The Norman theory is a complex of scientific ideas, according to which it was the Scandinavians (i.e., the "Varangians"), being called to rule Russia, who laid the first foundations of statehood on it. According to the Norman theory, some Western and Russian scholars raise the question not of the influence of the Varangians on the already formed tribes of the Slavs, but of the influence of the Varangians on the very origin of Rus' as a developed, strong and independent state.
The very term "Varangians" arose at the end of the 9th - beginning of the 10th centuries. The Varangians are first mentioned in The Tale of Bygone Years on its very first pages, and they also open a list of 13 peoples who continued the clan of Japheth after the flood. The first researchers involved in the analysis of Nestor's story about the vocation of the Varangians almost generally recognized its authenticity, seeing in the Varangian-Russians people from Scandinavia (Petreius and other Swedish scientists, Bayer, G. F. Muller, Tunman, Schletser, etc. ). But as early as the 18th century, opponents of this "Norman theory" began to appear (Tredyakovsky and Lomonosov).
However, until the sixties of the XIX century, the Norman school could be considered unconditionally dominant, since only a few objections were raised against it (Ewers in 1808). During this time, the most prominent representatives of Normanism were Karamzin, Krug, Pogodin, Kunik, Shafarik and Mikloshich. However, since 1859 the opposition against Normanism has risen with a new, hitherto unprecedented strength.
Normanists - adherents of the Norman theory, based on the story of the Nestor Chronicle about the calling of the Varangians-Russians from across the sea, find confirmation of this story in the evidence of Greek, Arabic, Scandinavian and Western European and in linguistic facts, everyone agrees that the Russian state, as such, really founded by the Scandinavians, i.e. the Swedes.
The Norman theory denies the origin of the ancient Russian state as a result of internal socio-economic development. Normanists associate the beginning of statehood in Rus' with the moment of calling the Varangians to reign in Novgorod and their conquest of the Slavic tribes in the Dnieper basin. They believed that the Varangians themselves, "of which Rurik and his brothers were, were not a Slavic tribe and language ... they were Scandinavians, that is, Swedes."
M. V. Lomonosov subjected to devastating criticism all the main provisions of this "anti-scientific concept of the genesis of Ancient Rus'." The ancient Russian state, according to Lomonosov, existed long before the calling of the Varangians-Russians in the form of disunited tribal unions and separate principalities. The tribal unions of the southern and northern Slavs, who “considered themselves free without a monarchy,” in his opinion, were clearly burdened by any kind of power.
Noting the role of the Slavs in the development of world history and the fall of the Roman Empire, Lomonosov once again emphasizes the love of freedom of the Slavic tribes and their intolerant attitude towards any oppression. Thus Lomonosov indirectly indicates that princely power did not always exist, but was a product of the historical development of Ancient Rus'. He showed this especially vividly in the example of ancient Novgorod, where "the Novgorodians refused tribute to the Varangians and began to govern themselves." But the class contradictions that torn apart the ancient Russian feudal society led to the fall of the rule of the people: the Novgorodians "fell into great strife and internecine wars, one clan rebelled against another to obtain a majority." And it was at this moment of acute class contradictions that the Novgorodians (or rather, that part of the Novgorodians who won this struggle) turned to the Varangians with the following words: “our land is great and plentiful, but we have no outfit; come to us to reign and rule over us.”
Focusing on this fact, Lomonosov emphasizes that it was not the weakness and inability of the Russians to govern, as the supporters of the Norman theory stubbornly tried to assert, but class contradictions, which were suppressed by the strength of the Varangian squad, were the reason for calling the Varangians.
In addition to Lomonosov, other Russian historians, including S. M. Solovyov, also refute the Norman theory: “The Normans were not a dominant tribe, they only served the princes of native tribes; many served only temporarily; those who remained in Rus' forever, due to their numerical insignificance, quickly merged with the natives, especially since in their national life they did not find obstacles to this merger. Thus, at the beginning of Russian society, there can be no question of the domination of the Normans, of the Norman period ”(S.M. Solovyov, 1989; p. 26).
So, we can say that the Norman theory was defeated under the onslaught of Russian scientists. Consequently, before the arrival of the Varangians, Rus' was already a state, maybe still primitive, not fully formed. But it also cannot be denied that the Scandinavians sufficiently influenced Rus', including statehood. The first Russian princes, who were Scandinavians, nevertheless introduced a lot of new things into the management system (for example, the first truth in Rus' was Varangian).
However, without a doubt, the influence of the Scandinavians on Rus' was quite significant. It could occur not only as a result of close communication between the Scandinavians and Slavs, but simply because all the first princes in Rus', and therefore the legitimate power, were Varangians. Consequently, the first truth in Rus' was Varangian.
In addition to legislation and statehood, the Scandinavians bring with them military science and shipbuilding. Could the Slavs on their boats sail to Constantinople and capture it, ply the Black Sea? Tsargrad is captured by Oleg, the Varangian king, with his retinue, but he is now a Russian prince, which means that his ships are now Russian ships, and for sure these are not only ships that came from the Varangian sea, but also cut down here in Rus'. The Vikings brought to Rus' the skills of navigation, sailing, orienteering by the stars, the science of handling weapons, and military science.
Of course, thanks to the Scandinavians, trade is developing in Rus'. At the beginning, Gardarik is just some settlements on the way of the Scandinavians to Byzantium, then the Varangians begin to trade with the natives, some just settle here - who will become a prince, who will be a combatant, who will remain a merchant. As a result, the Slavs and Varangians together continue their journey "from the Varangians to the Greeks." Thus, thanks to its Varangian princes, Rus' first appears on the world stage and takes part in world trade. And not only.
Already Princess Olga understands how important it is to declare Rus' among other states, and her grandson, Prince Vladimir, completes what she started by carrying out the Baptism of Rus', thereby transferring Rus' from the era of barbarism, from which other states had long gone, into the Middle Ages, putting Rus' on one stage of development with them.
And although the Norman theory has not received absolute historical confirmation, we can say that with the advent of the Scandinavians in Rus' appeared:
Shipbuilding, sailing, navigation, star navigation.
Expansion of trade relations.
Warfare.
Jurisprudence, laws.
The Scandinavians put Rus' on the same level of development as other developed states.
NORMANN THEORY- a direction in the study of the domestic past, whose supporters consider the Scandinavians, Vikings, Normans the founders of the Russian state. The thesis about the “calling of the Varangians”, which formed the basis of the theory, like itself, has been used in scientific and political disputes for more than three centuries as an ideological justification for the concept of the inability of the Slavs, and especially Russians, to independent state creativity and development in general without the cultural and intellectual assistance of the West .
The Norman theory was first formulated by German scientists who worked in Russia at the invitation of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences during the reign of Anna Ivanovna (second quarter of the 18th century), - G.Z. Bayer, G.F. Miller and A.L. Schlozer. Describing the history of the creation of the Russian state, they were based on the legendary story of the chronicler from Tale of Bygone Years about the calling by the Slavs to Rus' of the Varangian king Rurik, who gave the name of the first Russian princely dynasty (Rurik, 9-16 centuries). Under the pen of these German historians, the Normans (north-western tribes of the Varangians, Swedish Vikings) were the creators of the ancient Russian statehood, their representatives formed the basis of the ruling class of ancient Russian society (princes, boyars, the top command staff of their squads in the "times of military democracy"). M.V. Lomonosov, a contemporary of Bayer, Miller and Schlozer, saw in the theory put forward by them a political meaning hostile to Russia and pointed out its scientific inconsistency. He did not deny the authenticity of the chronicle story, but believed that the "Varangians" (Normans) should be understood as the tribes of the Goths, Lithuanians, Khazars and many other peoples, and not just the Swedish Vikings.
In the 19th century Norman theory acquired in the official Russian historiography of the 18th-19th centuries. the nature of the main version of the origin of the Russian state. The Normanists were N.M. Karamzin and many others. other historians of his time. S. M. Solovyov, without denying the calling of the Varangian princes to Rus', did not see in this legend grounds for thinking about the infringement of national dignity.
By the 30s–50s of the 19th century. the struggle between "Normanists" and "anti-Normanists" was at the same time a struggle between "Westerners" and "Slavophiles". It became especially acute in the 60s of the 19th century. in connection with the celebration in 1862 of the millennium of Russia. Opponents of the theory then were D.I. Ilovaisky, N.I. Kostomarov, S.A. Gedeonov (who was the first to try to prove the West Slavic origin of the Varangians), V.G. Vasilevsky. They drew attention to the fact that the thesis about the calling of the Varangians was first turned into a theory precisely during the “Bironovshchina” (when many top positions at the court were occupied by German nobles who sought to justify the cultural role of the West for “backward” Russia). At the same time, over the past six centuries (12th-18th centuries), the legend of Rurik's calling was included in all works on the history of Russia, but was never a basis for recognizing the backwardness of Rus' and the high development of its neighbors. And yet the argumentation of the "anti-Normanists" was weak and by the beginning of the 20th century. the victory of "Normanism" in Russian historiography seemed obvious. Even the outstanding Russian specialist in ancient Russian chronicle textology and archeography A.A. Shakhmatov, having established the late and unreliable nature of the story about the calling of the Varangian princes, nevertheless inclined to the idea of the “decisive importance” of the Scandinavian tribes in the process of state building in Rus'. He even derived the very name of the ancient Russian state from the Finnish lexeme "ruotsi" - the designation of the Swedes and Sweden.
In Soviet historical science, the question of how the ancient Russian state was created, of the correctness or falsity of the Norman theory, acquired an obviously political significance. Historians who studied the most ancient period of Russian statehood (B.D. Grekov, B.A. Rybakov, M.N. Tikhomirov, V.V. Mavrodin) were faced with the need to give a “fierce rebuff to the reactionary bourgeoisie, trying to denigrate the distant past of the Russian people, undermine the feeling of deep respect for him on the part of all progressive mankind. Together with fellow archaeologists, they sought to find justification for the high degree of decomposition of the communal system among the Slavs by the beginning - the middle of the 9th century, since only this could confirm the presence of internal prerequisites for the emergence of the state.
Nevertheless, the "Normanists", especially those who worked on the study of the history of the ancient Russian state in foreign universities, did not give up their positions. Finding Norman elements in the organization of administrative and political management, social life, culture, the Normanists tried to emphasize that they were decisive in determining the nature of a particular social phenomenon. By the early 1960s, Normanists had become advocates of at least one of four concepts:
1) "The concept of conquest", leaning towards the idea of the conquest of the Russian land by the Normans (shared by most Russian historians)
2) "The concept of colonization" (T. Arne) - the capture of Russian territory by the Normans by creating Scandinavian colonies.
3) "The concept of political cooperation" between the Swedish kingdom and Russia. Initially, the role of the Varangians in Rus' was the role of merchants who knew foreign countries well, later - warriors, navigators, sailors.
4) "The concept of a foreign elite" - the creation of an upper class in Rus' by the Vikings (A. Stender-Petersen).
Their anti-Normanist opponents drew attention to the following points in their argumentation.
1) Representatives of the South Baltic Pomeranian Slavs, who were part of large tribal confederations of tribes, in the 8th-10th centuries. dominated the southern shores of the Baltic and determined much in the history, religion, culture of this region, influencing the fate and development of the Eastern Slavs, especially its northwestern region, where the first centers of Russian statehood arose - Staraya Ladoga and Novgorod. But these were not the Varangians, but the Pomeranian Slavs.
2) The ancient connections of the Pomeranian Slavs with the East Slavic lands were reflected in the linguistic community of the South Baltic and Novgorod (Ilmen) Slavs. IN Tales of Bygone Years it is also said that the Slavic language and the Varangian-Russian language "are the same". The chronicle found confirmation that - in the opinion of its author - there were Norwegians, Swedes, Danes, and there were "Varangians - Rus", and the chronicler singled out separately the Scandinavian, and separately - the Varangian-Russian ethnic community.
3) The existence of some ancient Russian princes of Varangian origin (Oleg, Igor, etc.) and Norman-Varangians in princely squads does not contradict the fact that the state in Ancient Rus' was formed on an internal socio-economic basis. The Varangians left almost no traces in the rich material and spiritual culture of Ancient Rus', because those of them who lived in Rus' were assimilated (glorified).
4) The Normans (Varangians) themselves recognized the high level of development of Gardariki - the "country of cities", as they called Rus'.
5) The foreign origin of the ruling dynasty is typical of the Middle Ages; the legend of calling the Varangians to Rus' is no exception (the German dynasties originate from the Roman ones, the British from the Anglo-Saxon ones).
To date, the question of the origin of the Russian state has not been finally clarified. The controversy between Normanists and anti-Normanists occasionally resumes, but due to lack of data, many modern researchers began to lean towards a compromise option, and a moderate Normanist theory arose. According to her, the Varangians had a serious influence on the ancient Slavs, but being small in number, they quickly mastered the Slavic language and culture of their neighbors.
Lev Pushkarev, Natalya Pushkareva
Literature
Mavrodin V.V. The fight against Normanism in Russian historical science. L., 1949
Lovmyanskiy X. Rus' and the Normans. M., 1985
Rus' and Varangians. M., 1999
Collection of the Russian Historical Society. Anti-Normanism. M., 2003, No. 8 (156)
Gedeonov S.A. Varangians and Rus. M., 2004
According to the widespread version, the foundations of the state in Rus' were laid by the Varangian squad of Rurik, called by the Slavic tribes to reign. However, the Norman theory has always had many opponents.
Background
It is believed that the Norman theory was formulated in the 18th century by a German scientist at the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences, Gottlieb Bayer. However, a century earlier, it was first voiced by the Swedish historian Peter Petrei. In the future, this theory was followed by many major Russian historians, starting with Nikolai Karamzin.
The Norman theory was most convincingly and fully presented by the Danish linguist and historian Wilhelm Thomsen in his work The Beginning of the Russian State (1891), after which the Scandinavian origins of Russian statehood were considered factually proven.
In the first years of Soviet power, the Norman theory established itself on the wave of growth of the ideas of internationalism, but the war with Nazi Germany turned the vector of the theory of the origin of the Russian state from Normanism to the Slavic concept.
Moderate Norman theory prevails today, to which Soviet historiography returned in the 1960s. It recognizes the limited nature of the influence of the Varangian dynasty on the emergence of the Old Russian state and focuses on the role of the peoples living southeast of the Baltic Sea.
Two ethnonyms
The key terms used by the "Normanists" are "Varangians" and "Rus". They are found in many chronicle sources, including the Tale of Bygone Years:
"And they said to themselves [Chud, Slovene and Krivichi]:" Let's look for a prince who would rule over us and judge by right "And they went across the sea to the Varangians, to Rus'."
The word "Rus" for the supporters of the Norman version is etymologically connected with the Finnish term "ruotsi", which traditionally denoted the Scandinavians. So, the linguist Georgy Khaburgaev writes that the name "Rus" can be formed from "Ruotsi" purely philologically.
Norman philologists do not pass by other similar-sounding Scandinavian words - "Rhodes" (Swedish for "rowers") and "Roslagen" (the name of a Swedish province). In the Slavic vowel, in their opinion, "Rhodes" could well turn into "Rus".
However, there are other opinions. For example, the historian Georgy Vernadsky disputed the Scandinavian etymology of the word "Rus", insisting that it comes from the word "Rukhs" - the name of one of the Sarmatian-Alanian tribes, which is known as "Roksolani". 
"Varangians" (another scan. "Væringjar") "Normanists" also identified with the Scandinavian peoples, emphasizing either the social or the professional status of this word. According to Byzantine sources, the Varangians are, first of all, hired warriors without an exact localization of their place of residence and a specific ethnicity.
Sigismund Herberstein in Notes on Muscovy (1549) was one of the first to draw a parallel between the word "Varangian" and the name of the tribe of the Baltic Slavs - "Vargs", who, in his opinion, had a common language, customs and faith with the Russians. Mikhail Lomonosov argued that the Varangians "consisted of different tribes and languages."
chronicle evidence
One of the main sources that conveyed to us the idea of "calling the Varangians to reign" is the Tale of Bygone Years. But not all researchers are inclined to unconditionally trust the events described in it.
Thus, the historian Dmitry Ilovaisky established that the Tale of the Calling of the Varangians was a later insertion into the Tale.
Moreover, being a collection of various chronicles, The Tale of Bygone Years offers us three different references to the Varangians, and two versions of the origin of Rus'.
In the "Novgorod Chronicle", which absorbed the previous Tale "Initial Code" of the end of the 11th century, there is no comparison of the Varangians with the Scandinavians. The chronicler points to the participation of Rurik in the foundation of Novgorod, and then explains that "the essence of the people of Novgorod is from the Varangian clan." 
In the “Joachim Chronicle” compiled by Vasily Tatishchev, new information appears, in particular, about the origin of Rurik. In it, the founder of the Russian state turned out to be the son of an unnamed Varangian prince and Umila, the daughter of the Slavic elder Gostomysl.
Linguistic evidence
Now it is precisely established that a number of words of the Old Russian language are of Scandinavian origin. These are both terms of trade and maritime vocabulary, as well as words found in everyday life - anchor, banner, whip, pud, yabednik, Varangian, tiun (princely manager). A number of names also passed from Old Norse into Russian - Gleb, Olga, Rogneda, Igor. 
An important argument in defense of the Norman theory is the work of the Byzantine emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus "On the management of the empire" (949), which gives the names of the Dnieper rapids in Slavic and "Russian" languages.
Each "Russian" name has a Scandinavian etymology: for example, "Varuforos" ("Big backwater") clearly echoes the Old Norse "Barufors".
Opponents of the Norman theory, although they agree with the presence of Scandinavian words in the Russian language, note their small number.
archaeological evidence
Numerous archaeological excavations carried out in Staraya Ladoga, Gnezdovo, on the Rurik settlement, as well as in other places in the north-east of Russia, indicate traces of the presence of the Scandinavians there.
In 2008, at the Zemlyanoy settlement of Staraya Ladoga, archaeologists discovered objects depicting a falling falcon, which later became the coat of arms of the Rurikids.
Interestingly, a similar image of a falcon was minted on the coins of the Danish king Anlaf Gutfritsson dating back to the middle of the 10th century. 
It is known that in 992 the Arab traveler Ibn Fadlan described in detail the rite of burial of a noble Rus with the burning of a boat and the erection of a barrow. Russian archaeologists have discovered graves of this type near Ladoga and in Gnezdovo. It is assumed that this method of burial was adopted from immigrants from Sweden and spread up to the territories of the future Kievan Rus.
However, the historian Artemy Artsikhovsky noted that, despite the Scandinavian items in the funerary monuments of North-Eastern Rus', the burials were carried out not according to the Scandinavian, but according to the local rite.
Alternative view
Following the Norman theory, Vasily Tatishchev and Mikhail Lomonosov formulated another theory - about the Slavic origin of Russian statehood. In particular, Lomonosov believed that the state on the territory of Rus' existed long before the calling of the Varangians - in the form of tribal unions of northern and southern Slavs.
Scientists build their hypothesis on another fragment of The Tale of Bygone Years: “after all, they were nicknamed Rus from the Varangians, and before that there were Slavs; although they were called glades, but the speech was Slavic. The Arab geographer Ibn Khordadbeh wrote about this, noting that the Rus are a Slavic people. 
The Slavic theory was developed by 19th-century historians Stepan Gedeonov and Dmitry Ilovaisky.
The first ranked the Russians among the Baltic Slavs - encouragers, and the second emphasized their southern origin, starting from the ethnonym "blond".
Rusov and Slavs were identified by the historian and archaeologist Boris Rybakov, placing the ancient Slavic state in the forest-steppe of the Middle Dnieper. 
A continuation of the criticism of Normanism was the theory of the "Russian Khaganate", put forward by a number of researchers. But if Anatoly Novoseltsev leaned towards the northern location of the kaganate, then Valentin Sedov insisted that the state of the Rus was located between the Dnieper and the Don. The ethnonym "Rus" according to this hypothesis appeared long before Rurik and has Iranian roots.
What does genetics say?
Genetics could answer the question about the ethnicity of the founders of the Old Russian state. Such studies have been carried out, but they have generated a lot of controversy.
In 2007, Newsweek published the results of a study of the genome of living representatives of the Rurik dynasty. It was noted there that the results of DNA analyzes of Shakhovsky, Gagarin and Lobanov-Rostovsky (the Monomashich clan) rather indicate the Scandinavian origin of the dynasty. Boris Malyarchuk, head of the genetics laboratory at the Institute of Biological Problems of the North, notes that such a haplotype is often present in Norway, Sweden and Finland. 
Anatoly Klyosov, professor of chemistry and biochemistry at Moscow and Harvard Universities, does not agree with such conclusions, noting that "there are no Swedish haplotypes." He defines belonging to Rurikovich by two haplogroups - R1a and N1c1. The common ancestor of the carriers of these haplogroups, according to Klenov's research, could indeed live in the 9th century, but his Scandinavian origin is being questioned. 
“The Rurikoviches are either carriers of the R1a haplogroup, Slavs, or carriers of the South Baltic, Slavic branch of the N1c1 haplogroup,” the scientist concludes.
Professor of the Institute of World History of the Russian Academy of Sciences Elena Melnikova is trying to reconcile two polar opinions, arguing that even before the arrival of Rurik, the Scandinavians were well integrated into the Slavic community. According to the scientist, the analysis of DNA samples from Scandinavian burials, of which there are many in the north of Russia, can clarify the situation.
NORMANN THEORY- a direction in the study of the domestic past, whose supporters consider the Scandinavians, Vikings, Normans the founders of the Russian state. The thesis about the “calling of the Varangians”, which formed the basis of the theory, like itself, has been used in scientific and political disputes for more than three centuries as an ideological justification for the concept of the inability of the Slavs, and especially Russians, to independent state creativity and development in general without the cultural and intellectual assistance of the West .
The Norman theory was first formulated by German scientists who worked in Russia at the invitation of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences during the reign of Anna Ivanovna (second quarter of the 18th century), - G.Z. Bayer, G.F. Miller and A.L. Schlozer. Describing the history of the creation of the Russian state, they were based on the legendary story of the chronicler from Tale of Bygone Years about the calling by the Slavs to Rus' of the Varangian king Rurik, who gave the name of the first Russian princely dynasty (Rurik, 9-16 centuries). Under the pen of these German historians, the Normans (north-western tribes of the Varangians, Swedish Vikings) were the creators of the ancient Russian statehood, their representatives formed the basis of the ruling class of ancient Russian society (princes, boyars, the top command staff of their squads in the "times of military democracy"). M.V. Lomonosov, a contemporary of Bayer, Miller and Schlozer, saw in the theory put forward by them a political meaning hostile to Russia and pointed out its scientific inconsistency. He did not deny the authenticity of the chronicle story, but believed that the "Varangians" (Normans) should be understood as the tribes of the Goths, Lithuanians, Khazars and many other peoples, and not just the Swedish Vikings.
In the 19th century Norman theory acquired in the official Russian historiography of the 18th-19th centuries. the nature of the main version of the origin of the Russian state. The Normanists were N.M. Karamzin and many others. other historians of his time. S.M. Solovyov, without denying the calling of the Varangian princes to Rus', did not see in this legend grounds for thinking about the infringement of national dignity.
By the 30s–50s of the 19th century. the struggle between "Normanists" and "anti-Normanists" was at the same time a struggle between "Westerners" and "Slavophiles". It became especially acute in the 60s of the 19th century. in connection with the celebration in 1862 of the millennium of Russia. Opponents of the theory then were D.I. Ilovaisky, N.I. Kostomarov, S.A. Gedeonov (who was the first to try to prove the West Slavic origin of the Varangians), V.G. Vasilevsky. They drew attention to the fact that the thesis about the calling of the Varangians was first turned into a theory precisely during the “Bironovshchina” (when many top positions at the court were occupied by German nobles who sought to justify the cultural role of the West for “backward” Russia). At the same time, over the past six centuries (12th-18th centuries), the legend of Rurik's calling was included in all works on the history of Russia, but was never a basis for recognizing the backwardness of Rus' and the high development of its neighbors. And yet the argumentation of the "anti-Normanists" was weak and by the beginning of the 20th century. the victory of "Normanism" in Russian historiography seemed obvious. Even the outstanding Russian specialist in ancient Russian chronicle textology and archeography A.A. Shakhmatov, having established the late and unreliable nature of the story about the calling of the Varangian princes, nevertheless inclined to the idea of the “decisive importance” of the Scandinavian tribes in the process of state building in Rus'. He even derived the very name of the ancient Russian state from the Finnish lexeme "ruotsi" - the designation of the Swedes and Sweden.
In Soviet historical science, the question of how the ancient Russian state was created, of the correctness or falsity of the Norman theory, acquired an obviously political significance. Historians who studied the most ancient period of Russian statehood (B.D. Grekov, B.A. Rybakov, M.N. Tikhomirov, V.V. Mavrodin) were faced with the need to give a “fierce rebuff to the reactionary bourgeoisie, trying to denigrate the distant past of the Russian people, undermine the feeling of deep respect for him on the part of all progressive mankind. Together with fellow archaeologists, they sought to find justification for the high degree of decomposition of the communal system among the Slavs by the beginning - the middle of the 9th century, since only this could confirm the presence of internal prerequisites for the emergence of the state.
Nevertheless, the "Normanists", especially those who worked on the study of the history of the ancient Russian state in foreign universities, did not give up their positions. Finding Norman elements in the organization of administrative and political management, social life, culture, the Normanists tried to emphasize that they were decisive in determining the nature of a particular social phenomenon. By the early 1960s, Normanists had become advocates of at least one of four concepts:
1) "The concept of conquest", leaning towards the idea of the conquest of the Russian land by the Normans (shared by most Russian historians)
2) "The concept of colonization" (T. Arne) - the capture of Russian territory by the Normans by creating Scandinavian colonies.
3) "The concept of political cooperation" between the Swedish kingdom and Russia. Initially, the role of the Varangians in Rus' was the role of merchants who knew foreign countries well, later - warriors, navigators, sailors.
4) "The concept of a foreign elite" - the creation of an upper class in Rus' by the Vikings (A. Stender-Petersen).
Their anti-Normanist opponents drew attention to the following points in their argumentation.
1) Representatives of the South Baltic Pomeranian Slavs, who were part of large tribal confederations of tribes, in the 8th-10th centuries. dominated the southern shores of the Baltic and determined much in the history, religion, culture of this region, influencing the fate and development of the Eastern Slavs, especially its northwestern region, where the first centers of Russian statehood arose - Staraya Ladoga and Novgorod. But these were not the Varangians, but the Pomeranian Slavs.
2) The ancient connections of the Pomeranian Slavs with the East Slavic lands were reflected in the linguistic community of the South Baltic and Novgorod (Ilmen) Slavs. The Tale of Bygone Years also says that the Slavic language and the Varangian-Russian language "are the same." The chronicle found confirmation that - in the opinion of its author - there were Norwegians, Swedes, Danes, and there were "Varangians - Rus", and the chronicler singled out separately the Scandinavian, and separately - the Varangian-Russian ethnic community.
3) The existence of some ancient Russian princes of Varangian origin (Oleg, Igor, etc.) and Norman-Varangians in princely squads does not contradict the fact that the state in Ancient Rus' was formed on an internal socio-economic basis. The Varangians left almost no traces in the rich material and spiritual culture of Ancient Rus', because those of them who lived in Rus' were assimilated (glorified).
4) The Normans (Varangians) themselves recognized the high level of development of Gardariki - the "country of cities", as they called Rus'.
5) The foreign origin of the ruling dynasty is typical of the Middle Ages; the legend of calling the Varangians to Rus' is no exception (the German dynasties originate from the Roman ones, the British from the Anglo-Saxon ones).
To date, the question of the origin of the Russian state has not been finally clarified. The controversy between Normanists and anti-Normanists occasionally resumes, but due to lack of data, many modern researchers began to lean towards a compromise option, and a moderate Normanist theory arose. According to her, the Varangians had a serious influence on the ancient Slavs, but being small in number, they quickly mastered the Slavic language and culture of their neighbors.
Lev Pushkarev, Natalya Pushkareva
Supporters of which considered the Normans (Varangians) the founders of the state in Ancient Rus'. The Norman theory was formulated by German scientists who worked at the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences in the second quarter of the 18th century - G.3. Bayer, G.F. Miller. A supporter of the Norman theory later became A.L. Schlozer. The basis for the conclusion about the Norman origin of the Old Russian state was the story "The Tale of Bygone Years" about the calling to Rus' of the Varangian princes Rurik, Sineus and Truvor in 862.
The negative side of the Norman theory lies in the representation of Ancient Rus' as a backward country, incapable of independent state creativity, while the Normans act as a force that from the very beginning of Russian history influenced the development of Russia, its economy and culture. In the middle of the 18th century, M.V. Lomonosov, who pointed out its scientific inconsistency and political sense hostile to Russia. In the noble-monarchist historiography of the 18th-19th centuries, the Norman theory acquired the character of the official version of the origin of the Russian state (N.M. Karamzin). CM. Solovyov, without denying the calling of the Varangian princes to Rus', refused to see this as evidence of the underdevelopment of the Eastern Slavs and to transfer to the 9th century the concepts of national dignity characteristic of the new time. The struggle between "Normanists" and "anti-Normanists" and between Slavophiles and Westernizers became especially acute in the 1860s in connection with the celebration of the millennium of Russia in 1862, when a controversy unfolded around many issues of Russian history, which had a pronounced political character. Opponents of the Norman theory, historians D.I. Ilovaisky, S.A. Gedeonov, V.G. Vasilevsky, who criticized its individual specific provisions.
Norman theory in the 20th century
In Soviet historiography in the 1930s and 1940s, the influence of the Norman theory was overcome. The decisive role in this was played by the work of historians and archaeologists B.D. Grekova, B.A. Rybakova, M.N. Tikhomirova, S.M. Yushkova, V.V. Mavrodin, who established that in the 9th century the East Slavic society reached the degree of decomposition of the communal system, when the internal prerequisites for the emergence of the state were ripe. The presence of Old Russian princes of Varangian origin (Oleg, Igor) and Norman-Varangians in the princely squads does not contradict the fact that the state in Ancient Rus' was formed on an internal socio-economic basis. The Normans-Varangians, who were in Rus', merged with the indigenous population, became glorified. Soviet historiography claimed that the Normans left almost no traces in the rich material and spiritual culture of Ancient Rus'.
In Western historiography of the 20th century, the Norman theory was part of the concept of Russian history, which was followed by some researchers. Supporters of the Norman theory sought to defend their positions on certain issues: the composition of the ruling class in Ancient Rus', the origin of large land ownership in Rus', the trade and trade routes of Ancient Rus', the archaeological monuments of ancient Russian culture, in each of which the Normanists consider the Norman element decisive, defining . Supporters of the Norman theory argued that the Norman colonization of Rus' took place, that the Scandinavian colonies served as the basis for establishing a political system, that Ancient Rus' was politically dependent on Sweden.
