Other theories of the formation of the ancient Russian state. The theory of the formation of the ancient Russian state. New hypothesis of the origin of the state in Russia G.A. Anokhin

By the 9th century the Eastern Slavs have developed a complex of socio-economic and political prerequisites for the formation of a state:

• - socio-economic - the tribal community has ceased to be an economic necessity and disintegrated, giving way to a territorial, "neighbor" community; there was a separation of handicrafts from other types of economic activity, there was a constant growth of cities and foreign trade; there was a process of formation of social groups, the nobility and the squad stood out;
• - political - large tribal alliances appeared, which began to conclude temporary political alliances; from the end of the VI century. the alliance of tribes headed by Kiy is known; Arab and Byzantine sources report that in the VI-VII centuries. there was a "Power of the Volynians"; Novgorod chronicles report that in the IX century. around Novgorod there was a Slavic association headed by Gostomysl; Arab sources claim that on the eve of the formation of the state there were unions of large Slavic tribes: Kuyaba - around Kiev, Slavia - around Novgorod, Artania - around Ryazan or Chernigov;
• - foreign policy - the most important for the formation and strengthening of states among all peoples was the presence of an external danger; the problem of repelling external danger among the Eastern Slavs was very acute from the very appearance on the East European Plain. Korzhikhina T.P., Senin A.S. History of Russian statehood. - M .: Interpraks, 2005.S. 62.

It was also important that in the 9th, but especially in the 10th century, the waterway “from the Varangians to the Greeks,” which was a kind of “pillar road” connecting Northern and Southern Europe, was gaining more and more international importance, which accelerated the processes of the formation of states and civilization.

The final fact of the formation of the state of the Eastern Slavs is associated with their northern neighbors - the inhabitants of Scandinavia. In Western Europe, the inhabitants of Scandinavia were called Normans, Vikings, and in Russia - Varangians. In Europe, the Vikings were engaged in robbery and trade. All of Europe was in awe of their forays. In Russia, there were no conditions for sea robbery, so the Varangians mainly traded and were hired by the Slavs in military squads. The Slavs and Varangians were at approximately the same stage of social development - among the Varangians, the tribal system was also decomposing and the preconditions for the formation of a state were formed.

As the chronicler Nestor testifies in The Tale of Bygone Years, by the 9th century. Novgorodians and some northern tribes of the Slavs fell into dependence on the Varangians and paid tribute to them, and the southern tribes of the Slavs paid tribute to the Khazars. In 859, the Novgorodians drove out the Varangians and stopped paying tribute. After that, civil strife began among the Slavs: they could not come to an agreement about who should rule over them. Then in 862 the Novgorod elders turned to the Varangians with a request: to send them to reign one of the Varangian leaders. "Our land is great and abundant, but there is no order (order) in it. Yes, go to reign and reign over us." The Tale of Bygone Years about the emergence of Kievan Rus // Reader on the history of the domestic state and law (X century - 1917) / Comp. V.A. Tomsinov. - M., 1998. S. 3-6. The Varangian king (leader) Rurik responded to the call of the Novgorodians. So in 862, power over Novgorod and its environs passed to the Varangian leader Rurik. Rurik's descendants were able to gain a foothold among the Eastern Slavs as leaders. The role of the Varangian leader Rurik in Russian history is that he became the founder of the first ruling dynasty in Russia. All his descendants were called Rurikovich. Lebedev G.S. The Viking Age in Northern Europe. - L .: Publishing house of the Leningrad University, 1985.S. 72.

After the death of Rurik, a young son, Igor, remained. Therefore, another Varangian, Oleg, began to rule in Novgorod. By this time, the Eastern Slavs had two large principalities - states: one with the center in Novgorod, the other with the center in Kiev. The most powerful in military and political terms was the Novgorod principality - the state. It included the lands of Mary, Vesi, partly Chudi, Ilmen Slovenes, Polotsk Krivichi. In addition, Novgorod and Kiev occupied an extremely favorable position on the trade route "from the Varangians to the Greeks": Novgorod controlled the northern section of the route, and Kiev controlled the southern. Probably, Oleg was a very enterprising person, as he soon wanted to establish his control over the southern section of the trade route "from the Varangians to the Greeks", which was owned by the Kievites.

In 882, Oleg went on a campaign to Kiev. According to legend, Rurik's warriors Askold and Dir ruled there at that time. Oleg tricked them outside the city gates and killed them. After that, he was able to gain a foothold in Kiev. The two largest East Slavic cities were united under the rule of one prince. Further, Oleg established the boundaries of his possessions, imposed a tribute on the entire population, began to keep order on the territory under his control and ensure the protection of these territories from enemy attacks. And these are already indispensable attributes of any statehood.

This is how the first state of the Eastern Slavs was formed.

Later, the chroniclers will begin the countdown "from the summer of Olegov", i.e. from the time when Oleg began to rule in Kiev. The state will be named "Rus".

The chronicle story about the vocation to Russia as rulers of the Varangians served as the basis for the emergence of the Norman theory of the formation of the Old Russian state. Its creators were the German scientists G. - F. Miller, G. - Z. Bayer, A.L. Schletzer, in the eighteenth century. invited to work in Russia by Empress Elizabeth Petrovna. German scientists argued that the creation of statehood in Russia was the result of the actions of the Varangians. The great Russian scientist M.V. Lomonosov was an ardent opponent of the Norman theory.

Nowadays, Norman theory is often interpreted as follows: everything significant in Russia was created by foreigners and under the guidance of foreigners. Russians are incapable of independent state creation. Bushuev S.V., Mironov G.E. History of Russian Goverment. Historical and bibliographic essays. Book. IX - XVI centuries - M .: Book Chamber, 1991.S. 79.

The Norman theory has both supporters and opponents. Opponents of the Norman theory argue: one should not forget that the vocation of the Varangians is a legend. The question of who the first Russian princes were, where they came from and how - still remains unresolved. Versions about the foreign origin of a particular dynasty are typical of Antiquity and the Middle Ages. It is worth remembering the stories about the calling of the Anglo-Saxons by the Britons and the creation of the English state, etc. The Russian chronicles, on the basis of which we form an idea of ​​the first centuries of Russian history, were written at a later time, they tended to surround the emergence of Russian statehood with an aura of mystery. A stranger, a stranger, always has a special charisma. Archaeological excavations confirm that the Varangians really lived among the Slavs, which testifies to their extensive mutual ties. The Varangians aspired to Russia, in the Scandinavian sagas Russia is presented as a country of innumerable riches. But the number of Varangians in Russia was small. Slavs and Varangians were at the same stage of social development. The Varangians did not have a noticeable effect on the economy, social relations, and culture of the Eastern Slavs. The Varangians laid the foundation for the first ruling dynasty in Russia, the first Varangian princes (Rurik, Oleg, Igor, Olga) bore Scandinavian names, but already the son of Igor and Olga and their grandson bore Slavic names - Svyatoslav, Vladimir. A few generations after the call of Rurik, only legends about the origin of the most noble Slavic families remained from the Varangians. The Slavs, with their internal development, were ready for the formation of a state. The Eastern Slavs have developed a whole complex of prerequisites for the formation of a state. State institutions arise as a result of a long internal development of society. Consequently, if Rurik's vocation is a historical fact, then it speaks of the emergence of a princely dynasty, and not of the origin of Russian statehood. Lebedev G.S. The Viking Age in Northern Europe. - L .: Publishing house of the Leningrad University, 1985.S. 74.

Thus, the scientific inconsistency of the Norman theory has been proved, which explains the emergence of the Old Russian state as a result of foreign intervention, and not objective factors of the internal development of the Eastern Slavs.

The formation of the state of Rus was of great importance, first of all, for the Eastern Slavs. The state provided them with the conditions for being among other peoples in world history, allowed them, over time, to consolidate into a unique and original Russian people. Statehood created conditions for the economic development of a vast territory, which before the arrival of the Eastern Slavs was a deep forest jungle. Now the Baltic, Finno-Ugric and Turkic ethnic communities were gradually involved in the economic development of this territory. Agriculture, handicrafts, trade, and culture began to develop in Russia.

The formation of the state of Rus was also of great international importance, Kievan Rus, in terms of its geographical position and territory, immediately took an important place in the system of European and Asian states. Russia has become an important subject of international relations.

At this time, the process of the formation of states was also taking place in Western Europe, although states equal in importance to Russia had already taken shape. In the IX - XII centuries. Russia developed as a part of the global civilization.

Introduction

1.Theories of the origin of the Old Russian state

Socio-economic and political system of Kievan Rus

Vladimir I (Saint). Baptism of Russia

Conclusion

List of used literature

Introduction

Relevance. The question of the formation and development of statehood in Russia is, without any exaggeration, one of the central issues for national historical science since, probably, its inception. A countless number of works have been devoted to this topic, since the topic of Russian statehood, its evolution, significance and role in history, is not only scientific, but also socially significant.

The historiography of the Old Russian state is more than two centuries old. The first scientific research and the first heated discussions around the annalistic news about the vocation of the Varangians, the social system and life of the ancient Slavs, the reasons for the formation of the Kiev state arose in the second half of the 18th century.

The concept of the history of Ancient Russia was most consistently substantiated by N.M. Karamzin, who viewed it as the most important stage in the creation of a powerful Russian statehood. He attached a decisive role in the historical process to a subjective factor - the activities of princes, their moral and political qualities.

CM. Soloviev proceeded from the theory of family life, which prevailed in Ancient Russia and determined the way of life of ordinary people and the state order. The decomposition of clan relations and their transition into state ones were, according to the historian, the main reason for the collapse of the Kiev state, the formation, and subsequently the power of Muscovite Rus. Without completely rejecting the concept of S.M. Solovyova, V.O. Klyuchevsky attached great importance to the economic and social factors of the development of society.

The post-October period, despite the presence of ideological canons, is characterized by a further in-depth study of ancient Russian history. The main objects of research are the peasantry (B.O. Grekov), craft and pagan culture (B.A. Rybakov), law and social relations (S.V. Yushkov), the way of life and customs of ancient Russian society (B.A.Romanov). Rus annalistic Varangian Slav

A new page in the history of Ancient Novgorod was opened by archaeological research and the works of A.V. Artsikhovsky and V.L. Ioannina. Among recent studies, it is necessary to note the works of P.A. Novoseltseva, I. Ya. Froyanov, who raised a number of new and controversial questions about the social and political system of Kievan Rus. In recent years, the works of church historians devoted to the adoption of Christianity and the role of the Church in Ancient Russia have become available.

The purpose of this work is to study the folding and development of the ancient Russian state.

consider the theory of the origin of the Old Russian state;

to characterize the socio-economic and political system of Kievan Rus;

reveal the identity of Vladimir I (Saint);

state the general provisions on the Baptism of Rus.

1.Theories of the origin of the Old Russian state

The problem of the emergence of the Old Russian state is one of the most important and urgent in Russian historiography. Already the chronicler Nestor in "The Tale of Bygone Years", answering the question "Where did the Russian land come from?", Paints a picture of the settlement of the East Slavic tribes at the stage of the inception of their statehood.

The leading role in the formation of the Old Russian state was played by the Polyanskoe principality with its center in Kiev. The chronicle calls Kiya the first Polyana prince, who, together with the brothers Shchek and Khoriv and sister Lybid, founded Kiev. The chroniclers give two versions of the personality of Kiy, which existed at that time in the oral tradition. According to the first, Kiy was a carrier on the Dnieper, according to the second - a prince.

An important stage in the development of the Old Russian state was the VIII-IX centuries. It was then, as can be concluded from the story of Nestor, in the Middle Dnieper region there was a state union - the Russian land, which included glades, Drevlyans, northerners.

The Eastern Slavs are descended from the autochthonous Indo-European population of Eastern Europe. According to most modern scientists, the ancestral home of the Slavs is the northern slopes of the Carpathians, the Vistula valley and the Pripyat basin. From these places, the Slavs settled in all directions, throughout Eastern Europe. The peak of the activity of the Slavic settlement falls approximately at the beginning of the 7th century.

In the northeast, the Slavs went deep into the lands of the Ugro-Finns and settled along the banks of the Oka and the upper Volga; in the west they reached the r. Elbe in Northern Germany. And yet most of them stretched south, to the Balkans. Apart from individual skirmishes on the borders of Byzantium, then in general we can say that Slavic colonization favorably differed from the invasions of nomads by its relatively peaceful nature. The Slavs mastered new places with a thorough slowness and settled in them for a long time, forever, that is, they behaved like colonists, not invaders. The oldest chronicle of the Eastern Slavs is "The Tale of Bygone Years". Here is what she tells about the beginnings of the Old Russian state: “In the summer of 852, Ruska began to call the land. In the summer of 859, the imahu tribute to the Varazians from the overseas to Chudi and Slovene, to the Meri and all Krivichi. glade, both in the north, and in the Vyatichi. And deciding in ourselves: "Let's look for a prince, who would volodate us and judge by right."

Further it is said that in search of the prince they decided to turn to those Varangians who called themselves "Rus" (some Varangians "are called Svei (Swedes)," the chronicler explains, "and some Normans and Angles, and still other Goths, and these - Rus "). And they said to the Varangians - Chud Rus, Slavs, Krivichi and the whole: "Our land is great and abundant, but there is no order in it. Come to reign and rule over us." And three brothers gathered (Rurik, Sineus and Truvor) "with your clans, and took with 1 all Russia, and came ...".

Based on this evidence, German scientists Gottlieb Bayer, Gerhard Miller and August-Ludwig Schlözer in the 18th century. developed the so-called Norman theory... According to this theory, the foundations of Kievan Rus were laid by the Vikings, a German-Scandinavian people known in the West as the Vikings, or Normans.

The famous Russian scientist Mikhail Lomonosov was the first to see in the Norman theory an emphasis on German influence and an allusion to the inability of the Slavs to state building. He made an angry rebuke to German scientists and tried to substantiate the primary role of the Slavs. Lomonosov's remarks formed the basis of the so-called anti-Norman theoryand marked the beginning of a discussion that continues to this day.

In the XIX - early XX century. it seemed that the Normans were close to victory, because among them were the majority of the Western and a number of prominent Russian historians. Despite this, two leading Ukrainian historians, Mikola Kostomarov and Mikhailo Hrushevsky, remained staunch anti-Normanists. But a real counteroffensive unfolded in the Soviet historical science of the 1930s. The Norman theory was proclaimed politically harmful, for it "denied the ability of the Slavic peoples to create an independent state." Nestor the Chronicler himself (the legendary monk of the 11th century, the compiler of the "Tale of Bygone Years") was declared a tendentious and controversial author. At the same time, his newly-minted critics tried to rely on the data of archaeological excavations, which allegedly did not confirm any significant Scandinavian presence in Kievan Rus. Hence the conclusion was drawn: Kievan Rus was founded by the Slavs themselves.

According to the anti-Norman theory, "Rus" comes from the name of the rivers Ros and Rusna in Central Ukraine. There is also another hypothesis at the disposal of the anti-Normanists: "Rus" is associated with the nomadic tribe of the Roxolans, whose name comes from the Iranian "rhos", which means "light". All of these hypotheses have serious flaws, and none of them has received general acceptance. In any case, in the chronicles that have come down to us, the word "Rus" first appears as the name of the people, namely the Varangians (Scandinavians), then the land of the glades (Central Ukraine), and later - the entire political neoplasm - Kievan Rus. In short, historians still have not come to an agreement either on the origin of the word "Rus" or on the broader issue of Scandinavian or Slavic merits in the creation of Kievan Rus.

Thus, a compromise solution arises: the Scandinavian influence is recognized, but in no way exaggerated. The mobs of Vikings, these warrior merchants, were mobile, energetic, but too small to seriously change the way of life of the Eastern Slavs. On the contrary, the Vikings themselves quickly mastered the Slavic language and culture. But what is difficult to deny is the participation, if not the leadership of the Varangians in the political life of Rus. All Kiev rulers before Svyatoslav and all their warriors bore Scandinavian names. We can only guess how the Varangians subjugated the Slavs to such an extent that they became responsible for the political organization of East Slavic society.

2.Socio-economic and political system of Kievan Rus

It became one of the largest states of the European Middle Ages in the 9th-11th centuries. Kievan Rus.

Unlike other countries, both eastern and western, the process of the formation of Russian statehood had its own specific features.

Russian political institutions during the Kiev period were based on a free society. There were no insurmountable barriers between various social groups of free people, there were no hereditary castes or classes, and it was still easy to leave one group and end up in another.

The main social groups of this period:

1.The upper classes are princes, boyars and other owners of land estates, wealthy merchants in cities.

2.The middle classes are merchants and artisans (in cities), owners of medium and small estates (in rural areas).

.The lower classes are the poorest artisans and peasants who inhabited the state lands. In addition to free people in Kievan Rus, there were also semi-free and slaves.

The main form of exploitation of the agricultural population remained the state tribute, the tax. This period includes the initial stage of the formation in Russia of large individual land ownership - fiefdoms. During this period, princely villages and hunting grounds were already known. In the XI century, land ownership appeared in the vigilantes and the church. But the patrimonial form of ownership did not yet play a significant role, its share was insignificant, the main part of the territory was in the corporate (state) property of the military nobility, realized through a system of tributes - taxes. In the middle of the 11th century, the princely patrimony was legislatively enshrined in the "Russian Pravda" - the legal code of early medieval Russia.

The squad continued to be a corporation into which the dominant layer of Kievan Rus was organized during this period. An internal hierarchy was also formed in the druzhina organization: the top of the druzhina stratum was represented by the "oldest druzhina" (senior druzhina); and its members were called boyars or men. A council, the Duma, was formed from representatives of its most authoritative elite under the prince. The Duma participated in the formation of the foundations of state-political and economic life.

The lower strata of the organization's squad was the "young squad" (junior squad). Its representatives were called adolescents.

The era of Vladimir Svyatoslavovich's reign in Kiev became a period of slight political stability in Russia, when the structure of a single early medieval state was formed, the onslaught of the Pechenegs on the southern borders was neutralized. After the death of St. Vladimir in 1015, a fierce struggle for power between his heirs unfolded. Only in 1036, Yaroslav Vladimirovich, who reigned in Novgorod, became the "autocratic" of the Russian land.

In the reign of Yaroslav the Wise, Rus takes an important step towards the final formation of statehood. The first written legislation that has come down to us, "Yaroslav's Pravda", is being drawn up. Extensive stone construction is underway, in particular in Kiev and Novgorod, which demonstrates the unity and power of Rus.

The question of the time of the emergence of feudal land tenure in Kievan Rus remains controversial.

Early feudal society is not the same as feudal. In the Old Russian state, the future belonged precisely to the feudal system.

The political system of the Old Russian state combined the institutions of a new feudal formation and a primitive communal system. The hereditary prince stood at the head of the state.

The princely power was also limited by elements of the remaining people's self-government. The National Assembly - veche - was active in the 9th-11th centuries. and later.

The analysis of socio-political structures allows us to talk about three centers of attraction that influenced social development: first of all, the princely power, the squad (boyars) that were gaining strength, and the people's veche. In the future, it is the ratio of these power elements that will determine one or another type of statehood that will prevail in the territories that were once part of the Rurik power.

In the X-XI centuries. in Kievan Rus, large private landholdings began to take shape. The form of land ownership is becoming a feudal patrimony, not only inalienable, but also inherited. The patrimony could be princely, boyar, monastic, church.

Kievan Rus was famous for its cities. At first these were fortresses, political centers of government for feudal districts. Overgrowing with new settlements, they became the focus of handicraft production, trade and exchange.

The center of external economic relations of the entire country with the Byzantine southeast became Kiev - the capital of the state and the focus of political, economic and cultural life.

One of the oldest ancient Slavic cities, Novgorod, played an important role in trade with the European northwest. Unlike Kiev, he managed to defend feudal isolation to the end, retained a kind of republican-veche system with nominal, contractually limited power of the elected princes of the executive authorities.

Rus was also linked with the German Empire by lively trade relations.

The constant struggle of Kievan Rus had to be waged with the nomads. Vladimir managed to establish a defense against the Pechenegs, nevertheless, their raids continued. In 1036, taking advantage of the absence of Yaroslav in Kiev, the Pechenegs laid siege to Kiev. Yaroslav quickly returned and inflicted a severe defeat on the Pechenegs, from which they could not recover. They were ousted from the Black Sea steppes by other nomads - the Polovtsians.

Second half of the 11th century - the time of the struggle of Russia with the Polovtsian danger.

The ancient Russian state was one of the largest European powers and was in close relations with many countries and peoples of Europe and Asia. In Russia there was then a single supreme power, but not one-man. It had a rather conventional, constrained meaning. The princes were not the sovereign sovereigns of the land, but only the military-police of its rulers. They were recognized as bearers of supreme power, to the extent that they defended the land from the outside and maintained the existing order in it: there was no such power of the supreme power either in the current law or in the legal consciousness of the land. In the XI century. the stereotype was the Russian land, which is so often talked about by princes and chroniclers. It is in this that one can see the fundamental fact of our history, which took place in those centuries: the Russian land, mechanically linked by the first Kiev princes from heterogeneous ethnographic elements into one political whole, now, losing this political integrity, for the first time began to feel like an integral national or zemstvo composition.

3.Vladimir I (Saint). Baptism of Russia

Under the prince of Kiev Vladimir (978-1015), an event of the greatest significance took place, which determined the further path of development of Russia - the adoption of Christianity.

In gratitude to the gods for the victory over the Yatvingians (983), it was decided to make a human sacrifice. The lot fell on a young man from a Christian family. His father denounced the insignificance of the pagan gods, and an angry mob of pagans killed both of them. But it is rightly said: the blood of martyrs is the seed of Christians. Two Christians perished in Russia - Theodore and John, and soon thousands of them turned to Christ together with Prince Vladimir.

Metropolitan Hilarion of Kiev, the monk Jacob and the chronicler Saint Nestor (XI century) named the reasons for the personal conversion of Prince Vladimir to the Christian faith, according to pointing out the action of the invoking grace of God.

It was all the easier for Prince Vladimir to understand the superiority of Christianity over paganism and become a Christian because, in the words of Metropolitan Hilarion, he had a "good sense and a sharp mind" and had the opportunity to get acquainted with Christianity in his Kiev, where Christian churches had long existed and divine services were held. in the Slavic language.

There are several versions regarding the question of the time and place of the Baptism of Prince Vladimir. According to the generally accepted opinion, Prince Vladimir was baptized in 998 in Korsun (the Greek Chersonesos in the Crimea); according to the second version, Prince Vladimir was baptized in 987 in Kiev, and according to the third - in 987 in Vasilev (not far from Kiev, now the city of Vasilkov).

Having adopted the Christian Orthodox faith, Prince Vladimir (in baptism Vasily) decided to "convert the whole Earth to Christianity." It was not only religious enthusiasm that prompted Grand Duke Vladimir to do this. He was guided, of course, by state considerations, for for the Russian people, Christianization meant an introduction to the high culture of Christian peoples and a more successful development of their cultural and state life.

The introduction of Christianity in Kievan Rus as a state religion was a completely natural phenomenon and could not cause serious complications, although in some places (Novgorod, Murom, Rostov) there was an open struggle started by the leaders of paganism - the Magi.

First of all, Prince Vladimir baptized 12 of his sons and many boyars. He ordered to destroy all idols, throw the main idol - Perun into the Dnieper, and the clergy to preach a new faith in the city. On the appointed day, a massive Epiphany of the Kievites took place at the confluence of the Pochayna River into the Dnieper.

This most important event took place, according to the chronicle chronology accepted by some researchers, in 988, according to others - in 989-990.

Following Kiev, Christianity gradually comes to other cities of Kievan Rus: Chernigov, Novgorod, Rostov, Vladimir-Volynsky, Polotsk, Turov, Tmutarakan, where dioceses are created. Under Prince Vladimir, the overwhelming majority of the Russian population adopted the Christian faith, and Kievan Rus became a Christian country.

The baptism of Rus created the necessary conditions for the formation of the Russian Orthodox Church. Bishops came from Byzantium, headed by the Metropolitan, and from Bulgaria - priests, who brought with them liturgical books in the Slavic language; temples were built, schools were opened to train clergy from the Russian environment. The chronicle reports (under the year 988) that Prince Vladimir "ordered the chopping down of churches and erecting them in the places where idols used to stand. And he erected a church in the name of St. Basil on the hill where the idol of Perun and others stood and where the prince and people. And in other cities they began to erect churches and identify priests in them and bring people to Baptism in all cities and villages. "

The baptism of Rus was a turning point in the life of the people. A new, prolific branch of the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church - the Local Russian Orthodox Church - has appeared. Under the influence of the Orthodox Church, crude pagan customs were eliminated in the life of the Russian people: blood feud, polygamy, "abduction" (abduction) of girls; the civil legal capacity and maternal authority of the Russian woman have increased; the family strengthened; the peace disturbed by the princely civil strife began to be restored.

The adoption of Christianity contributed to the widespread dissemination of literacy in Russia, the enjoyment of enlightenment, the emergence of rich literature translated from the Greek language, the emergence of its own Russian literature, the development of church architecture and icon painting. Schools and libraries that have appeared since the time of Vladimir the Saint and Yaroslav the Wise have become the most important means of spreading education in Russia.

With the Baptism of Kievan Rus, its state and cultural ties not only with Byzantium, but also with the Balkan countries and other European states, expanded and deepened.

Conclusion

The ancient Russian state was the most important milestone in the history of the peoples of our country and its neighbors in Europe and Asia. Ancient Russia became the largest European state for its time. Its area was more than 1 million square meters. km, and the population is 4.5 million people. Naturally, she had a strong influence on the fate of world history.

The Old Russian state, created by the Old Russian nationality, was the cradle of the three largest Slavic peoples - the Great Russians, Ukrainians and Belarusians.

Ancient Russia from the very beginning was a multiethnic state. The peoples that entered it then continued their development as part of other Slavic states that became its successors. Some of them assimilated, voluntarily lost their ethnic independence, while others have survived to this day.

In the Old Russian state, a form of early feudal monarchy took shape, which later survived among its successors for several centuries.

Old Russian law was of tremendous importance, the monuments of which, especially the Russian Truth, survived to the Moscow state. They also mattered for the rights of neighboring peoples.

Objective historical processes of the development of feudalism entailed the withering away of the Old Russian state. The development of feudal relations, which gave birth to Ancient Rus, led in the end to its disintegration, the inevitable process of establishing feudal fragmentation in the 12th century.

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The Old Russian state arose in the 9th century. on the territory of the Eastern Slavs around the following political centers: Kuyavia (on the territory of Kiev), Slavia (on the territory of Novgorod), Artania (on the territory of Ryazan).

After the unification of the East Slavic tribes, the city of Kiev became the center of the Old Russian state, in which Kiy, Dir and Askold ruled.

Factors contributing to the formation of the Old Russian state:

1) the development of crafts, land cultivation techniques, trade relations;

2) strengthening ties between the existing state formations of the Slavic tribes;

3) foreign trade;

4) complex political relations with Byzantium;

The statehood of the Rus was formed under the influence of the Khazar Kaganate. The Khazars were not Christians, but they were religiously tolerant, which contributed to the formation of an independent state.

The way of life of the Slavs is sedentary. Everyday life is a neighborhood community. The main occupation is agriculture.

Signs of the formation of Kievan Rus as a state:

1) the transition from a clan community to a territorial and neighboring one;

2) the presence of power of some persons over others, the formation of the apparatus of power;

3) the introduction of taxes to maintain the state mechanism.

The main reason for the emergence of the Kiev state, scientists call the expulsion of the Normans from the Novgorod lands in the middle of the 9th century. There was a need to protect the territory by the armed forces, which means that there was a need for a state apparatus. Unrest over constant external invasions continued, so a group of residents went to the Varangians (Rusich), from among whom a ruler (prince, voivode) was elected on the Russian lands of Rurik. After the death of Rurik, he began to rule Prophetic Oleg. in 882 he went on a campaign and captured Kiev, as well as other lands on the way "from the Varangians to the Greeks" - a single territory of Rus was formed. Oleg annexed many more territories to Russia through the seizure or peaceful annexation of neighboring lands. He also moved the capital to Kiev, due to which Russia was called Kiev, and all the princes - the great Kiev.

The Russian state - Kievan Rus - was finally formed.

Theories of the emergence of the state among the Eastern Slavs:

1. Slavic (anti-Norman) - denies the role of the Varangians in the formation of the ancient Russian state and their recognition for reign (Lomonosov, Rybakov)

2. Centrist - the ancient Russian state arose as a result of the internal social development of the Slavs, but with the participation of the Varangians. (Yurganov, Katsva, most modern sources)

3. Norman - the ancient Russian state was created by the Normans (Varangians) with the voluntary consent of the Slavs (Bayer, Schletzer, Miller, Karamzin, Soloviev)

Concepts of the origin of the state: class and contractual

2. Kievan Rus as an early feudal monarchy: organs of power and administration. The legal status of the population of Kievan Rus.

Signs of an early feudal monarchy:

1) the transfer of power by inheritance, first by seniority in the family, and subsequently - from father to eldest son; 2) lack of legal responsibility of the head of state; 3) unformed institutions of power; 4) unspecified powers and status of the council under the ruler; 5) popular assembly (veche) is not a permanent representative body

State system of the Kyrgyz Republic - early feuds. monarchy. At the head of the state is the Grand Duke of Kiev.

The functions of the Grand Duke included: 1) organizing and commanding the armed forces; 2) collecting tribute; 3) the establishment of foreign trade; 4) the appointment of local government, princely agents; 5) legislative and judicial activities; 6) management of foreign relations.

He relied on the squad and the council of elders. Local management is carried out by its governors (in cities) and volostels (in rural areas). The Grand Duke was in a suzerain-vassal relationship with other princes. A new organ of power appeared - "snema" - a feudal congress. It resolved issues of war and peace, vassalage. Local government was carried out by the prince's confidants (sons) and relied on military garrisons. There was a decimal control system. The local authorities received the resources for their existence through the feeding system (fees from the local population). An important state and watered. the role was played by the veche. More formalized features were acquired: the agenda, the candidacies of elected officials, as the organizational center - “the elders of the city”. Competence: issues of taxation, defense of cities, organization of military. campaigns, the election of the prince (in Novgorod). The body of local peasant self-government is a territorial community - a rope. Competence: land redistribution, police. supervision, tax and financial issues, litigation. The formation of the princely administration - against the background of the first legal reforms. The tax reform of Princess Olga (X): established "lessons" and "churchyards". At the beginning of the 11th century Vladimir established "tithe" - a tax in favor of the church. The clergy was divided into “black” (monastic) and “white” (parish). The church received the right to acquire land, the population of the village, the implementation of the court on special. jurisdiction.

Judicial functions in the Old Russian state were carried out by local authorities and administrations (princes, posadniks, volostels, representatives of princely power), since judicial bodies as special institutions did not exist. The church also had the functions of judicial organs. She could judge the dependent population of her lands on cases of crimes against religion, morality and family.

The form of state structure of the Old Russian state is a relatively single unitary state. The political regime of Kievan Rus is not defined: there are signs of democracy (popular assembly) and at the same time signs of authoritarianism (power of the Grand Duke).

Legal status

In the IX century. a feudal society was established and classes of ruling feudal lords, landowners and dependent population, were formed.

The dominant class: 1) the grand duke; 2) local princes and communal nobility (boyars) - large feudal lords-landowners; 3) service people who ensure the work of the state apparatus; 4) squads of princes, subordinate to either the grand duke or the appanage prince. Dependent class of the population:

Dependent class of population: 1) smerds (peasants) - free peasants who had their own house, farm, plot of land in use, as well as the right to participate in military campaigns as militias. Smerd could pass on his property by inheritance. The dependence of the smerds was expressed in the obligation to pay tribute and taxes to the princes. The person and property of the smerd were protected by law. Smerd bore property responsibility for the misdemeanors and crimes committed by him under obligations and agreements. In the trial, the smerd could act as a full participant; 2) purchases- smerds who borrowed any property from the owner at interest, guaranteeing its return with their own mortgage. Zakup worked off his debt from the owner and could not leave him until he paid off, otherwise he was turned into servitude. The law protected the person and property of the purchase, forbidding the master to punish him for no reason and take away the property. For a violation of the purchase, the owner paid a fine to the victim, but the purchase could be turned into servitude. In the trial, the procurement could only act in special cases; 3) Ryadovichi- peasants working for landowners under an agreement (row); 4) outcasts - people who have left the community and are outside social groups; 5) forgiven - persons who have come under the patronage of a church, monasteries or secular feudal lords and are obliged to work in their farms; 6) slaves (servants) - persons who have fallen into slavery as a result of self-sale, birth from a slave, sale and purchase, marriage with a slave (slave), entering the housekeeping, committing a crime, as well as captivity. The slave was not protected by the law. For his murder, the owner was paid a fine, as for the destruction of property; 7) reporting slaves - princely or boyar I servants who were in charge of individual branches of the economy (housekeepers, tiuns, firemen, equestrians, elders, plowed). Over time, such slaves could receive freedom; 8) enslaved slaves-slaves who could not be alienated as ordinary property. The relationship between the owner and the bonded slave was built on a personal agreement, the death of one of the parties terminated the obligation.

Intermediate and transitional categories - urban population:

1) boyars; 2) clergy; 3) merchants; 4) "lower classes" (artisans, small traders).

Resettlement of the oldest Slavs

In the chronicle story about the settlement of the Slavic tribes, 150 tribal unions are named. Tribal unions included 120-150 separate tribes, the names of which have already been lost. Each individual tribe, in turn, consisted of a large number of clans and occupied a significant territory.

The Russian chronicle "The Tale of Bygone Years" can tell about the settlement of the East Slavic tribes. She tells us about the tribes who lived in the middle Dnieper region in the Kiev region, their neighbors - the Drevlyans, who settled in a swampy and wooded area. In the north lived the Ilmen Slovenes, who settled along the shores of Lake Ilmen; Dregovichi lived near the western Dvina; their neighbors were the Krivichi, a huge massif which eventually split into three branches of the Krivichi of Smolensk, Polotsk and Pskov; the neighbors of the meadows on the side of the steppe were the northerners, the Radimichi lived in the basin of the Sozh River, and the Vyatichi lived in the basin of the Oka River. On the southernmost tip of the East Slavic territory, almost on the Black Sea coast, Ulic and Tivertsy settled.

The Baltic and Ugrian-Finnish tribes coexisted with the Slavic unions of tribes - Chud (ancestors of Estonians), Perm, Pechera (future Komi), all (ancestors of the Vepsians), Ugra (modern Khanty and Mansi), Yam (modern Finns), Kors, Zemigola, Letgola, Curonians (Baltic tribes inhabiting the territory of modern Latvia - Zemgale, Latgale, Kurzeme), Livs (inhabitants of the northern bank of the Western Dvina), Prussians (Lithuanian tribes from the Vistula to the Neman), Merya, Muroma (Ugoro-Finnish tribes living in the region modern cities of Rostov the Great, Murom). All these tribes began to migrate, and tribal unions were gradually united. One of the most developed were the glades, which already created unions in the likeness of the state.

Theories of the origin of the ancient Russian state

a. Norman theory

The Norman theory gained wide popularity in Russia in the first half of the 18th century thanks to the activities of G.Z. Bayer, G.F. Miller and A.L. Schletser. The Norman theory is based on the fact that the state arose in Russia only with the arrival of the Varangians, namely, when they were called to reign Rurik in Novgorod, and Askold and Dir in Kiev. One of the main proofs is Nestor's Tale of Bygone Years. “Deciding for ourselves: let's look for a prince, who would volodol“ by us and judge by right. ”Idosh across the sea to the Varangians to Russia; now, I’m afraid of the call Varyaz Rus, as the friends are called His own, but the friends of Urman, Anglyane, friends of Gute , taco and C. Resha Rus Chyud, Slovenia and Krivichi: "all our land is great and abundant," but there is no outfit in it: let you go to reign and govern us "- writes Nestor in his chronicle. IN. Klyuchevsky also describes the Norman theory. He writes: “Until the middle of the 9th century, that is, before the arrival of the Varangians, in the vast expanse of our plain, from Novgorod to Kiev along the Dnieper, right and left, everything was wild and empty, covered with darkness: people lived here, but without government, like animals and birds that filled their forests. In this vast desert, inhabited by poor, scattered savages, Slavs and Finns, the rudiments of civic consciousness were first brought by newcomers from Scandinavia - the Varangians about half of the 9th century. " That is, in fact, the writer considers the tribes to be barbarians, who could not even have an attempt to create any state on their own.

P. Petrei publishes an essay where the idea of ​​the ancestor of the Old Russian dynasty Rurik appears as a native of Sweden. According to Petrey, the names of the ancient Russian princes Rurik, Truvor and Sineus are distorted Swedish names of Eric, Sigge and Ture. For a long time, the thought circulated in science that, allegedly, at the negotiations in Vyborg on August 26, 1613, the Novgorod ambassadors themselves declared that they once had a prince of Swedish origin, named Rurik. In the official report of the Swedish delegation on the negotiations in Vyborg, kept in the State Archives of Sweden, there is a record that the head of the Novgorod embassy, ​​Archimandrite Cyprian, noted that "Novgorodians can prove from chronicles that they had a Grand Duke from Sweden named Rurik."

But, at the same time, the author writes that this speech was allegedly a forgery, that the dignitaries of Gustav II Adolf falsified part of the data and changed the phrase to the fact that "A great knyss from Sweden named Rurik". In the same way, unofficial records were kept, which were preserved in the State Archives of Sweden, it turned out that Cyprian said that the Novgorodians had a grand duke named Rodoricus, a native of the Roman Empire, thus emphasizing the genealogy of the Novgorod princes. In 1691, the royal historiographer of Sweden J. Videkind published the work "History of the Ten Years Swedish-Muscovite War", where he quotes the words of Archimandrite Cyprian from a retouched report with his own comments: the population gladly accepted Prince Rurik from Sweden ... ". His work was credible, as the court historiographer had access to the royal archives and used genuine Swedish archival documents. In the 17th century, against the background of the military presence of Sweden in the Novgorod land, the idea of ​​the sves as the founders of the Russian dynasty began to be made public. O. Rudbeck in his work Atlantis said that the Goths laid the foundation for Germany and Germanic culture, but the Svei, speaking under the name of Hyperboreans, were the inspirers of ancient Greek civilization - the foundation of European culture and the founders of great cultures in Eastern Europe up to ancient Russian culture and statehood.

In "Atlantis" the idea of ​​the founding of the Swedes in all changes and for all peoples took place, and Sweden was represented as the cradle of common European science and culture, including ancient Greek and ancient Roman, as well as ancient Russian. Rudbeck's ideas were transported to Russia by Bayer. When Bayer published his article "On the Varyags", the glory of "Atlantis" by Rudbek was at its zenith, and Rudbek himself was glorified by the foremost authorities and rulers of the thoughts of Western European social thought. Bayer was formed on the ideas of Rudbekianism. It was firmly learned that the chronicled Varangians were Scandinavian wolves, and wolves, through simple literary fantasizing, easily turned into Scandinian robbers.

Relying on Gothicism and Rudbekianism, it was no longer difficult for Bayer to see in the Bertin annals - the source that he first introduced into scientific circulation - irrefutable proof of the correctness of the theories on which he was brought up. A story from the Bertine annals about the embassy of the Byzantine emperor Theophilus to the French emperor Louis I in 839, about the presence of representatives of the people "Ros" (Rhos) within the framework of this embassy and their mention of their ruler, bearing the title of Chacanus, as well as finding out that that they are from the genus Sueonum, entered science in Bayer's interpretation, according to which "eos gentis esse Sueonum" which means "From generation there were Swedes." So what arguments do modern Normans use to support their theory? Allegations of the Swedish etymology of Old Russian princely names and the ancient Swedish origin of the name Rus and Rus. The scientific content of the Normanists about the origin of the name Rus from the ancient Swedish names of Roslagen through the transformation of this name through the Finnish Ruotsi is completely equivalent to Rudbek's production of the ancient Greek name Hyperborea from the ancient Swedish island of the noble (Hyperboreans)

b. Anti-Norman theory.

The founder of the anti-Norman theory was M.V. Lomonosov. He sharply criticized Miller's dissertation "On the origin of the name and the Russian people." M.V. Lomonosov, without refuting the story of the vocation of princes by the Novgorodians, ranked the Varangians themselves among the tribes of the Baltic Slavs, and, therefore, in his interpretation, the Ilmen Slavs, in order to end civil strife, turned not to the Normans, but to the kindred Baltic Slavs. He believes that the Normans at that time were not so developed as to create a state not only in Russia, but also at home. "It is wrong to argue who attributes the Varangian name to one people. Many strong evidences assure that they were from different tribes and languages ​​and were united only by one - the usual robbery on the seas at that time. For for a thousand years, the possessing sovereigns did not put in the cold and enrich themselves with such a predatory trade. , which on the Baltic Sea barely about the twelfth century left the custom. " The anti-Normanists believed that the arrival of the Varangians was nevertheless, but the state arose before that. So, M.N. Pokrovsky believed that the Kiev princes never eliminated the independence of the lands that they owned either under Oleg or under Monomakh. In his opinion, the "republican" and "federal" character of the Old Russian state "is established at the earliest stages of its development known to us ... quite definitely." He sees one of the main problems in the "Varangian problem". He writes: “It has finally been found out that the Varangians who came to Russia were Slavs by nationality and were invited to Novgorod because the male line of the ancient Slavic Novgorod dynasty had died out. They were also representatives of her female line - the grandchildren of the last Novgorod prince Gostomysl from his middle daughter , who married a Slavic prince in the West. They called on their own - Slavs, and not strangers - Germans. The Germans did not play any significant role in the creation of statehood, culture, etc. The Germans did not play any significant role in the creation of statehood, culture, etc. Both statehood and culture were their own, created over the centuries Already in the 2nd half of the 9th century in Eastern Europe there were two large Slavic states - Novgorod (not yet called Rus) and Kiev (bearing the name of Rus). These states had their own princes, their own dynasties, their own, rather high culture and broad connections in Europe: in Novgorod they knew very well what was happening on the Elbe, Danube, Dnieper and Don. Rikov about the savagery of the Russians of that time are really wild in their inconsistency with reality. Thus, this problem turned out to be completely different from what we once taught, and not the same as it is still presented to foreigners or Russians in foreign diaspora. "Historian DI Ilovaisky asks many questions." To begin with: yes Is there the slightest chance that a people, and not just one people, but several, and not even one tribe, would conspire at once, and call upon a whole other people to rule over them, that is, they would voluntarily impose an alien yoke on themselves? There are no such examples in history, and they are unthinkable. And that in this case we are talking not about the princes only and their squad, but about the whole people, there can hardly be any doubt about this. "In proof of the anti-Norman theory, he writes:" And the campaigns of the Russ on the Caspian Sea in 913 and 944 mentioned by the Arabs and also undertaken by tens of thousands of Warriors? Pay attention to those parts of the treaties of Oleg and Igor, where it is said about the light Russian princes who were under the hand of the Kiev prince; in Igor's treaty, many names of these (appanage) princes are also given. "Indeed, there is a lot of evidence about the military campaigns of Russia even before 862. This illustrates the fact that, perhaps, the state already existed at that period, based on the given signs of the state. Russia could defeat Byzantium, which was highly developed at that time, this indicates that the Russian army was assembled, well trained and staffed.This refers to the sign of a state - the presence of public political power, which has a special apparatus of control and coercion.

It is possible to create an efficient army only by having huge funds in the state treasury, and this is the second sign of the state. This treasury had to be replenished in order to keep the army in a combat-ready position, therefore, there was a system of taxation from the population. Moreover, it was only possible to collect both the army and taxes from a certain, subject territory, i.e. there was a territorial organization. Control over the collection by tax, like the collection itself, could only take place if there was a government apparatus that commanded the army, and also had power over the population. The presence of power is simply necessary for the maintenance and command of the army, the collection of taxes, the territorial organization of the population. All this shows that the state in Russia arose even before the arrival of the Varangians. Moreover, the Normans could not "bring" with them the idea of ​​statehood, since they themselves did not complete the process of decomposition of primitive communal relations at that time. DI. Ilovaisky notes that all the agreements that were concluded by the Russian people were not signed by a specific person, but by the signature "The Great Russian People." Also, the most important proof that the state arose earlier than the 9th century is the city of Kiev. Building cities is a very difficult business that requires huge costs of both various materials and a huge number of workers. These workers needed power to guide them. The construction of the city could not be spontaneous and chaotic. This suggests that during the construction of Kiev, there was already a government that could manage a large number of people, as well as the supply of various resources. Another striking proof is that the Normans could not create a state in Russia in any way. This is due to the fact that "in the 9th century the Scandinavian peoples were unable to establish such a huge state as the Russian one. In the east, they had enough to do with the Baltic Slavs." Moreover, there are cases when Prince Igor "sent Varangians across the sea" to replenish the ranks of the army, they were hired for "dirty work".

c. Compromise theory.

The third theory of the emergence of the state that we would like to describe is the compromise theory. It is in many ways similar to the anti-Norman theory, but it also includes provisions from the Norman. The main provisions of the compromise theory are the following features. The Eastern Slavs originally lived where our Primary Chronicle knows them; here, within the boundaries of the Russian plain, they settled, perhaps, several centuries before the birth of Christ. Having designated their starting point in this way, scientists of this direction depict a long and complex historical process by which whole tribes grew up among the Eastern Slavs from primitive small clan alliances, cities arose among the tribes, from the midst of these cities the main, or older, cities arose, which made up with the younger cities or by the suburbs, tribal political unions of the Polyans, Drevlyans, northerners and other tribes, and, finally, the main cities of different tribes around the era of the calling of the princes began to unite into one all-Russian union. With its schematic clarity and consistency, this theory somewhat complicates the student by the fact that such a complex historical process develops by it outside of time and historical conditions: it is not clear to which chronological point the beginning and further moments of this process could be timed and how, in what historical setting it developed.

Following this view, we must begin our history long before p. x., almost from the time of Herodotus, in any case, many centuries before the calling of the princes, because already before their arrival, a rather complex and elaborated social system had already been established among the Eastern Slavs, which had taken on solid political forms. Let's go into the analysis of the surviving news and legends about our Slavs, and then we will get the opportunity to evaluate both of the views now presented. In fact, this theory is based on the fact that the rudiments of the state arose even before the arrival of the Varangians. V.O. Klyuchevsky tried to describe a compromise theory. He connected the Norman theory with the ideas of the anti-Norman theory about the roots of the Old Russian state. He also identified several forms formed before the 9th century. in Russia:

The first form consisted of numerous "urban areas, that is, trading districts governed by a fortified city, which at the same time served as an industrial center for this district." The second form is the Varangian principalities. They represent certain territorial entities in which the Varangian rulers ruled. Klyuchevsky wrote about this in the following way: “In those industrial settlements, where armed newcomers from overseas flooded with special force, they easily left the role of trade comrades or hired guardians of trade routes and turned into rulers. companies, became leaders who received, in such a coup, the importance of military commanders of the cities they protected. Such leaders in the Scandinavian sagas are called "Koning" or "Vikings", there were several such principalities in the 9th century: Rurik in Novgorod, Sineusovo on White Lake, Truvorocho in Izborsk , Askoldovo in Kiev ". The third form arose from the first two indicated: from the combination of independent city regions and Varangian principalities. From them came the third form - the Grand Duchy of Kiev. It can be called a state with complete confidence, since it possessed all the characteristics of a state: it had a state treasury, sovereignty, a public apparatus of power in the person of the prince and his entourage, acts that were mandatory for execution, and a territorial organization were created. There were also minor signs, such as the army.

d. Iranian-Slavic theory.

According to this theory, there are 2 types of Russes - the Black Sea Rus (descendants of the Slavic tribes) and the Rus - are encouraged (or Rugs (Baltic Slavs). They were the inhabitants of Rügen. It was the Rus who were encouraged who were invited by the Ilmen Slovenes, and when they are combined, the two types of Russes converge All the proof of this theory comes down only to the similarity of Russian words with Iranian, that is, many words were taken from the Iranian language

e. Indo-Iranian theory.

Indo-Iranian theory is entirely based on linguistic principles. In this theory, the basis is centered on the fact that some Russian words have Indo-Iranian roots. For example: "Cyclic evolution of I.-e. e -> a in a part of dialects with subsequent return replacement d -> e in another part makes possible an internal (without external impulses and influences) understanding of the reasons for Russian akanya, which should not be pulled out of There is a likelihood in favor of the assumption that the Satem group of languages, that is, languages ​​that have carried out the innovation, occupied a relatively middle position among other Indo-European, and this is important in the issue of localizing Proto-Slavic as a Satem language. " O.N. Trubachev writes about this: "The Indo-Iranian theory insists that" ros "has some other origin than" rus ", which is much older." The word Svarga is also an indirect proof. Suffice it to name the Slavic theonym Svarogb and its expressively ancient Indian counterpart svarga - the sky. In the paganism of the Slavs, there was a God of the wind who was worshiped - Svarog. This illustrates that the Slavs had close ties with the Iranian tribes. This theory has a right to exist, but just like the Iranian-Slavic, we believe that there is not enough evidence, since, in our opinion, a small similarity in the languages ​​of these peoples is not enough. Several similar words cannot accurately indicate any joint origin. There are words that Russia borrowed from its neighbors. Russia borrowed many words from Greece. For example, you all know the word "Bible". It is based on the Greek "vivlion" or in the classical reading "biblion". Translated into Russian, this word means "book". There are many such words, but no one claims about any Greek-Russian theory of the origin of the state. So our opinion is that these two theories of the origin of the ancient Russian state do not have any substantial evidence.

Prerequisites for the formation of the ancient Russian state

The first prerequisite for the formation of an ancient Russian state is described in the tale of bygone years - "Let's look for a prince, someone like us would volunteer and judge by right." From this, the first prerequisite is formed - the need to regulate internal relations in Russia.

The next prerequisite was economic. In connection with farming and improving technology, people began to have surplus products. It had to be implemented somehow. To make it easier to realize this surplus, at first alliances were concluded between the tribes, and later they were united. Since the territory was extended from north to south, in different places, depending on the geographic location, people were engaged in various trades. In the southern territories - agriculture, in the northern - hunting, fishing. There was also a need for foreign trade. It was much easier for a single state to trade in the international arena.

An important prerequisite was the protection of the territory, both from civil strife and from external threats. The danger was represented not only by an external enemy, but also by various military actions between the tribes. Another reason is the need for military campaigns. The united state could muster a much larger army than each tribe individually, albeit in an alliance, moreover, a centralized one-man rule was able to make lightning-fast decisions on the battlefield, unlike if each tribal army had its own commander.

Prerequisites the formation of the state among the Eastern Slavs: the transition from a clan community to a neighboring one, the formation of inter-tribal alliances, the development of trades, crafts and trade, the need for unification to repel an external threat.

The tribal reigns of the Slavs had signs of an emerging statehood. Tribal reigns were often united in large super-alliances that showed the features of early statehood. One of these associations was union of tribes led by Kiy(known from the end of the 5th century). At the end of the VI-VII centuries. existed, according to Byzantine and Arab sources, "Power of Volynians" , which was an ally of Byzantium.

The Novgorod Chronicle informs about the elder Gostomysle , who headed in the IX century. Slavic unification around Novgorod... Eastern sources suggest the existence on the eve of the formation of the Old Russian state three large associations Slavic tribes: Cuyaba, Slavia and Artania. Kuyaba (or Kuyava), most likely, was located around Kiev. Slavia occupied the territory in the region of Lake Ilmen, its center was Novgorod. The location of Artania is determined differently by different researchers (Ryazan, Chernigov).

In the XVIII century. formed the theory of the formation of the Old Russian state ... According to Norman theory the state of Rus was created by the Norman (Varangian, Russian name of the Scandinavian peoples) princes who came at the invitation of the Eastern Slavs (authors G. Bayer, G. Miller, A. Schletser). Supporters anti-Norman theory believed that the determining factor in the formation of any state is the objective internal conditions, without which it is impossible to create it by any external forces (author M.V. Lomonosov).

Norman theory

The Russian chronicler of the beginning of the XII century, trying to explain the origin of the Old Russian state, in accordance with the medieval tradition, included in the chronicle the legend about the vocation of three Varangians as princes - brothers Rurik, Sineus and Truvor... Many historians believe that the Varangians were Norman (Scandinavian) warriors hired to serve and swore an oath of loyalty to the ruler. A number of historians, on the contrary, consider the Varangians to be a Russian tribe that lived on the southern coast of the Baltic Sea and on the island of Rügen.

According to this legend, on the eve of the formation of Kievan Rus, the northern tribes of the Slavs and their neighbors (Ilmen Slovenes, Chud, all) paid tribute to the Varangians, and the southern tribes (glades and their neighbors) were dependent on the Khazars. In 859, the Novgorodians "expelled the Varangians across the sea," which led to civil strife. Under these conditions, the Novgorodians gathered for the council sent for the Varangian princes: “Our land is great and abundant, but there is no order (order. -Aut.) In it. Yes, go to reign and rule over us. " Power over Novgorod and the surrounding Slavic lands passed into the hands of the Varangian princes, the eldest of whom Rurik laid, as the chronicler believed, the beginning of the princely dynasty. After the death of Rurik, another Varangian prince, Oleg(there is information that he was a relative of Rurik), who ruled in Novgorod, united Novgorod and Kiev in 882 It so happened, according to the chronicler, the state Rus(also called Kievan Rus by modern historians).

The legendary chronicle story about the vocation of the Varangians served as the basis for the emergence of the so-called Norman theory of the emergence of the Old Russian state. It was first formulated German scientists G.F. Miller and G.Z. Bayer, invited to work in Russia in the 18th century. MV Lomonosov was an ardent opponent of this theory.

The very fact of the presence of the Varangian squads, by which, as a rule, the Scandinavians are understood, in the service of the Slavic princes, their participation in the life of Russia is beyond doubt, as well as the constant mutual ties between the Scandinavians and Russia. However, there are no traces of any noticeable influence of the Varangians on the economic and socio-political institutions of the Slavs, as well as on their language and culture. In the Scandinavian sagas, Russia is a country of incalculable riches, and serving the Russian princes is the right way to gain glory and power. Archaeologists note that the number of Varangians in Russia was small. Not found any data on the colonization of Russia by the Varangians. The version about the foreign origin of this or that dynasty is typical of antiquity and the Middle Ages. Suffice it to recall the stories about the calling of the Anglo-Saxons by the Britons and the creation of the English state, about the founding of Rome by the brothers Romulus and Remus, etc.

Other theories ( Slavic and centrist)

In the modern era, quite the scientific inconsistency of the Norman theory has been proven explaining the emergence of the Old Russian state as a result of a foreign initiative. However, its political meaning is dangerous today. The "Normanists" proceed from the proposition of the allegedly primordial backwardness of the Russian people, which, in their opinion, is not capable of independent historical creativity. It is possible, as they believe, only under foreign leadership and according to foreign models.

Historians have convincing evidence that there is every reason to assert that the Eastern Slavs had stable traditions of statehood long before the Varangians were called. State institutions arise as a result of the development of society. The actions of individual major personalities, conquests or other external circumstances determine the specific manifestations of this process. Consequently, the fact of the vocation of the Varangians, if it really took place, speaks not so much of the emergence of Russian statehood as of the origin of the princely dynasty. If Rurik was a real historical figure, then his calling to Russia should be seen as a response to the real need for princely power in Russian society at that time. In historical literature the question of Rurik's place in our history remains controversial ... Some historians share the opinion that the Russian dynasty is of Scandinavian origin, like the very name “Rus” (the Finns called the inhabitants of Northern Sweden “Russians”). Their opponents are of the opinion that the legend of the vocation of the Varangians is the fruit of tendentious writing, a later insertion caused by political reasons. There is also a point of view that the Varangians were Slavs, originating either from the southern coast of the Baltic (Rügen Island), or from the area of ​​the Neman River. It should be noted that the term "Rus" is repeatedly encountered in relation to various associations both in the north and in the south of the East Slavic world.

State formation Rus or, as it is called for the capital, Kievan Rus) - the natural completion of a long process of decomposition of the primitive communal system among a dozen and a half Slavic tribal unions who lived on the way "from the Varangians to the Greeks." The established state was at the very beginning of its path: primitive communal traditions for a long time retained their place in all spheres of life of East Slavic society.

Centers of the ancient Russian state

Russia took place on the basis of two centers: the southern one has formed around Kiev(founders brothers Kiy, Schek, Khoriv and sister Lybed) in the middle of the 9th century. The north center has formed around Novgorod.

The first prince of Novgorod was Rurik(862-879) with brothers Sineus and Truvor. From 879-912 rules Oleg, who united Novgorod and Kiev in 882 and created a single state of Rus. Oleg carried out campaigns against Byzantium (907, 911), concluded an agreement in 911 with the Byzantine emperor Leo VI on the right to duty-free trade.

In 912, power inherits Igor(son of Rurik). He repelled the invasion of the Pechenegs, made campaigns against Byzantium: in 941 he was defeated and in 944 he concluded the first written agreement with the Byzantine emperor Roman I Lacapine. In 945, as a result of the uprising of the Drevlyan tribe, Igor was killed while trying to reassemble the polyudye - an annual detour by the prince and the squad of the subject lands to collect tribute.

The ancient Russian state was early feudal monarchy where power was inherited. The head of state was Grand Duke, he belonged to the supreme legislative, executive power. He performed duties supreme commander , was the head of diplomatic activity. Helped the prince in management Advice(the top of the squad is the prince's men). Druzhina consisted of "senior" (carried out the instructions of the prince) and "younger": youths and children (personal servants of the prince). Appanage princes were in vassal dependence on the grand duke (personal dependence of small feudal lords on large ones).

After the unification of the Slavic tribes into the Old Russian state, all people in it begin to form a single society. However, as in all other countries, this society was not homogeneous and was divided into different categories and strata depending on what people were doing.

Lesson summary "Formation of the Old Russian state«.