Vladimir Lebedev
31.01.2012 - 16:27
Russia is a country of 100 nationalities. Who is here: Tatars, Ukrainians, Azerbaijanis, Chechens, and Mordovians. And all nations answer the question with honor: “Who? What?". That is, they are nouns. And only one nation of Russia – the Russians – answers the question “Which one?” Which?". That is, they are an adjective - a part of speech that describes the characteristics of an object or its affiliation.
Most likely, the word “Russian” is a truncated form of the broader expression “Russian people” or “Russian people”. That is, people living in Rus' (and, accordingly, belonging to Rus'). That is, it is constructed according to exactly the same rule as the expression “Soviet people”, from which the concept “Soviet”, similar to the concept “Russian”, has already begun to be formed.
In other words, “Russian” is a word as far from the concept of nationality as “Soviet”, which, as everyone knows, is based on the word “Council”. Moreover, the Council is a body of political power. In this sense, the Soviet people can just as well be called “Parliamentary people” or “Majlis people”, meaning only the form of their state political structure.
What was the political system like in Ancient Rus'? Vechev. So why weren’t the Russian people called “Vecheva”, but called “Russian”? Yes, because the adjective “Russian” refers to our people by the fact of belonging not to the Veche, but to Rus', which was not the name of a state authority, but the State itself. More precisely: a type of State, which actually constituted the sign of distinctiveness by which our people received the name “Russian”.
What kind of State is this and where was it located? And this state was called, more precisely, the type of state was “Rus”, and it was located... And where, by the way, was the state called Rus?
You will be surprised, but historians are still arguing about where Rus' was located: from the extreme north of Europe (Norman Rus') to the extreme south of Europe (Khazar Rus'). Moreover, in both cases, historians do not know exactly where the name “Rus” came from, for which they come up with a variety of toponymic explanations, which usually boil down to the fact that this was the name of the river near which Russian people lived.
We are such “cheap people” that, unlike other peoples who proudly call themselves Chechens or Avars or even Bashkirs, we took and named ourselves after some river, which dries up almost every year, leaving the great and mighty Russian people without Stanovoy toponymic ridge.
Do you find this explanation of the name of the Russian people convincing? We don't. Moreover, we are firmly convinced that the Russian people are not our national name at all, just as the name Soviet people has never been the name of any people included in the USSR, which was, as is known, the World Empire. And empires are such huge entities that, of necessity, they are always divided into administrative units. Like Satrapiy in the Persian Empire or Ulus in the Tatar-Mongol horde.
So our ancient empire was divided into “Rus” or “Reichs”: Great Rus', Little Rus', Kievan Rus, Lithuanian Rus. Check out the latest title: Lithuania+Rus. Can the word “Rus”, with the obviously national qualifier “Lithuanian”, mean nationality? No.
What can she do? To mean a state form of division: such as a republic in the USSR. Do you know when the Empire began to be called the Republic? The Roman Empire (and we are talking only about it everywhere) began to be called the Republic after in the Empire, as a result of the massive resettlement of rural barbarians to cities, the cities turned into Polis - City-States, which first of all indicates that the United The empire ruled by the One Emperor fell apart into Parts, that is, into Polis. To the same Polis from which such words as “Ulus” (P+Olisy=P+Ulus), and “Pruss” and “Rus” were formed.
Are you asking what the word “Polis” means?
Yes, the same as the word “Ulus” or “Rus” - namely: Rez or Rezan or Ryazan (here is another Rus' - Ryazan), which in modern language usually sounds like “Narez” (whoever has a dacha knows that this is what it is), although in Russian historical literature they are usually called feudal “Allotments” (this is such a large plot of land with the City at its head that it is given into the possession of the Prince). So the word “Polis” (from which all the names of Narezov or Allotments in the world came, including the German Reich, which is the Russian “Rez”) means just a Cut, or as they used to say - Polez (remember that the word “Rez” " used to begin with the letter "L", and the example of "Blade" instead of "Rezviy" is the best confirmation of this).
As a result, we see that the word “Rus”, from which the name of our people came, does not mean anything other than the name of Polis or Ulus, or Narez, to which we were assigned after the collapse of the Empire, which collapsed under the blows of the Barbarians of the Steppe - the same Tatar-Mongols or Perso-Arabs, who actually divided our United Roman-Egyptian Empire into their uluses or satrapies.
We will not delve into the details of this process now, but will limit ourselves to the question posed: What nationality were the Russians? Kievan (if we keep in mind that our national history begins with Kievan Rus)? Great (if we keep in mind that this was the name of Great Rus', within which the Great Russians - the current Russians - lived)? Moscow (if we keep in mind that Moscow became the political center around which all parts of the defeated imperial people who moved from the Mediterranean to Northern Europe as a result of the Exodus of the Slavs gathered). There are no such nationalities and never have been (with the exception of offensive national nicknames like “Moskal”).
What's left over?
Only one name: the Slavs, who appeared in Europe (including Northern Europe) exactly when the last bastion of the Empire, Byzantium, was invaded by barbarians. It was at this time - and we are talking about the 5-6 centuries. AD - in Europe, out of nowhere, a huge migratory column of Slavs appears - the mysterious Antes, consisting of 12 tribal unions, namely: Slovenians, Krivichs (by the way, this is what we Russians are still called by the Baltic states), Northerners, Drevlyans , Polyan, Dregovichi, Ulichi, Volynyan, Radimichi, Dulebov, Vyatichi, Horvat.
The question arises: who were these mysterious Ants? And the Ants are none other than Vantas or Veneti or Venedi, known in history for the fact that they came from Rome (where they built Venice and all other Roman cities), and even earlier - from Troy, which, after being captured by the barbarians, They left the Danaans under the leadership of Aeneas. And Troy - as we now reliably know - is a city in Egypt, located in the First Memphis nome under the name of Turov (with the etymology Troy - C + Troy - Build or St + Roy, which in Egyptian sounds like “Place at the Excavated Mountain” , which They built by digging the Earth - and in this form we are talking about the Pyramid of Cheops).
In other words, speaking about the nationality of Russians, we, first of all, must proceed from the fact that Russians... are Egyptians.
Second: Russians are Romans (more precisely: the indigenous population of the Roman Empire, of which Egypt was a part)
Third: Russians are not just the main population of the empire, but also its native ethnic group, which was subjected to assimilation by the Barbarians of the Steppes as a result of the so-called Synoicism, which actually resulted in the Degradation and Fall of the Empire, which turned into a plebeian Republic with its subsequent division into Polis or Ulus or Rus.
Fourth: The Russians are the original ethnic groups that were successively expelled from the Empire, who did not want to mix with the Barbarians of the Steppes and preferred the Exodus from each new place of residence, if the Barbarians became the predominant population in it.
This is how the formula of the Three Romes arose: The first Rome is Troy, which the Russians abandoned when the Arab Turks prevailed in it.
The second Rome was Rome, which the Russians abandoned when the Roman Empire was conquered by the barbarian Turks along with the Persians.
The third Rome was Moscow, which became the last Rome for the Russians, since there was nowhere to retreat beyond Moscow.
Based on materials from the magazine “Opponent”
RUSSIAN IS NOT A NATIONALITY
Russian is not a nationality. Russian is a complex of human qualities and a state of the human soul. In ancient times there were Mughals, Aryans, Russ - Rus' (Russia) has a very rich history, for thousands of years people living on the territory of ancient Rus' were called by different names. Currently, the territory of modern Russia is the territory where Russians live. However, the concept of “Russian” refers not only to nationality and not all Russians by nationality are Russian in reality. In the same way, a person of any nationality - be it Ukrainian, German, Latvian, Chechen, Kalmyk, and so on - can be Russian in the state of his soul and human qualities.
I wonder what kind of qualities are these that can change a person’s nationality? If the question is posed this way, then it will be fundamentally wrong, since the concept of “Russian”, at present, has been enriched not only with the national idea, but also covers a number of character traits and mentality of people. Now this concept is supranational, defining the state of the soul and a set or complex of personality traits of an individual person. There is a Russian nationality in the world; its representatives can be found in all corners of our planet. Many, living among other peoples, are no longer Russian by nationality, are carriers of a different culture, do not remember or barely remember their Russian language. However, the complex of qualities and state of mind of many have been preserved and are successfully passed on to descendants, regardless of their chosen nationality.
Let's look at what kind of complex of qualities this is that defines Russians and is not, at the same time, a national identity. Here we should turn to history. There was no Russian nationality in ancient history; this concept appeared much later. If we define it by country of residence, then Russians could not live in Rus' - rather Russians, Russians... However, Rus' unites not only Russians, Russians, but also many other peoples who have their own culture, their own language, their own Gods, your territory of residence. The life together of different people under one roof of Rus' does not proceed entirely smoothly - there were different times, different impulses of the soul arose among peoples, but at a subconscious level, everyone always had a continuous craving for unity. Of course, a sarcastic grin may appear here about the voluntary nature of unity under one roof. In this regard, we can say with confidence that these are just the aspirations of individuals, even groups, but not of the entire people. Such sentiments have always existed and exist today, but upon closer examination it turns out that this is not the entire people of any territorial unit. Rather, these sentiments arise under the influence of someone’s will or for commercial/selfish interests. Well, well, this has a certain benefit for the inhabitants of this country - the presence of an opposition in it makes it possible to compare views on such vitally important issues as freedom and independence. It should be noted that the argumentation of such persons in favor of a higher standard of living for people in other countries is very, very doubtful, on the one hand; on the other hand, it stimulates the government to raise the standard of living of the population of its country. Therefore, there is a certain benefit from the presence of the so-called opposition. However, there really is a craving for unity and is not logically meaningful, pursuing any interests of the subject of the federation, but exists on a subconscious level. We can say that this is the call of blood, the call of the ancestors who once inhabited this territory and were one whole and indivisible people. Therefore, any separation will not bring moral, economic, or physical satisfaction to either side. Similar experience already exists - within the memory of living generations, the collapse of a once united country resulted in severe economic, mental, and physical trauma for the majority of the population of these countries. The exception is made by persons who knew in advance about the personal material benefit of the planned action and therefore do not pay any attention to the interests of their countries and the peoples living in them. The bitterness of the split of a great power and the separation of people who had become almost relatives is still manifested in the statements of now adults and elderly people. Adults and elderly people are also among those whose decisions directly affect the fate of people and the country, however, personal material interest for them is decisive in the implementation of public policy and the development of the economy of their countries.
But let's return to the Russians. So, no matter who we consider ourselves to be, no matter what nationality we belong to, all residents of Russia are called Russians, without dividing into nationalities, without specifying the region of residence. And this definition does not include the territory within the borders of Russia, but the qualities of the people living in this territory. Of course, there are differences and people sometimes clarify their nationality and region of residence, but, nevertheless, the attitude towards them remains the same as towards Russians by nationality. People don’t notice this, but if you take a closer look, you can clearly see how a person’s specified nationality is treated with distrust, since no matter where a person lives, a resident of Russia has the mentality and culture of the people of Russia. Please note - not the culture of an individual nationality, but the culture of the people, that is, the people of Russia are not divided into nationalities and nationalities, but are perceived as a single whole with their culture and their mentality. Analyzing further the features of the national cultures of the peoples of Russia, external differences in folk customs, differences in religion, languages, preserved by ancestors and passed on to generations, are obvious. However, no matter how hard we try to distinguish and divide peoples, something common, uniting everyone together, into a solid and indivisible monolith, is very clearly noticeable. The feeling of something unifying involuntarily emerges from somewhere within, as if a powerful, enormous force has absorbed the will of all peoples and now on their behalf declares its rights to existence, which is impossible to ignore. No one specially created any conditions, did not carry out any actions - it was Life itself that put everything in its place and now the peoples of Russia are a single people - Russians.
Well, the time has come to consider the character traits of this people.
First of all, it is intolerance of one’s country’s dependence on anyone. It would seem that independence from Russia could also be included here, however, no one considers their existence separate from Russia, because a great country sounds proud. It is very pleasant for people to belong to a great country, to feel like they are part of a powerful state, but this quality adds confidence in themselves, in their future and in the views of people living in Russia, this is clearly visible. The economies of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation are so closely interconnected that separate existence is practically impossible. Therefore, no matter what relations develop between people within the country, no matter what difficulties befall them, the champions of separatism involuntarily evoke a smile, like underdeveloped subjects.
Secondly: Russians have never been loved for their morality and high morality. You should not grin immediately, it is better to turn to history - among the ancient Rus, the moral qualities of a person have always occupied a leading role in the character of an individual. Rus', Russia has always been at war, not a single country in the world has been subjected from outside and inside, with the help of someone’s accomplices, to such powerful attacks on the intelligentsia, on the culture of peoples, unbearable conditions were created for scientists to work and live in the country, forcing them to leave their native country . The number of physically destroyed Russian scientists can be compared to an epidemic. No country in the world has suffered such damage in the field of culture and science. Therefore, one should not be surprised at some cases of ridicule by individuals - it is not their fault - it is their misfortune. The trouble is that they did not receive enough knowledge of the history of their country, they did not receive enough quality education that develops the ability for independent thinking and analysis. However, one should not completely protect them, since the possibility of self-education was and always is.
Thirdly: this is Russian disobedience - these qualities are especially clearly manifested in days of vital trials. This is war. It was impossible to break the will and incline to betrayal, be it a Georgian, a Ukrainian, a Kalmyk - it doesn’t matter - they are all from there - from Russia, which means Russians. Opposite facts can be cited, but these are individual individuals, and there are no less similar ones among any other peoples and nationalities. We are talking about the peculiarities of the national character of the majority of people living in Russia.
Fourth: this is will. The strong-willed qualities of Russians have been puzzling since ancient times. Instead of accepting someone else’s will and living “well,” Russians, with the tenacity of those possessed, achieve their goal and arrange their lives according to their own canons. Nobody likes this, since a certain part of the space remains isolated from the field of influence, prevents the establishment of world order, forces them to spend large amounts of money on maintaining the appearance of normal life in other countries, instead of putting everyone into a strict “democratic” framework long ago and enjoying their own power all over the world. Nobody likes the love of freedom of Russians, and therefore examples of negative character traits and actions are sought out and clearly highlighted, which can only manifest themselves in individual people, but are not a characteristic feature of the entire people. Some people really want to show Russians to the whole world as people of low moral culture, however, Russians do not have such aspirations in relation to the world around them, they would like less people to look into Russia with criticism and teachings. Doesn’t anyone have problems at home, in their countries?
Next is the absence of despotism. Since ancient times, despotism has been unnatural for Russians - this phenomenon is not only not common among the population of Russian lands, it is alien to them in nature. Strictness - yes, this is a necessary requirement in the education of a strong character and, at the same time, intolerance to lies, to selfishness (the search for personal gain by any means), to betrayal - integral qualities of the Russian character - the character of all peoples living in Russia, regardless of nationality .
There is no point in deifying the Russian character; like all peoples of the world, Russians also have negative character traits. Among them is excessive arrogance. The Russian “maybe” is known throughout the world. Sometimes foreigners in business relations with Russians rely on this feature of Russians and, at times, have more benefits than Russians in joint business. Excessive trust and unreasonable credulity are also features of the Russian character. From a modern perspective, excessive gullibility is akin to stupidity; however, this problem should be studied more deeply. And with a more in-depth study of this feature of the Russian character, interesting facts will be revealed. It turns out that this character trait has deep roots and goes back to ancient times. It is not for nothing that the high morality of the Russians was mentioned. Locking the outer door of your home did not exist at all in ancient times, and in rural areas it can persist in Russia to this day. Anyone could enter any house in the absence of the owners of the home and never cause harm. They could leave their children in the care of non-relatives – neighbors, acquaintances – completely free of charge, and the children were looked after like their own. Not only did people not agree on the terms of such a relationship, but such a thought did not even arise. Complete trust not only in loved ones, but in strangers was a common occurrence - this is a norm of life that was passed down from generation to generation, and no one taught this norm of life to anyone. This is the way of life of the Rus/Russians/Russians.
Russian fools, Russian simpletons - they can and should be deceived and fooled - this is the way of life in the modern world. Yes, the Russians urgently had to “wisen up” in modern terms. The lack of laws in Russia had to be urgently filled in order to meet the requirements of modern business and business relations. However, let us set ourselves the goal of finding out the reason for such a lag in lawmaking in Russia. It turns out that the reason again lies in the peculiarities of the Russian character - the habitual trust of people in each other has come to be called excessive gullibility. Now you can’t take people’s word for it, any agreement, any action must be documented - an agreement of intent, a contract for supplies, a contract for purchase, a marriage contract, and so on. What if without papers - without notarization of a letter of intent, without powers of attorney for a lot of things, and so on? And then there may be litigation with large material costs not provided for in contracts with notarizations with signatures and seals stored in hard-to-reach places, and God knows what else. So a decent person became a provocateur - he provoked the other party to commit financial crimes, official forgeries in violation of procedural norms for formalizing transactions and all sorts of mutually and not very profitable business relationships, and therefore it is not the one who stole it that is to blame, but the one who provided it to another (read thief) ) the opportunity to take actions in favor of one’s material interests. It's working out great. What kind of world did we find ourselves in then? The world of respect and mutual selfless interests has been replaced by a world of scoundrels who are looking for every opportunity to “make money” on the mistakes of their partners.
So this is the criminal world. And there is nothing to be proud of here. A huge number of all kinds of laws only speaks of the low moral and ethical level of the people of this world, whose every movement should be surrounded on all sides by all sorts of laws and also, preferably, under police supervision in case any party comes up with another action that deceives its partner, for which a law has not yet been invented so that this grabber can be protected from an unjust victim and let this grabber “get rich” due to the imperfection of the laws.
But this way of life and relationships between people is not our way, that is, not the Russian way. It was difficult for Russians to enter the modern “business” world. The brightest feelings turned out to be signs of backwardness, and the basest qualities were elevated to the rank of virtues of respected people. An explanation is required here in order to prevent possible misconceptions on the subject of human relations - the current supposedly bright feelings of modern people in the Western world are due, as already mentioned, to many different laws that carefully follow every person literally on the heels. It’s worth remembering the crowds of completely naked people waiting for the store to open in order to snatch a free TV according to a previously announced promotion and the conditions for receiving the gift, then everything falls into place. But such cases are not isolated; such actions are regularly held on the eve of major holidays.
A special and incomprehensible feature of the Russian national character is the state of mind. Russians have a broad soul - the most difficult and inexplicable combination of words for other peoples of the world to understand. They can repeat these words, say that they know these words, but there is no understanding of the meaning of the words. Many people see the generosity of Russians and consider it unreasonable extravagance, although rich people can afford more than Russians (special cases are described here), but the state of their soul does not allow them to make a broad gesture naturally, without hesitation. But this is depressing. An unstable, arrogant mind is depressing. In other conditions, these feelings may not manifest themselves, but not when handling money. They try to explain this behavior of Russians by the stupidity of Russian fools, but this is only for complacency, and in the depths of the soul lies hatred and hostility towards everything Russian, towards everything connected with Russia. This is a pathological hostility that modern generations will not be able to overcome. Russia will have to maneuver for a long time between a rock and a hard place, between love and hatred for it, in order to give it the opportunity to let off steam and finally put its brains in order. There is no other way, because any more effective means of enlightenment will, in fact, lead to an even greater eclipse and unpredictable consequences, and Russia is so tired of enduring and fighting back that, it seems, the time has come to put everyone in their stalls and read to them the rules of good behavior. But Russia, like the Russians - all the peoples living in it - is broad-minded and will endure and endure everything for the benefit, first of all, of those around her, and then for herself.
Such is the great role of Great Russia. If you doubt it, look more carefully at the world around you, at the level of consciousness of these people, their mentality, pay attention to their aspirations. When you are able to look at everything well and understand, comments will be unnecessary.
From here follows the most important task for Russia - to preserve itself not only as a territorial unit, but also as an independent power with its own multinational national structure. Imagine Russia in its multinationality with its flags, coats of arms raised, with icons of their Gods - it will be a colorful, huge, blooming field - a real spring holiday under the common Russian Flag and Coat of Arms. The task of these Flag and Coat of Arms is not at all easy - to preserve the blooming field, not to let the flowers wither under the vigilant gaze of envious people and ill-wishers of all stripes. And for this, the following quality of the Russian peoples is extremely important:
Memory. The main quality is memory. The memory of their ancestors is sacred for Russians. Only thanks to this quality, the Russians managed to preserve their ancient history. It turns out that Russians/Rus/Rusichi have always been different - just as they are now - they have always been different in appearance and cultural customs, but always united in spirit. Now the time has come to re-read your history, to honor the memory of your most ancient and close ancestors, relatives by blood and relatives in spirit, and, without hesitation, be proud of them, be proud of your Russia.
History shows that the word form “Russian nationality” in relation to a specific ethnic group did not become commonly used in Russia even by the beginning of the twentieth century. You can give a lot of examples when famous Russian figures were actually of foreign blood. The writer Denis Fonvizin is a direct descendant of the German von Wiesen, the commander Mikhail Barclay de Tolly is also German, the ancestors of General Peter Bagration are Georgians. There is nothing even to say about the ancestors of the artist Isaac Levitan - and so everything is clear.
Even from school, many remember the phrase of Mayakovsky, who wanted to learn Russian only because Lenin spoke this language. Meanwhile, Ilyich himself did not consider himself a Russian at all, and there is numerous documentary evidence of this. By the way, it was V.I. Lenin who first in Russia came up with the idea of introducing the column “nationality” in documents. In 1905, members of the RSDLP reported in questionnaires about their affiliation with a particular nation. Lenin in such “self-denunciations” wrote that he was a “Great Russian”: at that time, if it was necessary to emphasize nationality, the Russians called themselves “Great Russians” (according to the dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron - “Great Russians”) - the population of “Great Russia” ”, called by foreigners “Muscovy”, which has been constantly expanding its possessions since the 13th century.
And Lenin called one of his first works on the national question “On the National Pride of the Great Russians.” Although, as Ilyich’s biographers found out relatively recently, there were actually “Great Russian” blood in his pedigree - 25%.
By the way, in Europe, nationality as belonging to a certain ethnic group was a commonly used concept already in the 19th century. True, for foreigners it was equivalent to citizenship: the French lived in France, the Germans lived in Germany, etc. In the overwhelming majority of foreign countries, this identity has been preserved to this day.
In Russian society there is no consensus on who the Russians are - a people or a nation? This is due to the influence of the Soviet period in the formation of Russia and the fact that each of these concepts promises its pros and cons, can potentially influence the vector of the further formation of Russian society and the set of principles for the formation of the Russian World.
People who miss the Soviet Union gravitate toward the opinion “Russians are a nation,” while people who consider the periods of the Russian Tsardom and the Russian Empire to be more significant in the history of the development of Russian statehood are closer to the opinion “Russians are a people.” Therefore, before we begin to search for an answer to the question: are Russians a people or a nation, it is necessary to define these two terms, as well as briefly assess their essence.
People is a term for the science of ethnography (Greek folk description) and is understood as an ethnos, that is, a group of people of common origin (blood relationship), which, in addition, has several unifying characteristics: language, culture, territory, religion and historical past. That is, a people is a sociocultural phenomenon.
Nation- is a socio-economic, cultural-political and spiritual community of the industrial era. The nation is studied by the theory of political doctrines, and the main task of the nation is to reproduce the cultural and civic identity common to all citizens of the country. That is, a nation is a political phenomenon.
To summarize: the concept of “people” is based on interconnected ethnic processes that do not always depend on the will of the people, and the concept of “nation” is closely related to the influence of the state apparatus.
Common historical memory, language and culture are the property of the people, and a common territory, political and economic life are closer to the concept of a nation.
Let us note one more point: the concept of people arose much earlier than the concept of nation.
In relation to the processes of development and state formation, it can be argued that the people create the state, and then the state volitionally forms the nation: the nation is based on the principle of citizenship, not kinship. A people is something organic and living, a nation is an artificially built rational mechanism.
Unfortunately, in the pursuit of civil unity, the nation involuntarily nullifies everything that is original, ethnic and traditional.
The people who created the state and are the core of the nation are gradually losing their ethnic identity and natural self-awareness. This is due to the fact that the living, natural processes of linguistic evolution, traditions and customs in the state acquire a formal, strictly defined form. Sometimes the price for the formation of a nation can be a split and confrontation within the people.
From the above, two conclusions suggest themselves:
- Nation- an analogue of a people that is artificially formed by the state.
- People- these are people, a nation is a principle that dominates people, a ruling idea.
The Slavs are one of the indigenous inhabitants of Eastern Europe, but they are divided into three large groups: eastern, western and southern, each of these communities has similar cultural and linguistic features.
And the Russian people - part of this large community - came from along with Ukrainians and Belarusians. So why were the Russians called Russians, how and under what conditions did this happen? We will try to find answers to these questions in this article.
Primary ethnogenesis
So, let’s take a journey into the depths of history, or rather, at the moment when this IV-III millennium BC begins to take shape.
It was then that the ethnic division of European peoples occurred. The Slavic mass stands out from the general environment. It was also not homogeneous, despite the similarity of languages; otherwise, the Slavic peoples are quite different, this even applies to the anthropological type.
This is not surprising, since they mixed with different tribes, this result was obtained with a common origin.
Initially, the Slavs and their language occupied a very limited territory. According to scientists, it was localized in the area of the middle reaches of the Danube, only later did the Slavs settle in the areas of modern Poland and Ukraine. Belarus and southern Russia.
Range expansion
The further expansion of the Slavs gives us the answer to the origin. In the 4th-3rd centuries BC, the Slavic masses move towards central Europe and occupy the Oder and Elbe basins.
At this stage it is still impossible to talk about any clear demarcation within the Slavic population. The greatest changes in ethnic and territorial demarcation were brought about by the Hun invasion. Already by the fifth century AD, the Slavs appeared in the forest-steppes of modern Ukraine and further south in the Don region.
Here they successfully assimilate the few Iranian tribes and establish settlements, one of which becomes Kyiv. However, numerous toponyms and hydronyms remain from the former owners of the lands, which led to the conclusion that the Slavs appeared in these places around the above period.
At this moment, there was a rapid growth of the Slavic population, which led to the emergence of a large intertribal association - the Anta Union, and it was from its midst that the Russians emerged. The history of the origin of this people is closely connected with the first prototype of the state.
The first mentions of Russians
From the fifth to the eighth centuries there was a continuous struggle between the Eastern Slavs and nomadic tribes, however, despite the enmity, these peoples in the future will be forced to coexist.
By this period, the Slavs had formed 15 large inter-tribal unions, the most developed of which were the Polyans and Slavs who lived in the area of Lake Ilmen. The strengthening of the Slavs led to the fact that they appeared in the possessions of Byzantium, and it was from there that the first information about the Russians and Dews came.
That is why the Russians were called Russians, this is a derivative of the ethnonym that the Byzantines and other peoples surrounding them gave them. There were other names that were similar in transcription - Rusyns, Rus.
During this chronological period, there was an active process of formation of statehood, moreover, there were two centers of this process - one in Kyiv, the other in Novgorod. But both bore the same name - Rus'.
Why were Russians called Russians?
So why did the ethnonym “Russians” appear both in the Dnieper region and in the north-west? After the great migration of peoples, the Slavs occupied vast areas of Central and Eastern Europe.
Among these numerous tribes there are the names Russ, Rusyns, Rutens, Rugs. Suffice it to recall that Rusyn has survived to this day. But why this particular word?
The answer is very simple, in the language of the Slavs the word “blond” meant fair-haired or simply fair, and the Slavs looked exactly like that according to their anthropological type. A group of Slavs who originally lived on the Danube brought this name when moving to the banks of the Dnieper.
This is where the terminology and origin of “Russian” originate; the Russians, over time, turn into Russians. This part of the Eastern Slavs settles in the area of modern Kyiv and adjacent territories. And they brought this name here, and since they established themselves here, the ethnonym became established; over time it only changed a little.
The emergence of Russian statehood
Another part of the Russians occupied lands along the southern coast of the Baltic Sea, here they pushed the Germans and Balts to the west, and they themselves gradually moved to the north-west, this group of Eastern Slavs already had princes and a squad.
And she was practically one step away from creating a state. Although there is a version about the Northern European origin of the term “Rus” and it is connected with the Norman theory, according to which the Varangians brought statehood to the Slavs, this term denoted the inhabitants of Scandinavia, but there is no evidence for this.
The Baltic Slavs moved to the area of Lake Ilmen, and from there to the east. Therefore, by the ninth century, two Slavic centers bear the name Rus, they are destined to become rivals in the struggle for dominance, this is what gives the new people their origin. Russian man is a concept that originally denoted all the Eastern Slavs who occupied the territories of modern Russia, Ukraine and Belarus.
The history of the Russian people at its very beginning
As mentioned above, intense rivalry arose between Kiev and Novgorod at the end of the ninth century. The reason for this was the acceleration of socio-economic development and the need to create a unified state.
The northerners gained the upper hand in this battle. In 882, the Novgorod prince Oleg gathered a large army and went on a campaign against Kyiv, but he was unable to take the city by force. Then he resorted to cunning and passed off his boats as a merchant caravan. Taking advantage of the effect of surprise, he killed the Kyiv princes and took the Kiev throne, declaring himself the Grand Duke.
This is how the ancient Russian state appears with a single supreme ruler, taxes, squad and judicial system. And Oleg becomes the founder of those who ruled in Rus'-Russia until the 16th century.
It was then that the history of our country and its largest people begins. The fact is that the Russians, the history of the origin of this people, are inextricably linked with the Ukrainians and Belarusians, who are their closest ethnic relatives. And only in the post-Mongol period did the fragmentation of a single base become apparent, as a result of which new ethnonyms (Ukrainians and Belarusians) appeared, characterizing the new state of affairs. Now it’s clear why the Russians were called Russians.
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