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Russian history-The initial pages of Russian history are connected with the tribes of the Eastern Slavs, who settled the East European Plain in the 6th-7th centuries. The ancestors of these tribes inhabited Central and Eastern Europe, ancient and Byzantine sources of the 1st-5th centuries. they called them differently: Wends, Antes, Sklavins.
The source of food for the Slavic tribes was agriculture, cattle breeding, and crafts: hunting, fishing, and gathering. The tribes of the Eastern Slavs united in tribal unions. The largest of them were: glades, Drevlyans, Krivichi, Vyatichi, and Ilmen Slavs. The oldest Russian chronicle, The Tale of Bygone Years, names about ten such associations.
Historians have been arguing for a long time, from what point does the history of Russia as a state begin? The first dynasty, which ruled the Russian state from the 9th to the end of the 16th century, dates back to 862, when, according to the same Tale of Bygone Years, the Ilmen Slavs called the Varangian prince Rurik and his retinue to rule Novgorod.
The State of Rusia in the 9th – early 10th centuries
The emergence of a new state, Kievan Rus, is associated with another chronicle legend. By the 9th century, on the lands inhabited by Slavic tribes, several political centers had formed with their princes at the head. There were constant clashes between them. In addition, the Slavic tribes were subjected to external pressure: they were forced to pay tribute to the neighboring state, the Khazar Khaganate. To stop internal strife and get rid of the Khazar threat, the Novgorodians called on the Varangians, led by Rurik, which was a common practice in the early Middle Ages.
After gaining a foothold in Staraya Ladoga and Novgorod, Rurik sent two of his combatants, Askold and Dir, to Byzantium. The latter, having reached Kyiv, subjugated the tribes of the glades and began to reign. Around 879, Prince Rurik died, and after him, his young son Igor remained, while the boy was growing up, Oleg became the prince and his guardian. In 882, he went on a campaign against Kyiv, killed Askold and Dir, and united under his rule the two largest urban centers of the Eastern Slavs. It is this date that is today considered the date of the emergence of the Old Russian state.
Kievan Rus during the reign of the Rurik dynasty.
Oleg’s successor was Igor, the son of Rurik, who subjugated the Slavic tribes that lived between the Dniester and the Danube and fought with Constantinople, the Pechenegs. Igor was killed by the Drevlyans in 945 when he tried to collect tribute from them for the second time.
After the death of Igor, Olga, the wife of the prince, became the head of state, she ruled until the age of her son Svyatoslav and was the first among the rulers of Rus’ to adopt Christianity. Svyatoslav’s successor Vladimir became famous for the conversion of all Rus to Christianity, which strengthened the princely power and raised the international status of the Old Russian state. Kievan Rus reached its peak under Yaroslav the Wise, who ruled from 1016 to 1054. Under him, the first written code of laws, Russkaya Pravda, was created. Thanks to inter-dynastic marriages, it was possible to strengthen ties with neighboring powers.
After the death of Yaroslav, internecine wars began. The last prince who managed to maintain the integrity of the Old Russian state was Vladimir Monomakh. Contemporaries called him an exemplary prince. He left his children a kind of political testament “Instruction”, but they did not heed their father. The internecine struggle flared up with renewed vigor and by the middle of the 12th century, the state was split into independent principalities.