic Slavs have been under German citizenship. This meant for them not only the loss of political freedom, their faith and culture, but also their nationality, since those who were not destroyed began to be subjected to increased Germanization, reinforced by the return colonization by the Germans of those areas in which they once lived in the beginning. ad.

From the Oder to the Vistula, those who were named according to their coastal place of residence settled, occupying the territory east of the Oder and up to the border of the Prussian region: Pomeranians.

The exact boundaries of the settlement of the Pomeranians are unknown. The border between the Lyutichs and the Pomeranians ran along the Oder and separated these hostile tribes. After the collapse of the Lutician union, some of the lands of the Luticians west of the Oder passed to the Pomeranians, and the territory of their settlement changed. From the east there were other neighbors - the Prussians. The Prussians crossed the borders of this region only in the 12th century, having conquered the so-called Pomesania, located between the Vistula and the Drwence. In the 13th century, the lands of the Prussians were captured by the Teutonic Order. A massive influx of Lithuanian and Polish population into the region began. As a result, at the beginningXVIII century there was a complete disappearance of the Prussians as a separate nationality. In the south, the border between the Pomeranian and Polish regions was the rivers Warta and Notec, but this is only in name, since the actual border was a vast impenetrable virgin forest. Only along the lower reaches of the Vistula, the Poles advanced in the areas of Kotsev and Chelmno, and soon they began to move towards the sea ...

Pomeranians - this is an alliance of tribes, which included tribes that were significantly different from each other - these are the Kashubians, who occupied the area from the mouth of the Vistula to Zharnovsky Lake, extending to the line of Bytov, Lenbork, Miastko, Ferstnovo, Kamen, and the Slovenes, who settled near Lake Lebskoe. In the west, their lands border on Germany. In the Middle Ages, the Kashubians settled in the western regions of Pomerania, in the basin of the Parsenta River near the town of Kołobrzeg. In the 13th century, western Pomerania was called Kashubia. The Kashubians, descendants of the ancient Pomeranians, currently live on the coast of the Baltic Sea, in the northeastern regions of Poland.

The only Pomeranian language that has survived to this day is Kashubian, the speakers of other Pomeranian languages ​​switched to German. The preservation of the Kashubian language was facilitated by the fact that the part of Pomerania to the west of Gdansk maintained ties with the Polish state and was part of it for a long time. With regard to the language of the Pomeranian Slavs, there is still a dispute whether to attribute it to the Polish language and consider it only as a dialect of the Polish language, or to classify it as a group of independent languages.

Each region included in Pomerania had its own political center - a city, with the territory surrounding it. Further, there were other, smaller, castles.

In the 9th century, some Slavic settlements near the mouth of the Odra, such as Szczecin and Wolin, as well as Kołobrzeg, were transformed into densely built-up settlements surrounded by fortifications, with trading centers in which auctions were held, for example, in Szczecin twice a week. The population - these are artisans, fishermen, merchants, was for the most part free, weighed down only by appropriate tributes and duties in favor of public power. In some places, aliens settled, who enjoyed considerable freedom of action.

Already in the X century. from the fortified points around which many Slavic villages, cities grew up, which were the military-administrative centers of individual tribes or their unions: Branibor - the center of the Gavolyan tribe, Retra - the main point of the four Lutic tribes, Mikelin or Mecklenburg - in the land of obodrites. These cities in the X-XI centuries. conducted a lively trade with Saxony, Denmark, Sweden and Russia, exporting bread, salt and fish. Gradually, handicraft production also developed in the Slavic cities: weaving, pottery, jewelry and construction. Buildings in Slavic cities were distinguished by their beauty, which amazed contemporaries. Numerous cities of the Western Slavs were built of wood, as later in Rus'. The very word "city" meant "enclosed space". Most often, the fence consisted of ditches filled with water, from a stream with a changed course, and ramparts. Shafts are logs sprinkled with earth, into which powerful stakes pointed outwards were inserted.

Such protective structures reached a height of five (and more) meters, the same number - in width. It was these settlements that were excavated by German archaeologists. For example, Thornov on the banks of the Spree. In total, to the west of the Oder in the lands of the Polabian Slavs, a dozen and a half settlements of the IX-XI centuries were excavated, but this is only an insignificant part of the cities that once existed here.

In the 40s - 60s of the XII century, Pomerania was a federation of Slavic principalities, headed by the Slavic city of Szczecin, whose decisions were significant for other principalities and cities. Szczecin represented the interests of Pomerania before the Polish prince, seeking a reduction in tribute. The supreme body - the People's Assembly - VECHE met in the city, but the Slavic population also participated in it from the rural district of the city. The will of the prince was adamant for all the Pomorians: when the prince of the Pomorians in the winter of 1107-1108, upon meeting with the Polish prince Boleslav Krivousty, approached Boleslav, bowed before him and declared himself a knight and servant loyal to him, the Polish prince, without a single battle, was able to annex almost the whole Principality of Pomerania.

The accession of Pomerania and the Serbo-Lusatian lands contributed to the strengthening of the Slavs in these lands and their further opposition to Germanization. In the 11th-12th centuries, the princes of Pomerania made campaigns against Poland.

Like all Slavs, the basis of the Pomeranian economy was agriculture and cattle breeding, supplemented by forestry, hunting and fishing. Pomeranians sowed millet, rye, wheat, barley, and at the beginning of the Middle Ages - oats. In the 7th-8th centuries, beef dominated the diet, but in the following centuries it was almost completely replaced by pork. Forest and hunting trades were well developed in spacious forests. Many rivers and lakes and the sea contributed to the development of fisheries. In Kołobrzeg, since the 6th-7th centuries, the Pomeranians have been making salt.

Around 1000, the Pomeranian salt pans became famous far beyond the borders of Pomerania. Salt was one of the most important items of trade, both import and export, depending on its availability in a particular Slavic region. There were areas inhabited by the Slavs where there was no salt, but there were areas rich in this mineral, where the salt trade developed. Salt was known to the Indo-Europeans, who had a common name for it, and hence it follows that the Slavs knew and used salt already in the prehistoric era. In what way it was mined in those days, we do not know, since there are no reports about this; perhaps they received it, like others northern peoples, by pouring salt water on burning firewood, from which they then collected ashes mixed with salt.

The first reports about the use of salt by the Slavs in food and as an object of trade appear only in the 9th century AD. e.; At that time, the Slavs already used several methods for extracting salt, depending on the conditions of its location. On the coast of the Adriatic, Aegean and Black Seas, ancient salt pans dominated, where water was evaporated in the sun. Water was also evaporated in large iron pans, called sartago in Latin sources, and cheren, cheren in Slavic sources. So far, salt has been produced in this way in Bosnia or in Galicia, where salt-bearing raw materials are dug out of pits. Pieces of salt were removed from the pans like loaves of bread, then these pieces were divided into parts, for which several ancient terms were preserved, for example: head, pile. Boiled salt was an expensive commodity, so the Varangian salt makers were well armed and united to protect their product on the road, which they traded everywhere. Initially, the Varangians were entirely from the Slavs, and later passionate youth from Scandinavia began to be included in their number. The very word "Varangian" meant "salt maker" from the word variti, that is, evaporate-cook salt. Hence the name of the mitten - varega, which was used by salt workers to protect hands from burns, and later the mitten came in handy in the northern regions in winter to protect hands from frost. There is another interpretation of the word "Varangian" - from the meaning in Sanskrit of the word water - "var". In this case, "Varangians" means people living near the water, Pomors.

In the 10th century, long-distance trade flourished there. Free tribes of the Pomeranians by the 10th century A.D. e. gradually merged into larger unions. Pomorie has contacts with almost all European countries. From here, grain was exported to barren Scandinavia, and salted herring was exported to the hinterland of Poland. In addition to ties with Scandinavia, which were supported by the cities of Wolin, Szczecin, Kamen, Kolobrzeg, Gdansk, stable relations are being established with Russia and other Slavic lands, among which the inland Polish regions should be highlighted. In addition, relations are being established with the Prussians, Byzantium, some Arab countries, England and Western Europe. Ties with the Prussians were manifested not only in the appearance of imported Prussian products, but also in the formation of some new cultural features, for example, the spread of metal sheaths of knives, and also, perhaps, in the form of some pagan idols. On the other hand, the Prussians adopted the forms of Pomeranian pottery. The influence of ceramic production of the Pomeranians also spread to Scandinavia. shopping centers Szczecin and Wolin, where auctions were held and, for example, in Szczecin twice a week.

There is a flourishing of local production. Quite early here they began to make amber beads on a lathe. By the 6th or 7th century A find in Tolishchek relates: in an earthenware vessel there were silver rings and beads made of glass, amber and clay, a necklace made of glass beads, and another one made of amber, including polished ones. Excavation materials, for example, in Kołobrzeg-Budzistowa indicate that in the following centuries, work on amber, bone and horn was carried out by the same artisans or in the same workshops.

Metallurgy and blacksmith crafts are developing. The basis for the growth of metallurgy was created by marsh, meadow and partially lacustrine ores. The main centers of iron mining were located mainly in the villages. krytsy (kritz is a loose, spongy, slag-impregnated iron mass, from which, by means of different treatments produces flash iron or steel) were smelted in blast furnaces. Charcoal was used for heating. Raw materials were processed in Gorodishche centers; forges also sprang up there. In the cities of Radashche in Kendrzyno, Wolin, Szczecin, Kolobrzeg and Gdansk, production workshops appeared that produced tin and lead. In the lands of the Slavs, rich deposits of silver were discovered. Among silver jewelry there are molds that were undoubtedly made in Pomorie.

The territory of free Pomerania passed several times into the power of Poland or Germany, which at that time was part of the Roman Empire. Only in 995 did Pomorie recognize dependence on the Polish prince Boleslav the Brave. At the beginning of the 11th century (1018), Boleslav the Brave annexed Lusitia to Poland, but already in 1034 she again fell under the rule of the Germans. In the same period, for some time, the lands of the Pomeranians again acquire independence. In 1110, the Polish king Boleslav Krivousty again annexed the Pomeranians, who retained Slavic paganism, to Poland, while the princes of the Pomeranians did not lose their inheritances.

Polish rule over Pomerania did not last long. The Pomeranians resisted the Polish authorities and raised uprisings over and over again, especially since the Poles not only tried to have political power over the Pomeranians, but also to Christianize them, which aroused particular indignation among the latter. In 1005 Volin rebelled, but by 1008 Boleslav managed to restore his power over Pomerania. But as a result of a new uprising of the Volynians after 1014, Poland's position in Pomorie again weakened. The previously founded bishopric in Kolobrzeg was liquidated and the process of Christianization of Pomerania was interrupted.

The accession of Pomerania to Poland in the second half of the 10th century had far-reaching socio-political consequences for these lands. Many castles were destroyed, and some of them, which served as castellan centers in the 12th century, were expanded. In Kołobrzeg, Boleslav the Brave located his main church center. In the 12th century, Bolesław Krivousty managed to subjugate eastern Pomerania with the city of Gdansk to his power, and put the princes of western Pomerania under political dependence. The emerging Pomeranian Principality of Wartislava largely imitated the structure of the Polish Piast monarchy, borrowed many elements of its system, which was manifested in the functioning of the system of tributes and duties, the organization of the court, administration, courts, etc.

From the end of the 13th century, the German feudal lords resumed the consistent seizure of the lands of the Polabian and Pomeranian Slavs, accompanied by their Germanization. In the cities it is forbidden to speak the Slavic language, all office work is translated into German, German training is conducted in schools, it is possible to engage in any privileged craft only if you speak German. Such conditions forced the Serbian population to learn the language and culture of the Germans. Slavic dialects are preserved almost exclusively in countryside. Because of the devastating wars with the Danes, the Pomeranian feudal lords welcomed the settlement of the devastated lands by the Germans. The most active process of Germanization took place in the western lands of the Polabian Slavs. During the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648), more than 50% of the Serbs died here, as a result of which the distribution area of ​​the Slavs in Germany was significantly reduced. The language of the Slavs and their customs were retained the longest in the Duchy of Mecklenburg and the Hanoverian Wendland.

Western Slavs have long preserved the pagan tradition. It received special development among the inhabitants of the Polish Pomerania. new king Poland Boleslaw Krivousty realized that in order to join Pomerania to Poland, it is necessary to eliminate religious differences. Bishop Otton of Bamberg volunteered to preach in Pomerania after Boleslav addressed him with this request. The pagans initially show some resistance, but the planting of a new cult is carried out very aggressively, with the use of cruel measures in relation to the adherents of antiquity. After passing through several cities, Otto arrived in Wolin in 1127. Before that, he visited Shchetin. To discuss the issue of accepting Christianity in Szczecin, countless people were convened - pagans from villages and cities. Part noble people the cities, which had already been prone to Christianity, decided to expel the pagan priests “from the borders of the fatherland” and follow the leadership of Otto in religion. After that, in Wolin, Otto did not meet any resistance. The city followed the example of Shchetin, as was customary there, and Otto continued on his way. This was the beginning of the Christianization of Pomerania. Among the Pomeranians, it spread along with the adoption of Christianity by Great Moravia and Poland, among the Slavic Slavs - along with the spread of German (Saxon) power. Among the Pomeranians, their dissatisfaction with the Poles was weakened - now they had one religion.

The main sanctuary of the Pomeranians was in Szczecin. There were four continas in the city of Szczecin, but one of them, the main one, was built with amazing diligence and skill. Inside and outside, it had sculptures, images of people, birds and animals protruding from the walls, rendered so appropriately to their appearance that they seemed to be breathing and living. There was also a triple statue here, which had three heads on one body, called Triglav.

Triglav is a three-headed statue whose eyes and mouth are covered with a golden bandage. As the priests of idols explain, the main god has three heads, because he oversees the three kingdoms, that is, heaven, earth and the underworld, and covers his face with a bandage, since he hides the sins of people, as if not seeing or talking about them. They also had other gods. They worshiped Svyatovit, Triglav, Chernobog, Radigost, Zhiva, Yarovit. Temples and groves were dedicated to the gods. Until now, in the lands inhabited by Polabian and Pomeranian Slavs, evidence of pagan culture is found. One of them is the Zbruch idol, as well as the microjin runic stones.

The inhabitants of Kolobreg worshiped the sea as the home of some gods. Like other pagans, the Pomeranians brought sacrifices to the gods. But they did not practice human sacrifice.

All Baltic Slavs had priests. But unlike the Lyutichs and Ruyans, the power and influence of the priests among the Pomeranians were not significant. Important information about the level of medicine of that time is provided by Slavic bodily burials of the 10th-12th centuries. Most Interest represent the most complex operations on the skull - trepanations. They are also known in much earlier times - for example, skulls with trepanations are also known from the culture of megaliths in the same Mecklenburg. And if their purpose is not completely clear, and it is assumed that they were of a mystical and cult nature, then it is unnecessary to talk about the complexity of such operations. The end of Slavic paganism in Polabye was the destruction of the sanctuary of Svyatovit in Arkona.

In addition to trepanation itself, the Baltic Slavs also know symbolic trepanation. In this case, a part of the skull was not completely removed for the patient, but only the top layer of the bone was cut or scraped off.

It is believed that head wounds could be “treated” in this way. It is most likely that the operations were carried out by pagan priests. There is no direct medieval evidence of such practices among the Slavic priests, but it is known that the priests of the Celts were skilled in such healing. The technique for carrying out such complex operations, like trepanation, disappeared immediately with the adoption of Christianity - when the priesthood was destroyed. The Slavs kept the belief that pagan idols could cure diseases. As soon as a plague epidemic broke out in the Pomeranian city of Szczecin, which had just adopted Christianity, the inhabitants of the city perceived it as the revenge of Triglav, whose idol was, shortly before, overthrown by Christians. The wholesale epidemics that have tormented Europe since the Middle Ages are directly connected with the fact that, along with the destruction of paganism in Europe, the medical knowledge of priests accumulated over thousands of years was lost.

Polabskie and Pomeranian Slavs by now almost completely assimilated by the German and Polish peoples. Of the numerous tribes that inhabited the vast territories of Polabya ​​in the 6th-11th centuries AD, now only Lusatians (Federal Republic of Germany) and Kashubians (Polish Republic) associate themselves with the Slavs. Currently, Western Pomerania is part of the German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, the rest is Polish territory.