Old Slavic tribes. Which Slavic peoples are the most “clean”

All Slavic peoples are usually divided into 3 groups: Western Slavs (Czechs, Slovaks, Poles), Eastern Slavs (Russians, Ukrainians, Belarusians) and Southern Slavs (Serbs, Croats, Macedonians, Bulgarians).

East Slavic group

According to the 1989 census

There were 145.2 Russians in the USSR

million people, Ukrainians - 44.2 million people, Belarusians - 10 million people. Russians and Ukrainians have always been the most numerous nationalities in the USSR, Belarusians in the 1960s gave way to Uzbeks in third place (16.7 million people in 1989).

Until recently, the name "Russians" was often indiscriminately assigned to all Eastern Slavs. Between the 10th and 13th centuries The center of Rus' was Kyiv and its inhabitants were known as "Rusichi". But as political conditions contributed to the strengthening of linguistic and cultural differences between the territorial groups of the Eastern Slavs, they divided into Little Russians (Ukrainians), Belorussians (Belarusians) and Great Russians (Russians).

Over the centuries of territorial expansion, the Russians assimilated the Varangians, Tatars, Finno-Ugric peoples and dozens of peoples of Siberia. All of them left their linguistic traces, but did not noticeably affect the Slavic identity. While Russians migrated throughout northern Eurasia, Ukrainians and Belarusians continued to inhabit their compact ethnic ranges. The modern borders of the three states roughly correspond to ethnic borders, but all Slavic territories have never been nationally homogeneous. Ethnic Ukrainians in 1989 made up 72.7% of the population of their republic, Belarusians - 77.9%, and Russians - 81.5%. 1

There were 119,865.9 thousand Russians in the Russian Federation in 1989. In other republics of the former USSR, the Russian population was distributed as follows: in Ukraine it was 1,1355.6 thousand people. (22% of the population of the republic), in Kazakhstan - 6227.5 thousand people. (37.8% respectively), Uzbekistan - 1653.5 thousand people. (8%), Belarus - 1342 thousand people. (13.2% of the population of the republic), Kyrgyzstan - 916.6 thousand people. (21.5% of the population of the republic), Latvia - 905.5 thousand people. (37.6% of the population of the republic), Moldova - 562 thousand people. (13% of the population of the republic), Estonia - 474.8 thousand people. (30% of the population of the republic), Azerbaijan - 392.3 thousand people. (5.5% of the population of the republic), Tajikistan - 388.5

thousand people (7.6% of the population of the republic), Georgia - 341.2

thousand people (6.3% of the population of the republic), Lithuania - 344.5

thousand people (9.3% of the population of the republic), Turkmenistan - 333.9 thousand people. (9.4% of the population of the republic), Armenia - 51.5 thousand people. (1.5% of the population of the republic). In the far abroad, the Russian population as a whole is 1.4 million people, the majority live in the USA (1 million people).

The emergence of regional differences among the Russian people dates back to the feudal period. Even among the ancient East Slavic tribes, differences in material culture between north and south were noted. These differences intensified further after active ethnic contacts and assimilation of the non-Slavic population of Asia and Eastern Europe. The formation of regional differences was also facilitated by the presence of a special military population on the borders. According to ethnographic and dialectological features, the differences between the Russians of the north and the south of European Russia are most noticeable. Between them there is a wide intermediate zone - Central Russian, where northern and southern features are combined in spiritual and material culture. The Volgars - Russians of the Middle and Lower Volga regions - are distinguished into a separate regional group.

Ethnographers and linguists also distinguish three transitional groups: western (inhabitants of the basins of the rivers Velikaya, upper Dnieper and Western Dvina) - transitional between the northern and central Russian, middle and southern Russian groups and Belarusians; northeastern (Russian population of the Kirov, Perm, Sverdlovsk regions), formed after the settlement of Russian territories in the 15th 1-17th centuries, close to the North Russian group in the surrounding dialect, but having Central Russian features due to the two main directions along which the settlement proceeded edges - from the north and from the center of European Russia; southeastern (Russians of the Rostov region, Stavropol and Krasnodar territories), close to the southern Russian group in terms of language, folklore and material culture.

Other, smaller, historical and cultural groups of the Russian people include Pomors, Cossacks, old-timers-Kerzhaks and Siberians-mestizos.

In a narrow sense, Pomors are usually called the Russian population of the White Sea coast from Onega to Kemi, and in a broader sense, all the inhabitants of the coast northern seas washing European Russia.

The Pomors are the descendants of the ancient Novgorodians, who differed from the North Russian in the features of the economy and life associated with the sea and marine crafts.

The ethno-class group of the Cossacks is peculiar - Amur, Astrakhan, Don, Transbaikal, Kuban, Orenburg, Semirechensk, Siberian, Terek, Ural, Ussuri.

Don, Ural, Orenburg, Terek, Transbaikal and Amur Cossacks, although they had different origins, differed from the peasants in their economic privileges and self-government. Don Cossacks, formed in the ХУ1-ХУХ centuries. from Slavic and Asian components, historically divided into Verkhovsky and Ponizovsky. Among the Verkhovsky Cossacks there were more Russians, among the Poniz Cossacks Ukrainians prevailed. The North Caucasian (Terek and Grebensky) Cossacks were close to the mountain peoples. The core of the Ural Cossacks in the XVI century. were immigrants from the Don, and the core of the Trans-Baikal Cossacks, who appeared later, in the 19th century, was formed not only by Russians, but also by Buryats with Evenks.

The old-timers of Siberia are the descendants of the settlers of the ХУ1-ХУН centuries. from Northern Russia and the Urals. Among the West Siberian old-timers, the okane is more common, and in Eastern Siberia, in addition to the okane Russians, there are also okane - immigrants from the southern Russian lands. The akanye is especially widespread in the Far East, where the descendants of new settlers of the late 19th century predominate.

Early 20th century

Many Kerzhaks - Siberian Old Believers - have retained their ethnographic features. Among them stand out: “masons”, descendants of white Old Believers from the mountainous regions of Altai, living along the Bukhtarma and Uimon rivers; "Poles", speaking the dialect of Akah, the descendants of the Old Believers who were resettled after the partition of Poland from the town of Vetki in the Ust-

Kamenogorsk; "family", the descendants of the Old Believers, evicted from European Russia in Transbaikalia in the XVIII

Among the mestizo Siberians, there are Yakutians and Kolymians, descendants of mixed Russian-Yakut marriages, Kamchadals, Karyms (Russified Buryats of Transbaikalia) and descendants of tundra peasants who adopted the Dogan language and customs, living along the Dudinka and Khatanga rivers.

Ukrainians (4362.9 thousand people) live mainly in the Tyumen region (260.2 thousand people), Moscow (247.3 thousand people), and in addition, in the Moscow region, in the areas bordering Ukraine , in the Urals and in Siberia. Of these, 42.8% believe Ukrainian language native, and another 15.6% are fluent in it, 57% of Russian Ukrainians consider Russian as their native language. There are no Ukrainian ethnographic groups within Russia. Among the Kuban (Black Sea) Cossacks, the Ukrainian component prevails.

Belarusians (1206.2 thousand people) live dispersed throughout Russia and mainly (80%) in cities. Among them, a special ethnographic group of Poleshchuks is distinguished.

Slavs are the largest ethnic community Europe, but what do we really know about them? Historians are still arguing about who they came from, and where their homeland was located, and where the self-name "Slavs" came from.

Origin of the Slavs

There are many hypotheses about the origin of the Slavs. Someone refers them to the Scythians and Sarmatians, who came from Central Asia, someone to the Aryans, Germans, others even identify them with the Celts. All hypotheses of the origin of the Slavs can be divided into two main categories, directly opposite to each other. One of them, the well-known "Norman", was put forward in the 18th century by German scientists Bayer, Miller and Schlozer, although for the first time such ideas appeared during the reign of Ivan the Terrible.

The bottom line was this: the Slavs are an Indo-European people who were once part of the “German-Slavic” community, but broke away from the Germans during the Great Migration of Nations. Caught on the periphery of Europe and cut off from the continuity of Roman civilization, they were very backward in development, so much so that they could not create their own state and invited the Varangians, that is, the Vikings, to rule them.

This theory is based on the historiographic tradition of The Tale of Bygone Years and the famous phrase: “Our land is great, rich, but there is no side in it. Come reign and rule over us." Such a categorical interpretation, which was based on an obvious ideological background, could not but arouse criticism. Today, archeology confirms the existence of strong intercultural ties between Scandinavians and Slavs, but it hardly says that the former played a decisive role in the formation of the ancient Russian state. But disputes about the "Norman" origin of the Slavs and Kievan Rus do not subside to this day.

The second theory of the ethnogenesis of the Slavs, on the contrary, is patriotic in nature. And, by the way, it is much older than the Norman one - one of its founders was the Croatian historian Mavro Orbini, who wrote a work called “The Slavic Kingdom” at the end of the 16th and beginning of the 17th centuries. His point of view was very extraordinary: he attributed to the Slavs the Vandals, Burgundians, Goths, Ostrogoths, Visigoths, Gepids, Getae, Alans, Werls, Avars, Dacians, Swedes, Normans, Finns, Ukrovs, Marcomanni, Quadi, Thracians and Illyrians and many others: "They were all of the same Slavic tribe, as will be seen in the future."

Their exodus from the historical homeland of Orbini dates back to 1460 BC. Wherever they didn’t have time to visit after that: “The Slavs fought almost all the tribes of the world, attacked Persia, ruled Asia and Africa, fought the Egyptians and Alexander the Great, conquered Greece, Macedonia and Illyria, occupied Moravia, the Czech Republic, Poland and the coast of the Baltic Sea ".

He was echoed by many court scribes who created the theory of the origin of the Slavs from the ancient Romans, and Rurik from the emperor Octavian Augustus. In the 18th century, the Russian historian Tatishchev published the so-called "Joachim Chronicle", which, in contrast to the "Tale of Bygone Years", identified the Slavs with the ancient Greeks.

Both of these theories (although there are echoes of the truth in each of them) represent two extremes, which are characterized by a free interpretation of historical facts and archeological information. They were criticized by such "giants" of Russian history as B. Grekov, B. Rybakov, V. Yanin, A. Artsikhovsky, arguing that the historian should in his research not rely on his preferences, but on facts. However, the historical texture of the “ethnogenesis of the Slavs”, to this day, is so incomplete that it leaves many options for speculation, without the ability to finally answer the main question: “who are these Slavs anyway?”

Age of the people

The next sore problem for historians is the age of the Slavic ethnic group. When did the Slavs nevertheless stand out as a single people from the pan-European ethnic "katavasia"? The first attempt to answer this question belongs to the author of The Tale of Bygone Years, monk Nestor. Taking the biblical tradition as a basis, he began the history of the Slavs with the Babylonian pandemonium, which divided mankind into 72 peoples: “From now 70 and 2 languages ​​were the language of Slovenesk ...”. The above-mentioned Mavro Orbini generously granted the Slavic tribes a couple of extra millennia of history, dating their exodus from their historical homeland in 1496: “At the indicated time, the Goths left Scandinavia, and the Slavs ... since the Slavs and Goths were of the same tribe. So, having subjugated Sarmatia to its power, the Slavic tribe was divided into several tribes and received different names: Wends, Slavs, Antes, Verls, Alans, Massaets .... Vandals, Goths, Avars, Roskolans, Russians or Muscovites, Poles, Czechs, Silesians, Bulgarians ... In short, the Slavic language is heard from the Caspian Sea to Saxony, from the Adriatic Sea to the German, and in all these limits lies the Slavic tribe.

Of course, such "information" was not enough for historians. To study the "age" of the Slavs, archeology, genetics and linguistics were involved. As a result, it was possible to achieve modest, but still results. According to the accepted version, the Slavs belonged to the Indo-European community, which, most likely, came out of the Dnieper-Donetsk archaeological culture, in the interfluve of the Dnieper and Don, seven thousand years ago during the Stone Age. Subsequently, the influence of this culture spread to the territory from the Vistula to the Urals, although no one has yet been able to accurately localize it. In general, speaking of the Indo-European community, we mean not a single ethnic group or civilization, but the influence of cultures and linguistic similarity. About four thousand years BC, it broke up into three conditional groups: the Celts and Romans in the West, the Indo-Iranians in the East, and somewhere in the middle, in Central and Eastern Europe, another one stood out. language group, from which the Germans, Balts and Slavs later came out. Of these, around the 1st millennium BC, the Slavic language begins to stand out.

But the information of linguistics alone is not enough - to determine the unity of an ethnos, there must be a continuous succession of archaeological cultures. The bottom link in the archaeological chain of the Slavs is considered to be the so-called “culture of under-closing burials”, which got its name from the custom of covering cremated remains with a large vessel, in Polish “flared”, that is, “upside down”. It existed in the V-II centuries BC between the Vistula and the Dnieper. In a sense, it can be said that its speakers were the earliest Slavs. It is from it that it is possible to reveal the continuity of cultural elements up to the Slavic antiquities of the early Middle Ages.

Proto-Slavic homeland

Where did the Slavic ethnic group come into the world, and what territory can be called “originally Slavic”? Historians' accounts vary. Orbini, referring to a number of authors, claims that the Slavs came out of Scandinavia: “Almost all the authors, whose blessed pen conveyed to their descendants the history of the Slavic tribe, argue and conclude that the Slavs came out of Scandinavia ... The descendants of Japheth the son of Noah (to whom the author refers the Slavs ) moved to Europe to the north, penetrating into the country now called Scandinavia. There they multiplied innumerably, as St. Augustine points out in his "City of God", where he writes that the sons and descendants of Japheth had two hundred homelands and occupied the lands located north of Mount Taurus in Cilicia, along the Northern Ocean, half of Asia, and throughout Europe. all the way to the British Ocean.

Nestor called the most ancient territory of the Slavs - the lands along the lower reaches of the Dnieper and Pannonia. The reason for the settlement of the Slavs from the Danube was the attack on them by the Volkhovs. “For many years, the essence of Slovenia sat down along the Dunaev, where there is now Ugorsk land and Bolgarsk.” Hence the Danube-Balkan hypothesis of the origin of the Slavs.

The European homeland of the Slavs also had its supporters. Thus, the prominent Czech historian Pavel Šafarik believed that the ancestral home of the Slavs should be sought on the territory of Europe, next to their kindred tribes of the Celts, Germans, Balts and Thracians. He believed that in ancient times the Slavs occupied the vast territories of Central and Eastern Europe, from where they were forced to leave the Carpathians under the onslaught of the Celtic expansion.

There was even a version about the two ancestral homelands of the Slavs, according to which the first ancestral home was the place where the Proto-Slavic language developed (between the lower reaches of the Neman and the Western Dvina) and where the Slavic people themselves were formed (according to the authors of the hypothesis, this happened from the 2nd century BC). BC) - the basin of the Vistula River. Western and Eastern Slavs have already left from there. The first settled the area of ​​the Elbe River, then the Balkans and the Danube, and the second - the banks of the Dnieper and Dniester.

The Vistula-Dnieper hypothesis about the ancestral home of the Slavs, although it remains a hypothesis, is still the most popular among historians. It is conditionally confirmed by local toponyms, as well as vocabulary. If you believe the “words”, that is, the lexical material, the ancestral home of the Slavs was located away from the sea, in a forested flat zone with swamps and lakes, as well as within the rivers flowing into the Baltic Sea, judging by the common Slavic names of fish - salmon and eel. By the way, the areas of the culture of underclothe burials already known to us fully correspond to these geographical features.

"Slavs"

The very word "Slavs" is a mystery. It is firmly in use already in the 6th century AD, at least the Byzantine historians of this time often mention the Slavs - not always friendly neighbors of Byzantium. Among the Slavs themselves, this term is already in full use as a self-name in the Middle Ages, at least judging by the annals, including the Tale of Bygone Years.

However, its origin is still unknown. The most popular version is that it comes from the words "word" or "glory", going back to the same Indo-European root ḱleu̯- "to hear". By the way, Mavro Orbini also wrote about this, though in his characteristic “arrangement”: “during their residence in Sarmatia, they (the Slavs) took the name “Slavs”, which means “glorious”.

There is a version among linguists that the Slavs owe their self-name to the names of the landscape. Presumably, it was based on the toponym "Slovutych" - another name for the Dnieper, containing a root with the meaning "wash", "cleanse".

A lot of noise at one time was caused by the version about the existence of a connection between the self-name "Slavs" and the Middle Greek word "slave" (σκλάβος). It was very popular among Western scholars of the 18th-19th centuries. It is based on the idea that the Slavs, as one of the most numerous peoples in Europe, made up a significant percentage of captives and often became the object of the slave trade. Today, this hypothesis is recognized as erroneous, since most likely the basis of "σκλάβος" was a Greek verb with the meaning "to get military trophies" - "σκυλάο".

The origin of the term "Slavs", causing great public interest in Lately, is very complex and confusing. The definition of the Slavs as an ethno-confessional community, due to the very large territory occupied by the Slavs, is often difficult, and the use of the concept of "Slavic community" for political purposes for centuries caused a serious distortion of the picture of real relationships between the Slavic peoples.

The origin of the term "Slavs" is unknown to modern science. Presumably, it goes back to some common Indo-European root, the semantic content of which is the concept of "man", "people". There are also two theories, one of which deduces Latin names Sclavi, Stlavi, Sklaveni from the ending of the names "-glory", which, in turn, is associated with the word "glory". Another theory connects the name "Slavs" with the term "word", citing as evidence the presence of the Russian word "Germans", derived from the word "mute". Both of these theories, however, are refuted by almost all modern linguists, who argue that the suffix "-yanin" unambiguously indicates belonging to a particular locality. Since the area called "Slav" is unknown to history, the origin of the name of the Slavs remains unclear.

Basic knowledge available modern science about the ancient Slavs are based either on the data of archaeological excavations (which in themselves do not provide any theoretical knowledge), or on the basis of chronicles, as a rule, known not in their original form, but in the form of later lists, descriptions and interpretations. Obviously, such factual material is completely insufficient for any serious theoretical constructions. Sources of information about the history of the Slavs are discussed below, as well as in the chapters "History" and "Linguistics", however, it should immediately be noted that any study in the field of life, life and religion of the ancient Slavs cannot claim anything more than a hypothetical model.

It should also be noted that in the science of the XIX-XX centuries. there was a serious divergence in views on the history of the Slavs between Russian and foreign researchers. On the one hand, it was caused by the special political relations of Russia with other Slavic states, the sharply increased influence of Russia on European politics and the need for a historical (or pseudo-historical) justification for this policy, as well as a backlash against it, including from openly fascist ethnographers - theorists (for example, Ratzel). On the other hand, there were (and are) fundamental differences between the scientific and methodological schools of Russia (especially the Soviet one) and Western countries. The observed discrepancy could not help but be influenced by religious aspects - the claims of Russian Orthodoxy to a special and exclusive role in the world Christian process, rooted in the history of the baptism of Rus', also required a certain revision of some views on the history of the Slavs.

In the concept of "Slavs" certain peoples are often included with a certain degree of conventionality. A number of nationalities have undergone such significant changes in their history that they can be called Slavic only with great reservations. Many peoples, mainly on the borders of traditional Slavic settlement, have signs of both the Slavs and their neighbors, which requires the introduction of the concept "marginal Slavs". These peoples definitely include the Dakoromanians, Albanians and Illyrians, Leto-Slavs.

Most of the Slavic population, having experienced numerous historical vicissitudes, one way or another mixed with other peoples. Many of these processes took place already in modern times; Thus, Russian settlers in Transbaikalia, having mixed with the local Buryat population, gave rise to a new community known as chaldons. By and large, it makes sense to derive the concept "Mesoslavs" in relation to peoples that have a direct genetic connection only with the Wends, Ants and Sklavens.

It is necessary to use the linguistic method in identifying the Slavs, as suggested by a number of researchers, with extreme caution. There are many examples of such a discrepancy or syncretism in the linguistics of some peoples; for example, the Polabian and Kashubian Slavs de facto speak German, and many Balkan peoples have changed their original language beyond recognition several times over the past millennium and a half.

Such a valuable method of research as anthropological, unfortunately, is practically inapplicable to the Slavs, since a single anthropological type, characteristic of the entire habitat of the Slavs, has not been formed. The traditional everyday anthropological characteristics of the Slavs refers mainly to the northern and eastern Slavs, who for centuries assimilated with the Balts and Scandinavians, and cannot be attributed to the eastern and, even more so, to the southern Slavs. Moreover, as a result of significant external influences from, in particular, the Muslim conquerors, the anthropological characteristics of not only the Slavs, but also all the inhabitants of Europe changed significantly. For example, the indigenous inhabitants of the Apennine Peninsula during the heyday of the Roman Empire had an appearance characteristic of the inhabitants of Central Russia in the 19th century: blond curly hair, blue eyes and rounded faces.

As mentioned above, information about the Proto-Slavs is known to us exclusively from ancient, and later from Byzantine sources of the beginning of the 1st millennium AD. The Greeks and Romans gave completely arbitrary names to the Proto-Slavic peoples, attributing them to the area, appearance, or combat characteristics of the tribes. As a result, there is a certain confusion and redundancy in the names of the Proto-Slavic peoples. At the same time, however, in the Roman Empire, the Slavic tribes were generally called by the terms Stavani, Stlavani, Suoveni, Slavi, Slavini, Sklavini, obviously having a common origin, but leaving a wide scope for reasoning about the original meaning of this word, as already mentioned above.

Modern ethnography rather conditionally divides the Slavs of the new time into three groups:

Eastern, which includes Russians, Ukrainians and Belarusians; some researchers distinguish only the Russian nation, which has three branches: Great Russian, Little Russian and Belarusian;

Western, which include Poles, Czechs, Slovaks and Lusatians;

Southern, which include Bulgarians, Serbs, Croats, Slovenes, Macedonians, Bosnians, Montenegrins.

It is easy to see that this division corresponds more to linguistic differences between peoples than to ethnographic and anthropological ones; Thus, the division of the main population of the former Russian Empire into Russians and Ukrainians is highly controversial, and the unification of the Cossacks, Galicians, Eastern Poles, northern Moldavians and Hutsuls into one nationality is more about politics than science.

Unfortunately, based on the foregoing, a researcher of Slavic communities can hardly be based on a different method of research and the classification that follows from it than linguistic. However, with all the richness and effectiveness of linguistic methods, in the historical aspect they are very susceptible to external influences, and, as a result, they may turn out to be unreliable in the historical perspective.

Of course, the main ethnographic group of the Eastern Slavs are the so-called Russians, at least in terms of their size. However, with regard to Russians, we can speak only in a general sense, since the Russian nation is a very bizarre synthesis of small ethnographic groups and nationalities.

Three ethnic elements took part in the formation of the Russian nation: Slavic, Finnish and Tatar-Mongolian. Asserting this, however, we cannot definitely say what exactly the original East Slavic type was. A similar uncertainty is observed in relation to the Finns, who are united in one group only due to a certain proximity of the languages ​​of the Baltic Finns proper, Lapps, Livs, Estonians and Magyars. Even less obvious is the genetic origin of the Tatar-Mongols, who, as is known, have a rather distant relation to modern Mongols, and even more so to the Tatars.

A number of researchers believe that the social elite of ancient Rus', which gave the name to the whole people, was a certain people of the Rus, who by the middle of the 10th century. subjugated Slovenian, glade and part of the Krivichi. There are, however, significant differences in the hypotheses about the origin and the very fact of the existence of the Rus. The Norman origin of the Rus is assumed to be from the Scandinavian tribes of the Viking expansion period. This hypothesis was described as early as the 18th century, but was received with hostility by the patriotic-minded part of Russian scientists, headed by Lomonosov. At present, the Norman hypothesis is considered in the West as a basic one, in Russia - as a probable one.

The Slavic hypothesis of the origin of the Rus was formulated by Lomonosov and Tatishchev in defiance of the Norman hypothesis. According to this hypothesis, the Rus originate from the Middle Dnieper and are identified with glades. Under this hypothesis, which had official status in the USSR, many archaeological finds in the south of Russia were fitted.

The Indo-Iranian hypothesis suggests the origin of the Rus from the Sarmatian tribes of Roxalans or Rosomones, mentioned by ancient authors, and the name of the people - from the term ruksi- "light". This hypothesis does not stand up to criticism, first of all, due to the dolichocephalicity of the skulls inherent in the burials of that time, which is inherent only to the northern peoples.

There is a strong (and not only in everyday life) belief that the formation of the Russian nation was influenced by a certain nation called the Scythians. Meanwhile, in the scientific sense, this term has no right to exist, since the concept of "Scythians" is no less generalized than "Europeans", and includes dozens, if not hundreds of nomadic peoples of Turkic, Aryan and Iranian origin. Naturally, these nomadic peoples, in one way or another, had a certain influence on the formation of the eastern and southern Slavs, but it is completely wrong to consider this influence decisive (or critical).

As the Eastern Slavs spread, they mixed not only with the Finns and Tatars, but also, somewhat later, with the Germans.

The main ethnographic group of modern Ukraine are the so-called little Russians, living on the territory of the Middle Dnieper and Slobozhanshchina, also called Cherkasy. Two ethnographic groups are also distinguished: Carpathian (Boikos, Hutsuls, Lemkos) and Polissya (Litvins, Polishchuks). The formation of the Little Russian (Ukrainian) people took place in the XII-XV centuries. based on the southwestern part of the population of Kievan Rus and genetically differed little from the indigenous Russian nation that had formed by the time of the baptism of Rus. In the future, there was a partial assimilation of the Little Russians with the Hungarians, Lithuanians, Poles, Tatars and Romanians.

Belarusians, calling themselves so by the geographical term "White Rus'", are a complex synthesis of Dregovichi, Radimichi and partially Vyatichi with Poles and Lithuanians. Initially, until the 16th century, the term "White Rus'" was applied exclusively to the Vitebsk region and northeastern Mogilev region, while the western part of the modern Minsk and Vitebsk regions, together with the territory of the present Grodno region, were called "Black Russia", and the southern part of modern Belarus - Polissya. These areas became part of "Belaya Rus" much later. Subsequently, the Belarusians absorbed the Polotsk Krivichs, and some of them were pushed back to the Pskov and Tver lands. The Russian name for the Belarusian-Ukrainian mixed population is Polishchuks, Litvins, Rusyns, Ruthenians.

Polabian Slavs(Wends) - the indigenous Slavic population of the north, northwest and east of the territory occupied by modern Germany. The composition of the Polabian Slavs includes three tribal unions: Lutichi (velets or Velets), Bodrichi (encouraged, rereki or rarogs) and Lusatians (Lusatian Serbs or Sorbs). At present, the entire Polabian population is completely Germanized.

Lusatians(Lusatian Serbs, Sorbs, Wends, Serbs) - the indigenous Mesoslavic population, lives on the territory of Lusatia - the former Slavic regions, now located in Germany. They originate from the Polabian Slavs, occupied in the 10th century. German feudal lords.

Extremely southern Slavs, conditionally united under the name "Bulgarians" represent seven ethnographic groups: Dobrujantsi, Khartsoi, Balkanji, Thracians, Ruptsi, Macedonians, Shopi. These groups differ significantly not only in language, but also in customs, social structure and culture in general, and the final formation of a single Bulgarian community has not been completed even in our time.

Initially, the Bulgarians lived on the Don, when the Khazars, after moving to the west, founded a large kingdom on the lower Volga. Under the pressure of the Khazars, part of the Bulgarians moved to the lower Danube, forming modern Bulgaria, and the other part to the middle Volga, where they subsequently mixed with the Russians.

The Balkan Bulgarians mixed with the local Thracians; in modern Bulgaria, elements of the Thracian culture can be traced south of the Balkan Range. With the expansion of the First Bulgarian Kingdom, new tribes entered the generalized people of the Bulgarians. A significant part of the Bulgarians assimilated with the Turks in the period of the 15th-19th centuries.

Croatians- a group of southern Slavs (self-name - hrvati). The ancestors of the Croats are the tribes of Kachichi, Shubichi, Svachichi, Magorovichi, Croats, who moved along with other Slavic tribes to the Balkans in the 6th-7th centuries, and then settled in the north of the Dalmatian coast, in southern Istria, between the Sava and Drava rivers, in northern Bosnia .

Actually, the Croats, who form the backbone of the Croatian group, are most of all related to the Slavons.

In 806, the Croats fell under the rule of Thrace, in 864 - Byzantium, in 1075 they formed their own kingdom.

At the end of the XI - beginning of the XII centuries. the main part of the Croatian lands was included in the Kingdom of Hungary, resulting in significant assimilation with the Hungarians. In the middle of the XV century. Venice (back in the 11th century, seized part of Dalmatia) took possession of the Croatian Primorye (with the exception of Dubrovnik). In 1527, Croatia gained independence, falling under the rule of the Habsburgs.

In 1592, part of the Croatian kingdom was conquered by the Turks. A military frontier was created to protect against the Ottomans; its inhabitants, the frontiers, are Croats, Slavonians and Serb refugees.

In 1699, Turkey ceded to Austria the captured part, among other lands, under the Karlovtsy peace. In 1809-1813. Croatia was annexed to the Illyrian provinces ceded to Napoleon I. From 1849 to 1868. it constituted, together with Slavonia, the coastal region and Fiume, an independent crown land, in 1868 it was again united with Hungary, and in 1881 the Slovak border region was annexed to the latter.

A small group of South Slavs - Illyrians, the later inhabitants of ancient Illyria, located west of Thessaly and Macedonia, and east of Italy and Rhetia, as far north as the river Istra. The most significant of the Illyrian tribes are: Dalmatians, Liburnians, Istrians, Japodes, Pannonians, Desitiates, Pirusts, Dicyons, Dardani, Ardei, Taulantii, Plerei, Iapigi, Messaps.

At the beginning of the III century. BC e. the Illyrians were subjected to Celtic influence, as a result of which a group of Illyro-Celtic tribes was formed. As a result of the Illyrian Wars with Rome, the Illyrians underwent rapid romanization, as a result of which their language disappeared.

From the Illyrians are descended modern Albanians And dalmatians.

In formation Albanians(self-name shchiptar, known in Italy as arbreshi, in Greece as arvanites) the tribes of the Illyrians and Thracians took part, and the influence of Rome and Byzantium also affected it. The community of Albanians was formed relatively late, in the 15th century, but it was strongly influenced by the Ottoman domination, which destroyed the economic ties between the communities. At the end of the XVIII century. Albanians formed two main ethnic groups: the Ghegs and the Tosks.

Romanians(Dakorumyns), who until the 12th century were a pastoral mountain people who did not have a stable place of residence, are not pure Slavs. Genetically, they are a mixture of Dacians, Illyrians, Romans and South Slavs.

Aromanians(Aromans, Tsintsars, Kutsovlachs) are the descendants of the ancient Romanized population of Moesia. With a high degree of probability, the ancestors of the Aromanians until the 9th - 10th centuries lived in the northeast of the Balkan Peninsula and are not an autochthonous population in the territory of their present residence, i.e. in Albania and Greece. Linguistic analysis shows the almost complete identity of the vocabulary of Aromanians and Dakoromanians, which indicates that these two peoples long time were in close contact. Byzantine sources also testify to the resettlement of the Aromanians.

Origin Megleno-Romanian not fully explored. There is no doubt that they belong to the eastern part of the Romanians, which was subjected to a long influence of the Dakoromanians, and are not an autochthonous population in the places of modern residence, i.e. in Greece.

Istro-Romanians represent the western part of the Romanians, currently living in small numbers in the eastern part of the Istrian peninsula.

Origin Gagauz, people living in almost all Slavic and neighboring countries (mainly in Bessarabia), is highly controversial. According to one of the widespread versions, this Orthodox people, who speak the specific Gagauz language of the Turkic group, are Turkified Bulgarians mixed with the Polovtsy of the southern Russian steppes.

Southwestern Slavs, currently united under the code name "Serbs"(self-designation - srbi), as well as singling out of them Montenegrins And Bosnians, are assimilated descendants of the Serbs themselves, Duklyans, Tervunyans, Konavlyans, Zakhlumyans, named, who occupied a significant part of the territory in the basin of the southern tributaries of the Sava and Danube, the Dinaric Mountains, south. part of the Adriatic coast. The modern southwestern Slavs are divided into regional ethnic groups: the Shumadians, the Uzhians, the Moravians, the Machvans, the Kosovians, the Srems, and the Banachans.

Bosnians(Bosanians, self-name - Muslims) live in Bosnia and Herzegovina. In fact, they are Serbs who mixed with Croats and converted to Islam during the Ottoman occupation. The Turks, Arabs, Kurds who moved to Bosnia and Herzegovina mixed with the Bosnians.

Montenegrins(self-name - "tsrnogortsy") live in Montenegro and Albania, genetically differ little from the Serbs. Unlike most Balkan countries, Montenegro actively resisted the Ottoman yoke, as a result of which, in 1796, it gained independence. As a result, the level of Turkish assimilation of Montenegrins is minimal.

The center of settlement of the southwestern Slavs is the historical region of Raska, which unites the basins of the Drina, Lim, Piva, Tara, Ibar, Western Morava rivers, where in the second half of the 8th century. an early state was formed. In the middle of the ninth century the Serbian principality was created; in the X-XI centuries. the center of political life moved to the south-west of Raska, to Duklja, Travuniya, Zakhumya, then again to Raska. Then, at the end of the XIV - beginning of the XV centuries, Serbia entered the Ottoman Empire.

Western Slavs, known by the modern name "Slovaks"(self-name - Slovaks), on the territory of modern Slovakia began to prevail from the VI century. AD Moving from the southeast, the Slovaks partially absorbed the former Celtic, Germanic, and then the Avar population. The southern areas of Slovak settlement in the 7th century were probably within the borders of the state of Samo. In the ninth century along the course of the Vah and Nitra, the first tribal principality of the early Slovaks arose - Nitrans, or the Principality of Pribina, which around 833 joined the Moravian Principality - the core of the future Great Moravian state. At the end of the ninth century The Great Moravian principality collapsed under the onslaught of the Hungarians, after which its eastern regions by the XII century. became part of Hungary, and later Austria-Hungary.

The term "Slovaks" appeared from the middle of the 15th century; earlier, the inhabitants of this territory were called "Slovenia", "Slovenka".

The second group of Western Slavs - Poles, formed as a result of the unification of the Western shy; Slavic tribes of the glades, slenzan, vislyans, mazovshans, pomeranians. Up to late XIX V. There was no single Polish nation: the Poles were divided into several large ethnic groups that differed in dialects and some ethnographic features: in the west - the Great Poles (which included the Kuyavians), the Lenchitsans and the Seradzians; in the south - the Malopolyans, whose group included the Gorals (the population of mountainous regions), Krakovians and Sandomierz; in Silesia - slenzan (slenzaks, Silesians, among whom there were Poles, Silesian Gorals, etc.); in the north-east - Mazury (they included Kurpi) and Warmiaks; on the coast of the Baltic Sea - the Pomeranians, and in Pomorie the Kashubians were especially prominent, retaining the specifics of their language and culture.

The third group of Western Slavs - Czechs(self-name - Cheshi). The Slavs as part of the tribes (Czechs, Croats, Luchians, Zlichans, Dechans, Pshovans, Litomers, Hebans, Glomachi) became the predominant population in the territory of modern Czech Republic in the 6th-7th centuries, assimilating the remnants of the Celtic and Germanic population.

In the ninth century The Czech Republic was part of the Great Moravian Empire. At the end of the 9th - beginning of the 10th centuries. the Czech (Prague) principality was formed, in the X century. included Moravia in their lands. From the second half of the XII century. The Czech Republic became part of the Holy Roman Empire; further, German colonization took place on the Czech lands, in 1526 the power of the Habsburgs was established.

At the end of the 18th - beginning of the 19th centuries. the revival of Czech identity began, which ended, with the collapse of Austria-Hungary in 1918, with the formation nation state Czechoslovakia, which in 1993 broke up into the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

As part of the modern Czech Republic, the population of the Czech Republic proper and the historical region of Moravia stand out, where regional groups of Horaks, Moravian Slovaks, Moravian Vlachs and Hanaks are preserved.

Leto-Slavs are considered the youngest branch of the North European Aryans. They live to the east of the middle Vistula and have significant anthropological differences from the Lithuanians living in the same area. According to a number of researchers, the Leto-Slavs, having mixed with the Finns, reached the middle Main and Inn, and only later were partially forced out, and partially assimilated by the Germanic tribes.

Intermediate nationality between the southwestern and western Slavs - slovenes, currently occupying the extreme north-west of the Balkan Peninsula, from the upper reaches of the Sava and Drava rivers to the eastern Alps and the Adriatic coast up to the Friuli valley, as well as in the Middle Danube and Lower Pannonia. This territory was occupied by them during the mass migration of Slavic tribes to the Balkans in the 6th-7th centuries, forming two Slovenian regions - the Alpine (Karantans) and the Danubian (Pannonian Slavs).

From the middle of the ninth century most of the Slovenian lands came under the rule of southern Germany, as a result of which Catholicism began to spread there.

In 1918, the kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes was created under the general name of Yugoslavia.

One of the largest cultural, linguistic and national communities of almost all the peoples of Europe are the Slavs. If we consider the origin of the name, then it is worth clarifying that scientists divide its origin into several options. In the first, the word "Slavs" comes from "word", that is, from a people speaking one understandable, accessible language and others were dumb, inaccessible, incomprehensible, alien to them.

Another existing version of the origin of the name speaks of "cleansing or ablution", which implies origin from the people living near the river.

An equally popular theory says that the "Slavs" came from the name of the first community of the people, which gave the spread of this word to other territories in the process of emigration, especially during the Great Migration.

Today, there are about 350 million Slavs throughout the territories of various states in the Western, Southern and Eastern regions of Europe, which gave them a division into varieties. Also, Slavic communities are partially located on the territory of modern Central Europe, some parts of America and in small areas throughout.

The largest number of Slavs are Russians and the value of this figure is about 146 million people, the second largest number is occupied by the Poles, who today are about 57 and a half million people, and the third place was taken by Ukrainians with a figure of about 57 million people.

To date, the Slavs are characterized only as a single language family, which are partially united by religion, some cultural values ​​and the past unity of the entire Slavic people. Unfortunately, obvious antiquities, references and relics have not been preserved. One can only feel all the unity in folklore, chronicles and epics, which are still relevant for many peoples today.

East Slavs

Russians

Russians - as an independent people of the entire Slavic community, they appeared in the 14-18th century. The main center of education of the entire Russian people is the Muscovite state, which from the moment of its creation united the territories of the lands of the Don, Oka, and Dnieper. After, expanding its borders and conquering new territories, it expanded and settled to the coast of the White Sea.

Delving into the history of life, it is important to note the location of Russian settlements. Most often, this also affected the standard of living and their way of life. Mostly people were engaged in cattle breeding, farming, collecting gifts of nature, especially medicinal herbs, and fishing. The early peoples processed metal and wood, which helped in construction and everyday life. They also engaged in trade, expanding the path.

Ukrainians

Ukrainians - the first mention of the word "Ukrainians" appeared around the end of the 12th century. Until the 17th century, the nationality was located mainly on the steppe territory of the outskirts of Rus', in the Zaporozhian Sich, but due to the increased onslaught of Catholic Poland, the Ukrainians had to flee to the territory of Sloboda Ukraine. Approximately in 1655-1656, the Left-Bank Ukraine united with the Russian territories, and only in the 18th century did the Right-Bank Ukraine, which determined the liquidation of the Zaporozhian Sich and the settlement of Ukrainians up to the mouth of the Danube.

The traditional life of Ukrainians was often determined by the clay molding of houses, the variety of household decorations. A rich spiritual culture is defined and maintained to this day in national clothes, songs and jewelry;

Belarusians

Belarusians - the nationality was formed in the Polotsk-Minsk and Smolensk lands. During the main formation of the people, the life of culture was especially influenced by Lithuanians, Poles and Russian nationalities, making the language, history and culture close to many in spirit.

According to some legends, the nationality got its name from the hair color of the indigenous population - "Belaya Rus" and only in 1850 they officially began to use "Belarus".
The life and main occupations of the population did not differ from the Russian peoples, so agriculture was predominant. Today, Belarusians have preserved a rich cultural heritage expressed in festive songs, famous national cuisine and decorations for traditional dresses for men and women.

Western Slavs

Poles

Poles are the indigenous population of modern Poland, belonging to the group of Western Slavs. The Czechs and Slovaks are considered the closest to the Poles in the history of development and formation.

Until the 19th century, there was no single Polish nation, there were only nationalities, which were divided according to ethnic characteristics, varieties of dialect and territorial features of residence. So the nationality was subdivided into Velikopolian, Krakovyan, Mazury, Pomeranians and others.

The main occupation of the Poles was hunting to provide themselves with food and good trade raw materials. Falconry was especially valued. In addition to hunting, pottery, bark weaving and chariotry were used in everyday life.
Chronicles with descriptions of richly decorated houses, finds in the form of painted clay dishes and, of course, bright outfits made of natural fabrics with painted ornaments, which are actively used to celebrate national holidays, have survived to this day;

Czechs

Czechs - the territory of modern Czech Republic in the 4th century was occupied by small Slavic tribes until the 10th century. After joining these lands to the then strong and powerful Roman Empire, the Czech peoples reunited into a single whole on fertile lands and began their intensive development, which consisted in agriculture and pottery. A broad culture of the Czechs has survived to this day, expressed in legends, famous folklore and applied art;

Slovaks

Slovaks - as early as the beginning of the 4th century, disunited tribes of Slavs appeared on the territory of modern Slovakia, beginning the gradual development of these lands. Already in the 5th century, the tribes united and created the Principality of Nitra, which saved them from ruin from the constant attacks of the Arabs. This association gave rise to the future Czechoslovak Republic, in the divisions of which Slovenia appeared into independent states.

The life and occupations of the population were completely diverse, as they were divided depending on the location of the people. These included habitual farming and construction, whose existence is still being found by archaeologists throughout the country. Small-scale pastoralism was also popular;

Lusatians

The Lusatians are the remaining Polabian-Baltic Slavs, who got their name from the location of their territories of residence, namely from the shores of the Baltic Sea and the Elbe River to the Lusatian Mountains. A certain number of Slavs emigrated to the territory of these lands in the amount of only 8 thousand people.

In the new territory, the Lusatians quickly and efficiently developed by doing needlework, fishing, agriculture and the development of trade in many areas. This good development was facilitated by the territorial location. Trade routes passed to the East and Scandinavia through these fertile lands, which helped to maintain trade relations and a decent standard of living for the population.

South Slavs

Bulgarians

Bulgarians - the first Slavic tribes on the territory of modern Bulgaria appeared in the 5th-6th century. Unification and expansion began only from the 7th century thanks to the Bulgars who came from Central Asia. The unification of the two peoples by the then ruling khan made it possible in the future to create a strong state with a rich and eventful history.
The way of life and cultural heritage of the Bulgarians was influenced by the Roman, Greek and Ottoman cultures, which left a visible mark on the history of the country, each in its own era. Today you can see architectural monuments of different time frames, enjoy folklore, where several varieties of cultures are mixed, which makes it unique and different from others;

Serbs

Serbs are the indigenous people of the South Slavs. It is the Serbs that are considered the closest to the Croats in terms of origin, development, cultural values, since for a long time they were considered one common Serbo-Croatian tribe. The division of history began in the choice of faith - the Serbs adopted Orthodoxy, and the Croats converted to the Catholic faith.
The cultural heritage and development of Serbia as a whole is rich and multifaceted. In addition to folk, world-famous dances, impressive outfits, distinguished by bright colors and embroidery, in Serbia even today some pagan rites are honored, which took the basis back in the days of the development of the people before the arrival of the main faith - Orthodoxy;

Croatians

Croats - mass migration in the 6th-8th centuries on the Adriatic coast made it possible for the Slavic peoples not only to expand the number of the first settlers who settled the territory of the future Croatia, but also to strengthen their position by uniting with local communities. The ancient Croatian tribes who came from the Vistula conquered the coast, bringing their language, another faith, and radically changing local life. The Adriatic Sea was considered a good opportunity for trade in expanding ties between peoples, so the area on the coast has always attracted various settlers.

In Croatia, ancient traditions and the modern rhythm of life are still wonderfully combined. A rich culture brings its own rules to modern life, decorations, traditional holidays and festivities;

Slovenians

Slovenes - The 6th century, as a time of active migration, became the basis for the peoples of Slovenia. The Slavs who settled in the territory founded almost the first Slavic state— Carantania. Later, the state had to give the reins of government to the Franks who conquered them, but despite this, they retained their history and independence, which undoubtedly influenced further development and religion. Another important step in the development of Slovenia was the writing of the first chronicle around the year 1000 in the Slovenian language.
Despite periodic wars and periodic economic losses, the country over and over again was able to resume its usual life and way of life thanks to the widely developed agriculture and applied arts, which made it possible to establish trade with neighboring communities and states.

Today Slovenia is a country with a complex but rich history, maximum security and wide hospitality for every visitor who wants to get acquainted with beautiful views in the spirit of ancient Europe;

Bosnians

Bosnians - despite the fact that the territory of the future country of Bosnia was also settled by the Slavs in the 6-7th century, it was the last to form an integral and unified state, rule and adopt Christianity as practically a single religion. Historians argue that isolation from neighboring countries- Byzantium, Italy, Germany, was an obstacle to that. But despite this, the country prospered thanks to the widest agriculture, which was facilitated by the location of its central part on the Bosna River.

Despite the rather difficult history, the country is distinguished by a bright cultural heritage and maintaining it for its descendants. Visiting the country, anyone can get acquainted with it and immerse themselves in an interesting history.

Disputes about the Slavic peoples and the unity of the Slavs.

Being the largest nation in all of Europe, scientists from various fields are still arguing about the true origin of the Slavic people. Someone suggests their origin began from the Aryans and Germans, some scientists even suggest the ancient Celtic origin of the Slavs. One way or another, the Slavs are today an Indo-European people who, due to migration, have spread over a vast territory and unite many countries and peoples with their cultural heritage, despite their difference in mentality, nationality and the versatility of history.

Customs and traditions helped to form entire states, uniting and strengthening over the centuries, which gave us modern world cultural diversity.

1. Introduction 3p.
2. Modern Slavic peoples. Western Slavs. Russian 5str.
3. Ukrainians 7str.
4. Belarusians 9str.
5. Western Slavs. Poles 12p.
6. Czechs 13str.
7. Slovaks 14pp.
8. Luzhychane 16str.
9. Kashubian 17str.
10. Southern Slavs. Serbs 18p.
11. Bulgarians 20p.
12. Croats 21p.
13. Macedonians 23p.
14. Montenegrins 24p.
15. Bosnians 25p.
16. Slovenes 25p.
17. References 27p.

Introduction

Already about two thousand years ago, Greek and Roman scientists knew that in the east of Europe, between the Carpathian Mountains and the Baltic Sea, numerous tribes of Wends live. These were the ancestors of modern Slavic peoples. By their name, the Baltic Sea was then called the Venedian Gulf of the Northern Ocean. According to archaeologists, the Wends were the original inhabitants of Europe, the descendants of the tribes that lived here in the Stone and Bronze Ages.

The ancient name of the Slavs Wends was preserved in the language of the Germanic peoples until the late Middle Ages, and in the Finnish language Russia is still called Veneia. The name "Slavs" began to spread only one and a half thousand years ago in the middle of the 1st millennium AD. e. At first, only Western Slavs were called that way. Their eastern counterparts were called Ants. Then the Slavs began to call all the tribes speaking Slavic languages.

At the beginning of our era, throughout Europe there were large movements of tribes and peoples who entered into a struggle with the slave-owning Roman Empire. At this time, the Slavic tribes already occupied a large territory. Some of them penetrated to the west, to the banks of the Odra and Laba (Elbe) rivers. Together with the population living along the banks of the Vistula River, they became the ancestors of the modern West Slavic peoples - Polish, Czech and Slovak.

Especially grandiose was the movement of the Slavs to the south to the banks of the Danube and to the Balkan Peninsula. These territories were occupied by the Slavs in the VI VII centuries. after a long war with byzantine empire lasting over a century.

The ancestors of the modern South Slavic peoples Bulgarians and the peoples of Yugoslavia were Slavic tribes who settled on the Balkan Peninsula. They mixed with the local Thracian and Illyrian population, which had previously been oppressed by Byzantine slave owners and feudal lords.

At the time when the Slavs settled in the Balkan Peninsula, Byzantine geographers and historians became closely acquainted with them. They pointed to the large number of Slavs and the vastness of their territory, reported that the Slavs were well acquainted with agriculture and cattle breeding. Of particular interest is the information of Byzantine authors that the Slavs in the VI and VII centuries. did not yet have a state. They lived in independent tribes. War chiefs were at the head of these numerous tribes. The names of the leaders who lived more than a thousand years ago are known: Mezhimir, Dobrita, Pirogost, Khvilibud and others. The Byzantines wrote that the Slavs were very brave, skilled in military affairs and well armed; they are freedom-loving, do not recognize slavery and submission.

The ancestors of the Slavic peoples of our country Russian, Ukrainian and Belarusian in ancient times lived in the forest-steppe and forest areas between the Dniester and Dnieper rivers. Then they began to move north, up the Dnieper. It was a slow, centuries-old movement of agricultural communities and individual families who were looking for new convenient places for settlement and areas rich in animals and fish. The settlers cut down virgin forests for their fields.

At the beginning of our era, the Slavs penetrated the upper Dnieper region, where tribes lived, related to modern Lithuanians and Latvians. Further north, the Slavs settled areas in which, in some places, ancient Finno-Ugric tribes lived, related to modern Maris, Mordovians, as well as Finns, Karelians and Estonians. The local population in terms of their culture was significantly inferior to the Slavs. A few centuries later, it mixed with the aliens, learned their language and culture. In different areas, the East Slavic tribes were called differently, which is known to us from the oldest Russian chronicle: Vyatichi, Krivichi, Drevlyans, Polyana, Radimichi and others.

The Slavs waged a constant struggle with the nomads who lived in the Black Sea steppes and often plundered the Slavic lands. The most dangerous enemy was the nomadic Khazars, who created in the 7th VIII centuries. a large strong state in the lower reaches of the Volga and Don rivers.

During this period, the Eastern Slavs began to be called Russ or Ross, as is believed, from the name of one of the tribes Russ, who lived on the border with Khazaria, between the Dnieper and the Don. This is how the names "Russia" and "Russians" came about. [ 7 ]

Modern Slavic peoples

East Slavs

Russians

Russians (Us. Great Russians) East Slavic people living mainly in the Russian Federation, and also constituting a significant proportion of the population of Belarus, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Estonia, Latvia, Moldova, Kyrgyzstan, Lithuania and Uzbekistan. In anthropological terms, Russians represent different subtypes of a large Caucasian race, they speak Russian, they are connected by a common history, culture and origin.

The number of Russians is currently about 150 million, of which 115.9 million are in the Russian Federation (according to the 2002 census). Orthodoxy, adopted in 988, is considered the traditional national religion.

A significant part of Russians lives in the central part, in the south and north-west of Russia, in the Urals. According to 2002 data, among the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, the largest percentage of the Russian population is in the Vologda Oblast (96.56%). The share of Russians exceeds 90% in 30 subjects of the Federation mainly in the regions of the Central and North-Western federal districts, as well as the south of Siberia. Most national republics the share of Russians ranges from 30 to 50%. The smallest number of Russians is in Ingushetia, Chechnya and Dagestan (less than 5%).

According to the peculiarities of language and life, Russians are divided, according to the scheme proposed by A. A. Shakhmatov, A. I. Sobolevsky and later adopted by many, in particular Soviet, researchers (B. M. Lyapunov, F. Philip, etc.), into two or three large dialect groups:northern border and southern shark with an intermediate dialect of Moscow. The border between the first two runs along the line PskovTverMoscowNizhny Novgorod. At present, due to the development of school education and mass communication, the differences in dialects have greatly decreased.

Household and language features, among Russians, a number of smaller ethnographic groups stand out:mountaineers, tundra peasants, Cossacks(Kazan, Don, Amur, etc.), masons (Bukhtarma), Kamchadals, Karyms, Kerzhaks, Kolymchans, Lipovans, Markovians, Meshchers, Molokans, Odnodvortsy, Polekhs, Poles(ethnographic group of Russians),Pomors, Pushkars, Russian Germans, Russian Ustyintsy, Sayan, Semey, Tudov, Tsukan, Yakut.

The first information about the history of Russians originates from the Tale of Bygone Years, compiled in the 12th century on the basis of the first chronicle of the 11th century. In the introductory part, the compiler of the Tale talks about the Slavic tribes that belong to the Russians. The name "Russians" comes from the people of Rus, according to the compiler of "The Tale of Bygone Years" of the Varangian (Scandinavian) people. There are disputes about the ethnic origin of the first bearers of this name: Western and many Russian scientists recognize their Varangian origin, but there are other versions: some scientists consider them Slavs, others Iranian-speaking nomads (Roxalans), others other Germanic tribes (Goths, Rugs and etc.).

Around the 12th century, as a result of the merger of East Slavic tribal unions, the Old Russian nationality was formed. Its further consolidation was prevented by the feudal disintegration of Kievan Rus, and the unification of the principalities under the rule of several states (the Grand Duchy of Moscow, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and later the Commonwealth) laid the foundation for its further disintegration into three modern peoples: Russians, Ukrainians and Belarusians. Nai big role in the formation of the Russian people, the descendants of the tribes of the north-east of Rus' played Slovene Ilmen, Krivichi, Vyatichi, etc., due to the weak migration processes in the Middle Ages, the contribution of other tribes is seen as much less significant.

At the turn of the XIXXX centuries, the Russians were understood as the totality of three ethnographic groups: Great Russians, Little Russians and Belarusians, that is, all Eastern Slavs. It was 86 million or 72.5% of the population of the Russian Empire. This was the dominant point of view, reflected in encyclopedias. However, already at that time, a number of researchers considered the differences between the groups sufficient to recognize them as separate peoples. In connection with the subsequent deepening of these differences and the national self-determination of the Little Russians (Ukrainians) and Belarusians, the ethnonym "Russians" ceased to apply to them and was preserved only for the Great Russians, replacing the former ethnonym. Now, usually, when speaking about pre-revolutionary Russia, only Great Russians are understood as Russians in particular, arguing that Russians made up 43% of its population (about 56 million).

Religion

The baptism of Kievan Rus, which united all the Eastern Slavs, was performed in 988 by Prince Vladimir. Christianity came to Rus' from Byzantium in the form of the Eastern rite and began to spread in the upper strata of society long before this event. Meanwhile, the rejection of paganism proceeded slowly. The magi of the old gods had a noticeable influence as early as the 11th century. Until the 13th century, princes received two names pagan at birth and Christian at baptism (Vsevolod the Big Nest, for example, also bore the name Dmitry); but this is not necessarily explained by the remnants of paganism (“princely”, dynastic name had a state and clan rather than a pagan-religious status).

The largest religious organization uniting Orthodox Russians is the Russian Orthodox Church; its dioceses, autonomous and independent Orthodox churches function outside of Russia. In the 17th century, a small part of Russians did not support the reforms of the church carried out by Patriarch Nikon, which caused a split and the emergence of Old Believers. Large Old Believer organizations are also ethnographic groups. Many pagan beliefs in a modified form survived until the 20th century and even to this day, existing together with Christianity. The attitude of the Russian Orthodox Church towards them is ambiguous from disapproval to inclusion in the official cult. Among them are both rituals (holidays Maslenitsa, Ivan Kupala, etc.), as well as belief in creatures of pagan mythology (brownies, goblin, mermaids, etc.), witchcraft, fortune-telling, omens, etc. Orthodoxy played a crucial role in the self-determination of Russians influencing culture and mentality. The adoption of Orthodoxy turned a person into a Russian, regardless of his ethnic origin.

At present, there is also an interest in a very small part of the Russian population in paganism in the form in which it existed before the introduction of Christianity in Rus'. There is a formation of large associations of communities (Union of Slavic Communities, Veles Circle, Circle of Pagan Traditions). The number of adherents of the pagan religion at the moment is small. Part of the Russian population of Russia and some other countries are adherents of a number of totalitarian sects.

The second largest confession among Russians is Protestantism (1-2 million). The largest Protestant movement in Russia is Baptism, which has a 140-year history in Russia. There is also a large number of Pentecostals and Charismatics, there are Lutherans, Seventh Day Adventists, Methodists, Presbyterians.

Some Russians profess Catholicism, Islam, Buddhism and other religions, including "para-Christian" or pseudo-Christian, often called sects or totalitarian sects, for example, "Jehovah's Witnesses", "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints" (Mormons), "Unification Church" (Moonies).

Russian holidays

Russians National holidays holidays of the Russian people associated with widespread folk traditions of their celebration.

New Year (on the night of December 31 to January 1). It is customary to decorate a room with a decorated Christmas tree or branches. At midnight on January 1, the congratulations of the head of state and the chimes are listened to. It is customary to serve, among other things, Olivier salad and champagne. Children are given gifts (from "Santa Claus"). According to opinion polls, this is the most celebrated holiday.

- Nativity(Jan. 7 according to the new style and December 25 according to the Julian calendar) Orthodox holiday. On the night before Christmas, it is customary to guess, which has never been approved by the Orthodox Church. Fortune-telling of girls about future marriage was especially popular. The holiday is celebrated with a gala dinner. The tradition of celebrating Christmas has been officially restored in post-Soviet Russia.

Epiphany (January 19 according to the new style) Orthodox holiday. On the night of Epiphany, it is customary to bless the water in the church. The onset of especially strong “Epiphany frosts” is associated with Epiphany. Swimming is also practiced in an ice-hole carved in the form of a cross (Jordan).

Maslenitsa (“Pancake Week”) the week before Lent. It has ancient pagan roots. Pancakes are baked and eaten throughout the week. There are many other, less well-known traditions associated with each of the days of Shrove Tuesday.

- Palm SundayOrthodox holiday (entrance of the Lord into Jerusalem). It is customary to decorate the room with willow branches, symbolizing the palm branches of those who met Jesus Christ.

Easter Orthodox holiday of the Bright Resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. Festive food Easter (cottage cheese with candied fruit), Easter cakes dyed red and hard-boiled eggs. Orthodox believers greet each other with exclamations: "Christ is Risen!", "Truly Risen!" and kiss three times.

Ukrainians

Ukrainians (Ukrainian Ukrainians ) East Slavic people living mainly on the territory of Ukraine and formerly also called Rus, Ruthenians, Little Russians, Little Russians (that is, the people living in a small (small) part of Russia, in a different sense - the people living in the central, historical part of Rus'), Cossacks.

They speak the Ukrainian language of the East Slavic group of the Indo-European family. The following dialects are distinguished: northern (left-bank-Polesye, right-bank-Polesye, Volyn-Polesye dialects), southwestern (Volyn-Podolsky, Galician-Bukovinian, Carpathian, Dniester dialects), southeastern (Dnieper and East Poltava dialects).

Writing based on the Cyrillic alphabet, continuing Old Russian; proper Ukrainian from the 19th century based on the Russian civil script. Russian is also widespread (mainly in the southern, eastern and central regions, especially among the townspeople) and surzhik.

Ukrainians, along with closely related Russians and Belarusians, belong to the Eastern Slavs. Ukrainians include Carpathian Rusyns (Boikos, Hutsuls, Lemkos) and Polissya ethnographic groups (Litvins, Polishchuks).

The formation of the Ukrainian nationality took place in the XIIXV centuries on the basis of the southwestern part of the East Slavic population. The tribes of Polyans, Drevlyans, Tivertsy, Northerners, Ulichs, Volynians and White Croats inhabiting the territory of Ukraine united in the states: Kievan Rus (IXXII centuries), and later Galicia-Volyn Rus (XIIXIV centuries). The tribes of the Tiverts and Uliches were, according to some scholars, of Thracian origin.

In Ancient Rus', the word Rusyn was used as an ethnonym to refer to the inhabitants. It is first encountered in The Tale of Bygone Years and is used along with Russian, Russian people this is how people related to Rus' are called.

In the Middle Ages, especially actively in the 16th-17th centuries, on the territory of modern central Ukraine (Hetmanate), the term Rusyn was applied to the language, religion, and also as an ethnonym for designating the nationality of people living in these territories, and was used as a synonym for the word "Russian". On the territory of Galicia and Bukovina, this name remained until the early 1950s, and in Transcarpathia it has survived to this day.

During the period of political fragmentation, due to the existing local features language, culture and way of life, the prerequisites were created for the formation of three East Slavic peoples Ukrainian, Russian and Belarusian. The main historical center of the formation of the Ukrainian nationality was the Middle Dnieper - Kiev region, Pereyaslav region, Chernihiv region.

At the same time, Kyiv played a significant integrating role, where the most important shrines of Eastern Slavic Orthodoxy (such as the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra) were located. Other southwestern East Slavic lands gravitated towards this center - Sivershchina, Volhynia, Podolia, Eastern Galicia, Northern Bukovina and Transcarpathia.

Starting from the 13th century, the territory where the Ukrainian ethnos was formed was subjected to Hungarian, Lithuanian, Polish and Moldavian conquests. From the end of the 15th century, the raids of the Tatar khans who had established themselves in the Northern Black Sea region began. In the XVIXVII centuries, in the course of the struggle against foreign invaders, the Ukrainian nationality was significantly consolidated. The most important role was played in this by the emergence of the Cossacks (XV century), who created the state (XVI century) with a kind of republican system Zaporizhzhya Sich, which became the political stronghold of Ukrainians.

The defining moments of the ethnic history of the Ukrainians of the 17th century were the further development of crafts and trade, in particular, in the cities that used the Magdeburg right, as well as the creation as a result of the war of liberation under the leadership of Bohdan Khmelnytsky, the Ukrainian state Hetmanate, and its entry (1654) on the rights of autonomy into composition of Russia. This created the prerequisites for the further unification of all Ukrainian lands. In the 17th century, there was a movement of significant groups of Ukrainians from the Right Bank, which was part of Poland, as well as from the Dnieper region to the east and southeast, their development of empty steppe lands and the formation of the so-called Slobozhanshchina.

Religion

Believing Ukrainians, mostly Christians, belong to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate), to a lesser extent to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Kyiv Patriarchate) and the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church. Greek Catholics who belong to the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (Catholics of the Byzantine or Eastern rite, Uniates) prevail in Galicia, Orthodoxy prevails among Ukrainians in Transcarpathia (according to a 2004 study, 57.8% of the population of the region trust all Orthodox jurisdictions), 20 25% Uniates; there is a small number of Roman Catholics. Protestantism is also known in the form of Pentecostalism, Baptism, Adventism, etc.

According to unofficial data, approximately 420,000 Ukrainians adhere to Rodnoverie (also called Slavic paganism), while considering themselves "genuine" Russians.

social relations

In the public life of the Ukrainian village to the end XIX centuries, remnants of patriarchal relations were preserved, a significant place was occupied by the neighboring community - bulk . Many traditional collective forms of labor were characteristic ( cleaning, mating) and rest ( couples bulks- associations of unmarried guys;evenings and dosvitki, New Year's carols and carolsand etc.). The dominant form of the Ukrainian family was small , with the expressed power of its head - husband and father, although until the beginning of the 20th century, especially in Polesie and in the Carpathians, the remains of a large patriarchal family. Family rituals were varied, maternity, especially wedding, with wedding rites, a loaf section, accompanied by songs and dances. The folk art of Ukrainians is rich and varied: pictorial ( art painting dwellings, embroidery with its traditional types - zanizuvannya, zavolikannya and laying etc.), song-musical, choreographic, verbal folklore, including colorful specific thoughts and historical songs composed by kobza and lyre players. Scientific and technological progress and urbanization, intensive mobility of the population have led to the erasure of most of the features of individual ethnographic regions and groups of Ukrainians. The traditional life of the village was destroyed. The consequences of forced collectivization, which were detrimental to the village, were aggravated by the severe famine of 1932-33, Stalinist repressions, as a result of which the Ukrainians lost over 5 million people.

Belarusians

Belarusians (self-name Belor. Belarusians ) East Slavic people with a total number of about 10 million people, the main population of Belarus. They also live in Russia, Ukraine and other countries.

The total number is about 10 million people. They speak Belarusian language Slavic group of the Indo-European family; the southwestern, northeastern dialects, the so-called Polissya dialects, differ. Russian, Polish, Lithuanian languages ​​are also widespread. Writing based on Cyrillic. Believing Belarusians are predominantly Orthodox, about 25% are Catholics.

Belarusians, along with Russians and Ukrainians, belong to the Eastern Slavs. According to the most common concept of the origin of the Belarusians, the ancient tribes that lived on the ethnic territory of the Belarusians - the Dregovichi, Krivichi, Radimichi - as part of Kievan Rus, together with other East Slavic tribes, consolidated into the Old Russian people. IN XIII-XIV centuries in the era of political fragmentation of the western land Old Russian state became part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, within which the Belarusians were formed. The specific features of the Belarusians were formed on the basis of the regional features of the Old Russian community. Important ethno-forming factors were the relatively high economic and cultural level of the East Slavic population, its large numbers and compact settlement. The language factor played an important role. Western dialect Old Russian language- Old Belarusian - in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania performed the functions state language, V XVI century, printing appeared on it.

The Belarusian ethnic community took shape in XIV - XVI centuries. The name Belorussians goes back to the toponym Belaya Rus, which in XIV - XVI for centuries it was applied in relation to the Vitebsk region and the north-east of the Mogilev region, and in XIX - early XX centuries already covered almost the entire ethnic territory of the Belarusians. Form modern name- Belarusians - originated in XVII century. At the same time, a name appeared for the Belarusian-Ukrainian population - Poleshuks. At the same time there were ethnonyms Litvins, Ruthenians, Ruthenians. As a self-name, the ethnonym Belarusians became widespread only after the formation Byelorussian SSR (1919).

Traditional activities Belarusians - agriculture, animal husbandry, as well as beekeeping, gathering. They grew winter rye, wheat, buckwheat, barley, peas, flax, millet, hemp, and potatoes. Cabbage, beets, cucumbers, onions, garlic, radishes, poppies, and carrots were planted in vegetable gardens. In the gardens - apple trees, pears, cherries, plums, berry bushes (gooseberries, currants, blackberries, raspberries, etc.). The dominant land use system at the beginning XX century there was a three-field, for those with little land - a two-field.

The main arable implements are the plow. They also used a ralo, a bipod. For harrowing, a wicker or knitted harrow and a more archaic knotted harrow, smyk, were used. From the end XIX century, the iron plow and harrow appeared. Harvesting tools - sickles, scythes, pitchforks, rakes. The grain was dried in log houses - Ossets or Evnyas. For threshing, they used a flail, a roll, a round deck. Grain was stored in barns and cages, potatoes - in furnaces and cellars, crypts.

Pig breeding played an important role in animal husbandry. Cattle were also bred. Sheep breeding is widespread throughout Belarus. Horse breeding is most developed in the northeast. Berries and mushrooms were collected everywhere in the forest, maple and birch sap were harvested. They fished in rivers and lakes.

Trades and crafts have been developed - the manufacture of mats and mats, agricultural tools, the processing of leather, sheepskin, furs, the manufacture of shoes, Vehicle, furniture, ceramic dishes, barrels and household utensils made of wood. Of particular importance is the manufacture of decorative and applied products from textile raw materials and leather, products with folk embroidery. Certain types of trades and crafts were constantly preserved, but many disappeared. In recent years, weaving from straw, making belts, embroidering clothes, etc. have begun to revive.

The main types of Belarusian settlements are Veska (village), shtetls, dungeons (settlements on rented land), settlements, farms. Villages are the most widespread. Historically, several forms of settlement planning developed: crowded, linear, street, etc. The crowded form was most common in the northeast, especially in the outskirts of the gentry. Linear planning (estates are located along the street on one side of it) throughout the territory of Belarus has become widespread in XVI - XVII centuries. The number of houses in the settlement - from 10 to 100 (mainly in Polesie).

The traditional complex of men's national clothes consisted of a shirt, nagovits (belt clothes), sleeveless jackets (camiselles). The shirt was worn loose, girdled with a colored belt. Footwear - bast shoes, leather postols, boots, felt boots in winter. Hats - a straw hat (bryl), a felted hat (magerka), in winter a fur hat (ablavukha). A leather bag was carried over the shoulder. The white color prevailed in the men's suit, and embroideries and decorations were on the collar, at the bottom of the shirt; the belt was multicolored.

Women's costume is more diverse, with pronounced national specifics. There are four complexes: with a skirt and an apron; with a skirt, apron and garset; with a skirt to which a garset bodice is sewn; with panel, apron, garset. The first two are known throughout Belarus, the last two in the eastern and northeastern regions. There are three types of shirts: with straight shoulder inserts, tunic-shaped, with a yoke; great attention was paid to embroideries on the sleeves. Belt clothes - a skirt of various styles (andarak, saiyan, tent, letnik), as well as panevs, aprons. Skirts - red, blue-green, in a gray-white cage, with longitudinal and transverse stripes. Aprons were decorated with lace, folds; sleeveless jackets (garset) - embroidery, lace.

The headdress of girls is narrow ribbons (skidochka, shlyachok), wreaths. Married women put their hair under a cap, put on a towel headdress (namitka), a scarf; there were many ways to tie them. Everyday women's shoes - bast shoes, festive - postols and chrome boots. Upper men's and women's clothing almost did not differ. It was sewn from felted undyed cloth (retinue, sarmyaga, cloak, lettuce) and tanned (kazachyna) and untanned (casing) sheepskin. They also wore a caftan, kabat. The modern costume uses the traditions of national embroidery, cut, and colors.

Belarusian folklore presents a wide range of genres - fairy tales, legends, legends, proverbs, sayings, riddles, conspiracies, calendar and family ritual poetry, folk theater, etc. Legends, traditions, bylichkas reflect pre-Christian ideas of Belarusians about the origin of the world. The song creativity of Belarusians is rich. Of the musical instruments, batleyka, basetl, zhaleika, lyre, tambourine, etc. are popular.

Western Slavs

Poles

Poles West Slavic people. Total number of ethnic Poles 40 million, people of Polish origin about 60 million. Language Polish Slavic group of the Indo-European family. Writing based on the Latin alphabet. Believers - mostly Catholics, there are Protestants.

The Poles as a nation evolved with the formation and development of the ancient Polish state. It was based on the associations of the West Slavic tribes of the Polyans, Slenzan, Vislyans, Mazovshans, and Pomeranians. The process of consolidation of Pomerania with the rest of the Polish lands was hampered not only by the fragility of its political ties with the ancient Polish state, but also by the peculiarity of its socio-economic and cultural development (long-term domination of paganism, etc.). According to the dialects, the meadows, slenzans and wistles were close. During the period of political fragmentation ( XI-XIII centuries), individual Polish lands became isolated, but cultural and economic ties between them were not interrupted. In the course of resisting German expansion and overcoming political fragmentation ( XIII-XIV century) the unification of Polish lands was carried out, the ties between their populations expanded and strengthened. At the same time, there was a process of Germanization of the western and northern lands captured by the Germans (Lower Silesia, Pomerania, Masuria, Western Greater Poland).

In XIV-XV For centuries, the unification of the lands of the Polish state contributed to the process of national consolidation of the Poles, which intensified in XVII century. Within the framework of the multinational state - the Commonwealth (formed in 1569 by the Union of Lublin with the Grand Duchy of Lithuania) - the process of consolidating the Polish nation took place. This process has become more complicated XVIII century in connection with the three divisions of the Commonwealth (1772, 1793 and 1795) between Russia, Austria and Prussia and the loss of a single Polish statehood. At the end XVIII - XIX centuries, the national liberation movements played an outstanding role in the preservation and growth of the national self-consciousness of the Poles, the Polish people remained committed to their homeland, native language and customs.

But the political disunity of the Poles affected their ethnic history. Also in XIX century there were several groups of Poles, differing in dialects and some ethnographic features: in the west - Velikopoliane, Lenchitsy and Seradzyan; in the south - malopolane; in Silesia - slenzane (Silesians); in the north-east - Masurians and Warmiaks; on the coast of the Baltic Sea - Pomeranians. The group of Malopolyans included Gorali (the population of mountainous regions), Krakovians and Sandomierz. Among the Silesians there were Poles, Silesian Gurals and other groups. The Kuyavians belonged to the Velikopoliane, and the Kurpis belonged to the Masurians. In Pomorie, the Kashubians were especially distinguished, preserving the specifics of their language and culture (sometimes they are considered a special nationality). With the growth of industry and urbanization, especially since the end XIX century, the differences between these groups began to blur.

More than half of the Poles live in cities (the largest are Warsaw, Lodz, Krakow, Wroclaw, Poznan), are employed in diversified industry, trade, consumer services, healthcare, education, science, and culture.

The main branches of agriculture are agriculture and animal husbandry; the main direction is the cultivation of grain crops, a significant part of the sown area is occupied by potatoes. Vegetable growing and horticulture are of great importance. In addition to modern agricultural machinery, old tools are used: frame harrows, scythes, rakes, pitchforks. Livestock dairy and meat (cattle, sheep, pigs). For moving, transportation, and partly agricultural work, peasants traditionally also use horses, and to a lesser extent, oxen.

Traditional types of rural settlements: street villages, okolnitsy and oval with houses located around a central square or pond (radial layout). In the process of socio-economic and cultural development, the layout and types of buildings in Polish villages are changing. In many villages, new buildings have been erected - schools, clubs, cafes, etc., the architecture of which combines modern style and local traditions. In clubs (svetlitsy) and cafes one can see old peasant furniture, the interior of cafes is often designed entirely in the style of an old tavern, still preserved in some villages. Polish national dishes and drinks are served here.

Most Poles wear modern costumes. Traditional folk clothes are worn in parts of the villages on holidays. The traditional costumes of peasants who come from different regions for the harvest festival and other national celebrations are varied and colorful. More than in other areas, traditional clothing has been preserved in the vicinity of the city of Łowicz and in the mountains, where peasants wear it every day. The Łowicz costume is characterized by striped fabrics; skirts, aprons, women's capes, men's trousers are sewn from them.

The upper men's clothing - sukman - has been preserved. In the mountains, men wear a short linen shirt with a cufflink made of silver or other metal, white cloth trousers decorated with a heart-shaped pattern, a wide leather belt, and a short jacket (tsuhu) made of white wool. Peasant women wear a skirt made of patterned or plain fabric, a shirt, and a sleeveless jacket. Winter clothes of gurals - casings. The Krakow costume is peculiar: a women's skirt made of flowered fabric, a tulle or linen apron, a cloth or velvet corsage over the shirt, decorated with gold or silver embroidery, metal plates, etc .; male - a shirt with a turn-down collar, striped pants, a blue caftan with rich embroidery, from headwear (warm fur hats, hats, etc.) an interesting confederate, similar to the headdress of the Polish military.

The family is predominantly small (simple), the extended (complex) family is less common. IN XIX century, there were complex "paternal" families of spouses-parents, their sons with wives and children, and "fraternal" families, uniting several brothers with wives and children. Of the old customs, some family (for example, wedding) and calendar customs have been preserved.

In Poland, the traditions of folk art are alive: sculpture, carving, painting on glass, cutting out vytsinanok - patterns from paper, embroidery, ceramics, weaving and weaving. Folk motifs are used in their work by many professional artists. Oral folk art is rich (ritual, calendar, lyrical, family, labor songs, legends, ballads, fables, fairy tales, proverbs, etc.). Polish folk dances - polonaise, krakowiak, mazurka, etc., in a revised form, spread throughout Europe. Folk dances, songs and music have entered the repertoire of modern professional and amateur groups. Folk dance and song melodies are heard in the works of Polish composers.

Czechs

Czechs West Slavic people, the main population of the Czech Republic. The total number is about 11 million. Language Czech.

According to the language, the Czechs belong to the West Slavic peoples. The language of central Bohemia was put at the basis of the early works of Czech writing of the 13th-14th centuries. But as the influence in the country of the Catholic Church, German feudal lords and the patriciate of cities increased, the Czech language began to be subjected to oppression in favor of the German and Latin languages. But during the period of the Hussite wars, literacy and the literary Czech language became widespread among the masses. Then came the two-century decline of Czech culture under the rule of the Hagsburgs, who pursued a policy of Germanizing the subject Slavic peoples (by the middle of the 19th century, 15% of the population spoke Czech, as literary language the possibility of taking one of the Slavic languages, in particular the Russian literary language, was considered). The Czech language began to revive only at the end of the 18th century, its basis was the literary language of the 16th century, which explains the presence of many archaisms in the modern Czech language, in contrast to the living spoken language. The spoken language is divided into several groups of dialects: Czech, Middle Moravian and East Moravian.

Believers: Catholics - 27%, Czech Evangelical Brothers - 1%, Czech Hussites - 1%, other religions (Christian minority churches and sects, Orthodox, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, etc.) - about 3%. The majority of the population classifies themselves as atheists (59%), and almost 9% find it difficult to answer the question about their religion.

The Czechs have a rich cultural and historical heritage in the form of fortresses, castles, historical cities, monasteries and other elements of church architecture, many "technical" monuments.

The world-famous black theater "Ta Fantastica" is one of the wonders of Prague, which attracts tourists from all over the world. Originated in 1980 in the USA, where its creator emigrated Petr Kratochvil . After the Velvet Revolution, the theater returned to Prague. For several years, "Ta Fantasy" has traveled to more than 30 countries on three continents. Tours invariably ended in triumph. The magic is based on a simple optical trick. Actors dressed in black disappear against the backdrop of black scenery. Props snatched from the darkness by rays of light begin to take on a life of their own. Theater "Ta Fantastica" brought this technique to perfection and reformed it, using the most modern technologies and special effects. Before the eyes of the audience, the actors fly without touching the stage, mysterious images change on the huge screen, giant puppets play on a par with people. During performances live music an equal participant in a theatrical performance. The emphasis shifts to the dramatic action, and the trick ceases to be a goal and becomes a means, but a very bright and spectacular means.
"Ta Fantastica" differs from other black theaters and an unusually wide repertoire. Here you can see adaptations of such famous novels as "Don Quixote", "Alice in Wonderland", "The Little Prince", as well as plays written specifically for the theater: "Magic Fantasy", "Dream", "Garden of Paradise" ( based on a painting by Hieronymus Bosch). The highlight of the theater is musicals with the participation of fatal and pop stars of the first magnitude: Pied Piper, Joan of Arc and Excalibur, which has been on the stage since 2003. The theater owes its fame to the famous singer and actress Lucy Biele Czech pop star.

Slovaks

Slovaks, people, the main population of Slovakia (85.6%). The number is over 4.5 million people. They speak the Slovak language of the Slavic group of the Indo-European family. Writing based on Latin graphics. Most believers are Catholics, there are Protestants (Lutherans) and Greek Catholics (Uniates).

Slavs on the territory of Slovakia began to prevail from VI century. Moving from the southeast and north, they partially absorbed the former Celtic, Germanic, and then the Avar population. Probably, the southern regions of Slovakia were part of the first West Slavic state of Samo in VII century. The first tribal principality of the ancestors of the Slovaks - Nitra, or the Principality of Pribina, arose at the beginning IX century along the Vaga and Nitra. Around 833, it joined the Moravian Principality, the core of the future Great Moravian state.

In 863 Glagolitic writing appears. Under the onslaught of the Hungarians, who appeared in the Danube at the end IX century, the Great Moravian state collapsed. Its eastern regions gradually became part of the Hungarian state, then (after 1526) the Austrian (since 1867 Austro-Hungarian) monarchy. The term "Slovaks" appeared from the middle XV century. In earlier sources, the ethnonym "Slovenia", "Slovenka" and the territory "Slovenian" are found.

The Slovak regions in the north of Hungary did not represent a special administrative unit. WITH XVI century, since the Ottoman occupation of the Hungarian regions proper, the ethnoterritorial concept of Slovakia appeared. The formation of the Slovak nation took place in the conditions of national oppression and forced modernization. Slovak "national revival" began in the 80s XVIII centuries, the rural intelligentsia (priests, teachers) and townspeople played an important role in it. The emergence of the Slovak literary language at the end XVIII century contributed to the growth of self-consciousness and national consolidation of the Slovaks. In 1863, the national cultural and educational society Matica Slovakskaya was founded in the city of Martin.

In 1918-93 Slovakia was part of Czechoslovakia. Since 1993 - an independent sovereign Slovak Republic.

The traditional occupation of the Slovaks is agriculture: in the mountainous areas pastoral pastoralism (cattle, sheep), in the lowlands - agriculture (cereals, grapes, gardening). Industry develops; the dispersed nature of industry allows rural residents to work in industrial enterprises.

Traditional crafts - leather goods, wooden utensils, weaving, embroidery, lace production, printed fabrics. The largest ceramic workshops in Modra and Pozdisovec produce faience and ceramics in the traditional style.

Traditional settlements in Southern Slovakia with ordinary and street layout. In mountainous areas, small cumulus settlements and farms predominate. There are also settlements stretching in a chain for several kilometers. Traditional dwellings consist of three rooms: hut (hut), pitvora (canopy), komora (pantry). Wooden log buildings predominate in the mountainous regions, while adobe and adobe buildings predominate on the plains, the walls of which are painted in light colors, painted with bright ornaments in the southwest. The houses face the street, residential and utility rooms are located in a row under one roof.

Traditional clothing has about 60 options. The most common women's costume consists of a long undershirt with straps, a short shirt gathered at the collar, a front and back apron (later a skirt and an apron). Another common complex is a tunic-shaped long shirt, skirt, apron, sleeveless jacket.

Men's clothing - pants (narrow or wide, cloth, linen, embroidered with cord), tunic shirt, fur and cloth vests. Singles wear feathers and long ribbons on their hats. An obligatory accessory of the highlander's costume is a very wide leather belt with brass buckles.

Until the middle of XX centuries there were complex paternal or fraternal families. The head of the family (ghazda) enjoyed indisputable power. Traditional neighborly mutual assistance is preserved. Of the family rituals, the most solemn is the wedding: earlier it was celebrated by all relatives and neighbors for a whole week.

Popular theatrical performances associated with family and calendar rituals were characteristic: young people in masks staged dances and games. Christmas remains one of the biggest calendar holidays. It is celebrated in the family circle, they decorate a Christmas tree (earlier it could have been a sheaf), they give gifts. New Year's detours of "pozniks" with wishes of happiness and goodness, which once had a magical function, are common.

Fairy tales and legends occupy a large place in the folklore of the Slovaks. Especially strong is the tradition of singing folk avengers "robbers", among which the most popular is Juraj Janoshik, the hero of folk ballads and fairy tales.

Folk songs are associated with family and calendar rituals. Lyrical songs have been preserved, with a predominance of a minor tone. Dance songs are typical in the east of Slovakia. The most common dances are odzemok, chardash, polka, etc., which have many variants. There are many musical folk ensembles (strings, winds). Popular solo instrumental music(violin, flute, bagpipes, cymbals, etc.). Folklore festivals are held annually, the largest of them is the all-Slovak festival in the city of Vychodna.

Lusatians

Lusatians (Sorbs), the indigenous Slavic population living on the territory of the Lower and Upper Lusatia areas that are part of modern Germany. They speak the Lusatian language, which is divided into Upper Lusatian and Lower Lusatian.

Modern Lusatians the remnant of the Lusatian Serbs, or simply Serbs, one of the 3 main tribal unions of the so-called Polabian Slavs, which also included tribal unions lyutichey and cheerful. Polabian Slavs or, in German, Wends, in early middle ages inhabited at least a third of the territory of the modern German state north, northwest and east. At present, all of them, with the exception of the Lusatians, are completely Germanized. This process lasted for several centuries, during which the population of these once purely Slavic lands, being under German military-political domination, was gradually Germanized. The process of incorporating the Polabian and Pomeranian lands into the German states stretched over the period from the 12th to the 14th centuries. The lands of the Lusatians became part of the Frankish Empire of Charlemagne in the 9th century. At the beginning of the 11th century, the Lusatian lands were conquered by Poland, but soon came under the authority of the Meissen margraviate. In 1076, the German Emperor Henry IV ceded the Lusatian March to the Czech Republic. During the period of being part of the Czech Kingdom, an active process of Germanization of the region began. Colonists from Germany moved to Lusatia en masse, receiving various trade and tax privileges from the Czech state. After the establishment of the Habsburg dynasty in the Czech Republic, the processes of Germanization of the Slavic population accelerated. In the 17th century, the Lusatian lands were ceded to Saxony, and in the 19th century they became part of Prussia, since 1871 - as part of the German Empire.

The Lusatians are the last surviving ethnic community of the Slavs in Germany, whose representatives use the Slavic language.

The first settlements of the Lusatian Serbs, in accordance with German theories, were recorded presumably by the 6th century. According to these theories, these lands were inhabited by various Celtic tribes before the Slavs. According to other theories, the Lusatians, like the Slavs, in general, are the autochthonous population of these territories, in which the process of separating the Slavs as such from earlier Indo-European communities took place. In particular, they are correlated with the so-called Przeworsk culture.

The Lusatian Serbs are one of the four officially recognized national minorities in Germany (along with the Gypsies, Frisians and Danes). It is believed that about 60,000 German citizens now have Lusatian Serb roots, of which 20,000 live in Lower Lusatia (Brandenburg) and 40,000 in Upper Lusatia (Saxony).

Literature. Before the emergence of literature in their native language, Lusatians, like many peoples, Western Europe used the Latin language. The oldest surviving monument in the Lusatian language "Budyshyn Oath" (beginning XVI century). The founder of Lusatian national literature is the poet and prose writer A. Seiler (1804-1872). IN XIX century, the poet J. Radyserb-Velya (1822-1907), prose writer J. Muchink (1821-1904) and others also performed. Lusatian literature of the border XIX - XX centuries is represented primarily by the poet J. Bart-Chishinsky (1856-1909); prose writers M. Andritsky (1871-1908), Yu. Winger (1872-1918) are known at this time. For Literature of Critical Realism XX The century is characterized by the work of the poets Yu. Novak (born 1895), M. Vitkoits (born 1893), Yu. Since 1945, the development of literature has reflected the growth of the spiritual culture of the Lusatian national minority in the GDR. The literature of modern Lusatians, which is an integral part of the socialist folk literature of the GDR, is represented by prose writers J. Brezan (born 1916), J. Koch (born 1936), poet K. Lorenz (born 1938), and others.

Kashubians

Kashubians - descendants of the ancient Pomeranians, live on the coast of the Baltic Sea, in the northwestern regions of Poland. The population is about 550 thousand people. They speak the Kashubian dialect of Polish. At first XIV V. the lands of the Kashubians were captured by the Teutonic Order. Eastern Pomerania was reunited with Poland under the Peace of Torun in 1466. According to the 1st and 2nd partitions of Poland (1772, 1793), Prussia captured the Kashubian lands. They were returned to Poland only under the Treaty of Versailles in 1919. Despite the long forced Germanization, the Kashubians retained their culture.Most Kashubians prefer to say that they are Poles by citizenship, and Kashubians by ethnicity, i.e. consider themselves both Poles and Kashubians.

The unofficial capital of the Kashubians is the city of Kartuzy. Of the major cities, Gdynia has the largest percentage of people of Kashubian origin. Initially, the main occupation of most Kashubians was fishing; most now work in the tourism sector.

The main organization that cares about preserving the identity and traditions of the Kashubians is the Kashubian-Pomeranian Union.

South Slavs

Serbs

Serbs , people, the main population of Serbia (6428 thousand people). They speak the Serbian language of the Slavic group of the Indo-European family. In those regions where Serbs live together with other peoples, they are often bilingual. Writing based on Cyrillic. Most believers are Orthodox, a small part are Catholics and Protestants, there are Sunni Muslims.

The ethnic history of the Yugoslav peoples, including the Serbs, is associated with the mass migration of Slavic tribes to the Balkans in the 6th-7th centuries. The local population was mostly assimilated, partly pushed to the west and to the mountainous regions. Slavic tribes - the ancestors of the Serbs, Montenegrins and the population of Bosnia and Herzegovina occupied a significant part of the territory in the basins of the southern tributaries of the Sava and Danube, the Dinaric Mountains, the southern part of the Adriatic coast. The center of the settlement of the ancestors of the Serbs was the region of Raska, where an early state was formed in the 2nd half of the 8th century.

In the middle of the 9th century, the Serbian principality was created. In the 10th-11th centuries, the center of political life shifted either to the southwest, to Duklja, Travuniya, Zahumia, or again to Raska. From the end of the 12th century, the Serbian state intensified its aggressive policy and in the 13th-1st half of the 14th century significantly expanded its borders, including at the expense of Byzantine lands. This contributed to the strengthening of Byzantine influence on many aspects of the life of Serbian society, in particular on the system social relations, art, etc. After the defeat in the Kosovo Field in 1389, Serbia became a vassal of the Ottoman Empire, and in 1459 it was included in its composition. Ottoman domination, which lasted almost five centuries, held back the processes of consolidation of the Serbs.

During the period of Ottoman rule, the Serbs repeatedly moved both within the country and abroad, especially to the north to Vojvodina - to Hungary. These movements contributed to a change in the ethnic composition of the population. The weakening of the Ottoman Empire and the intensified movement of the Serbs for liberation from foreign power, especially the First Serbian Uprising (1804-13) and the Second Serbian Uprising (1815), led to the creation of an autonomous (1833), and then independent (1878) Serbian state. The struggle for liberation from the Ottoman yoke and state unification was an important factor in the formation of the national identity of the Serbs. There were new major population movements in the liberated regions. In one of the central regions - Shumadia - the absolute majority were immigrants. This area became the center of consolidation of the Serbian people, the process began national revival. The development of the Serbian state and market relations, economic and cultural ties between individual regions led to some leveling in the culture of their population, blurring of regional borders and strengthening of a common national identity.

The historical destinies of the Serbs developed in such a way that for a long time they were separated politically, economically and culturally as part of different states (Serbia, the Ottoman Empire, Austria-Hungary). It left an imprint on the culture and life different groups Serbian population (some specificity remains today). So, for the villages of Vojvodina, the development of which was carried out according to the plans approved by the authorities, a typical layout is in the form of a rectangle or square with wide streets, with a rectangular central square around which various public institutions are grouped. Separate elements of the culture of the Serbian population of this region were formed under the influence of the culture of the population of Vojvodina, with whom the Serbs lived in close contact.

Serbs are aware of their national unity, although the division into regional groups(Shumadians, Uzhians, Moravians, Machvans, Kosovians, Srems, Banachans, etc.) is preserved in the memory of the people. There are no sharply defined boundaries in the culture of certain local groups of Serbs.

The unification of the Serbs within the framework of a single state took place in 1918, when the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes was created (later the name and partly the borders of this state changed). However, after the collapse of the SFRY, the Serbs again found themselves divided by the borders of the countries that emerged in the post-Yugoslav space.

In the past, the Serbs were mainly engaged in agriculture - agriculture (mainly cereals), horticulture (the cultivation of plums retains a special place), viticulture. An important role was played by cattle breeding, mainly of the distant-pasture type, and pig breeding. They were also engaged in fishing and hunting. Crafts - pottery, wood and stone carving, weaving (including carpet weaving, mostly lint-free), embroidery, etc. - have received significant development.

The Serbs were characterized by a scattered (mainly in the mountainous regions of the Dinaric massif) and crowded (eastern regions) type of settlement with a diverse form of planning (cumulus, ordinary, circular). In most settlements, quarters were distinguished, separated from each other by 1-2 km.

The traditional dwellings of the Serbs are wooden, log (they were widespread in the middle of the 19th century in forested areas), as well as stone (in karst areas) and frame (Moravian type). Houses were built on high foundations (the exception is the Moravian type), with four- or gable roofs. The oldest dwelling was single-chamber, but in the 19th century the two-chamber dwelling became predominant. Stone houses could have two floors; The first floor was used for business purposes, the second - for housing.

The folk clothes of the Serbs vary considerably by region (if there are common elements). The oldest elements of men's clothing are a tunic shirt and trousers. Outerwear - vests, jackets, long raincoats. Beautifully decorated belts were an obligatory accessory for a man's costume (they differed from women's in length, width, and ornament). Characteristic leather shoes such as moccasins - opanki. The basis of the women's traditional costume was a tunic-shaped shirt richly decorated with embroidery and lace. Women's costume included an apron, a belt, as well as various vests, jackets, dresses, sometimes oar. Folk clothes, especially women's, were usually decorated with embroidery, woven ornaments, cord, coins, etc.

The social life of the Serbs in the past was characterized by rural communities. were widely distributed various forms mutual assistance and joint work, for example, when grazing livestock. The Serbs had two types of family - simple (small, nuclear) and complex (large, zadruzhnaya). Back in the first half of the 19th century, the zadruga was widespread (up to 50 or more people). Zadrugs were characterized by collective ownership of land and property, collective consumption, virilocality, and so on.

In the oral folk art of the Serbs, a special place is occupied by the epic genre (youth songs), which reflects the historical fate of the Serbian people, their struggle for freedom. Folk dances are characterized by a circular movement (kolo), close to a round dance.

The cardinal socio-economic transformations that took place in the life of the Serbs in the 2nd half of the 20th century, the transition of a significant number of them from agriculture to industry, the service sector, and the growth of the intelligentsia lead to some leveling of culture. However, the Serbs, who have defended their independence and freedom in the centuries-old struggle, take care of historical and cultural monuments, folk architecture, traditional crafts, and oral folk art. folk traditions are combined with innovations in the layout of dwellings, the cut and decoration of clothes, etc. Some elements of traditional culture (clothing, food, architecture, crafts) are sometimes artificially revived (including to attract tourists). Traditional folk art is preserved - decorative weaving, pottery, carving, etc..

Bulgarians

Bulgarians , people, the main population of Bulgaria. The number in Bulgaria is 7850 thousand people. They speak the Bulgarian language of the Slavic group of the Indo-European family. Writing based on Cyrillic. There are two groups of dialects - eastern and western. Believers are mostly Orthodox, there are small groups of Catholics and Protestants; significant group of Muslims.

The main role in the ethnogenesis of the Bolgars was played by the Slavic tribes who moved to the Balkans in VI-VII centuries. Other ethnic components are the Thracians, who lived in the east of the Balkan Peninsula from the Bronze Age, and the Turkic-speaking Proto-Bulgarians, who came in the 670s from the Black Sea steppes. Thracian features in the traditional culture of the Bulgarians can be traced to a large extent south of the Balkan Range; in the northern and western regions of Bulgaria, the layer of Slavic culture is brighter.

The origins of Bulgarian statehood go back to Slavic tribal associations VII century - Slavinia by Byzantine authors. It was further developed with the formation of a political association of the Slavs of Misia and the Proto-Bulgarians, who brought a centralized organization. The synthesis of two social traditions marked the beginning of the Bulgarian state. The dominant position in it was originally occupied by the Proto-Bulgarian nobility, therefore the ethnonym "Bulgarians" gave the name to the state. With the expansion of the boundaries of the First Bulgarian Kingdom (formed in 681) in VIII - IX centuries, it included new Slavic tribes and small groups Proto-Bulgarians. The formation of the Slavic-Bulgarian state, the development of commodity-money relations contributed to the consolidation of the Slavic tribes and the assimilation of the Proto-Bulgarians by the Slavs. Assimilation was carried out not only due to the numerical predominance of the Slavs, but also because their economic and cultural type created a broader and more stable basis for socio-economic development in the Balkans. An important role for ethnic unification was played by the adoption of Christianity in 865, as well as the spread of IX centuries of Slavic writing. At the end IX-X century, the term "Bulgarians", which used to mean subjects of Bulgaria, acquired the meaning of an ethnonym. By this time, the process of the ethnogenesis of the Bulgarians and the formation of the nationality had basically ended. During the period of the Second Bulgarian Empire, the culture of the medieval Bulgarians reached its peak. At the end XIV century, the Ottoman conquest led to a deformation of the social structure of the Bulgarians: the nobility ceased to exist, the trade and craft layer in the cities significantly decreased.

The bearer of ethnic culture before XVIII century was mainly the peasantry. The language, customs, traditions of the rural community, as well as the Orthodox faith, played a pronounced ethno-differentiating role; the monasteries acted as custodians of the historical memory of the Bulgarians and their cultural heritage. The struggle against the oppressors, which took various forms, supported national self-consciousness. It was reflected in folklore (Yunatsky and Guidutsky epics). Part of the Bulgarians underwent Turkish assimilation, the other part (in the Rhodope Mountains), having converted to Islam, retained their native language and culture.

The traditional occupations of the Bulgarians are arable farming (cereals, legumes, tobacco, vegetables, fruits) and animal husbandry (cattle, sheep, pigs). Various crafts are developed in the cities, in XIX century the industry was born. Agrarian overpopulation led to the development of leisure activities (including those abroad), among which horticulture and construction crafts are especially well known. Modern Bulgarians are employed in diversified industry and mechanized agriculture.

Women's traditional clothing is waist with two panels (in the north), with one panel (locally in the south), a sundress (sukman) in the middle zone of the country and swing (saya) in the south (sukman and saya - with aprons). Shirt in the north with poliks (triangular inserts), in other areas tunic-shaped. Men's clothing - white cloth with tight pants and maid clothes (jacket) to the knees or to the waist (in the west) and dark cloth with wide pants and short maid clothes (in the east). Both types - with a tunic-shaped shirt and a wide belt. In the villages, some of its modified elements from factory fabrics are preserved: aprons, sleeveless jackets, scarves, occasionally for the elderly - sukmans, wide belts, etc.

Traditional social life is characterized by customs of mutual assistance; patriarchal foundations of the family are a thing of the past.

A lot of originality is preserved by folk festive culture. New Year's greetings according to the old custom - visiting the homes of relatives and friends, who are patted on the backs with a decorated dogwood branch (a symbol of health), while pronouncing words from a ritual song. In the villages of Western Bulgaria, mummers walk in zoomorphic masks, decorated with bird feathers, with bells on their belts - survakars (the popular name for the New Year is Surva godina). They are accompanied by comic characters: some of them ("the bride") had a connection with the fertility cult. The holiday ends in the morning on the square with the good wishes of the survakars and a general round dance. In these customs, ancient Slavic and Thracian traditions are synthesized.

Two civil holidays are specific for Bulgarians: Slavic writing and Bulgarian culture on May 24, dedicated to the compilers of the Slavic alphabet Cyril and Methodius and figures of Bulgarian culture; Day of Remembrance of the Freedom Fighters June 2. Festivals of humor and satire, carnivals organized in the city of Gabrovo, famous for its folklore, are widely known..

Croatians

Croatians , people, the main population of Croatia (3.71 million people, 1991). The total number of 5.65 million people. Croats speak the Croatian language of the southern subgroup of the Slavic group of the Indo-European family. The dialects are Shtokavian (it is spoken by the main part of the Croats, a literary language has developed on the basis of its Ikavian subdialect), Chakavian (mainly in Dalmatia, Istria and the islands) and Kajkavian (mainly in the vicinity of Zagreb and Varazdin). Writing based on Latin graphics. Believers are Catholics, a small part are Orthodox, Protestants, and also Muslims.

The ancestors of the Croats (tribes Kachichi, Shubichi, Svachichi, Magorovichi, etc.), having moved along with other Slavic tribes to the Balkans in VI-VII centuries, settled in the north of the Dalmatian coast, in southern Istria, in the interfluve of the Sava and Drava, in northern Bosnia. At the end IX century, the Croatian state was formed. At first XII century, the main part of the Croatian lands was included in the Kingdom of Hungary, by the middle XV century Venice (back in XI century, which captured part of Dalmatia) took possession of the Croatian Primorye (with the exception of Dubrovnik). IN XVI century, part of Croatia was under the rule of the Habsburgs, part was captured by the Ottoman Empire (during this period, part of the Croats converted to Islam). To protect against the Ottoman invasion, a fortified strip was created (the so-called Military Border); its main population (called border guards) were Croats and Serbs - refugees from Eastern Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia. At the end XVII - early XVIII centuries, the lands of the Croats became completely part of the Habsburg Empire. From the 2nd half XVIII century, the Habsburgs intensified the policy of centralization and Germanization, which pushed Croatia to recognize in 1790 dependence on the Kingdom of Hungary. The Hungarian authorities began to pursue a policy of Magyarization. In the 1830s and 1840s, a socio-political and cultural movement (Illyrianism) unfolded, aimed at reviving the national Croatian culture. In 1918, the Croats and other Yugoslav peoples of the disintegrated Austria-Hungary united into the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (since 1929 - Yugoslavia); part of the Croats of the Adriatic fell in 1920 under the rule of Italy. After the 2nd World War, the Croats entered the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia (since 1963 - SFRY), from which the independent Republic of Croatia emerged in 1991.

Due to the difference in historical destinies and geographical conditions, 3 historical and ethnographic regions inhabited by Croats have developed - the Adriatic (Primorye), Dinaric and Pannonian. However, there are no clear boundaries between them. Regional groups are preserved (Zagortsy, Medyumurtsy, Prigortsy, Lychans, Fuchki, Chichi, Bunevtsy, etc.).

Traditional occupations are agriculture (cereals, flax, etc.), horticulture, viticulture (especially in Primorye), animal husbandry (in mountainous regions - transhumance), and fishing (primarily in the Adriatic). Crafts - weaving (mainly Pannonia), lace making (Adriatic), embroidery, pottery with in a special way roasting (in the Dinaric region), processing of wood, metal, leather.

The emergence of many cities (Zadar, Split, Rijeka, Dubrovnik, etc.) on the Adriatic coast is associated with the Greek and Roman eras. They are characterized by narrow steep, sometimes stepped streets with stone two-three-story houses. In lowland Croatia, cities arose later, mainly at crossroads as trade and craft centers. Rural settlements were of two types - crowded (part of the plains of Croatia, Primorye and islands) and scattered (predominant in the mountains, also found in Dalmatia). Villages with street planning are widespread, especially in the flat part. traditional dwelling stone (mountainous regions, Primorye, islands), log or frame with a gable roof. In hilly areas, houses were built mainly one-story on a high foundation, on the coast and on the islands - two-story. Chimneys of stone houses sought to decorate beautifully in order to demonstrate the wealth of the owner. The layout is mainly two-part, although a three-part house has long existed. An oven was used for heating and cooking.

Traditional clothes are mainly made of homespun linen (Pannonia), cloth (Dinaric region), in Primorye also made of silk fabrics: for men - a tunic-shaped shirt and trousers, jackets, vests, capes, raincoats, belts with metal trim (male and female), shoes - opanki (from a single piece of leather), boots; for women - a long or short tunic-shaped shirt, decorated with lace (Primorye) or embroidery and a woven pattern (Pannonia and the Dinaric region), blouses, sleeveless jackets, belts, aprons, wide pleated skirts, raincoats, etc. Festive clothes were richly decorated with embroidery, lace , coins and other metal decorations, especially in the Dinaric region.

The Croats have long preserved communal traditions - mutual assistance, self-government, etc. Also in XIX century, there were remnants of male unions, a large (friend) family. The decomposition of zadrug began earlier in Primorye; in other regions of Croatia, their massive divisions were noted at the end. XIX century.

The heroic epic occupies a significant place in the oral folk art of the Croats. A folk drama is developed, the elements of which are included in the calendar (for example, Shrovetide) and family rituals. Songs such as ditties are common, most often performed during dances. Round dances (kolo) or pair dances.

Urban culture is widespread among modern Croats. Many work in industry, in transport, in the service sector. A national intelligentsia was formed.

Macedonians

Macedonians South Slavic people, which arose as a result of the assimilation of the ancient population of the Balkan Peninsula (ancient Macedonians, Thracians, etc.) with the South Slavs. The total number is about 2 million people. Language Macedonian. Macedonian belongs to the South Slavic languages. The Macedonian city of Ohrid in ancient times was the center of Slavic writing and culture in particular, it was from there that Saint Clement of Ohrid was born, according to the annals, who created the classic version of the Cyrillic alphabet. The Macedonian language is similar to Bulgarian and Serbian, but has its own linguistic specificity. Significant grammatical and lexical changes have taken place in the Macedonian language, which distinguish it from the literary language of neighboring Slavic peoples (a different form of the perfect, other definite articles, other rules for using verb tenses, etc.). Despite this, nationalist Bulgarians do not recognize the existence of a separate Macedonian language distinct from Bulgarian and consider it a dialect or variant of Bulgarian.

Religion predominantly Orthodoxy, Protestantism is also common.

Higher education has made significant progress. In 1939 in Skopje there was only a department of the Faculty of Philosophy of the University of Belgrade (about 120 students). In the 1971/72 academic year, over 32 thousand students studied at 9 faculties of the University in Skopje, founded in 1949, as well as in 11 other higher educational institutions in Macedonia, in 2005 over 180 thousand students.

There are a number of scientific institutions and societies: institutions of national history, folklore, economic, hydrobiological, geological. Societies of physicists and mathematicians, geographers and others. The Macedonian Academy of Sciences and Arts was established in 1967.

In 1971, 80 newspapers (with a total circulation of 21,736,000 copies) and 53 magazines (with a total circulation of 705,000 copies) were published in Macedonia; 668 titles of books and brochures were also published with a total circulation of 3,634,000 copies. The central press organ of Macedonia is the daily newspaper Nova Makedonija, founded in October 1944, published in the city of Skopje (an organ of the Socialist Union of the Working People of Macedonia).

Broadcasting in Macedonian has been carried out by a radio station in Skopje since December 1944. Regular television broadcasts began in SRM from 1964.

In 1971, Macedonia had 16 clinics and general hospitals, 28 other medical hospitals with 9,000 beds (about 500 doctors), over 1,000 polyclinics, outpatient clinics, dispensaries, consultations, first-aid posts (over 600 doctors, more than 400 dentists and dentists). On the territory of Macedonia there are a number of resorts, tourist centers.

The wood carving related to XII XIV centuries; in the XVII XIX For centuries, realistic figures of animals and people have been woven into the floral ornament. The school of the city of Debar (a combination of Greek and Venetian influences, elements of baroque and rococo) is known for carving on iconostases.

Wood carving and other historically developed branches of arts and crafts (silver chasing, embroidery, carpet weaving) are developing in the SRM as folk crafts.

Late XIX early XX centuries on the territory of the SRM, prerequisites for the development of a secular musical culture. Cultural and educational societies arose, which played a significant role in the development of national musical art (the first society was founded in 1894 in Veles). In 1895, a brass band was created in Skopje, and in 1907, the singing society "Vardar". In the 1900s, the activity of the first professional musician A. Badev, a student of N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov and M. A. Balakirev, began. In 1928 the music teacher S. Arsich organized the first music school in Macedonia in Skopje, in 1934 the Mokranjac music school was founded there, and in 1937 a string quartet. The 1930s include the work of professional composers S. Gaidov, Zh. Firfov and others. In the late 1930s, a group of performers and composers led an active concert activity and promoted Macedonian music: P. Bogdanov-Kochko, I. Juvalekovsky, T. Skalovsky, I. Castro. The works of the composers M. were published for the first time.

Among the composers of the 1960s and early 1970s, T. Prokopiev, B. Ivanovski, V. Nikolovski, T. Proshev and others, working in the genres of opera, ballet, symphony, chamber, vocal, instrumental, choral music. Skopje has the Philharmonic (founded in 1944), the State Opera at the Macedonian Folk Theater (founded in 1947), a secondary music school, and a department of music (opened in 1953) at the Pedagogical Institute. A choir (founded in 1945) and a string quartet (founded in 1946) work on the radio. The Union of Composers was created.

Montenegrins

Montenegrins people, the main population of Montenegro (460 thousand people). The total number is 620 thousand people. They speak the Shtokavian dialect of the Serbian language. Believers mostly Orthodox.

The culture and way of life of the Montenegrins has much in common with the Serbs, however, the isolation associated with natural conditions(mountains), the centuries-old struggle against the Ottoman yoke for independence and, as a result, the paramilitary life slowed down the socio-economic development of Montenegro and contributed to the long-term preservation of the patriarchal-tribal foundations. Although the ethnic composition of the Montenegrin tribes (Vasoevichi, Piperi, Kuchi, Belopavlichi, etc.) was quite motley (they included refugees from different regions of the country, as well as groups of Albanian origin), according to popular beliefs, all members of the tribe had a common ancestor and were related by blood. kinship. The traditional occupations of Montenegrins are cattle breeding and agriculture. After the proclamation of socialist Yugoslavia in 1945 and the creation of the Republic of Montenegro, mechanization and new agricultural techniques were introduced into Montenegrin agriculture, and industrial enterprises sprang up. The former cultural backwardness of the Montenegrins is disappearing.

The Montenegrins' original applied arts (wood and stone carving, artistic metal processing, embroidery, etc.), oral poetry, music, and dances were further developed.

Montenegro has long had rich folklore. Religious works, lives of saints, breviaries, etc., have been preserved from the Middle Ages. There are known manuscripts by A. Zmaevich (162449), I. A. Nenadich (170984); "History of Montenegro" (1754) by V. Petrovich (170966), "Messages" by Peter I Petrovich Njegosh (17471830), etc.

Most researchers attribute the beginning of the development of new Montenegrin literature to the end XVIII 1st half of the XIX centuries Its founder is a poet and statesman Peter II Petrovich Negosh (181351), whose work continued the heroic traditions folk epic. In his works, Negosh created a poetic picture of the life of Montenegro, glorified the struggle of Montenegrins and Serbs for liberation from the Ottoman yoke; the pinnacle of his poetry is the dramatic epic poem The Mountain Crown (1847), imbued with the idea of ​​the unity of the southern Slavs. Njegos also played a prominent role in the development of early Romanticism in Serbian literature.

Most of the scientific institutions of Montenegro are located in Titograd: the highest scientific institution of the republic Academy of Sciences and Arts of Montenegro (founded in 1976), Historical Institute, Institute of Geological and Chemical Research, Hydrometeorological Institute, Seismological Station; in Kotor Institute of Marine Biology.

Bosnians

Bosnians Slavic people inhabiting Bosnia and Herzegovina. It arose as a result of the conversion to Islam of the Serbs living in the Ottoman Empire. The number of 2100 thousand people. Language Bosan (a dialect of Serbo-Croatian). The writing is in the Latin alphabet of the Croatian sample (“Gaevica”), the Arabic script, Glagolitic and Bosanchitsa (a local variety of Cyrillic alphabet) were also used earlier). Believing Sunni Muslims.

Bosnians - the name of the population of the historical region of Bosnia and Herzegovina, who converted to Islam during the Ottoman rule, mainly Serbs and Croats. The territory of modern Bosnia and Herzegovina was inhabited by Slavic tribes in VI-VII centuries. Ottoman rule in Bosnia and Herzegovina continued from the 2nd half XV century until 1878. During the period of Ottoman rule in the Balkans, Islam was most widespread in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Various religious movements clashed here - Orthodoxy and Catholicism, Bogomilism, a kind of Bosnian church that developed here, which created an atmosphere of religious tolerance and facilitated the spread of Islam, especially since the conversion to Islam brought tax cuts and some legal rights. Many Turks, immigrants from the North Caucasus, Arabs, Kurds and representatives of other peoples who profess Islam moved here. Some of them were assimilated by the local population, their culture influenced the culture of the Bosnians. Islamization covered not only the upper social stratum (landowners, officials, large merchants), but also part of the peasants and artisans. When the Ottoman Empire began to lose its possessions in Europe (from the end XVII centuries), the Muslim population of various South Slavic lands poured into Bosnia, further complicating its ethnic composition. The occupation of this area by Austria-Hungary in 1878 caused a massive outflow of the Muslim population to Turkey.

The basis of the culture of the Bosnians is the ancient Slavic, but features brought by the Turks and other immigrants from Asia Minor were layered on it. Representatives of the rich strata of society sought to copy the way of life higher strata Ottoman society. Elements of Eastern, predominantly Turkish, culture also penetrated into the life of the masses, although to a lesser extent. This influence is most strongly felt in the architecture of cities (mosques, handicraft quarters, large bazaars, protruding upper floors of houses, etc.), in the layout of dwellings (dividing the house into male and female halves), their decoration, and in food - an abundance of fatty dishes and sweets, in clothes - bloomers, fezzes, in family and especially in religious life, in personal names. It is characteristic that it is in these areas of life that most of all borrowings from Turkish and other oriental languages.

Slovenians

Slovenians South Slavic people. The total number is about 2 million people. Language Slovenian. Most believers are Catholics, but there are also Protestants, Orthodox and Muslims. Many are atheists.

Ancestors of modern Slovenes in VI-VII centuries occupied vast areas in the basin of the Middle Danube, the Pannonian lowland, the Eastern Alps (Carantania), Primorye (the territory adjacent to the Adriatic Sea). In the middle VIII V. The Slovenes of Carantania fell under the rule of the Bavarians, and in the end VIII c., like the Slovenes of lower Pannonia, became part of the Frankish state. Most of the Slovenian lands were ruled by German feudal lords for almost a thousand years; German and Hungarian colonists settled these lands. Eastern Slovenian lands were occupied by Hungarian magnates; part of the Pannonian Slovenes was Magyarized. From the last third XIII V. a significant part of the Slovenian lands was subordinated to the Austrian Habsburgs. In 1918, the bulk of the Slovenes, along with other Yugoslav peoples, entered a single state (since 1929 it was called Yugoslavia), however, about 500 thousand Slovenes of the Julian Krajina fell under the rule of Italy, and about 100 thousand Slovenes of Carinthia and Styria - under the rule of Austria. After World War II (1939-45), most of the Julian Krajina, settled by Slovenes, became part of Yugoslavia. The historical past of the Slovenes, who for many centuries did not have state unity, their geographical disunity contributed to the formation of a number of ethnographic groups.

The Slovenes of Slovenian Littoral, Istria and Venetian Slovenia have been influenced by Italians, most of them bilingual; the Slovenes of Carinthia came under significant Austrian influence. After the establishment of a people's democratic system in Yugoslavia (1945), the Slovenes were given the opportunity to develop a socialist economy and national culture on an equal footing with other peoples of Yugoslavia.

There are 3 daily newspapers and over 20 weekly newspapers, magazines and other periodicals published in Slovenia. Slovenian publishing houses publish about 1,200 books and pamphlets a year. The central print organ is the daily newspaper Delo (founded in 1959), published in Ljubljana, an organ of the Socialist Union of the Working People of Slovenia, with a circulation of 94,700 copies.

In addition to national radio and television, there are 12 local radio stations. Broadcasting in Ljubljana since 1928, television since 1958.

At the turn of XIX XX centuries in Slovenian literature, such trends as naturalism (F. Govekar, 18711949, A. Kreiger, 18771959, etc.) and Slovenian modernism (I. Cankar, 18761918, O. Zupancic, 18781949, D. Kette, 187699, I. Murn-Alexandrov, 18791901, etc.), in which realism is intertwined with elements of impressionistic and symbolist poetics. The foundations of proletarian literature were laid by Tsankar (For the Benefit of the People, 1901; King of the Betainovs, 1902; On the Street of the Poor, 1902; Laborer Yerney and His Law, 1907). The greatest achievement of Slovenian poetry in the early 20th century. Župančić's lyrics ("Across the Plain", 1904; "Monologues", 1908, etc.). A significant phenomenon in Slovenian prose was the work of F. Finzhgar (18711962; Under the Free Sun, 190607, etc.).

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