As are the ages, so are the people.
Russian proverb

Lesson objectives: Understand what qualitative changes occurred in the life of the Slavs in the 6th–7th centuries; be able to determine the territory of the ancient Slavs on a map; be able to characterize the characteristics of classes; relations with neighboring tribes and peoples, the general level of socio-economic development.

Lesson plan:

1. Slavic tribes.
2. Settlement of East Slavic tribes.
3. Classes. Development of the economy of the Eastern Slavs

Basic concepts: tribal unions, tribal community, neighboring community, the path “from the Varangians to the Greeks”

During the classes

I. Frontal conversation on the main issues of the topic of the previous lesson

II. Learning new material

Teacher's explanation.

The first mention of the Slavs dates back to the 1st–2nd centuries AD. Tacitus, Pliny, Ptolemy report that the Slavs inhabited the Vistula basin.

So, briefly, the essence of the problem of the origin of the Slavs can be reduced to the following provisions:

1. Slavs are the indigenous population of Eastern Europe. They have a single root and date back to the earliest stages of the formation of the Indo-European community and are an integral part of it.
2. The Slavs appeared as a result of a mixture of various ethnic elements at the turn of AD and do not have a single root, that is, the basis of the Slavic community is multi-ethnic.
3. It would be too bold to say that the Slavs do not have a single ethnic root. However, on the other hand, the presence of such a root does not deny the certain role of other peoples in Slavic ethnogenesis (in the origin of the Slavs).

The Slavs are part of the Indo-European community, they have a single ethnic root and are the indigenous population of Eastern Europe.

Slavic language belongs to Indo-European language system. Having formed around the 5th-4th thousand. BC, this language group in the IV-III millennium BC. experienced a time of collapse associated with the settlement of Indo-European tribes. This settlement occurred during the Neolithic - the New Stone Age. It is no coincidence that historians talk about neolithic revolution, that is, about the transition of man from hunting and gathering to a production economy - agriculture and cattle breeding. Neolithic tribes became more independent of nature and mobile. In search of new habitats, they left their ancestral home and dispersed throughout Asia and Europe. In the course of development, the Eastern (Indians, Iranians, Armenians) and Old European language groups. The latter served as the basis for the emergence of Western European (German, French, Italian) and Slavic groups.

Our ancestors called themselves Slavs, also Slovenes. What words did the names “Slavs” and “Slovenes” come from? ( Slavs from the word “glory”, meaning the same as praise, and Slovenes meaning “those who understand the word”)

By VII-IX the eastern branch of the Slavs inhabited a significant part of the great Russian Plain, reaching in the north almost to the Gulf of Finland, and in the south to the Black Sea. The placement of the East Slavic tribes is described in detail by the chronicler Nestor ( All historical works of Ancient Rus' began with the words “In the summer...”; later they were called chronicles.). Moreover, the settlement of tribes given in the Tale of Bygone Years is confirmed by archaeological material.

Working with the textbook: Students ( work in groups), using a map and a textbook, make a table

Settlement of East Slavic tribes

Name of the tribal union	Place of settlement
Glade	Middle reaches of the Dnieper (Kyiv)
Drevlyans	In the Pripyat River basin, the city of Iskorosten (northwest of Kyiv)
Dregovichi	On the territory of modern Belarus (left bank of Pripyat)
Polotsk residents	The middle course of the Western Dvina at its confluence with the Polot River, the main city of Polotsk (Western Dvina basin)
Ilmen Slavens (or Slovenians)	Around Lake Ilmen. Main city Novgorod
Northerners	In the basins of the Desna, Seim and Sulla rivers. Chernigov city (left bank of the Dnieper)
Radimichi	Along the Sozh and Seim rivers (between the Dnieper and Sozhzh)
Krivichi	The upper reaches of the Western Dvina and Dnieper, the main city of Smolensk (upper reaches of the Volga, Dnieper, Dvina)
Vyatichi	In the forest thickets between the Oka, Klyazma and Volga rivers, the cities of Rostov and Suzdal (region of Oka and Moskva rivers)
Volynians (Buzhanians)	Along the Bug River (upper reaches of the southern Bug)
Ulichi	Lower Dnieper region, Black Sea coast (Dniester)
Tivertsy	Between the Dniester and Prut rivers (Dniester)
White Croats	Transcarpathia

Conclusion: The zone of settlement of the Eastern Slavs was devoid of natural boundaries, therefore it was “open” both to invasions and to the cultural influences and influences of neighboring peoples.

We remind you that after the second social division of labor, the clan community is replaced by the neighboring one. (territorial)

Entry in notebooks:

Tribal community - a group of blood relatives who have common property and run the household together.

(Teacher's explanation: One of the reasons for the transition to the neighboring community was the change slashing agriculture arable.

Arable farming is a type of agriculture that did not require labor-intensive work to cultivate the land, since the land had already been cleared by previous generations, but restored its fertility. One family could cultivate such a plot)

Entry in notebooks:

Neighborhood Community - a more fragmented association based on the separation of individual small families from the clan.

(Teacher's explanation:In society, the importance of the individual, the individual family is gradually increasing. The right of private ownership, private property was born.)

Entry in notebooks:

Private property - a form of ownership in which the means of production and products of labor belong to private individuals.

Classes. Development of the economy of the Eastern Slavs

The Middle Dnieper region is the most favorable region for economic activity. But at the same time, there were differences in the farming system of the Eastern Slavs living in the south and in the north.

Working with the textbook: Students ( work in groups - south and north, at the end of the lesson they exchange selected data, finally form a table - homework), using the textbook material, make a table

Development of the economy of the Eastern Slavs

Settlements	South	North
	There was a lack of water and constant dangers, people settled in large numbers, crowded into huge villages. There were many cities in the South that served as centers of trade	Swampy and wooded area, there were few dry places. Villages with a small population (3-4 households) predominated. There were few cities
Agriculture	In the southern regions there was more fertile land, and free areas were simply sown. When, after a few years, the land was depleted, they moved to a new site. Later, in the 7th-8th centuries, arable farming appeared with two-field and even three-field. Repost: They used the land for 2-3 years, and when the soil was depleted, they moved to another place	Large forest areas prevented agriculture. Slash and burn system: 1 year: forest was cut down Year 2: dried trees were burned and grain was sown directly into the ash, using it as fertilizer. After 2-3 years the land was depleted and it was necessary to move to a new site.
agricultural crops	agricultural: rye, wheat, barley, millet
	garden: turnip, cabbage, beets, carrots, radish, garlic
	technical: flax, hemp
Guns	Plow, ralo, plow with iron share	Axe, hoe, plow, spade
Cattle breeding	Livestock breeding was closely related to agriculture. The Slavs bred vines, cows, and small cattle.
	Oxen	Horses
Trades	Gathering and hunting continue to play a significant role in the life of the Slavs. Main trades: lykodery, fur hunting, salt making, beekeeping, hunting and fishing	The farmers of the north had no incentive to expand ploughing, because... the land was poor, it was difficult to plow it, they were far removed from large markets. To make up for the meager income from arable farming, residents turned to trades: lykoderstvo, fur hunting, salt making, beekeeping, hunting and fishing
Trade	The main thing in the economy was foreign trade. Traded bread, wax, honey, fur with Rome and Byzantium	Too far from coastal markets, foreign trade has not become the driving force of the national economy
	The path “from the Varangians to the Greeks”(late 9th century) Along the Dnieper → near Smolensk portage to Lovot → in the lake Ilmen → to Volkhov → in the lake Nevo → to Varyazhskoe (Baltic) sea → to Rome → to Constantinople (Constantinople - Byzantium) → Pontic (Russian, Black) sea.
	The domestic market was poorly developed; mainly there was an exchange of agricultural products for handicrafts

Working with the map: Show on the map the trade route “from the Varangians to the Greeks.”

Homework

TASK A

1. Create a table “Development of the economy of the Eastern Slavs”
2. Read the tables carefully choose the main thing and learn.

TASK B

Answer questions and complete assignments in writing.

1. Ancient Russians greeted each other: "Oh you goy..." What did they want in this way?
2. What was the name of the Baltic Sea in Ancient Rus'?
3. The Slavic tribes of the Dregovichi lived in the swamp, the glade - in the fields, and in the gley they lived Drevlyans?
4. Was the territory of the modern Moscow region inhabited by the Drevlyans or the Vyatichi?
5. Which major chronicler owns the words that are more than eight centuries old: “Our land is great and abundant, but there is no order in it...”?
6. What did the number mean in old Russian proverbs? "seven"?
7. Ancient authors used the word “Rus” to refer to the state formation that had developed in the region
   1. Volga
   2. Prykarpattya
   3. Middle Dnieper
8. The main occupation of the Eastern Slavs in the VI-IX centuries. was
   1. agriculture
   2. weaving
   3. beekeeping
   4. spinning

Comment: It is better to do the work step by step, sequentially completing tasks for the contour maps. To enlarge the map, simply click on it.

TASKS

1. Mark with different colors the territories of settlement of the Eastern, Western and Southern Slavs.

Eastern Slavs - in green

Western Slavs - yellow

Southern Slavs - in pink

2. Write the names of the rivers along which the Eastern Slavs settled.

Volga, Desna, Seim, Southern Bug, Dnest, Prut, Pripyat, Bug, Dnieper, Western Dvina, Lovat, Neva, Volkhov

3. Write the names of the tribal unions of the Eastern Slavs, about which the chronicler wrote:

1. “These Slavs came and sat down along the Dnieper... [in the fields]” - clearing

2. “And others sat down in the forests” - Drevlyans

3. “And others sat down between Pripyat and Dvina [in the swamps]” - Dregovichi

4. “Some sat down along the Dvina, along a river that flows into the Dvina and is called Polota” - Polotsk residents

5. “The same Slavs who settled around Lake Ilmen were called by their own name” - Slovenian Ilmenskie

6. “And others sat along the Desna, and the Seim, and the Sula” - northerners

7. “And they sit in the upper reaches of the Volga, and in the upper reaches of the Dvina, and in the upper reaches of the Dnieper” - Krivichi

8. “After all, the Poles had two brothers - Radim, and the other - Vyatko; and they came and sat down: Radim on the Sozh, and Vyatko sat down with his family along the Oka" - Radimichi and Vyatichi

9. “There were many of them: they sat along the Dniester and near the Danube all the way to the sea” - Tivertsy

Write the names of the cities that became the centers of these unions.

Kyiv, Iskorosten, Smolensk, Polotsk, Chernigov, Izborsk, Pskov, Novgorod, Ladoga, Rostov

4. Write the names of non-Slavic tribes neighboring the Eastern Slavs.

Merya, Muroma, Meshchera, Mordovians, Hungarians (Magyars), Yases (Alans), Wallachians, Avars, Golyad, Yatvingians, Lithuania, Semigallians, Latgallians, Chud (Ests), Vod, Korela, all.

5. Circle the borders of the three largest states at the beginning of the 9th century. and sign their names.

Byzantine Empire

Khazar Khaganate

Bulgarian kingdom

The widespread settlement of the Slavs in the 5th-7th centuries, interaction with other peoples and their cultures, the formation of urban settlements and the emergence of statehood led to the emergence of cultural and dialect differences within the Slavic community. Due to historical conditions, territorial characteristics prevailed in the development of the Slavs, and independent nationalities began to emerge on the basis of a single Slavic community. By the middle of the 1st millennium, the Proto-Slavic unification collapsed, which caused the collapse of the Proto-Slavic language.

On the basis of the Prague-Korchak cultural and tribal grouping, the Polish nationality is being formed on the modern territory of Poland. Sources report the tribes of the Vistula, Polyana, Lenchitsan, Slenzyan and others. In the Middle Danube, Czechs and Slovaks gradually formed, preceded by the tribal formations of Sedlichan, Luchan, Pshovan, Duleb, the Czechs themselves, Morovan and others. The Slavic population living between the upper reaches of the Western Bug and the Kyiv current of the Dnieper, belonged to the Duleb tribal formation. Based on it in the 7th-9th centuries. The tribes of the Volynians, Drevlyans, Polyans and Dregovichs, known from ancient Russian chronicles, were formed, which later became part of the East Slavic people.

The Slavs, known as the Ants, settled throughout the left bank of the Middle Dnieper in the second half of the 5th and 6th centuries. This is even noted by Procopius of Caesarea. In the southwest they spread to the Danube, and in the east they coexisted with tribes living along the coast of the Sea of ​​Azov.

According to Procopius of Caesarea, the Ants and Sklavens used the same language, they had the same way of life, common customs and beliefs, they did not differ in appearance, “and in the old days the Sklavins and Ants had the same name.” However, Byzantine historians made the distinction between them quite clearly. Even among the mercenaries in the army of the Byzantine Empire, the ant always differed from the sklavenin. Obviously, the Ants and Sklavens were separate tribal formations that had their own leaders, their own army and conducted independent political activities. Their languages ​​differed from each other like dialects.

The Antes, like the Sklavens, are not comparable to the current division of the Slavs into three branches: western, eastern and southern. The last mention of the Antes dates back to the beginning of the 7th century. In the 7th and 8th centuries, their descendants settled over vast areas of South-Eastern Europe from the Middle Danube lands in the west to the Don in the east and took an active part in the development of the territory lying south of the Danube. They participated in the formation of the tribes of the Eastern and Southern, and partly Western Slavs.

The introduction of the Slavs to one of the main ancient civilizations, the Mediterranean, occurred during their contacts with Byzantium. She was the greatest power, heir and guardian of the culture of the Mediterranean region. The western part of the vast Roman Empire, within which Mediterranean civilization reached an unprecedented peak, in the second half of the 5th century. fell under the attacks of barbarian tribes. Only the eastern part remained intact - Byzantium. The Byzantines called “barbarians” the tribes and peoples around them who did not know Greek and Latin and were alien to Roman culture. The most significant ethnic groups of barbarians who settled in the immediate vicinity of the Empire were the Germans and Slavs.

Slavic society in the middle of the 1st millennium AD. entered a new stage of its development: the collapse of tribal relations began in it. A new system, transitional to the first state formations, was being formed, called “military democracy.” A society of this type is characterized by an active aggressive foreign policy. His wealth was obtained in raids on neighboring tribes and states.

The appearance of the Slavs on the Balkan Peninsula, which was part of the Byzantine Empire, dates back to the beginning of the 6th century. They came to the land of Byzantium as wild "barbarian" tribes to capture booty during military raids. The first Slavic attacks recorded by Byzantine historians date back to the reign of Justin (518-527). Beginning in 527, raids were repeated more and more frequently. The Slavs are supported in their invasions by the Proto-Bulgarians (Turks) and Avars. Emperor Justinian (527-565), to protect state borders, was forced to build a complex defensive system along the Danube, from the opposite side of which raids took place. It consisted of fortresses in which military garrisons were constantly located. But she could not stop the invasion of the Slavs, Bulgarians and Avars.

Until the middle of the 6th century, the Slavs limited themselves to raids and returned with booty to their lands, to the territory of the Middle Danube. Then they begin to gradually settle in the lands of the Empire, south of the Danube. Byzantium was powerless to prevent this. In the middle of the 6th century, the Slavs were already known in the territory of Thrace, Illyria, and Italy. The penetration of the Slavs into the vicinity of Thessaloniki, one of the largest cities of the Empire, and the first wave of Slavic migration to Greece dates back to the 70-80s of the 6th century. A Syrian chronicler of the late 6th century writes that the Slavs “passed... swiftly through all of Hellas, along the borders of Thessalonica and Thrace throughout. They captured many cities and fortresses: they devastated, and burned, and captured, and began to rule the earth and live on it, dominating it as if it were their own, without fear... they spread over the earth and have now spread throughout it...".

During the 7th century, the Slavs completely mastered the Balkan Peninsula. Gradually mixing with local residents, the Slavs mastered the cultural heritage of Byzantium. As a result of the Slavic settlement, part of the indigenous population gradually dissolved among the newcomer tribes.

During the first contacts with Byzantium, the Slavs were at approximately the same level of economic development. They led a sedentary lifestyle, engaged in agriculture, and raised livestock. The villages formed large agricultural communities. The Slavs were at the stage of transition from tribal relations to early forms of statehood. A powerful stimulus for their development was contact with the Byzantine Empire, on whose lands they settled.

The transitional form to the state was stable alliances of tribes led by princes, whose power became hereditary and relied on the strength of permanent squads. Byzantine written sources report the emergence of military-political formations among the Slavs at the end of the 6th and beginning of the 7th century, which were called “Slavinia” or “Slavia”. These were military territorial unions created by several tribes for the purpose of defending their own and conquering foreign lands. One large tribe could have had this name. Slavinia were transitional formations from tribal unions to the early feudal state. They built their relationships with Byzantium in different ways: some of them traded, others fought with the Empire. According to writers of the 7th century, there were about 25 Slavic tribes on the Balkan Peninsula that came from the Danube region.

The 7th-8th centuries are the time when all migration processes among the Slavs die out and a period of stabilization of life begins. Already in the 8th century, craft and trading settlements of the Slavs began to emerge - proto-cities, widespread trade activity developed, and the rise of crafts began. This ultimately led to the formation of various types of Slavic cultures, which developed at a rapid pace at that time.

The very first state association, the Samo state, arose among the Western Slavs as a result of their unity in the face of the danger of an Avar invasion. It got its name from Prince Samo (623-658) and united many Slavic tribes. Its center was in Nitra and Moravia. This association protected the Slavs from the Avar and Frankish invasion, but soon disintegrated.

The fate of the Slavic tribal union “Seven Clans”, located in the Balkans in Mysia, turned out differently. The process of forming a state was completed with the appearance of Turkic-speaking proto-Bulgarians there. In the 6th-7th centuries, the Proto-Bulgarians inhabited the Azov region, forming a huge union known as “Great Bulgaria”. More than once, together with other tribes, including Slavic ones, they raided the Byzantine Empire. In the middle of the 7th century the union collapsed. Some of the proto-Bulgarians left, led by Khan Asparukh, in the 70s. 7th century in the Western Black Sea region.

Arriving in the territory of Mysia ca. 680, the proto-Bulgarian army, welded together by the clan organization, was a serious force. The aristocracy of the union of the “Seven Clans” chose to enter into an agreement with Khan Asparuh and recognized his power. Therefore, the new state began to be called Bulgaria. Its capital became Pliska. Bulgaria pursued a rather aggressive policy, including towards Byzantium. The Slavic and Proto-Bulgarian nobility were interested in campaigning on the rich lands of the Byzantine Empire and expanding the borders of the state. Byzantium sought to restore its borders along the Danube. Therefore, throughout the 8th and the first half of the 9th century, numerous wars were waged between Bulgaria and Byzantium.

SETTLEMENT OF THE SLAVS. EAST SLAVS

The origins of many modern peoples were given by the Indo-Europeans, whose tribes have long inhabited vast territories from India to Western Europe (hence their name). Once upon a time, all Indo-Europeans were one people with one language. But in the course of numerous migrations, they began to break up into separate groups of tribes, and their languages ​​began to differ. Approximately 2 thousand years BC. e. Baltic and Slavic tribes emerged from the Indo-European tribes. They settled part of the territory of Central and Eastern Europe.

Slavic village. Reconstruction

By the beginning of the new era, the ancient Slavs had developed the territory in the upper reaches of the Vistula, Bug and Pripyat rivers. In the II-III centuries. As a result of the movement of the German Gothic tribes to the south, the Slavs began to settle along the Dnieper, Desna and Dniester. In the IV-VI centuries. during the Great Migration of Peoples, and after the fall in the 5th century. especially the Danube state of the Huns, Slavic tribes rushed in powerful streams to the south to the Danube and Northern Black Sea regions, to the west - beyond the Oder River, to the east and north - to the upper reaches of the Volga and Oka. The Slavs settled vast areas of Europe from the Elbe in the west to the Dnieper and Oka in the east. On South

Field defensive structure of the Slavs

they occupied almost the entire Balkan Peninsula, and in the north they reached the shores of the Baltic Sea.

The settlement of the Slavs over a vast territory became one of the reasons for the collapse of the Proto-Slavic linguistic community. In the VII-VIII centuries. separate Slavic languages ​​are being formed. The once united Slavs were divided into three branches (groups): Western, Southern and Eastern Slavs. From this time on, we can talk about the history of the Eastern Slavs themselves.

By the beginning of the 9th century. Eastern Slavs settled the vast territory of Eastern Europe, from Lake Ilmen to the Northern Black Sea region and from the Eastern

Carpathians to the Volga, i.e. most of the East European Plain. They were engaged in arable farming, cattle breeding, hunting, fishing, beekeeping, and traded with neighboring peoples.

The supreme power in the tribe belonged to the people's assembly (veche). In case of general danger or during campaigns, the Slavs gathered an army (militia) and elected its leader (prince).

In the VI - early VII centuries. The Eastern Slavs lived in a tribal system according to customs characteristic of all barbarian tribes. The main unit of society was the clan - a group of relatives of several dozen or even hundreds of people who jointly owned land, forests, fisheries and beehives, worked together and equally divided the results of labor (clan community). The clan was headed by elders, and on the most important issues a council of all relatives met. Three to five clans close in origin made up a tribe.

The main type of settlements were villages of several houses. The Eastern Slavs also built fortified settlements - fortifications. The oldest settlements were small, but by the 9th century. they have grown; Dozens of houses began to take cover behind their ditches and staked fences. On the site of some of them, cities grew up and became tribal centers.

The Eastern Slavs were pagans. They looked at nature as a living being and represented it in the form of various deities. The most revered were Svarog - the god of the universe (like the ancient Greek Zeus), Veles - the patron of cattle breeding, the goddess Makosha personified fertility, Stribog - the lord of the wind. In honor of these gods, idols were erected and sacrifices were made to them. With the appearance of princes, governors, and squads among the Eastern Slavs, and with the beginning of military campaigns, the god of lightning and thunder Perun came to the fore. Over time, he becomes the main pagan deity of the Eastern Slavs.

History does not have accurate data about where the first Slavs appeared. All information about their appearance and settlement throughout the territory of modern Europe and Russia was obtained indirectly:

• analysis of Slavic languages;
• archaeological finds;
• written mentions in chronicles.

Based on these data, we can conclude that the original habitat of the Slavs was the northern slopes of the Carpathians; it was from these places that the Slavic tribes migrated to the south, west and east, forming three branches of the Slavs - Balkan, Western and Russian (Eastern).
The settlement of East Slavic tribes along the banks of the Dnieper began in the 7th century. Another part of the Slavs settled along the banks of the Danube and received the name Western. The South Slavs settled on the territory of the Byzantine Empire.

Settlement of Slavic tribes

The ancestors of the Eastern Slavs were the Veneti - a union of tribes of ancient Europeans who lived in Central Europe in the 1st millennium. Later, the Veneti settled along the coast of the Vistula River and the Baltic Sea to the North of the Carpathian Mountains. The culture, life and pagan rituals of the Veneti were closely connected with the Pomeranian culture. Some of the Veneti who lived in more western areas were influenced by Germanic culture.

Slavic tribes and their settlement, table 1

In the III-IV centuries. The East European Slavs were united under the rule of the Goths as part of the Power of Germanaric, located in the Northern Black Sea region. At the same time, the Slavs were part of the tribes of the Khazars and Avars, but were in the minority there.

In the 5th century, the settlement of East Slavic tribes began from the territories of the Carpathian region, the mouth of the Dniester and the banks of the Dnieper. The Slavs actively migrated in various directions. In the East, the Slavs stopped along the Volga and Oka rivers. The Slavs who migrated and settled in the East began to be called Ants. The Antes' neighbors were the Byzantines, who endured Slavic raids and described them as "tall, strong people with beautiful faces." At the same time, the southern Slavs, who were called Sklavins, gradually assimilated with the Byzantines and adopted their culture.

Western Slavs in the 5th century. were settled along the coast of the Odra and Elbe rivers, and constantly launched raids into more western territories. A little later, these tribes split into many separate groups: Poles, Czechs, Moravians, Serbs, Luticians. The Slavs of the Baltic group also separated

Slavic tribes and their settlement on the map

Designation:
green - Eastern Slavs
light green - Western Slavs
dark green - southern Slavs

The main East Slavic tribes and places of their settlement

in the VII-VIII centuries. Stable East Slavic tribes were formed, whose settlement occurred as follows: Polyans - lived along the Dnieper River. To the north, along the Desna River lived the northerners, and in the northwestern territories lived the Drevlyans. The Dregovichi settled between the Pripyat and Dvina rivers. Polotsk residents lived along the Polota River. Along the Volga, Dnieper and Dvina rivers there are Krivichi.

Numerous Buzhans or Dulebs were settled on the banks of the Southern and Western Bug, some of whom migrated towards the west and assimilated with the Western Slavs.

The places of settlement of the Slavic tribes influenced their customs, language, laws and methods of farming. The main occupations were growing wheat, millet, barley, some tribes grew oats and rye. They raised cattle and small poultry.

The settlement map of the ancient Slavs displays the boundaries and areas characteristic of each tribe.

East Slavic tribes on the map

The map shows that the East Slavic tribes are concentrated in Eastern Europe and in the territory of modern Ukraine, Russia and Belarus. During the same period, a group of Slavic tribes began to move towards the Caucasus, therefore in the 7th century. Some of the tribes find themselves on the lands of the Khazar Kaganate.

More than 120 East Slavic tribes lived on the lands from the Bug to Novgorod. The largest of them:

1. The Vyatichi are an East Slavic tribe that lived at the mouths of the Oka and Moscow rivers. The Vyatichi migrated to these areas from the Dnieper coast. This tribe lived separately for a long time and retained pagan beliefs, actively resisting joining the Kyiv princes. The Vyatichi tribes were subject to raids by the Khazar Khaganate and paid them tribute. Later, the Vyatichi were still annexed to Kievan Rus, but did not lose their identity.
2. The Krivichi are the northern neighbors of the Vyatichi, living on the territory of modern Belarus and the Western regions of Russia. The tribe was formed as a result of the merger of the Balts and Finno-Ugric tribes that came from the north. Most elements of Krivichi culture contain Baltic motifs.
3. Radimichi are tribes that lived in the territory of modern Gomel and Mogidev regions. Radimichi are the ancestors of modern Belarusians. Their culture and customs were influenced by Polish tribes and eastern neighbors.

These three Slavic groups subsequently united and formed the Great Russians. It must be understood that the ancient Russian tribes and the places of their settlement did not have clear boundaries, because Wars were fought between the tribes for lands and alliances were concluded, as a result the tribes migrated and changed, adopting each other’s culture.

In the 8th century the eastern tribes of the Slavs from the Danube to the Baltic already had a single culture and language. Thanks to this, it became possible to create a trade route “from the Varangians to the Greeks” and became the root cause of the formation of the Russian state.

The main East Slavic tribes and their places of settlement, table 2

Krivichi	The upper reaches of the Volga, Dnieper, and Western Dvina rivers
Vyatichi	Along the Oka River
Ilmenskie Slovenes	Around Lake Ilmen and along the Volkhov River
Radimichi	Along the Sozh River
Drevlyans	Along the Pripyat River
Dregovichi	Between the Pripyat and Berezina rivers
Glade	Along the western bank of the Dnieper River
Ulichi and Tivertsy	Southwestern East European Plain
Northerners	Along the middle reaches of the Dnieper River and the Desna River

Western Slavic tribes

West Slavic tribes lived in the territory of modern Central Europe. They are usually divided into four groups:

• Polish tribes (Poland, Western Belarus);
• Czech tribes (part of the territory of modern Czech Republic);
• Polabian tribes (lands from the Elbe River to the Odra and from the Ore Mountains to the Baltic). The “Polabian union of tribes” included: Bodrichi, Ruyans, Drevyans, Lusatian Serbs and more than 10 other tribes. In the VI century. most of the tribes were captured and enslaved by the young Germanic feudal states.
• Pomeranians who lived in Pomerania. Beginning in the 1190s, the Pomeranians were attacked by the Germans and Danes and almost completely lost their culture and assimilated with the invaders.

Southern Slavic tribes

The South Slavic ethnic group included: Bulgarian, Dalmatian and Greek Macedonian tribes settled in the northern part of Byzantium. They were captured by the Byzantines and adopted their customs, beliefs and culture.

Neighbors of the ancient Slavs

In the west, the neighbors of the ancient Slavs were tribes of Celts and Germans. In the east are the Balts and Finno-Ugric tribes, as well as the ancestors of modern Iranians - the Scythians and Sarmatians. Gradually they were supplanted by the Bulgar and Khazars tribes. In the south, Slavic tribes lived side by side with the Romans and Greeks, as well as the ancient Macedonians and Illyrians.

The Slavic tribes became a real disaster for the Byzantine Empire and for the Germanic peoples, carrying out constant raids and seizing fertile lands.

In the VI century. Hordes of Turks appeared in the territory inhabited by the Eastern Slavs, who entered into a fight with the Slavs for lands in the Dniester and Danube region. Many Slavic tribes went over to the side of the Turks, whose goal was to seize the Byzantine Empire.
During the war, the Western Slavs were completely enslaved by the Byzantines, the southern Slavs, the Sklavins, defended their independence, and the East Slavic tribes were captured by the Turkic horde.

East Slavic tribes and their neighbors (map)