The state of Kievan Rus appeared in what century. Kievan Rus. Formation of tribal alliances

The article “Kievan Rus” has disappeared from the Russian-language Wikipedia. Instead, now - "Old Russian state". The cradle of the “three fraternal peoples” has been delivered to the warehouse.

Russia and Ukraine are moving away from each other not only in politics, but also in the interpretation of common history. Back in the 80s, we were taught that Kievan Rus is the cradle of three fraternal peoples: Russian, Ukrainian and Belarusian. But the new "feudal fragmentation" that followed the collapse of the Soviet Union is slowly migrating into the works of researchers and school textbooks.

In Ukraine, since the beginning of the 90s, the concept of the chairman of the Central Rada, Mykhailo Hrushevsky, became the official one, who at the beginning of the 20th century proclaimed Russia exclusively an “ancient Ukrainian state”. Russia was silent for a long time and, finally, struck a retaliatory "blow".

The familiar phrase "Kievan Rus" is now quietly disappearing from scientific works and school textbooks of the Russian Federation. It is replaced by the term "Old Russian state", devoid of geographic references to Kiev, which ended up abroad. Politics is once again reshaping history for the masses.

In fairness, we note that Kievan Rus as the official name of the early medieval state of the Eastern Slavs never existed. The chronicles, on the basis of which modern historians build their schemes, called this power simply Rus, or the Russian land. It is under this name that it appears in The Tale of Bygone Years, written by a contemporary of Vladimir Monomakh, the Kiev monk Nestor at the turn of the 11th-12th centuries.

But the same justice makes us recall that the term "Kievan Rus" was invented not in Kiev, but in ... Moscow, in the 19th century. Some researchers attribute its authorship to Nikolai Karamzin, others to Mikhail Pogodin. But it got into wide scientific use thanks to the professor of Moscow University Sergei Soloviev (1820-1879), who widely used the expression “Kievan Rus” along with “Novgorod Rus”, “Vladimir Rus” and “Moscow Rus” in the famous “History of Russia since ancient times ". Soloviev adhered to the so-called concept of "change of capitals". The first capital of the ancient Slavic state, in his opinion, was Novgorod, the second - Kiev, the third - Vladimir-on-Klyazma, the fourth - Moscow, which did not prevent Russia from remaining one state.


The term "Kievan Rus" gained popularity thanks to the Moscow historian of the 19th century. Sergey Soloviev

After Solovyov, "Kievan Rus" from scholarly works also penetrated into books for secondary schools. For example, in the many times republished "Textbook of Russian History" by M. Ostrogorskiy (in 1915 it went through 27 editions!) On page 25 you can read the chapter "The Decline of Kievan Rus". But in pre-revolutionary Russia, history remained an elite science. Half of the population remained illiterate. An insignificant percentage of the population studied in gymnasiums, seminaries and real schools. By and large, the phenomenon of mass historical consciousness did not yet exist - for the peasants who met 1917, everything that happened before their grandfathers happened “under Tsar Pea”.

There was no need for the concept of "the cradle of three fraternal peoples" and the tsarist government. Great Russians, Little Russians and Belarusians were officially considered three Russian peoples before the Great October Revolution. Consequently, they still, figuratively speaking, lay in the same Russian cradle. No one was going to outweigh it a thousand years ago - in the semi-dugouts of the annalistic glades, Drevlyans and Krivichi, who from the 10th century also did not care how their descendants in the 20th century would call them “Old Russian” or “Old Ukrainian” tribes. Or ancient Belarusian, as an option.

The revolution and ... Stalin changed everything. Promising the masses a wonderful communist future, the Bolsheviks set about remaking the past with no less zeal. More precisely, to rewrite his picture. The work was personally supervised by the leader and teacher, who was distinguished by enviable diligence and organizational skills. In the mid-30s, Soviet schoolchildren received the textbook "A Short Course in the History of the USSR", where, without any doubt, it was clearly and unambiguously written, as hewn with an ax: "Since the beginning of the 10th century, the Kiev principality of the Slavs has been CALLED KIEVAN RUSSIA." This textbook was intended for third graders. Thus, with the help of Stalinism and totalitarianism, the phrase "KIEV RUSSIA" was for the FIRST TIME driven into the heads of several generations. And who would dare to argue with Comrade Stalin and his People's Commissariat for Education that this was exactly what it was called in the 10th century? Fuck her, this story! Here we would have survived during the GREAT CHANGE!


For high school students. Map from the history textbook M. Ostrogorsky 1915

BY DRIVER'S INSTRUCTIONS... As many as twenty pages were occupied by a section called "Kievan Rus" in the Stalinist textbook "History of the USSR" for grade 8, edited by Professor G. Pankratova. By the way, despite the fact that the official Soviet historical science until the very collapse of the Soviet Union was at war with the Varangians, denying their contribution to the creation of Russia, Pankratova's textbook was not free from the remnants of pre-revolutionary Normanism. At least, he did not deny the Scandinavian origin of the founder of the Rurik dynasty.

I am citing this "History of the USSR" for grade 8, preserving all the peculiarities of the spelling of the original in Ukrainian - in the language in which students of Ukrainian schools in the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic studied this ideologically important subject: passing the waterway, scho z'udnuvav the Baltic Sea with Chornim: "the way from the Varangians among the Greeks", tobto from the land of the Varangians - Scandinavia - from Vizantiyu ... Tsim way in the IX century. the Varangian gangs walked around, shukayuchi gains, as in the Scandinavian words they called the inhabitants of Scandinavia - Normans ... Some of the stinks were perceptible, or they fed up some of the folk words of the princes of the Yankees and put them on the other. For perekaz, in the middle of the IX century. one of these shukachs is suitable - Rurik - having established himself in Novgorod, which will go from pivnoch to the Dniprovsky way. "


Academician Grekov grabbed his head. This is what one of the history conferences looked like at the end of the 40s. All at the behest of Stalin!

Then there was a story about the Novgorod prince Oleg, who seized Kiev from people with clearly non-Slavic names Askold and Dir. But schoolchildren could only guess what kind of connection he was with his predecessor Rurik and why this clearly volitional aggressive action of the Novgorod prince towards Kiev should be considered a "union" of small Slavic states - Novgorod and Kiev - under the rule of Prince Oleg.

The Stalinist textbook also lied about Rurik. After all, he established himself in Novgorod not "according to legend", but according to the message of the "Tale of Bygone Years" by Nestor the Chronicler, who tells about the decision of the Novgorodians: and they did not give them tribute, and began to possess themselves, and there was no truth among them, and generation after generation rose up, and they had strife, and began to fight with each other. And they said to themselves: "Let us look for a prince who would rule over us and judge by right." And they went across the sea to the Varangians, to Russia. Those Varangians were called Rus, as others are called Swedes, and some Varangians - Normans and Angles, and still others - Gotlandians, that's how these are. Chud, Slovenia, Krivichi and the rest of Russia said: “Our land is great and abundant, but there is no order in it. Come to reign and rule over us. " And three brothers with their families were elected, and they took all Russia with them, and came, and the elder, Rurik, sat in Novgorod ... And from those Varangians the Russian land was nicknamed. "

Not a word about Kievan Rus, right? Only about the Russian land. And initially in the north - in the Novgorod region. This Russia was already multinational. Indeed, in addition to the Slavic tribes of Slovens and Krivichi, among those who called on the Varangians, there are Finnish peoples, the Chud and all (the first lived in the Baltic States, the second - east of Lake Nevsky). These are the very Finno-Ugrians, hated by our nationalists (they consider them the ancestors of the "Muscovites"), who, according to the chronicle, became Rus before the Kiev glades! After all, the Rurikovichs had yet to conquer the glades, so that they would become “Russified”. As Nestor says: "Glades, which are now called Rus."

Oh, this story! Well, she doesn't want to surrender to politics unconditionally! After all, if you believe Nestor, it turns out that not only Kievan Rus, but even just Rus, Kiev was not until his capture by the Novgorod prince Oleg, whose squads consisted of Scandinavians-Varangians (“Rus”), Northern Slavs (Slovens and Krivichi) and Finns (chudi and vesi).

VARIANS TO BE SILENT! Stalin was primarily a politician, not a historian. He introduced the myth of Kievan Rus into the mass consciousness through schools and universities in order to divert attention from the long period that preceded it.

According to the chronicle, Prince Oleg of Novgorod captured Kiev in 882. By this time, the Varangians ruled in the north, in the region of Ladoga and Novgorod, for almost a century. Sailing from across the Baltic Sea, they took tribute from the Slavic and Finnish tribes. Ladoga became the first stronghold of the Vikings. Novgorod, after Rurik has established himself there, is the second. The names of the first Russian princes were of Scandinavian origin. Oleg (Helgi), Igor (Ingvar), Askold (Haskuld) speak for themselves. They are very different from the Slavic Vladimirov and Svyatoslavs.

All this raised numerous questions about the true history of the origin of Russia, to which Stalin did not want to answer. So why not turn the conversation around? Why delve into the history of the appearance of the Varangians in Novgorod and evaluate their role in the creation of the Old Russian state? Let's just write that Oleg fell to Kiev from Novgorod, without going into details of his origin. And we will call Russia Kievan Rus so that the inhabitants of Soviet Ukraine would remember that they, too, are at least a little bit, but still Russians.


Academician Grekov fulfilled Stalin's instructions on the introduction of Kievan Rus into the consciousness of the masses

Comrade Stalin proclaimed that Russia was founded not by the Swedes, but by the Slavs, and gave appropriate instructions on this matter. None of the historians could even conceive of disobeying him. A decisive battle was declared against the historical "sabotage" and intrigues of the Normanists! “Soviet historical science, following the instructions of Marx, Engels, Lenin, Stalin, based on the remarks of comrades Stalin, Kirov and Zhdanov on the“ Synopsis of the history of the USSR ”, developed a theory about the pre-feudal period ... already in the theoretical constructions of the founders of Marxism there are no and cannot be place for the Normans as the creators of the state among the wild East Slavic tribes ", - wrote in 1949 in the work" Struggle against Normanism in Russian Historical Science "Dean of the Faculty of History of Leningrad University Vladimir Mavrodin.

By this time, the unfortunate Normanists - both the dead, like the pre-revolutionary Karamzin and Solovyov, and the living, huddled under the pulpit, were finally "defeated" by Academician Boris Grekov. This Lysenko from history, who was born in Mirgorod and taught before the revolution in a women's gymnasium, has already become famous for the exact execution of Stalin's instructions in the monographs "Kievan Rus" and "Culture of Kievan Rus", published in 1939 and 1946. He didn't have much choice. Boris Grekov was hanging on a hook by Stalin: in 1930 he was arrested in the so-called "Academic case", remembering that in 1920 the future academician ended up in the Crimea with Wrangel. Colleagues-historians well understood that Grekov invents "Kievan Rus", serving the order of the regime. But to object to him was to argue with Stalin.

All these details were forgotten over time. The current Ukrainian schoolchildren, who are taught this very never-existed Kievan Rus, know nothing about Grekov, or about his true inspirer with a Caucasian mustache. They also do not ask unnecessary questions in order to pass the tests without any problems. But you and I know that Russia was just Russia. And not ancient. And not Kiev. It will not be possible to either privatize it or turn it over to the archive of history. I am sure this country is still waiting for amazing transformations. It's just that we are not able to present them yet.

Fictional Kievan Rus

Kievan Rus is an artificial name. It was invented by historians to distinguish it from Moscow Rus, which arose five centuries later. In fact, no Kievan Rus existed. It was just Russia. Moreover, it arose not in Kiev, but in the Slavic north - in Ladoga and Novgorod.

Before the revolution, this was well understood. Not so long ago, I came across a popular book by E. Nelidova “Russia in its capitals” published at the beginning of the 20th century. Its three parts are named the same as the first capital cities of our original empire - "Staraya Ladoga", "Novgorod", "Kiev".

Both "The Tale of Bygone Years" and "The First Novgorod Chronicle" the founder of the princely dynasty, which sequentially seized these strongholds of power, call the mysterious Varangian prince Rurik, who appeared from somewhere "from across the sea" with a "many and deliberate squad." Who was this Rurik? And what kind of Varangians came with him?

Varangians in Eastern Europe and Byzantium were called Vikings. The 9th century was the peak of their creative activity, which horrified the scientists of the monastery rats. The drakars of the northern kings poke their noses everywhere at this time, and their warriors drag everything that lies badly. They lay siege to Paris, plunder east England, and sharpen Spain and Italy. The coastal lands groan with their indomitable ambition. The sea voyages of the Cossacks in the 17th century are just a pale copy of these pirate exploits, hundreds of years late and extremely poor in scope. The Cossacks did not even dream of Atlantic odysseys across the Bay of Biscay, and the Vikings roamed there, as if in the quiet fiords of their native Scandinavia.

How densely and thoroughly the Varangian natives of Novgorod lands in the past settled, is evidenced by the fact that even in the 18th century their descendants retained the memory of their origin! A note by Catherine II to one of her secretaries has been published in the remarkable pre-revolutionary journal Russian Archive. The Empress worked on the compilation of the Comparative Dictionary of All Languages ​​and Dialects. The peculiarities of the dialect of the peasants who inhabited the vicinity of the Novgorod town of Koporye interested her so much that in 1784 she makes the following note: “Take the register of words to Count Kirill Grigorievich Razumovsky and ask him in my name to send someone better to his Koporye villages and order those peasants who call themselves Vikings call those words from their language to rewrite ... "

It is not known whether this philological experience was fully produced. But pay attention: the Russian empress, a German by birth, writes to the president of her Academy of Sciences, a Ukrainian by birth, so that he can study in more detail the most curious Russian peasants in his Novgorod estates. It turns out that Ukrainian landowners owned serfs in the primordially Russian provinces! And we were only told about Kateryna, deceived by a visiting Muscovite! What a passage!

Talking about the vocation of the Varangians, The Tale of Bygone Years writes: “And they went across the sea to the Varangian Rus. This Varangian tribe was called Rus, since each Varangian tribe had its own name, such as: Swedes, Norwegians and Goths. "

The word "rus" passed to the Slavs from the Finnish language. The Finns, who first recognized the bank of Roslagen, which lies opposite Sweden, with which they have long been in contact, gave the whole of Sweden the name Ruotsi by the name of this borderland, and the people - Ruotsalainen. Thus, the first Rus were actually ... Swedes. Arriving in the land of the Novgorod Slavs, they gave them their nickname, borrowed from the Finns.

You shouldn't be surprised at this. Scientists always underestimate human laziness, lack of curiosity, and a tendency to be confused. The custom to name all the land of neighbors in the territory of the first border tribe that comes across has been known for a long time. For example, to this day, Latvians call Russians “Krive” - just like the ancient Slavic tribe of Krivichi, which was adjacent to them.

God knows when the Krivichi merged with the Vyatichi, Radimichi and Novgorod Slovenes under the common name "Russians"! And Latvians traditionally call all Russians Krivichi, just like their ancient backward ancestors! And then nothing can be changed - try to overcome the runaway of historical inertia!

Prince Rurik showed up near Novgorod not because of a good life. Little is said about him in The Tale of Bygone Years. Well, came and came. He was allegedly even called up. And what he did before, where he came from - the chronicler, it seems, did not know himself. It is only clear that all this happened somewhere in the middle of the 9th century.

At this time, several Scandinavian clans competed for the southern coast of the Baltic. The Novgorod Slavs who lived near Lake Ilmen, the Krivichi who inhabited the area around Smolensk and Polotsk, as well as various Finnish tribes paid tribute to Rurik's predecessors - most likely the Swedes. Around 862, according to the chronicle, they rebelled against their Varangian rulers, refused to pay taxes and drove them out of the country. But the Slavs and Finns, who had sniffed democracies, could not govern themselves and fell into such anarchy that the Varangian power seemed to them a blessing compared to thinking with their own heads. It was a shame to ask back to the Swedes - yes, maybe they themselves no longer wanted to rule such a people. And then they sent "overseas" - to Rurik: "Our land is great and abundant, but there is no order in it: come to reign and own it." The fact that it is not known where it was sent should not confuse the researcher. Rurik was constantly on the move - like an unemployed administrative manager in competition for a position.

His exploits in the West are well known from the chronicles there. Young Rurik bore the nickname Ulcer of Christianity. Soon after 843, the German emperor deprived him of the Rustringen district in Friesland, and the lad was forced to become a pirate. In 845, his ships plundered the people along the Elbe, and then managed to cleanse northern France a little. Five years later, Rurik, at the head of 350 ships, managed to rid the coastal regions of England from production surpluses. Finally, to get away from him, the German emperor Lothair returned Rustringen on the condition that he defend the coast from other Vikings. In 854, this robber was even awarded a piece of Jutland. And then the ambassadors from Novgorod arrived in time, exhausted in search of a "candidate for the All-Russian dictators."

The fact that Rurik ruled the Rustringen district for some time, the fact that the Swedes were called "ruotsi", misrepresenting this name as "rus", caused a lot of confusion. But be that as it may, the founder of the first princely dynasty in Russia was a Viking from the Skjeldung clan - Rurik, who laid the traditions of the national great power. Its first capital was Ladoga. Sowing in it, he tried to build a small copy of the German Empire, distributing land to his vassals. It is also known that in 873 he managed to gain a district in Friesland and return to the West. But even before that, he managed to give birth to his son Igor, who inherited the newly acquired lands in Russia. Together with Oleg, he will have to seize Kiev, expanding possession to the Slavic south. But if someone called the territories under their control Kievan Rus, they would be incredibly surprised. However, they would have come to even greater amazement at the sight of Grushevsky, who persistently called these Vikings with the title of old Ukrainian princes, invented by him.

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Kievan Rus (Old Russian state, Kiev state, Russian state)- the name of the early feudal Old Russian state with the center in Kiev, which arose at the turn of the 7th-9th centuries. as a result of a long process of economic, political and cultural consolidation of the East Slavic tribal unions and in various forms existed until the middle of the XIII century.

1. Kievan Rus. general characteristics . During the reign of Vladimir the Great (980-1015), the formation of the territory of Kievan Rus was completed. It occupied the territory from Peipsi, Ladoga and Onega lakes in the north to the rivers Don, Ros, Sula, Southern Bug in the south, from the Dniester, Carpathians, Neman, Western Dvina in the west to the interfluve of the Volga and Oka in the east; its area was about 800 thousand square kilometers.

In the history of Kievan Rus, one can distinguish three consecutive periods:

The period of emergence, formation, and evolution of state structures chronologically covers the end of the 9th - the end of the 10th century;

The period of the greatest rise and development of Kievan Rus (late 10th - mid-11th century)

The period of political fragmentation of Kievan Rus (late 11th - mid-13th century).

2 The origin of the names "Kievan Rus" and "Rus-Ukraine". The state of the Eastern Slavs was called "Kievan Rus", or "Rus-Ukraine". Researchers do not have a common opinion about the origin and definition of the name "Rus". There are several versions:

The tribes of the Normans (Varangians) were called Rus - they founded the state of the Slavs and from them came the name "Russian land"; such a theory originated in the 18th century. in Germany and received the name "Norman", its authors - historians G. Bayer and G. Miller, their followers and like-minded people are called Normanists;

Rus - Slavic tribes who lived in the middle reaches of the Dnieper;

Rus is an ancient Slavic deity, from which the name of the state originated;

Rusa - in the Proto-Slavic language "river" (hence the name "channel").

Ukrainian historians generally adhere to anti-Norman views, although they do not deny the significant contribution of the Varangian princes and troops to the formation of the state system of Kievan Rus.

Russia, Russian land in their opinion:

The name of the territory of the Kiev region, Chernigov region, Pereyaslav region (lands of the glades, northerners, Drevlyans);

The name of the tribes that lived on the banks of the rivers Ros, Rosava, Rostavitsya, Roska, etc.

The name of the Kiev state since the 9th century.

The name "Ukraine" (land, region) means the territory that was the basis of Kievan Rus in the 11th-12th centuries. For the first time this term is used in the Kiev Chronicle in 1187 regarding the lands of the Southern Kiev and Pereyaslav regions.

3. The emergence of Kievan Rus. Before the formation of the state on the territory of the future Kievan Rus lived:

a) East Slavic tribes- ancestors of Ukrainians- Drevlyans, Polyans, Northerners, Volynians (Dulibs), Tivertsy, White Croats;

b) East Slavic tribes - ancestors of Belarusians- Dregovichi, Polotsk people;

c) East Slavic tribes - ancestors of Russians - Krivichi, Radimichi, Slovenia, Vyatichi.

Basic prerequisites formation of the East Slavic statehood:

At the beginning of the VIII century. in general, the process of settling the Slavs and the creation of territorially defined large and small unions of tribes was completed;

The presence in the East Slavic unions of tribes of certain local differences in culture and life;

The gradual development of tribal unions into tribal principalities - pre-state associations of a higher level that preceded the emergence of the East Slavic state;

Formation at the turn of the VIII-IX centuries. around Kiev, the first East Slavic state, which experts conditionally call the Kiev principality of Askold.

The following main stages the process of uniting the Eastern Slavs into one state:

a) the creation of a principality (state) with the capital in Kiev; this state included glade, rus, northerners, dregovichi, polochans;

b) the seizure of power in Kiev by the Novgorod prince Oleg (882), under whose rule some of the Slavic tribes were previously;

c) the unification of almost all East Slavic tribes into a single state of Kievan Rus.

The first Slavic princes:

- Prince Kiy (semi-legendary) - the leader of the union of the tribes of the Polyans, the founder of Kiev (according to legend, together with the brothers Shchek, Khoryv and sister Lybid in the 5th-6th centuries);

Prince Rurik - the chronicle mention of him in the "Tale of Bygone Years", the vocation in 862 of the Novgorodians of the "Varangians" of Rurik with an army is said ; .

The princes Askold and Dir conquered Kiev in the second half of the 9th century, according to the chronicles, Askold and Dir were the boyars of Prince Rurik;

After the death of the Novgorod prince Rurik (879), until the age of majority of his son Igor, Oleg became the actual ruler of the Novgorod land;

In 882 Oleg captured Kiev, on his order the Kiev brothers Askold and Dir were killed; the beginning of the rule of the Rurik dynasty in Kiev; Prince Oleg is considered by many researchers to be the direct founder of Kievan Rus.

4. Economic development of Kievan Rus. The leading place in the economy of the Kiev state was occupied by agriculture, which developed in accordance with natural conditions. In the forest-steppe zone of Kievan Rus, a fire-undercutting system of tillage was used, and in the steppe zone, a shifting one. Farmers used perfect tools of labor: plows, harrows, shovels, scythes, sickles, they sowed cereals and industrial crops. Cattle breeding has achieved significant development. Hunting, fishing, and beekeeping remained important.

Initially, land tenure by free communes prevailed in the Old Russian state, and from the XI century. gradually formed and intensified feudal land tenure - patrimony, which was inherited. Crafts played an important role in the economy of Kievan Rus. Since that time, more than 60 types of handicraft specialties have been known. Trade routes ran through the Old Russian state: for example, “from the Varangians to the Greeks,” connecting Russia with Scandinavia and the countries of the Black Sea basin. In Kievan Rus, minting of coins was started - silversmiths and zlotniks. The number of cities in the Russian state grew - from 20 (IX-X centuries), 32 (XI century) to 300 (XIII century).

5. Political and administrative system of Kievan Rus. The political and administrative system of Kievan Rus was based on a princely squad for the long-term preservation of the self-government of urban and rural communities. Communities were united in volosts - administrative-territorial units, which included cities and rural districts. Groups of volosts were united into lands. Kievan Rus was formed as a sole monarchy. At the head of the state was the Grand Duke of Kiev, who concentrated in his hands all the full legislative, executive, judicial and military power. The prince's advisers were "princely men" from the top of his squad, who received the title governors, and from the XI century. they were called boyars. Over time, boyar dynasties arose, occupying important government posts.

The internal government of the state was carried out by numerous princely rulers (mayors, thousand, butlers, tiuns, etc.). The princely power relied on a permanent military organization - the squad. Druzhinniks-mayor were entrusted with the management of individual volosts, cities and lands. The people's militia was formed according to the decimal principle. At the head of individual divisions were the foreman, sotskiy, tysyatskiy. "Thousand" was a military-administrative unit. In the XII-XIII centuries. the form of the state has changed. Relations between the individual principalities developed on the principles of federation or confederation.

6. The social structure of Kievan Rus. The social structure of Kievan Rus corresponded to its economic system. The dominant position was occupied by voivods (boyars), tysyatsky, sotsky, tiuns, ognischans, village elders, and the city elite. The free category of rural producers was called smerds, the feudally dependent population in Kievan Rus was ryadovychs, purchases and outcasts. Serfs and servants were in the position of slaves.

7. Political fragmentation of Kievan Rus and its consequences. Kievan Rus was one of the most powerful states of its time, which significantly influenced the development of European civilization, but after the death of Vladimir Monomakh's son Mstislav Vladimirovich (1132), it began to lose its political unity and was divided into 15 principalities and lands. Among them, large and influential were the Kiev, Chernigov, Vladimir-Suzdal, Novgorod, Smolensk, Polotsk and Galicia principalities.

The political prerequisites for fragmentation were as follows:

The succession to the throne among the princes of Kievan Rus was different: in some lands, power was transferred from father to son, in others - from older brother to younger ;,

Weakened political ties between individual feudal possessions and individual lands, the development of individual lands led to the emergence of local separatism;

In some lands, the local boyars, to ensure the protection of their rights, demanded a strong power of the prince; on the other hand, the real power of appanage princes and boyars was strengthening, the power of the Kiev prince was weakened, many boyars put local interests above national interests;

In the Kiev principality, its own dynasty was not created, since the struggle for the possession of Kiev was fought by representatives of all princely families;

The expansion of nomads to the Russian lands intensified.

Socio-economic prerequisites for fragmentation:

The natural character of the economy of the Kiev state led to a weakening of economic and trade ties between individual lands;

The cities developed rapidly and became the political, economic and cultural centers of the principalities;

The transformation of the conditional land tenure of the appanage boyars into hereditary land tenure significantly strengthened the economic role of the local nobility, which did not want to share its power;

Changes in the trading environment, as a result of which Kiev lost its role as a center of trade, and Western Europe began to trade directly with a close gathering.

Modern research by scientists proves that feudal fragmentation is natural stage in the development of medieval society. This is evidenced by the fact that all the peoples and states of Europe have experienced it. The fragmentation was caused by the further feudalization of ancient Russian society, the spread of socio-economic development in the localities. If earlier Kiev was the center of the entire socio-economic, political, cultural and ideological life of the country, then from the middle of the XII century. other centers already competed with him: the old ones - Novgorod, Smolensk, Polotsk - and the new ones - Vladimir-on-Klyazma and Galich.

Russia was torn apart by princely feuds, large and small wars, constantly marched between the feudal lords. However, contrary to popular belief, the Old Russian State did not disintegrate. It only changed its form: in place of the sole monarchy came federal monarchy, under which Russia was jointly ruled by a group of the most influential and powerful princes. Historians call this form of government "collective sovereignty."

Fragmentation weakened the state politically, but contributed to the development of the local economy and culture. She, to a certain extent, laid the foundations of three East Slavic peoples: Russian, Ukrainian and Belarusian. The last decades of the 15th century, when the Russian centralized state was formed, and the Ukrainian and Belarusian lands fell under the rule of Lithuania, Poland, Hungary and Moldova, are considered to be a period of cessation of fragmentation in the East Slavic lands.

8. The value of Kievan Rus. The meaning of Kievan Rus is as follows:

a) Kievan Rus became the first state of the Eastern Slavs, accelerated the development of the last stage of development of the primitive communal system into a more progressive feudal one; this process created favorable conditions for the development of the economy and culture; M. Hrushevsky stated: "Kievan Rus is the first form of Ukrainian statehood";

b) the formation of Kievan Rus helped to strengthen the defensive capacity of the East Slavic population, preventing its physical destruction by the nomads (Pechenegs, Polovtsians, etc.);

c) the ancient Russian nationality was formed on the basis of a common territory, language, culture, mental make-up;

d) Kievan Rus raised the authority of the Eastern Slavs in Europe; the international significance of Kievan Rus lies in the fact that it influenced political events and international relations in Europe and Asia, in the Middle East; Russian princes maintained political, economic, dynastic ties with France, Sweden, England, Poland, Hungary, Norway, Byzantium;

e) Kievan Rus laid the foundation for the statehood of not only Slavic, but also non-Slavic peoples (the Finno-Ugric population of the North, etc.);

f) Kievan Rus was the eastern outpost of the European Christian world, it held back the advance of the hordes of steppe nomads, weakened their onslaught on Byzantium and the countries of Central Europe.

During the historical period of Kievan Rus on the Dnieper, in Galicia and Volyn, in the Black Sea and Azov regions, the traditions of independent statehood were laid on the territory of Ukraine. The historical center of the formation of the Ukrainian people was the territory of the Kiev region, Pereyaslav region, Chernigov-Sivershchina, Podolia, Galicia and Volyn. Since the XII century. this territory is covered by the name "Ukraine"... In the process of fragmentation of the Kiev state, the Ukrainian nationality became the ethnic basis of the lands-principalities of South-Western Russia in the XII-XIV centuries: Kiev, Pereyaslavsky, Chernigov, Seversky, Galitsky, Volynsky. So, Kievan Rus was a form of socio-economic and state development of the Ukrainian ethnos. Galicia-Volyn principality became the immediate heir of Kievan Rus.


In 2020 regular (65th anniversary) song contest Eurovision 2020 will be held in the Netherlands (Holland).

Selected as a venue for the show multifunctional arena "Rotterdam Ahoy" with a capacity of more than 16 thousand spectators, located in Rotterdam, the second largest city in the country after the capital Amsterdam.

The format of the event includes two semi-finals and one final, which are traditionally held on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday of the second full week of May.

In 2020, the dates for the semi-finals and the Eurovision final will be as follows:
* 1st semi-final - May 12, 2020 (BT).
* 2nd semi-final - May 14, 2020 (TH)
* Final - May 16, 2020 (Sat).

Who will represent Russia at Eurovision 2020:

The musical group that will travel from Russia to Eurovision 2020 was named on March 2, 2020 live on Channel One, in the final plot of the Vremya news program.

Will represent our country at Eurovision in 2020 group "Little Big"(literal translation into Russian - "Little Big").

The musical style of the group is quite unusual. The musicians themselves call themselves "satirical art collaboration" (satirical art project), which combines music, images and spectacle. After watching several clips of the collective, there is confidence that the guys will definitely conquer the European podium of popular music. Or, at the very least, they will make an unforgettable impression on the prim Western audience.

The current lineup of the group "Little Big":

  • Ilya "Ilyich" Prusikin.
  • Sergey "Gokk" Makarov.
  • Sofya Tayurskaya.
  • Anton Lissov.

That is, when will be, where will Eurovision 2020 be held,who will go from Russia:
* Dates - May 12, 14 and 16, 2020
* Location - Netherlands, Rotterdam.
* Representative from Russia - "Little Big".

Until now, historians have put forward various theories about the emergence of Kievan Rus as a state. For a long time, the official version was taken as a basis, according to which 862 is called the date of birth. But the state does not appear "out of the blue"! It is impossible to imagine that before that date, there were only savages in the territory of Slavs' residence, who could not create their own state without help "from outside". After all, as you know, history moves along an evolutionary path. For the emergence of a state, there must be certain prerequisites. Let's try to understand the history of Kievan Rus. How was this state created? Why did it decline?

The emergence of Kievan Rus

At the moment, domestic historians adhere to 2 main versions of the emergence of Kievan Rus.

  1. Norman. It is based on one weighty historical document, namely the "Tale of Bygone Years". According to this theory, the ancient tribes called the Varangians (Rurik, Sineus and Truvor) to create and manage their state. Thus, they could not create their own state education on their own. They needed outside help.
  2. Russian (anti-Norman). For the first time, the rudiments of the theory were formulated by the famous Russian scientist Mikhail Lomonosov. He argued that the entire history of the ancient Russian state was written by foreigners. Lomonosov was sure that there was no logic in this story, that the important question of the nationality of the Varangians was not disclosed.

Unfortunately, until the end of the 9th century, there is no mention of the Slavs in the annals. It is suspicious that Rurik "came to rule the Russian state" when it already had its own traditions, customs, its own language, cities and ships. That is, Russia did not arise from scratch. Old Russian cities were very well developed (including from a military point of view).

According to generally accepted sources, 862 is considered the date of foundation of the ancient Russian state. It was then that Rurik began to rule in Novgorod. In 864, his associates Askold and Dir seized princely power in Kiev. Eighteen years later, in 882, Oleg, who is commonly called the Prophet, captured Kiev and became the Grand Duke. He managed to unite the disparate Slavic lands, and it was during his reign that the campaign against Byzantium was made. More and more territories and cities were added to the grand princely lands. During the reign of Oleg, there were no major clashes between Novgorod and Kiev. This was largely due to blood ties and kinship.

Formation and flourishing of Kievan Rus

Kievan Rus was a powerful and developed state. Its capital was a fortified outpost located on the banks of the Dnieper. Taking power in Kiev meant becoming the head of vast territories. It was Kiev that was compared to the “mother of Russian cities” (although Novgorod, from where Askold and Dir arrived in Kiev, was quite worthy of such a title). The city retained the status of the capital of the ancient Russian lands until the period of the Tatar-Mongol invasion.

  • Among the key events of the heyday of Kievan Rus can be called the Baptism in 988, when the country abandoned idolatry in favor of Christianity.
  • The reign of Prince Yaroslav the Wise led to the fact that at the beginning of the 11th century the first Russian law code (code of laws) appeared under the name "Russian Truth".
  • The Kiev prince became related with many famous ruling European dynasties. Also, under Yaroslav the Wise, the raids of the Pechenegs, which brought Kievan Rus a lot of troubles and suffering, forever turned.
  • Also, from the end of the 10th century, its own coin production began on the territory of Kievan Rus. Silver and gold coins appeared.

The period of civil strife and the collapse of Kievan Rus

Unfortunately, an understandable and uniform system of succession to the throne was not developed in Kievan Rus. Various grand-princely lands for military and other merits were handed out to vigilantes.

Only after the end of the reign of Yaroslav the Wise was such a principle of inheritance established, which implied the transfer of power over Kiev to the eldest in the family. All other lands were divided between members of the Rurik family in accordance with the principle of seniority (but this could not remove all the contradictions and problems). After the death of the ruler, dozens of heirs remained, claiming the "throne" (from brothers, sons, and ending with nephews). Despite certain rules of inheritance, the supreme power was often asserted by force: through bloody clashes and wars. Only a few independently renounced the control of Kievan Rus.

Applicants for the title of Grand Duke of Kiev did not shy away from the most terrible deeds. Literature and history describe the terrible example of Svyatopolk the Accursed. He went to fratricide only in order to gain power over Kiev.

Many historians come to the conclusion that it was the internecine wars that became the factor that led to the collapse of Kievan Rus. The situation was complicated by the fact that the Tatar-Mongols began to attack actively in the 13th century. "Small rulers with big ambitions" could unite against the enemy, but no. The princes dealt with internal problems "in their own area", did not compromise and desperately defended their own interests to the detriment of others. As a result, Russia for a couple of centuries fell into complete dependence on the Golden Horde, and the rulers were forced to pay tribute to the Tatar-Mongols.

The preconditions for the coming collapse of Kievan Rus were formed even during the reign of Vladimir the Great, who decided to give each of the 12 sons his own city. The beginning of the disintegration of Kievan Rus is called the year 1132, when Mstislav the Great died. Then two powerful centers at once refused to recognize the grand-ducal power in Kiev (Polotsk and Novgorod).

In the XII century. there was a rivalry between 4 main lands: Volyn, Suzdal, Chernigov and Smolensk. As a result of internecine clashes Kiev was periodically plundered and churches were burnt. In 1240 the city was burnt down by the Tatar-Mongols. The influence gradually weakened, in 1299 the metropolitan's residence was transferred to Vladimir. To control the Russian lands, it was no longer necessary to occupy Kiev