Slavic countries are states that existed or still exist, having the majority of their population Slavs (Slavic peoples). Slavic countries of the world are those countries in which the Slavic population is about eighty to ninety percent.
Which countries are Slavic?
Slavic countries of Europe:
But still, to the question “which country’s population belongs to the Slavic group?” The answer immediately arises - Russia. The population of Slavic countries today is about three hundred million people. But there are other countries in which Slavic peoples live (these are European states, North America, Asia) and speak Slavic languages.
The countries of the Slavic group can be divided into:
- Western Slavic.
- East Slavic.
- South Slavic.
The languages in these countries originate from one common language (it is called Proto-Slavic), which once existed among the ancient Slavs. It was formed in the second half of the first millennium AD. It is not surprising that most words are consonant (for example, Russian and Ukrainian languages are very similar). There are also similarities in grammar, sentence structure, and phonetics. This is easy to explain if we take into account the duration of contacts between the inhabitants of the Slavic states. Russian occupies the lion's share in the structure of Slavic languages. Its carriers are 250 million people.
It is interesting that the flags of Slavic countries also have some similarities in color and the presence of longitudinal stripes. Does this have something to do with their common origin? More likely yes than no.
Countries where Slavic languages are spoken are not that numerous. But Slavic languages still exist and flourish. And several hundred years have passed! This only means that the Slavic people are the most powerful, persistent, and unshakable. It is important that the Slavs do not lose the originality of their culture, respect for their ancestors, honor them and preserve traditions.
Today there are many organizations (both in Russia and abroad) that revive and restore Slavic culture, Slavic holidays, even names for their children!
The first Slavs appeared in the second and third millennium BC. Of course, the birth of this mighty people took place in the area of modern Russia and Europe. Over time, the tribes developed new territories, but still they could not (or did not want to) go far from their ancestral homeland. By the way, depending on migration, the Slavs were divided into eastern, western, southern (each branch had its own name). They had differences in their way of life, agriculture, and some traditions. But still the Slavic “core” remained intact.
The emergence of statehood, war, and mixing with other ethnic groups played a major role in the life of the Slavic peoples. The emergence of separate Slavic states, on the one hand, greatly reduced the migration of Slavs. But, on the other hand, from that moment on their mixing with other nationalities also dropped sharply. This allowed the Slavic gene pool to gain a strong foothold on the world stage. This affected both the appearance (which is unique) and the genotype (hereditary traits).
Slavic countries during the Second World War
The Second World War brought great changes to the countries of the Slavic group. For example, in 1938 the Czechoslovak Republic lost its territorial unity. The Czech Republic ceased to be independent, and Slovakia became a German colony. The following year the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth came to an end, and in 1940 the same happened to Yugoslavia. Bulgaria sided with the Nazis.
But there were also positive sides. For example, the formation of anti-fascist movements and organizations. A common misfortune united the Slavic countries. They fought for independence, for peace, for freedom. Such movements especially gained popularity in Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, and Czechoslovakia.
The Soviet Union played a key role in World War II. The citizens of the country selflessly fought against the Hitler regime, against the cruelty of German soldiers, against the fascists. The country has lost a huge number of its defenders.
Some Slavic countries during the Second World War were united by the All-Slavic Committee. The latter was created by the Soviet Union.
What is Pan-Slavism?
The concept of Pan-Slavism is interesting. This is a direction that appeared in the Slavic states in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. It had the goal of uniting all the Slavs of the world on the basis of their national, cultural, everyday, and linguistic community. Pan-Slavism promoted the independence of the Slavs and praised their originality.
The colors of Pan-Slavism were white, blue and red (these same colors appear on many country flags). The emergence of such a movement as Pan-Slavism began after the Napoleonic wars. Weakened and “tired,” the countries supported each other in difficult times. But over time, they began to forget about Pan-Slavism. But at the present time there is again a tendency to return to the origins, to the ancestors, to the Slavic culture. Perhaps this will lead to the formation of a neo-Panslavist movement.
Slavic countries today
The twenty-first century is a time of some discord in the relations of the Slavic countries. This is especially true for Russia, Ukraine, and EU countries. The reasons here are more political and economic. But despite the discord, many residents of countries (from the Slavic group) remember that all the descendants of the Slavs are brothers. Therefore, none of them wants wars and conflicts, but only want warm family relationships, as our ancestors once had.
- Introduction 3 pages
- Modern Slavic peoples. Western Slavs. Russians 5 pages
- Ukrainians 7pp.
- Belarusians 9pp.
- Western Slavs. Poles 12pp.
- Czechs 13 pages
- Slovaks 14 pages
- Lusatians 16pp.
- Kashuby 17 pages.
- Southern Slavs. Serbs 18pp.
- Bulgarians 20pp.
- Croats 21pp.
- Macedonians 23pp.
- Montenegrins 24pp.
- Bosnians 25pp.
- Slovenians 25 pages
- References 27 pages.
Introduction
Already about two thousand years ago, Greek and Roman scientists knew that numerous tribes of Wends lived in eastern Europe, between the Carpathian Mountains and the Baltic Sea. These were the ancestors of modern Slavic peoples. After their name, the Baltic Sea was then called the Venedian Gulf of the Northern Ocean. According to archaeologists, the Wends were the original inhabitants of Europe, descendants of tribes that lived here back in the Stone and Bronze Ages.
The ancient name of the Slavs Wends was preserved in the language of the Germanic peoples until the late Middle Ages, and in the Finnish language Russia is still called Veneya. The name “Slavs” began to spread only one and a half thousand years ago - in the middle of the 1st millennium AD. e. At first only Western Slavs were called this way. Their eastern counterparts were called antes. Then all tribes speaking Slavic languages began to be called Slavs.
At the beginning of our era, large movements of tribes and peoples took place throughout Europe, entering into the struggle against the slave-owning Roman Empire. At this time, the Slavic tribes already occupied a large territory. Some of them penetrated to the west, to the banks of the Odra and Laba (Elbe) rivers. Together with the population living along the banks of the Vistula River, they became the ancestors of modern West Slavic peoples - Polish, Czech and Slovak.
The movement of the Slavs to the south, to the banks of the Danube and to the Balkan Peninsula, was especially grandiose. These territories were occupied by the Slavs in the 6th and 7th centuries. after long wars with the Byzantine Empire, which lasted over a century.
The ancestors of the modern South Slavic peoples Bulgarians and the peoples of Yugoslavia were Slavic tribes that settled on the Balkan Peninsula. They mixed with the local Thracian and Illyrian populations, which had previously been oppressed by Byzantine slave owners and feudal lords.
At the time when the Slavs settled the Balkan Peninsula, Byzantine geographers and historians became closely acquainted with them. They pointed to the large number of Slavs and the vastness of their territory, and reported that the Slavs were well acquainted with agriculture and cattle breeding. Particularly interesting is the information from Byzantine authors that the Slavs in the 6th and 7th centuries. did not yet have a state. They lived as independent tribes. At the head of these numerous tribes were military leaders. The names of leaders who lived more than a thousand years ago are known: Mezhimir, Dobrita, Pirogost, Khvilibud and others. The Byzantines wrote that the Slavs were very brave, skilled in military affairs and well armed; They are freedom-loving, do not recognize slavery and subordination.
The ancestors of the Slavic peoples of our country - Russian, Ukrainian and Belarusian - in ancient times lived in forest-steppe and forest areas between the Dniester and Dnieper rivers. Then they began to move north, up the Dnieper. It was a slow movement of agricultural communities and individual families that took place over centuries, looking for new convenient places to settle and areas rich in animals and fish. Settlers cut down virgin forests for their fields.
At the beginning of our era, the Slavs penetrated into the upper Dnieper region, where tribes related to modern Lithuanians and Latvians lived. Further in the north, the Slavs settled areas in which ancient Finno-Ugric tribes lived here and there, related to the modern Mari, Mordovians, as well as Finns, Karelians and Estonians. The local population was significantly inferior to the Slavs in terms of their level of culture. Several centuries later, it mixed with the newcomers and adopted their language and culture. In different regions, the East Slavic tribes were called differently, which is known to us from the oldest Russian chronicles: Vyatichi, Krivichi, Drevlyans, Polyans, Radimichi and others.
The Slavs waged a constant struggle with the nomads who lived in the Black Sea steppes and often plundered the Slavic lands. The most dangerous enemy were the nomadic Khazars, who created in the 7th and 8th centuries. a large strong state in the lower reaches of the Volga and Don rivers.
During this period, the Eastern Slavs began to be called Rus or Dews, believed to be from the name of one of the Rus tribes, who lived on the border with Khazaria, between the Dnieper and Don. This is how the names “Russia” and “Russians” came about. [ 7 ]
Modern Slavic peoples
Eastern Slavs
Russians
Russians (Velikorossy mouth) East Slavic people living mainly in Russian Federation, and also makes up a significant proportion of the population of Belarus, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Estonia, Latvia, Moldova, Kyrgyzstan, Lithuania and Uzbekistan. In anthropological terms, Russians represent different subtypes of the large Caucasian race, speak Russian, and are connected by a common history, culture and origin.
The number of Russians currently amounts to about 150 million, of which 115.9 million are in the Russian Federation (according to the 2002 census). Orthodoxy, adopted in 988, is considered the traditional national religion.
A significant part of Russians live in the central part, in the south and north-west of Russia, in the Urals. According to 2002 data, among the constituent entities of the Russian Federation the largest percentage of the Russian population is in the Vologda region (96.56%). The share of Russians exceeds 90% in 30 subjects of the Federation, mainly in the regions of the Central and Northwestern federal districts, as well as in the south of Siberia. In most national republics, the share of Russians ranges from 30 to 50%. The smallest number of Russians is in Ingushetia, Chechnya and Dagestan (less than 5%).
According to the peculiarities of language and life, Russians are divided, according to the scheme proposed by A. A. Shakhmatov, A. I. Sobolevsky and later adopted by many, in particular Soviet, researchers (B. M. Lyapunov, F. Philip, etc.) into two or three large dialect groups:northern outskirts and southern acai with intermediate Moscow dialect. The border between the first two runs along the line PskovTverMoscowNizhny Novgorod. Currently, due to the development of school education and mass media, differences in dialects have greatly decreased.
A number of smaller ethnographic groups stand out among Russians based on their everyday and linguistic characteristics:Goryuny, tundra peasants, Cossacks(Kazan, Don, Amur, etc.), masons (bukhtarmintsy), Kamchadals, Karyms, Kerzhaks, Kolyma residents, Lipovans, Markovites, Meshcheras, Molokans, Odnodvortsy, Poleks, Poles(ethnographic group of Russians),Pomors, Pushkars, Russian Germans, Russous Ustinets, Sayans, Semeiskies, Tudovites, Tsukans, Yakuts.
The first information about the history of Russians originates from the Tale of Bygone Years, compiled in the 12th century on the basis of the first chronicle of the 11th century. In the introductory part, the compiler of the “Tale” talks about the Slavic tribes that belong to the Russians. The name “Russians” comes from the people of Rus', according to the compiler of the “Tale of Bygone Years” - the Varangian (Scandinavian) people. ABOUT ethnic origin the first bearers of this name are under debate: Western and many Russian scientists recognize their Varangian origin, but there are other versions: some scientists consider them Slavs, others as Iranian-speaking nomads (Roxalans), others as other Germanic tribes (Goths, Rugs, etc. .).
Around the 12th century, as a result of the merger of East Slavic tribal unions, the Old Russian nationality was formed. Its further consolidation was prevented by the feudal disintegration of Kievan Rus, and the unification of the principalities under the rule of several states (the Grand Duchy of Moscow, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and later the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth) laid the foundation for its further disintegration into three modern peoples: Russians, Ukrainians and Belarusians. The greatest role in the formation of the Russian people was played by the descendants of the tribes of the north-east of Rus' - the Slovenian Ilmen, Krivichi, Vyatichi, etc., due to the weak expression of migration processes in the Middle Ages, the contribution of other tribes seems much less significant.
At the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, Russians were understood as a combination of three ethnographic groups: Great Russians, Little Russians and Belarusians, that is, all Eastern Slavs. It accounted for 86 million or 72.5% of the population of the Russian Empire. This was the dominant point of view, reflected in encyclopedic publications. However, already at this time a number of researchers considered the differences between the groups sufficient to recognize them as special peoples. In connection with the subsequent deepening of these differences and the national self-determination of Little Russians (Ukrainians) and Belarusians, the ethnonym “Russians” ceased to apply to them and was retained only for Great Russians, replacing the former ethnonym. Nowadays, when talking about pre-revolutionary Russia, Russians are usually understood only as Great Russians, in particular, claiming that Russians made up 43% of its population (about 56 million).
Religion
The baptism of Kievan Rus, which united all the Eastern Slavs, was carried out in 988 by Prince Vladimir. Christianity came to Rus' from Byzantium in the form of the Eastern rite and began to spread in the upper strata of society long before this event. Meanwhile, the abandonment of paganism proceeded slowly. The Magi of the old gods had a noticeable influence as early as the 11th century. Until the 13th century, princes received two names: pagan at birth and Christian at baptism (Vsevolod the Big Nest, for example, also bore the name Dmitry); but this is not necessarily explained by the remnants of paganism (“princely”, the dynastic name had a state and clan rather than a pagan-religious status).
The largest religious organization uniting Orthodox Russians Russian Orthodox Church; its dioceses, autonomous and independent Orthodox churches operate outside Russia. In the 17th century, a small part of Russians did not support the church reforms carried out by Patriarch Nikon, which caused a schism and the emergence of Old Believers. Large Old Believer organizations are also ethnographic groups. Many pagan beliefs survived in modified form until the 20th century and even to this day, existing together with Christianity. The attitude of the Russian Orthodox Church towards them is ambiguous, from disapproval to inclusion in the official cult. Among them are rituals (the holidays of Maslenitsa, Ivan Kupala, etc.), and belief in creatures of pagan mythology (brownies, goblins, mermaids, etc.), witchcraft, fortune telling, omens, etc. Orthodoxy played a crucial role in the self-determination of Russians , influencing culture and mentality. The adoption of Orthodoxy turned a person into a Russian, regardless of his ethnic origin.
Currently, there is also an interest in a very small part of the Russian population in paganism in the form in which it existed before the introduction of Christianity in Rus'. The formation of large associations of communities takes place (Union of Slavic Communities, Veles Circle, Circle of Pagan Traditions). The number of adherents of the pagan religion is currently small. Part of the Russian population of Russia and some other countries are adherents of a number of totalitarian sects.
The second largest religion among Russians is Protestantism (1-2 million). The largest Protestant movement in Russia is Baptistism, which has a 140-year history in Russia. There are also a large number of Pentecostals and Charismatics, there are Lutherans, Seventh-day Adventists, Methodists, and Presbyterians.
Some Russians profess Catholicism, Islam, Buddhism and other religions, including “para-Christian” or pseudo-Christian ones, often called sects or totalitarian sects, for example “Jehovah’s Witnesses”, “Church of Jesus Christ of Saints” Last Days"(Mormons), "Unification Church" (Moonies).
Russian holidays
Russian national holidays holidays of the Russian people associated with widespread folk traditions of their implementation.
New Year (on the night from December 31 to January 1). It is customary to decorate a room with decorated New Year's tree or branches. At midnight on January 1, the congratulations of the head of state and the chiming of the chimes are heard. It is customary to serve, among other things, Olivier salad and champagne on the table. Children are given gifts (from “Santa Claus”). According to sociological surveys, this is the most celebrated holiday.
- Christmas(January 7 according to the new style and December 25th Julian calendar) Orthodox holiday. On the night before Christmas, it is customary to guess, which has never been approved by the Orthodox Church. Fortune telling by girls about their future marriage was especially popular. The holiday is celebrated with a gala dinner. The tradition of celebrating Christmas has been officially restored in post-Soviet Russia.
Epiphany (January 19 according to the new style) Orthodox holiday. On the night of Epiphany, it is customary to bless the water in the church. Epiphany is associated with the onset of particularly severe “Epiphany frosts.” Swimming in an ice hole carved in the shape of a cross (Jordan) is also practiced.
Carnival (“Maslenitsa Week”) week before Great Lent. It has ancient pagan roots. Pancakes are baked and eaten throughout the week. There are many other, lesser-known traditions corresponding to each day of Maslenitsa week.
- Palm SundayOrthodox holiday (entry of the Lord into Jerusalem). It is customary to decorate the room with willow branches, symbolizing the palm branches of those who met Jesus Christ.
Easter Orthodox holiday of the Bright Resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. Festive food Easter (cottage cheese with candied fruits), Easter cakes, painted red and hard-boiled eggs. Orthodox believers greet each other with exclamations: “Christ is Risen!”, “Truly He is Risen!” and kiss three times.
Ukrainians
Ukrainians (Ukrainian: Українсьі ) East Slavic people living mainly on the territory of Ukraine and previously also called Rus', Ruthenians, Little Russians, Little Russians (that is, the people living in a small (small) part of Russia, in another sense - the people living in the central, historical part of Rus'), Cossacks.
They speak Ukrainian as a language of the East Slavic group of the Indo-European family. The following dialects are distinguished: northern (left bank-Polesie, right bank-Polessie, Volyn-Polesie dialects), south-west (Volyn-Podolsk, Galician-Bukovinian, Carpathian, Podnistrovskie dialects), south-east (Dnieper and East Poltava dialects).
Writing based on the Cyrillic alphabet, continuing the Old Russian one; actually Ukrainian from the 19th century based on the Russian civil font. Russian is also widespread (mainly in the southern, eastern and central regions, especially among townspeople) and surzhik.
Ukrainians, along with the closely related Russians and Belarusians, are classified as Eastern Slavs. Ukrainians include Carpathian Rusyns (Boikos, Hutsuls, Lemkos) and Polesie ethnographic groups (Litvins, Polishchuks).
The formation of the Ukrainian nation occurred in the XII-XV centuries on the basis of the southwestern part of the East Slavic population. The tribes of the Polans, Drevlyans, Tiverts, Severians, Ulichs, Volynians and White Croats who inhabited the territory of Ukraine united into the states: Kievan Rus (IX-XII centuries), and later Galician-Volyn Rus (XII-XIV centuries). The Tivertsi and Ulich tribes were, as some scientists believe, of Thracian origin.
In Ancient Rus', the word Rusin was used as an ethnonym to designate the inhabitants. It first appears in The Tale of Bygone Years and is used along with Russian, Russian people this is the name given to people belonging to Rus'.
In the Middle Ages, especially active in the 16th-17th centuries, on the territory of modern central Ukraine (Hetmanate), the term Rusyn was applied to language, religion, and also as an ethnonym for the nationality of people living in these territories, and was used as a synonym for the word “Russian”. In the territory of Galicia and Bukovina this name was preserved until the early 1950s, and in Transcarpathia it has been preserved to this day.
During the period of political fragmentation, in connection with the existing local characteristics of language, culture and way of life, the prerequisites were created for the formation of three East Slavic peoples - Ukrainian, Russian and Belarusian. The main historical center of the formation of the Ukrainian nationality was the Middle Dnieper region - the Kiev region, Pereyaslav region, Chernigov region.
In this case, Kyiv played a significant integrating role, where the most important shrines of East Slavic Orthodoxy were located (such as the Kiev Pechersk Lavra). Other southwestern East Slavic lands gravitated towards this center: Siverschyna, Volyn, Podolia, Eastern Galicia, Northern Bukovina and Transcarpathia.
Starting from the 13th century, the territory where the Ukrainian ethnic group took shape was subjected to Hungarian, Lithuanian, Polish and Moldavian conquests. From the end of the 15th century, the raids of the Tatar khans, who had established themselves in the Northern Black Sea region, began. In the 16th and 17th centuries, during the struggle against foreign conquerors, the Ukrainian people significantly consolidated. The most important role in this was played by the emergence of the Cossacks (XV century), which created a state (XVI century) with a unique republican system - the Zaporozhye Sich, which became a political stronghold of the Ukrainians.
The defining moments of the ethnic history of Ukrainians in the 17th century were the further development of crafts and trade, in particular in cities that enjoyed Magdeburg law, as well as the creation, as a result of the liberation war under the leadership of Bohdan Khmelnytsky, of the Ukrainian state Hetmanate, and its entry (1654) with the rights of autonomy into composition of Russia. This created the preconditions for the further unification of all Ukrainian lands. In the 17th century, significant groups of Ukrainians moved from the Right Bank, which was part of Poland, as well as from the Dnieper region to the east and southeast, their development of empty steppe lands and the formation of the so-called Slobozhanshchyna.
Religion
Ukrainian believers are mostly Christians, belonging to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate), to a lesser extent to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Kyiv Patriarchate) and the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church. In Galicia, Greek Catholics predominate, who belong to the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (Catholics of the Byzantine or Eastern rite, Uniates), in Transcarpathia Orthodoxy predominates among Ukrainians (according to a 2004 study, 57.8% of the region's population trust all Orthodox jurisdictions), 20 25% Uniates; there are a small number of Roman Catholics. Protestantism is also known in the form of Pentecostalism, Baptistism, Adventism, etc.
According to unofficial data, approximately 420 thousand Ukrainians adhere to Rodnoverie (also called Slavic paganism), considering themselves “authentic” Russians.
Social relations
IN public life Ukrainian village to the end XIX centuries, remnants of patriarchal relations remained, the neighboring community occupied a significant place - bulk . Many traditional collective forms of labor were characteristic ( cleanup, spouse) and rest ( parubochi communities- associations of unmarried guys;Evening nights and extra scrolls, New Year's carols and shchedrovkietc.). The dominant form of the Ukrainian family was small , with the expressed power of its head - the husband and father, although until the beginning of the 20th century, especially in Polesie and the Carpathians, remnants of a large patriarchal family remained. Family rituals were varied, including maternity rituals, especially wedding rituals, with wedding ceremonies, division of loaves, accompanied by songs and dances. Ukrainian folk art is rich and varied: fine art (artistic painting of a home, embroidery with its traditional types - lining, covering and laying etc.), song and music, choreography, verbal folklore, including colorful specific Duma and historical songs composed by kobzars and lyre players. Scientific and technological progress and urbanization, intensive mobility of the population have led to the erasure of most of the features of individual ethnographic regions and groups of Ukrainians. The traditional life of the village was destroyed. The harmful consequences of forced collectivization for the village were aggravated by the severe famine of 1932-33 and Stalin’s repressions, as a result of which Ukrainians lost over 5 million people.
Belarusians
Belarusians (self-name Belor. Belarusians ) East Slavic people with a total number of about 10 million people, the main population of Belarus. They also live in Russia, Ukraine and other countries.
The total number is about 10 million people. They speak Belarusian language Slavic group of the Indo-European family; There are southwestern and northeastern dialects, the so-called Polesie dialects. Russian, Polish, and Lithuanian languages are also common. Writing based on the Cyrillic alphabet. Believers of Belarusians are predominantly Orthodox, about 25% are Catholics.
Belarusians, together with Russians and Ukrainians, belong to the Eastern Slavs. According to the most common concept of the origin of the Belarusians, the ancient tribes that lived on the ethnic territory of the Belarusians - Dregovichi, Krivichi, Radimichi - as part of Kievan Rus, together with other East Slavic tribes, consolidated into the Old Russian nationality. IN XIII - XIV centuries, in the era of political fragmentation of the western lands of the Old Russian state, they became part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, within which the formation of the Belarusians took place. The specific features of the Belarusians were formed on the basis of the regional characteristics of the Old Russian community. Important ethnic-forming factors were the relatively high economic and cultural level of the East Slavic population, its large numbers and compact settlement. The language factor played a big role. The Western dialect of the Old Russian language - Old Belarusian - in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania served as the state language, in XVI century, printing appeared on it.
The Belarusian ethnic community developed in XIV - XVI centuries. The name Belarusians goes back to the toponym Belaya Rus, which in XIV - XVI centuries was applied in relation to the Vitebsk region and the northeast of the Mogilev region, and in XIX - early XX centuries already covered almost the entire ethnic territory of the Belarusians. The form of the modern name - Belarusians - arose in XVII century. At the same time, a name appeared for the Belarusian-Ukrainian population - Poleshuki. At the same time, the ethnonyms Litvins, Rusyns, and Ruthenians existed. As a self-name, the ethnonym Belarusians became widespread only after the formation of the Belarusian SSR (1919).
The traditional occupations of Belarusians are agriculture, animal husbandry, as well as beekeeping and gathering. They grew winter rye, wheat, buckwheat, barley, peas, flax, millet, hemp, and potatoes. Cabbage, beets, cucumbers, onions, garlic, radishes, poppy seeds, and carrots were planted in the gardens. In the gardens there are apple trees, pears, cherries, plums, berry bushes (gooseberries, currants, blackberries, raspberries, etc.). The dominant land use system at the beginning XX century there was a three-field system, while those with little land had a two-field system.
The main arable tools are the plow. They also used a ralo and a bipod. For harrowing, a wicker or knitted harrow and a more archaic knot harrow were used. From the end XIX century, the iron plow and harrow appeared. Harvesting tools - sickles, scythes, pitchforks, rakes. The grain was dried in log buildings - ossets or evnyas. For threshing they used a flail, a roller, and a round block. Grain was stored in barns and crates, potatoes - in furnaces and cellars, crypts.
Pig breeding played an important role in animal husbandry. Cattle were also raised. Sheep farming is widespread throughout Belarus. Horse breeding is most developed in the northeast. They collected berries and mushrooms everywhere in the forest, and prepared maple and birch sap. They caught fish in rivers and lakes.
Trades and crafts developed - the production of mats and mats, agricultural tools, the processing of leather, sheepskin, furs, the production of shoes, vehicles, furniture, ceramic dishes, barrels and household utensils made of wood. Of particular importance is the production of decorative and applied products from textile raw materials and leather, and products with folk embroidery. Certain types of trades and crafts were constantly preserved, but many disappeared. In recent years, straw weaving, belt making, clothing embroidery, etc. have begun to revive.
The main types of settlements of Belarusians are veska (village), shtetls, dungeons (settlements on rented land), settlements, and hamlets. Villages are the most widespread. Historically, several forms of settlement planning have developed: crowded, linear, street, etc. The crowded form was most common in the northeast, especially in the outskirts of the gentry. Linear planning (estates are located along the street on one side) has become widespread throughout Belarus. XVI - XVII centuries. The number of houses in the settlement ranges from 10 to 100 (mainly in Polesie).
The traditional set of men's national clothing consisted of a shirt, nagovits (waist clothes), and a sleeveless jacket (camisel). The shirt was worn untucked and belted with a colored belt. Shoes - bast shoes, leather boots, boots, felt boots in winter. Headwear - straw hat (bryl), felted hat (magerka), fur hat (ablavukha) in winter. A leather bag was worn over the shoulder. In a man's suit, white color predominated, and embroidery and decorations were on the collar and at the bottom of the shirt; the belt was multi-colored.
Women's costume is more diverse, with pronounced national specifics. Four complexes stand out: with a skirt and apron; with a skirt, apron and garset; with a skirt to which a bodice-garset is sewn; with panel, apron, garset. The first two are known throughout Belarus, the last two in the eastern and northeastern regions. There are three types of shirts: with straight shoulder inserts, tunic-shaped, with a yoke; Much attention was paid to embroidery on the sleeves. Belt clothing - skirts of various styles (andarak, sayan, palatnyanik, letnik), as well as panevas and aprons. Skirts are red, blue and green, gray and white checkered, with longitudinal and transverse stripes. Aprons were decorated with lace and folds; sleeveless vests (garset) - embroidery, lace.
The girls' headdress is narrow ribbons (skidochka, shlyachok), wreaths. Married women tucked their hair under a cap and wore a towel headdress (namitka) and a scarf; there were many ways to tie them. Everyday women's shoes are bast shoes, holiday shoes are postoly and chrome boots. Outerwear for men and women was almost the same. It was sewn from felted undyed cloth (svita, sarmyaga, burka, letushka) and tanned (Kazachina) and untanned (kozhukh) sheepskin. They also wore a caftan and kabat. The modern costume uses the traditions of national embroidery, cut, and colors.
The folklore of the Belarusians represents a wide range of genres - fairy tales, legends, traditions, proverbs, sayings, riddles, conspiracies, calendar and family ritual poetry, folk theater, etc. The pre-Christian ideas of the Belarusians about the origin of the world are reflected in the legends, traditions, and epic tales. The song creativity of Belarusians is rich. From musical instruments Batleyka, basetlya, zhaleika, lyre, tambourine, etc. are popular.
Western Slavs
Poles
Poles Western Slavic people. Total number of ethnic Poles 40 million, people of Polish origin about 60 million. Language Polish Slavic group of the Indo-European family. Writing based on the Latin alphabet. Believers are mostly Catholics, there are Protestants.
The Poles as a people emerged with the formation and development of the Old Polish state. It was based on associations of the West Slavic tribes Polans, Slenzans, Vistulas, Mazovshans, and Pomorians. The process of consolidation of Pomerania with the rest of the Polish lands was slowed down not only by the fragility of its political ties with the ancient Polish state, but also by the uniqueness of its socio-economic and cultural development (the long-term dominance of paganism, etc.). According to the dialects, the Polans, Slenzans and Vistulas were close. During a period of political fragmentation ( XI - XIII centuries) individual Polish lands became isolated, but cultural and economic ties between them were not interrupted. In the course of resisting German expansion and overcoming political fragmentation ( XIII - XIV century) the unification of Polish lands was carried out, ties between their populations expanded and strengthened. At the same time, the process of Germanization of the western and northern lands captured by the Germans (Lower Silesia, Pomerania, Masuria, Western Greater Poland) was underway.
In XIV - XV centuries, the unification of the lands of the Polish state contributed to the process of national consolidation of the Poles, which intensified in XVII century. Within the framework of the multinational state - the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (formed in 1569 by the Union of Lublin with the Grand Duchy of Lithuania) - the process of consolidation of the Polish nation took place. This process became more complicated in the end XVIII century in connection with the three divisions of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (1772, 1793 and 1795) between Russia, Austria and Prussia and the loss of a unified Polish statehood. At the end XVIII - XIX century, the national liberation movements played an outstanding role in the preservation and growth of the national self-awareness of the Poles; the Polish people remained committed to their homeland, native language and customs.
But the political disunity of the Poles affected their ethnic history. More in XIX century, there were several groups of Poles, differing in dialects and some ethnographic features: in the west - Velikopolany, Lenchitsans and Sieradzyans; in the south - Malopolyanye; in Silesia - Slenzane (Silesians); in the northeast - Masurians and Warmians; on the coast Baltic Sea- Pomeranians. The group of Małopolans included the Gorals (population of mountainous regions), Krakowians and Sandomierzians. Among the Silesians there were Poles, Silesian Gorals and other groups. The Kujawians belonged to the Greater Poland, and the Kurpi belonged to the Masurians. In Pomerania, the Kashubians especially stood out, preserving the specificity of their language and culture (sometimes they are considered a special nationality). With the growth of industry and urbanization, especially since the end XIX century, the differences between these groups began to blur.
More than half of Poles live in cities (the largest are Warsaw, Lodz, Krakow, Wroclaw, Poznan), and are employed in diversified industry, trade, consumer services, health care, education, science, and culture.
The main branches of agriculture are farming and animal husbandry; The main direction is the cultivation of grain crops, a significant part of the sown area is occupied by potatoes. Vegetable growing and gardening are important. In addition to modern agricultural machinery, old tools are used: frame harrows, scythes, rakes, forks. Livestock farming: dairy and meat (cattle, sheep, pigs). For travel, transportation, and partly agricultural work, peasants traditionally use horses, and to a lesser extent, oxen.
Traditional types of rural settlements: street villages, okolnitsy and ovalnitsy with houses located around a central square or pond (radial layout). In the process of socio-economic and cultural development, the layout and types of development of Polish villages are changing. In many villages, new buildings have been erected - schools, clubs, cafes, etc., the architecture of which combines modern style and local traditions. In clubs (svetlitsa) and cafes you can see antique peasant furniture; the interior of the cafe is often designed entirely in the style of the old tavern, which is still preserved in some villages. Polish national dishes and drinks are served here.
Most Poles wear modern costumes. Traditional folk clothes are worn in parts of the villages on holidays. The traditional costumes of peasants coming from various regions for the harvest festival and other national celebrations are varied and colorful. More than in other areas, traditional clothing has been preserved in the vicinity of the city of Łowicz and in the mountains, where peasants wear it every day. The Łowicz costume is characterized by striped fabrics; Skirts, aprons, women's capes, and men's trousers are made from them.
Men's outerwear - sukman - has been preserved. In the mountains, men wear a short linen shirt with a cufflink made of silver or other metal, trousers made of white cloth decorated with a heart-shaped pattern, a wide leather belt, and a short jacket (tsukha) made of white wool. Peasant women wear a skirt made of patterned or plain fabric, a shirt, and a sleeveless vest. Winter clothing for gurals - casings. The Krakow costume is unique: a women's skirt made of floral fabric, a tulle or linen apron, over the shirt - a cloth or velvet bodice, decorated with gold or silver embroidery, metal plates, etc.; for men - a shirt with a turn-down collar, striped trousers, a blue caftan with rich embroidery; among the headdresses (warm fur hats, hats, etc.) an interesting confederate hat is similar to the headdress of the Polish military.
The family is predominantly small (simple), extended (complex) families are less common. IN XIX century, there were complex “paternal” families consisting of spouses-parents, their sons with wives and children, and “brotherly” families, uniting several brothers with wives and children. Of the ancient customs, some family (for example, wedding) and calendar customs have been preserved.
The traditions of folk art are alive in Poland: sculpture, carving, painting on glass, cutting vycinanki - paper patterns, embroidery, ceramics, weaving and basketry. Many professional artists use folk motifs in their work. Oral folk art is rich (ritual, calendar, lyrical, family, work songs, legends, ballads, fables, fairy tales, proverbs, etc.). Polish folk dances - polonaise, krakowiak, mazurka, etc., in a processed form, spread throughout Europe. Folk dances, songs and music have entered the repertoire of modern professional and amateur groups. Folk dance and song melodies are heard in the works of Polish composers.
Czechs
Czechs Western Slavic people, the main population of the Czech Republic. The total population is about 11 million. Language Czech.
By language, the Czechs belong to the West Slavic peoples. The early works of Czech writing of the 13th and 14th centuries were based on the language of central Bohemia. But as the influence of the Catholic Church, German feudal lords and the urban patriciate increased in the country, the Czech language began to be oppressed in favor of the German and Latin languages. But during the period of the Hussite wars, literacy and the literary Czech language became widespread among the masses. Then came the two-century decline of Czech culture under the rule of the Hagsburgs, who pursued a policy of Germanization of the subject Slavic peoples (to mid-19th century, 15% of the population spoke Czech; the possibility of taking one of the Slavic languages, in particular the Russian literary language, was considered as a literary language). The Czech language began to revive only at the end of the 18th century; its basis was the literary language of the 16th century, which explains the presence of many archaisms in the modern Czech language, in contrast to the living spoken language. The spoken language is divided into several groups of dialects: Czech, Middle Moravian and East Moravian.
Believers: Catholics - 27%, Czech Evangelical Brothers - 1%, Czech Hussites - 1%, other religions (Christian minority churches and sects, Orthodox, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, etc.) - about 3%. The majority of the population considers themselves atheists (59%), and almost 9% find it difficult to answer the question about their religion.
The Czechs have a rich cultural and historical heritage in the form of fortresses, castles, historical cities, monasteries and other elements of church architecture, and many “technical” monuments.
The world-famous black theater “Ta Fantastika” is one of the wonders of Prague, which attracts tourists from all over the world. Originated in 1980 in the USA, where its creator emigrated Petr Kratochvil . After the Velvet Revolution, the theater returned to Prague. Over the course of several years, Ta Fantastica traveled to more than 30 countries on three continents. Tours invariably ended in triumph. The magic is based on a simple optical trick. The actors, dressed in black, disappear against the backdrop of black scenery. Props, snatched from the darkness by rays of light, begin to live their own lives. The Ta Fantastica Theater has perfected this technique and reformed it using the most modern technology and special effects. In front of the audience, actors fly without touching the stage, mysterious images change on the huge screen, giant puppets play along with people. During performances there is live music an equal participant in the theatrical performance. The emphasis shifts to dramatic action, and the trick ceases to be the goal and becomes a means - but a very bright and spectacular means.
“Ta Fantastica” differs from other black theaters in its unusually wide repertoire. Here you can see adaptations of such famous novels as “Don Quixote”, “Alice in Wonderland”, “The Little Prince”, as well as plays written specifically for the theater: “Magic Fantasy”, “Dream”, “The Garden of Edenic Delights” ( based on the painting by Hieronymus Bosch). The highlight of the theater is musicals with the participation of fatal and pop stars of the first magnitude: “The Pied Piper”, “Joan of Arc” and “Excalibur”, which has not left the stage since 2003. The theater owes much of its fame to famous singer and actress Lucia Biele Czech pop star.
Slovaks
Slovaks, people, the main population of Slovakia (85.6%). Number of over 4.5 million people. They speak Slovak, a language belonging to the Slavic group of the Indo-European family. Writing based on Latin script. Most believers are Catholics, there are Protestants (Lutherans) and Greek Catholics (Uniates).
Slavs began to dominate on the territory of Slovakia with VI century. Moving from the southeast and north, they partially absorbed the former Celtic, Germanic, and then Avar populations. Probably, the southern regions of Slovakia were part of the first West Slavic state of Samo in VII century. The first tribal principality of the ancestors of the Slovaks - Nitra, or the principality of Pribina, arose at the beginning IX centuries along the Vaga and Nitra rivers. Around 833 it joined the Moravian Principality - the core of the future Great Moravian state.
In 863, Glagolitic writing appears. Under the pressure of the Hungarians, who appeared in the Danube region at the end IX century, the Great Moravian state collapsed. Its eastern regions gradually became part of the Hungarian state, then (after 1526) - the Austrian (from 1867 Austro-Hungarian) monarchy. The term "Slovaks" appeared in the middle XV century. In earlier sources the ethnonym “Sloveni”, “Slovenka” and the territory “Slovenian” are found.
The Slovak regions in northern Hungary did not represent any special administrative units. WITH XVI century, since the Ottoman occupation of the Hungarian regions proper, the ethnoterritorial concept of Slovakia appeared. The formation of the Slovak nation took place under conditions of national oppression and forced modernization. The Slovak “national revival” began in the 80s XVIII century, a large role in it was played by the rural intelligentsia (priests, teachers) and townspeople. The emergence of the Slovak literary language at the end XVIII century contributed to the growth of self-awareness and national consolidation of Slovaks. In 1863, the national cultural and educational society Matica Slovacka was founded in the city of Martin.
In 1918-93 Slovakia was part of Czechoslovakia. Since 1993 - independent sovereign Slovak Republic.
The traditional occupation of Slovaks is agriculture: in the mountainous regions, transhumance (cattle, sheep), in the lowlands - farming (cereals, grapes, gardening). Industry is developing; The dispersed nature of industry also allows rural residents to work in industrial enterprises.
Traditional crafts - production of leather goods, wooden utensils, weaving, embroidery, production of lace, printed fabrics. The largest ceramic workshops in the cities of Modra and Pozdišovce produce earthenware and ceramics in the traditional style.
Traditional settlements in Southern Slovakia with row and street layouts. In mountainous areas, small cumulus settlements and hamlets predominate. There are also settlements stretching in a chain for several kilometers. Traditional dwellings consist of three rooms: a hut (hut), a pitvora (canopy), and a komor (pantry). In the mountainous regions, wooden log buildings predominate, on the plains - adobe and adobe, the walls of which are painted in light colors, in the southwest they are painted with bright ornaments. The houses face the street, residential and utility rooms are located in a row under one roof.
Traditional clothing has about 60 variations. The most common women's costume consists of a long shirt with straps, a short shirt gathered at the collar, a front and back apron (later a skirt and an apron). Another common complex is a tunic-like long shirt, skirt, apron, and sleeveless vest.
Men's clothing - trousers (narrow or wide, cloth, linen, embroidered with cord), tunic-like shirt, fur and cloth vests. Singles wear feathers and long ribbons on their hats. A mandatory accessory of a highlander costume is a very wide leather belt with brass buckles.
Until mid-XX centuries there have been complex patrilineal or fraternal families. The head of the family (gazda) enjoyed unquestioned power. Traditional neighborly mutual assistance is preserved. The most solemn of family rituals is the wedding: previously it was celebrated by all relatives and neighbors for a whole week.
Folk theatrical performances associated with family and calendar rituals were typical: young people wearing masks staged dances and games. Christmas remains one of the biggest holidays on the calendar. It is celebrated in the family circle, a Christmas tree is decorated (previously it could have been a sheaf), and gifts are given. New Year's rounds of "climbers" with wishes of happiness and goodness, which once had a magical function, are common.
Fairy tales and legends occupy a large place in Slovak folklore. The tradition of chanting folk avengers, the “zboyniks,” is especially strong, among whom the most popular is Juraj Janosik, the hero of folk ballads and fairy tales.
Folk songs are associated with family and calendar rituals. Lyrical songs with a predominance of minor tones have been preserved. In the east of Slovakia, dance songs are typical. The most common dances are ozemok, czardash, polka, etc., which have many variations. There are many musical folk ensembles (strings, winds). Popular solo instrumental music(violin, pipe, bagpipes, cymbals, etc.). Folklore festivals are held annually, the largest of which is the all-Slovak festival in the city of Vichodna.
Lusatians
Lusatians (Sorbs), indigenous Slavic population living in the territory of Lower and Upper Lusatia regions that are part of modern Germany. They speak the Lusatian language, which is divided into Upper Lusatian and Lower Lusatian.
Modern Lusatians are the remnant of the Lusatian Serbs, or simply Serbs, one of the 3 main tribal unions of the so-called Polabian Slavs, which also included the tribal unions of the Lutich and Bodrichi. The Polabian Slavs, or Vends in German, in the early Middle Ages inhabited at least a third of the territory of the modern German state - the north, north-west and east. At present, all of them, with the exception of the Lusatians, are completely Germanized. This process lasted several centuries, during which the population of these once purely Slavic lands, being under German military-political domination, gradually became Germanized. The process of including Polabian and Pomeranian lands into the German states stretched over the period from the 12th to the 14th centuries. The lands of the Lusatians became part of the Frankish Empire of Charlemagne in the 9th century. At the beginning of the 11th century, the Lusatian lands were conquered by Poland, but soon came under the rule of the Meissen Margraviate. In 1076, the German Emperor Henry IV ceded the Lusatian Mark to the Czech Republic. During the period of being part of the Czech Kingdom, an active process of Germanization of the region began. Colonists from Germany moved en masse to Lusatia, receiving various trade and tax privileges from the Czech state. After the establishment of the Habsburg dynasty in the Czech Republic, the processes of Germanization of the Slavic population accelerated. In the 17th century, the Lusatian lands were ceded to Saxony, and in the 19th century they became part of Prussia, and from 1871 they were part of the German Empire.
The Lusatians are the last surviving Slavic ethnic group in Germany whose representatives use the Slavic language.
The first settlements of the Lusatian Serbs, in accordance with German theories, were recorded presumably in the 6th century. In accordance with these theories, these lands were inhabited by various Celtic tribes before the Slavs. According to other theories, the Lusatians, like the Slavs in general, are an autochthonous population of these territories, in which the process of separating the Slavs as such from earlier Indo-European communities took place. In particular, they are correlated with the so-called Przeworsk culture.
Lusatian Serbs are one of four officially recognized national minorities in Germany (along with Gypsies, Frisians and Danes). It is believed that about 60 thousand German citizens now have Serbian roots, of which 20,000 live in Lower Lusatia (Brandenburg) and 40 thousand in Upper Lusatia (Saxony).
Literature. Before the emergence of literature in their native language, the Lusatians, like many peoples of Western Europe, used the Latin language. The oldest surviving monument in the Lusatian language “Budišin Oath” (beginning XVI century). The founder of Lusatian national literature is the poet and prose writer A. Seiler (1804-1872). IN XIX century, the poet J. Radyserb-Velya (1822-1907), the prose writer J. Muchink (1821-1904) and others also spoke. Lusatian literature of the turn XIX - XX centuries is represented primarily by the poet J. Bart-Czyszynski (1856-1909); At this time, prose writers M. Andritsky (1871-1908), Y. Winger (1872-1918) were known. For literature of critical realism XX The century is characterized by the work of the poets J. Nowak (born 1895), M. Witkoyc (born 1893), J. Hezhka (1917-1944), prose writers J. Skala (1889-1945), J. Lorenz-Zaleski (1874-1939). Since 1945, the development of literature has reflected the growth of the spiritual culture of the Lusatian national minority in the GDR. The literature of modern Lusatians, which is an integral part of the socialist folk literature of the GDR, is represented by prose writers J. Brezan (born in 1916), J. Koch (born in 1936), poet K. Lorenz (born in 1938) and others.
Kashubians
Kashubians - descendants of the ancient Pomeranians, live on the coast of the Baltic Sea, in the northwestern regions of Poland. Population is about 550 thousand people. They speak the Kashubian dialect of Polish. At the beginning XIV V. The Kashubian lands were captured by the Teutonic Order. Eastern Pomerania was reunited with Poland through the Treaty of Torun in 1466. In the 1st and 2nd partitions of Poland (1772, 1793), Prussia captured the lands of the Kashubians. They were returned to Poland only under the Treaty of Versailles in 1919. Despite the long period of forced Germanization, the Kashubians retained their culture.Most Kashubians prefer to say that they are Poles by citizenship, and Kashubians by ethnicity, i.e. They consider themselves both Poles and Kashubians.
The unofficial capital of the Kashubians is the city of Kartuzy. Of the major cities, Gdynia has the largest percentage of people of Kashubian origin. Initially, the main occupation of most Kashubians was fishing; Now the majority work in the tourism sector.
The main organization that takes care of preserving the identity and traditions of the Kashubians is the Kashubian-Pomeranian Union.
Southern Slavs
Serbs
Serbs , people, the main population of Serbia (6428 thousand people). They speak Serbian, a language belonging to the Slavic group of the Indo-European family. In those regions where Serbs live together with other peoples, they are often bilingual. Writing based on the Cyrillic alphabet. The majority of believers are Orthodox, a small part are Catholics and Protestants, there are Sunni Muslims.
The ethnic history of the Yugoslav peoples, including the Serbs, is associated with the massive resettlement of Slavic tribes to the Balkans in the 6th-7th centuries. The local population was largely assimilated, partially pushed to the west and into the mountainous regions. Slavic tribes - the ancestors of the Serbs, Montenegrins and the population of Bosnia and Herzegovina occupied a significant part of the territory in the basins of the southern tributaries of the Sava and Danube, the Dinaric Mountains, and the southern part of the Adriatic coast. The center of settlement of the ancestors of the Serbs was the region of Raska, where an early state was formed in the 2nd half of the 8th century.
In the middle of the 9th century, the Serbian Principality was created. In the 10th-11th centuries, the center of political life moved either to the southwest, to Duklja, Travuniya, Zakhumie, then again to Raska. From the end of the 12th century, the Serbian state intensified its aggressive policy and in the 13th-1st half of the 14th century significantly expanded its borders, including at the expense of Byzantine lands. This contributed to the strengthening of Byzantine influence on many aspects of the life of Serbian society, in particular on the system of social relations, art, etc. After the defeat at Kosovo Polje in 1389, Serbia became a vassal of the Ottoman Empire, and in 1459 it was included in its composition. Ottoman rule, which lasted almost five centuries, restrained the processes of Serb consolidation.
During the period of Ottoman rule, Serbs moved repeatedly both within the country and outside its borders, especially to the north to Vojvodina - to Hungary. These movements contributed to changes in the ethnic composition of the population. The weakening of the Ottoman Empire and the intensified movement of the Serbs for liberation from foreign rule, especially the First Serbian Uprising (1804-13) and the Second Serbian Uprising (1815), led to the creation of an autonomous (1833) and then independent (1878) Serbian state. The struggle for liberation from the Ottoman yoke and state unification was an important factor in the formation of the national identity of the Serbs. There were new large population movements into the liberated areas. In one of the central regions - Šumadija - the absolute majority were immigrants. This region became the center of consolidation of the Serbian people, and the process of national revival began. Development of the Serbian state and market relations, economic and cultural ties between individual regions led to some leveling in the culture of their population, blurring of regional boundaries and strengthening of a common national identity.
The historical destinies of the Serbs developed in such a way that long time they were separated politically, economically and culturally within different states (Serbia, Ottoman Empire, Austria-Hungary). This left an imprint on the culture and life of different groups of the Serbian population (some specific features remain today). Thus, for the villages of Vojvodina, the development of which was carried out according to plans approved by the authorities, a typical layout is in the form of a rectangle or square with wide streets, with a rectangular central square, around which various public institutions are grouped. Certain elements of the culture of the Serbian population of this region were formed under the influence of the culture of the population of Vojvodina, with whom the Serbs lived in close contact.
The Serbs are aware of their national unity, although the division into regional groups (Šumadians, Žičans, Moravians, Macvanes, Kosovars, Sremcs, Banacans, etc.) is preserved in the memory of the people. There are no sharply defined boundaries in the culture of individual local groups of Serbs.
The unification of Serbs within a single state took place in 1918, when the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes was created (later the name and partly the borders of this state changed). However, after the collapse of the SFRY, the Serbs again found themselves divided by the borders of the countries that arose in the post-Yugoslav space.
In the past, Serbs were mainly engaged in agriculture - farming (mainly grains), gardening (plum cultivation remains a special place), and viticulture. Cattle breeding, mainly transhumance, and pig breeding played an important role. They also engaged in fishing and hunting. Crafts have developed significantly - pottery, wood and stone carving, weaving (including carpet weaving, mainly lint-free), embroidery, etc.
The Serbs were characterized by a scattered (mainly in the mountainous regions of the Dinaric massif) and crowded (eastern regions) type of settlement with a varied form of layout (cumulus, row, circular). In most settlements there were blocks separated from each other by 1-2 km.
The traditional dwellings of the Serbs are wooden, log houses (they were widespread in the middle of the 19th century in areas rich in forests), as well as stone (in karst areas) and frame (Moravian type). The houses were built on a high foundation (with the exception of the Moravian type), with four- or gable roofs. The oldest dwelling was single-chamber, but in the 19th century two-chamber became predominant. Stone houses could have two floors; the first floor was used for economic purposes, the second - for housing.
Folk clothing Serbs vary significantly across regions (if there are common elements). The oldest elements of men's clothing are a tunic-like shirt and trousers. Outerwear - vests, jackets, long raincoats. Beautifully decorated belts were a mandatory part of a men's suit (they differed from women's ones in length, width, and ornament). Leather shoes such as moccasins - opankas - are typical. The basis of women's traditional costume was a tunic-like shirt, richly decorated with embroidery and lace. The women's costume included an apron, a belt, as well as various vests, jackets, dresses, sometimes swinging ones. Folk clothing, especially women's, was usually decorated with embroidery, woven patterns, cords, coins, etc.
The social life of Serbs in the past was characterized by rural communities. Various forms of mutual assistance and joint work were widespread, for example when grazing livestock. The Serbs had two types of families - simple (small, nuclear) and complex (large, extended). Back in the 1st half of the 19th century, zadruga (up to 50 or more people) was widespread. Zadrags were characterized by collective ownership of land and property, collective consumption, virilocality, etc.
Orally folk art Serbs occupy a special place epic genre(junior songs), which reflected the historical destinies of the Serbian people, their struggle for freedom. Folk dances are characterized by a circular movement (kolo), similar to a round dance.
The radical socio-economic transformations that took place in the life of Serbs in the 2nd half of the 20th century, the transition of a significant number of them from agriculture to industry, the service sector, and the growth of the intelligentsia lead to some leveling of culture. However, the Serbs, who defended their independence and freedom in centuries-old struggle, take great care of historical and cultural monuments, folk architecture, traditional crafts, and oral folk art. Folk traditions combined with innovations in the layout of homes, the cut and decoration of clothes, etc. Some elements of traditional culture (clothing, food, architecture, crafts) are sometimes revived artificially (including to attract tourists). Traditional folk art is preserved - decorative weaving, pottery, carving, etc..
Bulgarians
Bulgarians , people, the main population of Bulgaria. The population in Bulgaria is 7850 thousand people. They speak Bulgarian, a language belonging to the Slavic group of the Indo-European family. Writing based on the Cyrillic alphabet. There are two groups of dialects - eastern and western. Believers are mostly Orthodox, with small groups of Catholics and Protestants; significant group of Muslims.
The main role in the ethnogenesis of the Bolgars was played by the Slavic tribes who moved to the Balkans in VI - VII centuries. Other ethnic components are the Thracians, who lived in the east of the Balkan Peninsula since the Bronze Age, and the Turkic-speaking Proto-Bulgarians, who came from the Black Sea steppes in the 670s. Thracian features in the traditional culture of the Bulgarians can be largely traced to the south of the Balkan Range; in the northern and western regions of Bulgaria there is a brighter layer of Slavic culture.
The origins of Bulgarian statehood go back to Slavic tribal associations VII century - Slavinia by Byzantine authors. It was further developed with the formation of the political union of the Slavs of Mysia and the Proto-Bulgarians, who brought a centralized organization. The synthesis of two social traditions laid the foundation for the Bulgarian state. The dominant position in it was initially occupied by the Proto-Bulgarian nobility, which is why the ethnonym “Bulgarians” gave its name to the state. With the expansion of the borders of the First Bulgarian Kingdom (formed in 681) in VIII - IX centuries, it included new Slavic tribes and small groups of Proto-Bulgarians. The formation of the Slavic-Bulgarian state and the development of commodity-money relations contributed to the consolidation of the Slavic tribes and the assimilation of the Proto-Bulgarians by the Slavs. Assimilation was carried out not only due to the numerical dominance of the Slavs, but also because their economic and cultural type created a broader and more stable basis for socio-economic development in the Balkans. The adoption of Christianity in 865, as well as the spread at the end of IX centuries of Slavic writing. At the end IX - X century, the term "Bulgarians", which previously meant subjects of Bulgaria, acquired the meaning of an ethnonym. By this time, the process of ethnogenesis of the Bulgarians and the formation of the nationality had basically ended. During the period of the Second Bulgarian Kingdom, the culture of the medieval Bulgarians reached its peak. At the end XIV century the Ottoman conquest led to the deformation social structure Bulgarians: the nobility ceased to exist, the trade and craft layer in the cities decreased significantly.
Carrier ethnic culture to XVIII centuries, it was mainly the peasantry who acted. The language, customs, traditions of the rural community, as well as the Orthodox religion played a pronounced ethnically differentiating role; monasteries acted as guardians of the historical memory of the Bulgarians and their cultural heritage. The struggle against the oppressors, which took various forms, supported national identity. It is reflected in folklore (Yunatsky and Guidutsky epics). Some Bulgarians underwent Turkish assimilation, while another part (in the Rhodope Mountains), having converted to Islam, retained their native language and culture.
The traditional occupations of Bulgarians are arable farming (cereals, legumes, tobacco, vegetables, fruits) and livestock breeding (cattle, sheep, pigs). A variety of crafts have been developed in the cities, including XIX century, industry was born. Agrarian overpopulation led to the development of waste industries (including abroad), among which gardening and construction crafts are especially famous. Modern Bulgarians are engaged in diversified industry and mechanized agriculture.
Women's traditional clothing - a belt with two panels (in the north), with one panel (locally in the south), a sundress (sukman) in the middle belt of the country and a swing (saya) in the south (sukman and saya - with aprons). The shirt in the north has polkas (triangular inserts), in other regions it is tunic-like. Men's clothing is white cloth with narrow pants and a maid's clothing (jacket) to the knees or waist (in the west) and dark cloth with wide pants and a short maid's clothing (in the east). Both types have a tunic-like shirt and a wide belt. In villages, some of its modified elements made from factory fabrics are preserved: aprons, sleeveless vests, scarves, and occasionally among the elderly - sukmans, wide belts, etc.
Traditional social life is characterized by customs of mutual assistance; Patriarchal family foundations are a thing of the past.
The folk holiday culture retains a lot of originality. New Year's greetings according to the old custom - visiting the houses of relatives and friends, who are patted on the back with a decorated dogwood branch (a symbol of health), saying words from a ritual song. Mummered guys wearing zoomorphic masks decorated with bird feathers and with bells on their belts - survakars (the popular name for the New Year - Surva Godina) walk around the villages of Western Bulgaria. They are accompanied by comic characters: some of them (“the bride”) had connections with the cult of fertility. The holiday ends in the morning in the square with the good wishes of the survakars and a general round dance. These customs synthesize ancient Slavic and Thracian traditions.
Two civil holidays are specific to Bulgarians: the Day of Slavic Literature and Bulgarian Culture on May 24, dedicated to the compilers of the Slavic alphabet Cyril and Methodius and figures of Bulgarian culture; Freedom Fighters Remembrance Day June 2. The holidays of humor and satire, carnivals organized in the city of Gabrovo, famous for its folklore, are widely known..
Croats
Croats , people, the main population of Croatia (3.71 million people, 1991). The total number is 5.65 million people. Croats speak Croatian, a language of the southern subgroup of the Slavic group of the Indo-European family. The dialects are Shtokavian (spoken by the bulk of the Croats, on the basis of its Ikavian sub-dialect a literary language has developed), Chakavian (mainly in Dalmatia, Istria and the islands) and Kajkavian (mainly in the vicinity of Zagreb and Varazdin). Writing based on Latin script. Believers are Catholics, a small part are Orthodox, Protestants, and Muslims.
The ancestors of the Croats (tribes Kačići, Šubići, Svačići, Magorovichi, etc.), moved along with other Slavic tribes to the Balkans in VI - VII centuries, settled in the north Dalmatian coast, in Southern Istria, between the Sava and Drava rivers, in northern Bosnia. At the end IX century, the Croatian state was formed. At the beginning XII century, the bulk of the Croatian lands were included in the Kingdom of Hungary, by the middle XV century Venice (back in XI century, which captured part of Dalmatia) took possession of the Croatian Littoral region (with the exception of Dubrovnik). IN XVI century, part of Croatia was under the rule of the Habsburgs, part was captured by the Ottoman Empire (during this period, part of the Croats converted to Islam). To protect against the Ottoman invasion, a fortified strip was created (the so-called Military Border); its main population (referred to as the granicari) were Croats and Serbs - refugees from Eastern Croatia, Serbia, and Bosnia. At the end XVII - early XVIII centuries, the lands of the Croats completely became part of the Habsburg Empire. From the 2nd half XVIII century, the Habsburgs strengthened the policy of centralization and Germanization, which pushed Croatia to recognize its dependence on the Kingdom of Hungary in 1790. The Hungarian authorities began to pursue a policy of Magyarization. In the 1830-40s, a socio-political and cultural movement (Illyrism) developed, aimed at reviving the national Croatian culture. In 1918, the Croats and other Yugoslav peoples of the disintegrated Austria-Hungary united into the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (since 1929 - Yugoslavia); Some of the Adriatic Croats came under Italian rule in 1920. After the 2nd World War, the Croats entered the Federal People's Republic Yugoslavia (since 1963 - SFRY), from which the independent Republic of Croatia emerged in 1991.
Due to the difference in historical destinies and geographical conditions There were 3 historical and ethnographic regions inhabited by Croats - Adriatic (Primorye), Dinaric and Pannonian. However, there are no clear boundaries between them. Regional groups are preserved (Zagorians, Medjumurs, Prigors, Lichans, Fuchki, Chichis, Bunyevtsy, etc.).
Traditional occupations are agriculture (cereals, flax, etc.), gardening, viticulture (especially in Primorye), animal husbandry (transhumance in mountainous regions), fishing (primarily in the Adriatic). Crafts - weaving (mainly Pannonia), lace weaving (Adriatic), embroidery, pottery with a special firing method (in the Dinaric region), wood, metal, leather processing.
The emergence of many cities (Zadar, Split, Rijeka, Dubrovnik, etc.) on the Adriatic coast is associated with the Greek and Roman eras. They are characterized by narrow, steep, sometimes stepped streets with two- or three-story stone houses. In lowland Croatia, cities arose later, mainly at crossroads as trade and craft centers. Rural settlements were of two types - crowded (part of lowland Croatia, Primorye and islands) and scattered (predominant in the mountains, also found in Dalmatia). Villages with a street layout are common, especially in the flat part. Traditional housing is made of stone (mountainous regions, Primorye, islands), log or frame with a gable roof. In hilly areas, houses were built mainly one-story on a high foundation, on the coast and on the islands - two-story. They tried to decorate the chimneys of stone houses beautifully to demonstrate the wealth of the owner. The layout is mainly two-partition, although a three-partition house has long existed. An oven was used for heating and cooking.
Traditional clothing is mainly made from homespun linen (Pannonia), cloth (Dinaric region), and in Primorye also from silk fabrics: for men - a tunic-like shirt and trousers, jackets, vests, capes, raincoats, belts with metal trim (men's and women's), shoes - opankas (made from a single piece of leather), boots; for women - a long or short tunic-like shirt, decorated with lace (Primorye) or embroidery and woven patterns (Pannonia and Dinaric region), blouses, sleeveless vests, belts, aprons, wide gathered skirts, raincoats, etc. Festive clothing was richly decorated with embroidery and lace , coins and other metal jewelry, especially in the Dinaric region.
The Croats have long maintained communal traditions - mutual assistance, self-government, etc. More in XIX century, there were remnants of male unions, a large (close-knit) family. The decomposition of the zadru began earlier in Primorye; in other regions of Croatia, their massive divisions were noted at the end XIX century.
In the oral folk art of the Croats, the heroic epic occupies a significant place. Developed folk drama, elements of which were included in calendar (for example, Maslenitsa) and family rituals. Songs like ditties are common, performed most often during dances. Round dances (kolo) or pairs.
Urban culture is common among modern Croats. Many work in industry, transport, and the service sector. A national intelligentsia was formed.
Macedonians
Macedonians South Slavic people, which arose as a result of the assimilation of the ancient population of the Balkan Peninsula (ancient Macedonians, Thracians, etc.) with the South Slavs. The total number is about 2 million people. Language Macedonian. Macedonian belongs to the South Slavic languages. In ancient times, the Macedonian city of Ohrid was the center of Slavic writing and culture; in particular, it was from there that Saint Clement of Ohrid was born, according to the chronicles, who created the classical version of the Cyrillic alphabet. The Macedonian language is similar to the Bulgarian and Serbian languages, but has its own linguistic specifics. Significant grammatical and lexical changes have occurred in the Macedonian language, distinguishing it from the literary language of neighboring Slavic peoples (a different form of the perfect, different definite articles, different rules for the use of verb tenses, etc.). Despite this, nationalist Bulgarians do not recognize the existence of a separate Macedonian language distinct from Bulgarian, and consider it a dialect or variant of the Bulgarian language.
Religion predominantly Orthodoxy, Protestantism is also common.
Higher education has achieved significant development. In 1939, in Skopje there was only a department of the Faculty of Philosophy of the University of Belgrade (about 120 students). In the 1971/72 academic year, over 32 thousand students studied at 9 faculties of the University of Skopje, founded in 1949, as well as at 11 other higher educational institutions in Macedonia; in 2005, over 180 thousand students.
There are a number of scientific institutions and societies: institutes of national history, folklore, economics, hydrobiology, and geology. Societies of physicists and mathematicians, geographers and others. In 1967, the Macedonian Academy of Sciences and Arts was created.
In 1971, 80 newspapers (with a total circulation of 21,736 thousand copies) and 53 magazines (with a total circulation of 705 thousand copies) were published in Macedonia; 668 titles of books and brochures were also published with a total circulation of 3,634 thousand copies. The central printed organ of Macedonia is the daily newspaper Nova Makedonija, founded in October 1944, published in the city of Skopje (organ of the Socialist Union of Working People of Macedonia).
Radio broadcasting in the Macedonian language has been carried out by a radio station in Skopje since December 1944. Regular television broadcasts began in SRM in 1964.
In 1971 in Macedonia there were 16 clinics and general hospitals, 28 other medical hospitals with 9 thousand beds (about 500 doctors), over 1000 clinics, outpatient clinics, dispensaries, consultations, first-aid posts (over 600 doctors, more than 400 dentists and dentists). There are a number of resorts and tourist centers in Macedonia.
Wood carvings related to XII XIV centuries; in XVII XIX For centuries, realistic figures of animals and people have been woven into floral patterns. The school of the city of Debar is famous for the carvings on the iconostasis (a combination of Greek and Venetian influences, baroque and rococo elements).
Wood carving and other historically established branches of decorative and applied arts (silver chasing, embroidery, carpet weaving) are developing in the SRM as folk crafts.
Late XIX early XX centuries, the prerequisites for the development of secular musical culture appeared on the territory of the SRM. Cultural and educational societies emerged that played a significant role in the formation of the national musical art(the first society was founded in 1894 in Veles). In 1895 a brass band was created in Skopje, and in 1907 a singing society “Vardar” was created. In the 1900s, the activities of the first professional musician A. Badev, a student of N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov and M. A. Balakirev, began. In 1928, music teacher S. Arsic organized the first music school in Macedonia in Skopje, in 1934 the Mokranjac Music School was founded there, and in 1937 a string quartet was founded. The work of professional composers dates back to the 1930s: S. Gaidov, Zh. Firfov and others. At the end of the 30s, a group of performers and composers carried out active concert activities and propaganda of Macedonian music: P. Bogdanov-Koczko, I. Dzhuvalekovski, T. Skalovski, I. Castro. The works of composers M. were published for the first time. During the People's Liberation War of 1941–1945, mass patriotic songs and vocal works were created.
In SRM among the composers of the 60s and early 70s are T. Prokopyev, B. Ivanovski, V. Nikolovski, T. Proshev and others, working in the genres of opera, ballet, symphony, chamber, vocal, instrumental, choral music. In Skopje there are: the Philharmonic Society (founded in 1944), the State Opera at the Macedonian People's Theater (founded in 1947), a secondary music school and the department of music (opened in 1953) at the Pedagogical Institute. The radio operates a choir (founded in 1945) and a string quartet (founded in 1946). The Union of Composers was created.
Montenegrins
Montenegrins people, the main population of Montenegro (460 thousand people). The total number is 620 thousand people. They speak the Shtokavian dialect of the Serbian language. Believers mostly Orthodox.
The culture and life of the Montenegrins have much in common with the Serbs, however, isolation associated with natural conditions (mountains), the centuries-old struggle against the Ottoman yoke for independence and, as a consequence of this, a militarized way of life slowed down the socio-economic development of Montenegro and contributed to the long-term preservation of patriarchal-tribal foundations. Although ethnic composition Montenegrin tribes (Vasoevichi, Piperi, Kuchi, Belopavlichi, etc.) were quite diverse (they included refugees from different regions of the country, as well as groups of Albanian origin); according to popular beliefs, all members of the tribe had a common ancestor and were related by blood. The traditional occupations of Montenegrins are cattle breeding and agriculture. After the proclamation of socialist Yugoslavia in 1945 and the creation of the Republic of Montenegro, mechanization and new agricultural technology were introduced into the agriculture of Montenegrins, and industrial enterprises arose. The former cultural backwardness of Montenegrins is disappearing.
The original applied art of the Montenegrins (wood and stone carving, artistic metalworking, embroidery, etc.), oral poetry, music, and dancing received further development.
Rich folklore has long existed in Montenegro. Religious works, lives of saints, missals, etc. have been preserved from the Middle Ages. Manuscripts by A. Zmaevich (162449), I. A. Nenadich (170984) are known; “History of Montenegro” (1754) by V. Petrovich (170966), “Messages” by Peter I Petrovich Njegosh (17471830), etc.
Most researchers attribute the beginning of the development of new Montenegrin literature to the end XVIII 1st half of XIX centuries Its founder was the poet and statesman Peter II Petrovich Njegosh (181351), whose work continued the heroic traditions folk epic. In his works, Njegos created a poetic picture of the life of Montenegro, sang the struggle of Montenegrins and Serbs for liberation from the Ottoman yoke; the pinnacle of his poetry is the dramatic epic poem “Mountain Crown” (1847), imbued with the idea of unity of the southern Slavs. Njegos also played a prominent role in the development early romanticism in Serbian literature.
Most of the scientific institutions of Montenegro are located in Titograd: the highest scientific institution of the republic Academy of Sciences and Arts of Montenegro (founded in 1976), Historical Institute, Institute of Geological and Chemical Research, Hydrometeorological Institute, Seismological Station; in Kotor Institute of Marine Biology.
Bosnians
Bosnians Slavic people inhabiting Bosnia and Herzegovina. It arose as a result of the conversion to Islam of Serbs living as part of the Ottoman Empire. Number of people: 2100 thousand people. Language Bosanski (dialect of Serbo-Croatian). Writing in the Croatian Latin alphabet (“Gajevica”), previously Arabic script, Glagolitic and Bosančica (a local variety of Cyrillic) were also used). Sunni Muslim believers.
Bosniaks is the name of the population of the historical region of Bosnia and Herzegovina, mainly Serbs and Croats, who converted to Islam during Ottoman rule. The territory of modern Bosnia and Herzegovina was inhabited by Slavic tribes in VI - VII centuries. Ottoman rule in Bosnia and Herzegovina continued from the 2nd half XV centuries until 1878. During the period of Ottoman rule in the Balkans, Islam became most widespread in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Various religious movements collided here - Orthodoxy and Catholicism, Bogomilism, the unique Bosnian church that had developed here, which created an atmosphere of religious tolerance and facilitated the spread of Islam, especially since the transition to Islam brought a reduction in taxes and some legal rights. Many Turks, immigrants from North Caucasus, Arabs, Kurds and representatives of other peoples professing Islam. Some of them were assimilated by the local population, their culture influenced the culture of the Bosnians. Islamization affected not only the upper social layer (landowners, officials, large merchants), but also some peasants and artisans. When the Ottoman Empire began to lose its possessions in Europe (from the end XVII century), the Muslim population of various South Slavic lands poured into Bosnia, further complicating its ethnic composition. The occupation of this area by Austria-Hungary in 1878 caused a massive outflow of the Muslim population to Turkey.
The basis of the Bosnian culture is ancient Slavic, but it was layered with features introduced by the Turks and other immigrants from Asia Minor. Representatives of the wealthy strata of society sought to copy the lifestyle of the upper strata of Ottoman society. Elements of eastern, mainly Turkish, culture also penetrated into the life of the masses, although to a lesser extent. This influence is felt most strongly in the architecture of cities (mosques, craft quarters, large bazaars, protruding upper floors of houses, etc.), in the layout of homes (dividing the house into male and female halves), their decoration, in food - an abundance of fatty dishes and sweets, in clothing - trousers, fez, in family and especially in religious life, in personal names. It is characteristic that it is in these areas of life that the greatest number of borrowings are made from Turkish and other eastern languages.
Slovenians
Slovenians South Slavic people. The total number is about 2 million people. Language Slovenian. The majority of believers are Catholics, but there are also Protestants, Orthodox and Muslims. Many are atheists.
Ancestors of modern Slovenes in VI - VII centuries occupied vast areas in the Middle Danube basin, the Pannonian Lowland, the Eastern Alps (Carantania), and Primorye (the territory adjacent to the Adriatic Sea). In the middle VIII V. The Slovenes of Carantania fell under the rule of the Bavarians, and in the end VIII c., like the Slovenes of lower Pannonia, became part of the Frankish state. Most of the Slovenian lands were under the rule of German feudal lords for almost a thousand years; German and Hungarian colonists settled these lands. Eastern Slovenian lands were occupied by Hungarian magnates; Some of the Pannonian Slovenes were Magyarized. From the last third XIII V. a significant part of the Slovenian lands was subordinated to the Austrian Habsburgs. In 1918, the bulk of the Slovenes, together with other Yugoslav peoples, entered a single state (since 1929 called Yugoslavia), however, about 500 thousand Slovenes of the Julian Region fell under the rule of Italy, and about 100 thousand Slovenes of Carinthia and Styria came under the rule of Austria. After World War II (1939-45), most of the Julian Region, inhabited by Slovenes, became part of Yugoslavia. The historical past of the Slovenes, who for many centuries did not have state unity, and their geographical disunity contributed to the formation of a number of ethnographic groups.
The Slovenes of the Slovenian Littoral Region, Istria and Venetian Slovenia were influenced by the Italians, most of them are bilingual; the Slovenes of Carinthia were subject to significant Austrian influence. After the establishment of a people's democratic system in Yugoslavia (1945), the Slovenes had the opportunity to develop a socialist economy and national culture on equal rights with other peoples of Yugoslavia.
There are 3 daily newspapers and over 20 weekly newspapers, magazines and other periodicals published in Slovenia. Slovenian publishing houses produce about 1,200 books and brochures per year. The central printed organ is the daily newspaper Delo (founded in 1959), published in Ljubljana, organ of the Socialist Union of Working People of Slovenia, circulation 94.7 thousand copies.
In addition to national radio and television, there are 12 local radio stations. Radio broadcasting in Ljubljana since 1928, television since 1958.
At the turn of XIX XX centuries in Slovenian literature such trends as naturalism (F. Govekar, 18711949, A. Kraiger, 18771959, etc.) and Slovenian modernism (I. Cankar, 18761918, O. Zupančić, 18781949, etc.) appeared. D. Kette, 187699, I. Murn-Alexandrov, 18791901, etc.), in which realism is intertwined with elements of impressionistic and symbolist poetics. The foundations of proletarian literature were laid by Tsankar (“For the good of the people,” 1901; “King of the Betains,” 1902; “On the Street of the Poor,” 1902; “The Farmhand Erney and His Law,” 1907). The greatest achievement of Slovenian poetry of the early 20th century. Župančić’s lyrics (“Across the Plain”, 1904; “Monologues”, 1908, etc.). A significant phenomenon in Slovenian prose was the work of F. Finzgar (1871-1962; “Under the Free Sun”, 1906-07, etc.).
References
- Lavrovsky P., Ethnographic sketch of the Kashubians, "Philological Notes", Voronezh, 1950.
- History of Yugoslavia, vol. 12, M., 1963.
- Martynova I., Art of Yugoslavia, M., 1966.
- Ryabova E.I., Main directions in interwar Slovenian literature, M., 1967.
- Dymkov Yu., Russians. Historical and ethnographic atlas. M., 1967
- Semiryaga M.I., Luzhichane, M., 1969.
- Shelov D.B., Slavs. Dawn of civilization, M., 1972.
- Rovinsky P. A., Montenegro in its past and present, vol. 13, M., 1980.
- Shilova N. E., Art of Macedonia, M., 1988.
- Grigorieva R. A., Belarus through my eyes, M., 1989.
- Grushevsky M. , History of Ukraine-Rus. vol. 1, second ed., Kyiv, 1989.
- Gorlenko V.F., Notes on Ukraine, M., 1989.
- Gennadieva S., Culture of Bulgaria, Kharkov, 1989.
- Filioglo E., Yugoslavia. Essays, M., 1990.
- Smirnov A.N., Ancient Slavs. M., 1990
- Trofimovich K., Motorniy V., History of Serbian Literature, Lvov, 1995.
- Kiselev N.A., Belousov V.N., Architecture of the end XIX XX centuries, M., 1997.
- Niederle G., Slavic antiquities, M., 2001.
- Sergeeva A. V. Russians: behavioral stereotypes, traditions, mentality, M., 2006.
- www.czechtourism.com
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Slavs are a large group of peoples in Europe that arose from a common ancestor. The first mentions of Proto-Indo-Europeans (the ancestors of the Slavs) date back to the second millennium BC. Today, the peoples of the Slavic group make up about three hundred and fifty million people from the population of the entire world. The Slavs are peoples with an unusually rich and fascinating history.
At the beginning of the last century, the Slavs settled throughout the territories of modern Europe and Russia. They divided into several branches and ethnic groups. For example, the Western Slavs are the people of the Czech Republic, Poland, and Slovakia. But the eastern ones are Belarus, Ukraine and the Russian Federation. The southern Slavs include residents of Bulgaria, Serbia, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro and other countries.
It is believed that the ancestors of the Slavs were the Indo-Europeans, from whom they subsequently separated. Today, much is known about the origin of the Slavs, their settlement, life, culture, and the creation of states. But still, many facts about who the Slavs are remain controversial even among eminent historians.
Of course, the Slavs have similar facial features and body structures. An entire science is devoted to this - the anthropology of the Slavs. But, on the other hand, as a result of crossings with other peoples over many centuries, their own characteristics appeared.
There are many versions about the origin of the word “Slavs”. Some believe that it comes from the word “glorious,” others from the words “rumor, fame.”
About Russians
Who are the Russians? The generally accepted opinion is that they are a branch of the Eastern Slavs, the main population of modern Russia. Russians appeared as a result of the union of many tribes back in the twelfth century. Then the Old Russian nationality was formed, then the Old Russian state appeared.
The kinship between Russians and Slavs can be easily traced in the similarity of language with the peoples of this group. In addition, numerous sources (written, archaeological) indicate a common origin. One of the proofs is the legendary chronicle of Nestor “The Tale of Bygone Years”.
Several thousand years have passed since the emergence of Rus' and statehood. During this time, Russians became Christians (in the tenth century thanks to Vladimir Svyatoslavovich), Peter the Great made a powerful empire out of the state and changed the chronology. Alexander II abolished serfdom. The end of Tsarist Russia has come. Russians survived two world wars and perestroika. The Russians have fought dozens of bloody wars.
Time is ticking. And the situation has recently changed radically. Previously, the Slavic peoples treated each other as brothers, supported and helped the countries of the former USSR. Today, a wall of misunderstanding, aggression and conflicts has appeared between some countries. But don’t forget that we are all Slavs, which means we are open, kind and broad-minded!
SLAVS- the largest group of European peoples, united by a common origin and linguistic proximity in the system Indo-European languages. Its representatives are divided into three subgroups: southern (Bulgarians, Serbs, Croats, Slovenes, Macedonians, Montenegrins, Bosnians), eastern (Russians, Ukrainians and Belarusians) and western (Poles, Czechs, Slovaks, Lusatians). The total number of Slavs in the world is about 300 million people, including Bulgarians 8.5 million, Serbs about 9 million, Croats 5.7 million, Slovenes 2.3 million, Macedonians about 2 million, Montenegrins less 1 million, Bosnians about 2 million, Russians 146 million (of which 120 million in the Russian Federation), Ukrainians 46 million, Belarusians 10.5 million, Poles 44.5 million, Czechs 11 million, Slovaks less than 6 million, Lusatians - about 60 thousand. Slavs make up the bulk of the population of the Russian Federation, the Republics of Poland, the Czech Republic, Croatia, Slovakia, Bulgaria, the State Community of Serbia and Montenegro, and also live in the Baltic republics, Hungary, Greece, Germany, Austria, Italy, countries of America and Australia. Most Slavs are Christians, with the exception of the Bosnians, who converted to Islam during Ottoman rule over southern Europe. Bulgarians, Serbs, Macedonians, Montenegrins, Russians - mostly Orthodox; Croats, Slovenes, Poles, Czechs, Slovaks, Lusatians are Catholics, among Ukrainians and Belarusians there are many Orthodox, but there are also Catholics and Uniates.
Data from archeology and linguistics connect the ancient Slavs with the vast region of Central and Eastern Europe, bounded in the west by the Elbe and Oder, in the north by the Baltic Sea, in the east by the Volga, and in the south by the Adriatic. The northern neighbors of the Slavs were the Germans and Balts, the eastern - the Scythians and Sarmatians, the southern - the Thracians and Illyrians, and the western - the Celts. The question of the ancestral home of the Slavs remains controversial. Most researchers believe that this was the Vistula basin. Ethnonym Slavs first found among Byzantine authors of the 6th century, who called them “sklavins”. This word is related to the Greek verb "kluxo" ("I wash") and the Latin "kluo" ("I cleanse"). The self-name of the Slavs goes back to the Slavic lexeme “word” (that is, the Slavs are those who speak, understand each other through verbal speech, considering foreigners incomprehensible, “dumb”).
The ancient Slavs were descendants of pastoral and agricultural tribes of the Corded Ware culture, who settled in 3–2 thousand BC. from the Northern Black Sea region and the Carpathian region in Europe. In the 2nd century. AD, as a result of the movement of the Germanic tribes of the Goths to the south, the integrity of the Slavic territory was violated, and it was divided into western and eastern. In the 5th century The resettlement of the Slavs to the south began - to the Balkans and the North-Western Black Sea region. At the same time, however, they retained all their lands in Central and Eastern Europe, becoming the largest ethnic group at that time.
The Slavs were engaged in arable farming, cattle breeding, various crafts, and lived in neighboring communities. Numerous wars and territorial movements contributed to the collapse by the 6th–7th centuries. family ties. In the 6th–8th centuries. many of the Slavic tribes united into tribal unions and created the first state formations: in the 7th century. The First Bulgarian Kingdom and the Samo State arose, which included the lands of the Slovaks, in the 8th century. - Serbian state Raska, in the 9th century. - The Great Moravian state, which absorbed the lands of the Czechs, as well as the first state of the Eastern Slavs - Kievan Rus, the first independent Croatian principality and the Montenegrin state of Duklja. At the same time - in the 9th–10th centuries. - Christianity began to spread among the Slavs, quickly becoming the dominant religion.
From the end of the 9th - in the first half of the 10th century, when the Poles were just forming a state, and the Serbian lands were gradually being collected by the First Bulgarian Kingdom, the advance of the Hungarian tribes (Magyars) began into the valley of the middle Danube, which intensified by the 8th century. The Magyars cut off the Western Slavs from the southern Slavs and assimilated part of the Slavic population. The Slovenian principalities of Styria, Carniola, and Carinthia became part of the Holy Roman Empire. From the 10th century the lands of the Czechs and Lusatians (the only one of the Slavic peoples who did not have time to create their own statehood) also fell into the epicenter of colonization - but of the Germans. Thus, the Czechs, Slovenes and Lusatians were gradually included in the powers created by the Germans and Austrians and became their border districts. By participating in the affairs of these powers, the listed Slavic peoples organically merged into the civilization of Western Europe, becoming part of its socio-political, economic, cultural, and religious subsystems. Having retained some typically Slavic ethnocultural elements, they acquired a stable set of features characteristic of the Germanic peoples in family and social life, in national utensils, clothing and cuisine, in types of housing and settlements, in dance and music, in folklore and applied arts. Even from an anthropological point of view, this part of the Western Slavs acquired stable features that bring them closer to southern Europeans and residents of Central Europe (Austrians, Bavarians, Thuringians, etc.). The coloring of the spiritual life of the Czechs, Slovenes, and Lusatians began to be determined by the German version of Catholicism; The lexical and grammatical structure of their languages underwent changes.
Bulgarians, Serbs, Macedonians, Montenegrins formed during the Middle Ages, 8th–9th centuries, southern Greco-Slavic natural-geographical and historical-cultural area All of them found themselves in the orbit of Byzantine influence and were accepted in the 9th century. Christianity in its Byzantine (orthodox) version, and with it the Cyrillic alphabet. Subsequently, under the conditions of the incessant onslaught of other cultures and the strong influence of Islam, which began in the second half of the 14th century. Turkish (Ottoman) conquest - Bulgarians, Serbs, Macedonians and Montenegrins successfully preserved the specifics of the spiritual system, features of family and social life, and original cultural forms. In the struggle for their identity in the Ottoman environment, they took shape as South Slavic ethnic entities. At the same time, small groups of Slavic peoples converted to Islam during the period of Ottoman rule. Bosnians - from the Slavic communities of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Turchens - from Montenegrins, Pomaks - from Bulgarians, Torbeshi - from Macedonians, Mohammedan Serbs - from the Serbian environment experienced a strong Turkish influence and therefore took on the role of “border” subgroups of the Slavic peoples, connecting representatives Slavs with Middle Eastern ethnic groups.
Northern historical-cultural range Orthodox Slavs developed in the 8th–9th centuries on a large territory occupied by the Eastern Slavs from the Northern Dvina and the White Sea to the Black Sea region, from the Western Dvina to the Volga and Oka. Began at the beginning of the 12th century. the processes of feudal fragmentation of the Kievan state led to the formation of many East Slavic principalities, which formed two stable branches of the Eastern Slavs: eastern (Great Russians or Russians, Russians) and western (Ukrainians, Belarusians). Russians, Ukrainians and Belarusians emerged as independent peoples, according to various estimates, after the conquest of the East Slavic lands by the Mongol-Tatars, the yoke and collapse of the Mongol state, the Golden Horde, that is, in the 14th–15th centuries. The state of Russians is Russia (at European maps called Muscovy) - initially united the lands along the upper Volga and Oka, the upper reaches of the Don and Dnieper. After the conquest in the 16th century. Kazan and Astrakhan khanates, the Russians expanded the territory of their settlement: they advanced to the Volga region, the Urals, and Siberia. After the fall of the Crimean Khanate, Ukrainians settled the Black Sea region and, together with the Russians, the steppe and foothill regions of the North Caucasus. A significant part of the Ukrainian and Belarusian lands was in the 16th century. as part of the united Polish-Lithuanian state of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and only in the mid-17th–18th centuries. found itself once again annexed to the Russians for a long time. The Eastern Slavs were able to more completely than the Balkan Slavs (who were either under Greek spiritual-intellectual or Ottoman military-administrative pressure) and a significant part of the Germanized Western Slavs, preserve the features of their traditional culture, mental-psychic makeup (non-violence, tolerance, etc.) .
A significant part of the Slavic ethnic groups that lived in Eastern Europe from Jadran to the Baltic - these were partly Western Slavs (Poles, Kashubians, Slovaks) and partly southern (Croats) - in the Middle Ages formed their own special cultural and historical area, gravitating towards Western Europe more than to the southern and eastern Slavs. This area united those Slavic peoples who accepted Catholicism, but avoided active Germanization and Magyarization. Their position in the Slavic world is similar to a group of small Slavic ethnic communities that combined the features inherent in the Eastern Slavs with the features of peoples living in Western Europe - both Slavic (Poles, Slovaks, Czechs) and non-Slavic (Hungarians, Lithuanians) . These are the Lemkos (on the Polish-Slovak border), Rusyns, Transcarpathians, Hutsuls, Boykos, Galicians in Ukraine and Chernorussians (Western Belarusians) in Belarus, who gradually separated from other ethnic groups.
The relatively later ethnic division of the Slavic peoples and the commonality of their historical destinies contributed to the preservation of the consciousness of the Slavic community. This includes self-determination in the context of a foreign cultural environment - Germans, Austrians, Magyars, Ottomans, and similar circumstances of national development caused by the loss of statehood by many of them (most of the Western and Southern Slavs were part of the Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman Empire, Ukrainians and Belarusians - in part of the Russian Empire). Already in the 17th century. among the southern and western Slavs there was a tendency towards the unification of all Slavic lands and peoples. A prominent ideologist of Slavic unity at that time was a Croat who served at the Russian court, Yuri Krizanich.
At the end of the 18th - beginning of the 19th century. the rapid growth of national self-awareness among almost all previously oppressed Slavic peoples was expressed in the desire for national consolidation, resulting in the struggle for the preservation and dissemination of national languages, the creation of national literatures (the so-called “Slavic revival”). Early 19th century marked the beginning of scientific Slavic studies - the study of the cultures and ethnic history of the southern, eastern, and western Slavs.
From the second half of the 19th century. The desire of many Slavic peoples to create their own, independent states became obvious. Socio-political organizations began to operate on the Slavic lands, contributing to the further political awakening of the Slavic peoples who did not have their own statehood (Serbs, Croats, Slovenes, Macedonians, Poles, Lusatians, Czechs, Ukrainians, Belarusians). Unlike the Russians, whose statehood was not lost even during the Horde yoke and had a nine-century history, as well as the Bulgarians and Montenegrins, who gained independence after Russia’s victory in the war with Turkey in 1877–1878, the majority of Slavic peoples were still fighting for independence.
National oppression and hardship economic situation Slavic peoples in the late 19th - early 20th centuries. caused several waves of their emigration to more developed European countries in the USA and Canada, and, to a lesser extent, France and Germany. The total number of Slavic peoples in the world at the beginning of the 20th century. was about 150 million people (Russians - 65 million, Ukrainians - 31 million, Belarusians 7 million; Poles 19 million, Czechs 7 million, Slovaks 2.5 million; Serbs and Croats 9 million, Bulgarians 5 .5 million, Slovenians 1.5 million) At that time, the bulk of the Slavs lived in Russia (107.5 million people), Austria-Hungary (25 million people), Germany (4 million people) , countries of America (3 million people).
After the First World War of 1914–1918, international acts fixed the new borders of Bulgaria, the emergence of the multinational Slavic states of Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia (where, however, some Slavic peoples dominated over others), and the restoration of national statehood among the Poles. In the early 1920s, the creation of their own states - socialist republics - was announced - Ukrainians and Belarusians joined the USSR; however, the tendency towards Russification of the cultural life of these East Slavic peoples - which became obvious during the existence of the Russian Empire - persisted.
The solidarity of the southern, western and eastern Slavs strengthened during the Second World War of 1939–1945, in the fight against fascism and the “ethnic cleansing” carried out by the occupiers (which meant the physical destruction of a number of Slavic peoples, among others). During these years, Serbs, Poles, Russians, Belarusians, and Ukrainians suffered more than others. At the same time, the Slavophobes-Nazis did not consider the Slovenes to be Slavs (having restored Slovenian statehood in 1941–1945), the Lusatians were classified as East Germans (Swabians, Saxons), that is, regional nationalities (Landvolken) of German Central Europe, and the contradictions between the Croats and Serbs used to their advantage by supporting Croatian separatism.
After 1945, almost all Slavic peoples found themselves part of states called socialist or people's democratic republics. The existence of contradictions and conflicts on ethnic grounds in them was kept silent for decades, but the advantages of cooperation were emphasized, both economic (for which the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance was created, which existed for almost half a century, 1949–1991), and military-political (within the framework of the Warsaw Pact Organization, 1955–1991). However, the era of “velvet revolutions” in the people’s democracies of the 90s and 20th centuries. not only revealed underlying discontent, but also brought in former multinational states to rapid fragmentation. Under the influence of these processes, which swept throughout Eastern Europe, free elections were held in Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia and the USSR and new independent Slavic states emerged. Besides positive aspects, this process also had negative ones - the weakening of existing economic ties, areas of cultural and political interaction.
The tendency for Western Slavs to gravitate toward Western European ethnic groups continues into the early 21st century. Some of them act as conductors of the Western European “onslaught on the East” that emerged after 2000. This is the role of the Croats in the Balkan conflicts, the Poles in maintaining separatist tendencies in Ukraine and Belarus. At the same time, at the turn of the 20th–21st centuries. The question of the common destinies of all Eastern Slavs: Ukrainians, Belarusians, Great Russians, as well as the Southern Slavs, again became relevant. In connection with the intensification of the Slavic movement in Russia and abroad in 1996–1999, several agreements were signed, which were a step towards the formation of a union state of Russia and Belarus. In June 2001, a congress of the Slavic peoples of Belarus, Ukraine and Russia was held in Moscow; in September 2002 the Slavic Party of Russia was founded in Moscow. In 2003, the State Community of Serbia and Montenegro was formed, declaring itself the legal successor of Yugoslavia. The ideas of Slavic unity are regaining their relevance.
Lev Pushkarev
Slavic peoples
The origin of the term “Slavs,” which has been of great public interest lately, is very complex and confusing. The definition of the Slavs as an ethno-confessional community, due to the very large territory occupied by the Slavs, is often difficult, and the use of the concept of “Slavic community” for political purposes over the centuries has caused a serious distortion of the picture of real relationships between the Slavic peoples.
The origin of the term “Slavs” itself is unknown to modern science. Presumably, it goes back to a certain pan-Indo-European root, the semantic content of which is the concept of “man”, “people”. There are also two theories, one of which derives the Latin names Sclavi, Stlavi, Sklaveni from the ending of names “-slav”, which in turn is associated with the word “slava”. Another theory connects the name "Slavs" with the term "word", citing in support the presence of the Russian word "Germans", derived from the word "mute". Both of these theories, however, are refuted by almost all modern linguists, who claim that the suffix “-Yanin” clearly indicates belonging to a particular locality. Since the area called “Slav” is unknown to history, the origin of the name of the Slavs remains unclear.
The basic knowledge available to modern science about the ancient Slavs is based either on data from archaeological excavations (which in themselves do not provide any theoretical knowledge), or on the basis of chronicles, as a rule, known not in their original form, but in the form of later lists and descriptions and interpretations. It is obvious that such factual material is completely insufficient for any serious theoretical constructions. Sources of information about the history of the Slavs are discussed below, as well as in the chapters “History” and “Linguistics,” but it should immediately be noted that any study in the field of life, everyday life and religion of the ancient Slavs cannot claim to be anything more than a hypothetical model.
It should also be noted that in the science of the 19th-20th centuries. There was a serious difference in views on the history of the Slavs between Russian and foreign researchers. On the one hand, it was caused by the special political relations of Russia with other Slavic states, the sharply increased influence of Russia on European politics and the need for historical (or pseudo-historical) justification for this policy, as well as a backlash to it, including from openly fascist ethnographer theorists (for example, Ratzel). On the other hand, there were (and are) fundamental differences between the scientific and methodological schools of Russia (especially the Soviet one) and Western countries. The observed discrepancy could not but be influenced by religious aspects - the claims of Russian Orthodoxy to a special and exclusive role in the world Christian process, rooted in the history of the baptism of Rus', also required a certain revision of some views on the history of the Slavs.
The concept of “Slavs” often includes certain peoples with a certain degree of convention. A number of nationalities have undergone such significant changes in their history that they can be called Slavic only with great reservations. Many peoples, mainly on the borders of traditional Slavic settlement, have characteristics of both the Slavs and their neighbors, which requires the introduction of the concept "marginal Slavs". Such peoples definitely include the Daco-Romanians, Albanians and Illyrians, and the Leto-Slavs.
Most of the Slavic population, having experienced numerous historical vicissitudes, one way or another mixed with other peoples. Many of these processes occurred already in modern times; Thus, Russian settlers in Transbaikalia, mixing with the local Buryat population, gave birth to a new community known as the Chaldons. By and large, it makes sense to derive the concept "Mezoslavs" in relation to peoples who have a direct genetic connection only with the Veneds, Antes and Sclavenians.
It is necessary to use the linguistic method in identifying the Slavs, as suggested by a number of researchers, with extreme caution. There are many examples of such inconsistency or syncretism in the linguistics of some peoples; Thus, the Polabian and Kashubian Slavs de facto speak German, and many Balkan peoples have changed their original language several times beyond recognition in just the last one and a half millennia.
Such a valuable method of research as the anthropological one, unfortunately, is practically inapplicable to the Slavs, since a single anthropological type characteristic of the entire habitat of the Slavs has not been formed. The traditional everyday anthropological characteristic of the Slavs refers mainly to the northern and eastern Slavs, who over the centuries assimilated with the Balts and Scandinavians, and cannot be attributed to the eastern and especially the southern Slavs. Moreover, as a result of significant external influences from, in particular, Muslim conquerors, the anthropological characteristics of not only the Slavs, but also all inhabitants of Europe, changed significantly. For example, the indigenous inhabitants of the Apennine Peninsula during the heyday of the Roman Empire had an appearance characteristic of the inhabitants of the Central Russia XIX c.: blonde curly hair, blue eyes and round faces.
As mentioned above, information about the Proto-Slavs is known to us exclusively from ancient and later Byzantine sources of the early 1st millennium AD. The Greeks and Romans gave completely arbitrary names to the proto-Slavic peoples, referring them to the terrain, appearance or combat characteristics of the tribes. As a result, there is a certain confusion and redundancy in the names of the Proto-Slavic peoples. At the same time, however, in the Roman Empire the Slavic tribes were generally called by the terms Stavani, Stlavani, Suoveni, Slavi, Slavini, Sklavini, having obviously common origin, however, leaving wide scope for speculation about the original meaning of this word, as already mentioned above.
Modern ethnography rather conventionally divides the Slavs of modern times into three groups:
Eastern, which includes Russians, Ukrainians and Belarusians; some researchers single out only the Russian nation, which has three branches: Great Russian, Little Russian and Belarusian;
Western, which includes Poles, Czechs, Slovaks and Lusatians;
Southern, which includes Bulgarians, Serbs, Croats, Slovenes, Macedonians, Bosnians, Montenegrins.
It is easy to see that this division corresponds more to linguistic differences between peoples than to ethnographic and anthropological ones; Thus, the division of the main population of the former Russian Empire into Russians and Ukrainians is very controversial, and the unification of the Cossacks, Galicians, Eastern Poles, Northern Moldovans and Hutsuls into one nationality relates more to politics than to science.
Unfortunately, based on the above, a researcher of Slavic communities can hardly rely on a research method other than the linguistic one and the classification that follows from it. However, despite all the richness and effectiveness of linguistic methods, in the historical aspect they are very susceptible to external influences, and, as a consequence of this, in a historical perspective they may turn out to be unreliable.
Of course, the main ethnographic group of the Eastern Slavs are the so-called Russians, at least due to its numbers. However, with regard to Russians, we can only speak in a general sense, since the Russian nation is a very bizarre synthesis of small ethnographic groups and nationalities.
Three ethnic elements took part in the formation of the Russian nation: Slavic, Finnish and Tatar-Mongolian. While asserting this, we cannot, however, definitely say what exactly the original East Slavic type was. Similar uncertainty is observed in relation to the Finns, who are united into one group only due to a certain similarity of the languages of the Baltic Finns proper, Lapps, Livs, Estonians and Magyars. Even less obvious is the genetic origin of the Tatar-Mongols, who, as is known, have a fairly distant relationship with modern Mongols, and even more so with the Tatars.
A number of researchers believe that the social elite of ancient Rus', which gave its name to the entire people, was made up of a certain people of Rus, who by the middle of the 10th century. subjugated the Slovenes, Polyans and part of the Krivichi. There are, however, significant differences in hypotheses about the origin and the very fact of the existence of the Rus. The Norman origin of the Rus is assumed to be from the Scandinavian tribes of the Viking expansion period. This hypothesis was described back in the 18th century, but was received with hostility by the patriotically minded part of Russian scientists led by Lomonosov. Currently, the Norman hypothesis is considered in the West as basic, and in Russia as probable.
The Slavic hypothesis of the origin of the Rus was formulated by Lomonosov and Tatishchev in defiance of the Norman hypothesis. According to this hypothesis, the Rus originate from the Middle Dnieper region and are identified with the glades. Many archaeological finds in the south of Russia were fitted under this hypothesis, which had official status in the USSR.
The Indo-Iranian hypothesis assumes the origin of the Rus from the Sarmatian tribes of the Roxalans or Rosomons, mentioned by ancient authors, and the name of the people comes from the term ruksi- "light". This hypothesis does not stand up to criticism, first of all, due to the dolichocephalic skulls inherent in the burials of that time, which is characteristic only of northern peoples.
There is a strong (and not only in everyday life) belief that the formation of the Russian nation was influenced by a certain nation called the Scythians. Meanwhile, in a scientific sense, this term has no right to exist, since the concept of “Scythians” is no less generalized than “Europeans”, and includes dozens, if not hundreds of nomadic peoples of Turkic, Aryan and Iranian origin. Naturally, these nomadic peoples, to one degree or another, had a certain influence on the formation of the Eastern and Southern Slavs, but it is completely wrong to consider this influence decisive (or critical).
As the Eastern Slavs spread, they mixed not only with the Finns and Tatars, but also, somewhat later, with the Germans.
The main ethnographic group of modern Ukraine are the so-called Little Russians, living in the territory of the Middle Dnieper and Slobozhanshchina, also called Cherkassy. There are also two ethnographic groups: Carpathian (Boikos, Hutsuls, Lemkos) and Polesie (Litvins, Polishchuks). The formation of the Little Russian (Ukrainian) people occurred in the XII-XV centuries. based on the southwestern part of the population of Kievan Rus and genetically differed little from the indigenous Russian nation that had formed at the time of the baptism of Rus. Subsequently, there was a partial assimilation of some Little Russians with Hungarians, Lithuanians, Poles, Tatars and Romanians.
Belarusians, calling themselves so by the geographical term “White Rus'”, they represent a complex synthesis of Dregovichi, Radimichi and partly Vyatichi with Poles and Lithuanians. Initially, until the 16th century, the term “White Rus'” was applied exclusively to the Vitebsk region and the northeastern Mogilev region, while the western part of the modern Minsk and Vitebsk regions, together with the territory of the current Grodno region, was called “Black Russia”, and the southern part of modern Belarus - Polesie. These areas much later became part of “Belaya Rus”. Subsequently, the Belarusians absorbed the Polotsk Krivichi, and some of them were pushed back to the Pskov and Tver lands. The Russian name for the Belarusian-Ukrainian mixed population is Polishchuks, Litvins, Rusyns, Rus.
Polabian Slavs(Vends) - the indigenous Slavic population of the north, north-west and east of the territory occupied by modern Germany. The Polabian Slavs include three tribal unions: the Lutichi (Velets or Welci), the Bodrichi (Obodriti, Rereki or Rarogi) and the Lusatians (Lusatian Serbs or Sorbs). Currently, the entire Polabian population is completely Germanized.
Lusatians(Lusatian Serbs, Sorbs, Vends, Serbia) - the indigenous Meso-Slavic population, lives in the territory of Lusatia - former Slavic regions, now located in Germany. They originate from the Polabian Slavs, occupied in the 10th century. German feudal lords.
Extremely southern Slavs, conventionally united under the name "Bulgarians" represent seven ethnographic groups: Dobrujantsi, Khurtsoi, Balkanjis, Thracians, Ruptsi, Macedonians, Shopi. These groups differ significantly not only in language, but also in customs, social structure and culture as a whole, and the final formation of a single Bulgarian community has not been completed even in our time.
Initially, the Bulgarians lived on the Don, when the Khazars, after moving to the west, founded a large kingdom on the lower Volga. Under pressure from the Khazars, part of the Bulgarians moved to the lower Danube, forming modern Bulgaria, and the other part moved to the middle Volga, where they subsequently mixed with the Russians.
Balkan Bulgarians mixed with local Thracians; in modern Bulgaria, elements of Thracian culture can be traced south of the Balkan Range. With the expansion of the First Bulgarian Kingdom, new tribes were included in the generalized Bulgarian people. A significant part of the Bulgarians assimilated with the Turks in the period of the 15th-19th centuries.
Croats- a group of southern Slavs (self-name - Hrvati). The ancestors of the Croats are the tribes Kačići, Šubići, Svačići, Magorovichi, Croats, who moved along with other Slavic tribes to the Balkans in the 6th-7th centuries, and then settled in the north of the Dalmatian coast, in southern Istria, between the Sava and Drava rivers, in the north of Bosnia .
The Croats themselves, who form the backbone of the Croatian group, are most closely related to the Slavonians.
In 806, the Croats fell under the rule of Thraconia, in 864 - Byzantium, and in 1075 they formed their own kingdom.
At the end of the 11th - beginning of the 12th centuries. the bulk of the Croatian lands were included in the Kingdom of Hungary, resulting in significant assimilation with the Hungarians. In the middle of the 15th century. Venice (which had captured part of Dalmatia back in the 11th century) took possession of the Croatian Littoral region (with the exception of Dubrovnik). In 1527, Croatia gained independence, falling under the rule of the Habsburgs.
In 1592, part of the Croatian kingdom was conquered by the Turks. To protect against the Ottomans, the Military Border was created; its inhabitants, border residents, are Croats, Slavonians and Serbian refugees.
In 1699, Turkey ceded to Austria the captured part, among other lands, under the Treaty of Karlowitz. In 1809-1813 Croatia was annexed to the Illyrian provinces ceded to Napoleon I. From 1849 to 1868. it constituted, together with Slavonia, the coastal region and Fiume, an independent crown land, in 1868 it was again united with Hungary, and in 1881 the Slovak border region was annexed to the latter.
A small group of South Slavs - Illyrians, the later inhabitants of ancient Illyria, located west of Thessaly and Macedonia and east of Italy and Raetia up to the Istra River in the north. The most significant of the Illyrian tribes: Dalmatians, Liburnians, Istrians, Japodians, Pannonians, Desitiates, Pyrustians, Dicyonians, Dardanians, Ardiaei, Taulantii, Plereas, Iapyges, Messapians.
At the beginning of the 3rd century. BC e. The Illyrians were subjected to Celtic influence, resulting in the formation of a group of Illyro-Celtic tribes. As a result of the Illyrian Wars with Rome, the Illyrians underwent rapid Romanization, as a result of which their language disappeared.
Modern Albanians And Dalmatians.
In formation Albanians(self-name shchiptar, known in Italy as arbreshi, in Greece as arvanites) tribes of Illyrians and Thracians took part, and it was also influenced by Rome and Byzantium. The Albanian community was formed relatively late, in the 15th century, but was subject to the strong influence of Ottoman rule, which destroyed economic ties between the communities. At the end of the 18th century. Two main ethnic groups of Albanians were formed: Ghegs and Tosks.
Romanians(Dakorumians), who until the 12th century were a pastoral mountain people who do not have a stable place of residence are not pure Slavs. Genetically they are a mixture of Dacians, Illyrians, Romans and South Slavs.
Aromanians(Aromanians, Tsintsars, Kutsovlachs) are descendants of the ancient Romanized population of Moesia. With a high degree of probability, the ancestors of the Aromanians lived in the northeast of the Balkan Peninsula until the 9th – 10th centuries and are not an autochthonous population in the territory of their current residence, i.e. in Albania and Greece. Linguistic analysis shows almost complete identity of the vocabulary of Aromanians and Dacoromanians, which indicates that these two peoples were in close contact for a long time. Byzantine sources also testify to the resettlement of the Aromanians.
Origin Megleno-Romanian not fully studied. There is no doubt that they belong to the eastern part of the Romanians, which was subject to the long-term influence of the Daco-Romanians, and are not an autochthonous population in the places of modern residence, i.e. in Greece.
Istro-Romanians represent the western part of the Romanians, currently living in small numbers in the eastern part of the Istrian peninsula.
Origin Gagauz, people living in almost all Slavic and neighboring countries (mainly in Bessarabia) is very controversial. According to one of the common versions, this Orthodox people, speaking a specific Gagauz language of the Turkic group, are Turkified Bulgarians who mixed with the Cumans of the southern Russian steppes.
Southwestern Slavs, currently united under the code name "Serbs"(self-name - srbi), as well as those isolated from them Montenegrins And Bosnians, represent the assimilated descendants of the Serbs themselves, the Duklans, the Tervunians, the Konavlans, the Zakhlumians, the Narechans, who occupied a significant part of the territory in the basin of the southern tributaries of the Sava and Danube, the Dinaric Mountains, the southern. part of the Adriatic coast. Modern southwestern Slavs are divided into regional ethnic groups: Sumadians, Uzichans, Moravians, Macvanes, Kosovars, Sremcs, Banachans.
Bosnians(Bosans, self-name - Muslims) live in Bosnia and Herzegovina. They are actually Serbs who mixed with Croats and converted to Islam during the Ottoman occupation. Turks, Arabs, and Kurds who moved to Bosnia and Herzegovina mixed with the Bosnians.
Montenegrins(self-name – “Tsrnogortsy”) live in Montenegro and Albania, genetically they differ little from the Serbs. Unlike most Balkan countries, Montenegro actively resisted the Ottoman yoke, as a result of which it gained independence in 1796. As a result, the level of Turkish assimilation of Montenegrins is minimal.
The center of settlement of the southwestern Slavs is the historical region of Raska, uniting the basins of the Drina, Lim, Piva, Tara, Ibar, Western Morava rivers, where in the second half of the 8th century. An early state emerged. In the middle of the 9th century. the Serbian Principality was created; in the X-XI centuries. the center of political life moved either to the southwest of Raska, to Duklja, Travuniya, Zakhumie, then again to Raska. Then, at the end of the 14th and beginning of the 15th centuries, Serbia became part of the Ottoman Empire.
Western Slavs, known by their modern name "Slovaks"(self-name - Slovakia), on the territory of modern Slovakia began to prevail from the 6th century. AD Moving from the southeast, the Slovaks partially absorbed the former Celtic, Germanic, and then Avar populations. The southern areas of settlement of the Slovaks in the 7th century were probably included within the borders of the state of Samo. In the 9th century. Along the course of the Vah and Nitra, the first tribal principality of the early Slovaks arose - Nitra, or the Principality of Pribina, which around 833 joined the Moravian Principality - the core of the future Great Moravian state. At the end of the 9th century. The Great Moravian Principality collapsed under the onslaught of the Hungarians, after which its eastern regions by the 12th century. became part of Hungary and later Austria-Hungary.
The term “Slovaks” appeared in the mid-15th century; Previously, the inhabitants of this territory were called “Sloveni”, “Slovenka”.
The second group of Western Slavs - Poles, formed as a result of the unification of the Western Slavic tribes of the Polans, Slenzans, Vistulas, Mazovshans, and Pomorians. Up to late XIX V. there was no single Polish nation: the Poles were divided into several large ethnic groups, differing in dialects and some ethnographic features: in the west - the Velikopolans (which included the Kujawians), Łęczycians and Sieradzians; in the south - the Malopolans, a group of which included the Gurals (population of mountainous regions), Krakowians and Sandomierzians; in Silesia - Slęzanie (Slęzak, Silesians, among whom were Poles, Silesian Gurals, etc.); in the northeast - the Mazurs (these included the Kurpies) and the Warmians; on the coast of the Baltic Sea - the Pomeranians, and in Pomerania the Kashubians were especially prominent, preserving the specificity of their language and culture.
The third group of Western Slavs - Czechs(self-name - Czechs). Slavs as part of the tribes (Czechs, Croats, Lucans, Zlicans, Decans, Pshovans, Litomerz, Hebans, Glomacs) became the predominant population in the territory of the modern Czech Republic in the 6th-7th centuries, assimilating the remnants of the Celtic and Germanic populations.
In the 9th century. The Czech Republic was part of the Great Moravian Empire. At the end of the 9th - beginning of the 10th centuries. The Czech (Prague) Principality was formed in the 10th century. which included Moravia in its lands. From the second half of the 12th century. The Czech Republic became part of the Holy Roman Empire; Then German colonization took place in the Czech lands, and in 1526 Habsburg power was established.
At the end of the XVIII - early XIX centuries a revival of Czech identity began, culminating with the collapse of Austria-Hungary in 1918, with the formation of the national state of Czechoslovakia, which in 1993 split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
The modern Czech Republic includes the population of the Czech Republic proper and the historical region of Moravia, where regional groups of Horaks, Moravian Slovaks, Moravian Vlachs and Hanaks are preserved.
Leto-Slavs are considered the youngest branch of northern European Aryans. They live east of the middle Vistula and have significant anthropological differences from the Lithuanians living in the same area. According to a number of researchers, the Leto-Slavs, having mixed with the Finns, reached the middle Main and Inn, and only later were partially displaced and partially assimilated by Germanic tribes.
Intermediate people between the southwestern and western Slavs - Slovenes, currently occupying the extreme north-west of the Balkan Peninsula, from the headwaters of the Sava and Drava rivers to the eastern Alps and the Adriatic coast up to the Friuli Valley, as well as in the Middle Danube and Lower Pannonia. This territory was occupied by them during the mass migration of Slavic tribes to the Balkans in the 6th-7th centuries, forming two Slovenian regions - the Alpine (Carentanians) and the Danube (Pannonian Slavs).
From the middle of the 9th century. Most of the Slovenian lands came under the rule of southern Germany, as a result of which Catholicism began to spread there.
In 1918, the kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes was created under the common name of Yugoslavia.
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From the book Rus'. China. England. Dating of the Nativity of Christ and the First Ecumenical Council author Nosovsky Gleb Vladimirovich From the book Soviet Vodka. A short course in labels [ill. Irina Terebilova] author Pechenkin VladimirSlavic vodkas The fields of unknown planets do not captivate Slavic souls, But whoever thought that vodka was poison, We have no mercy for such. Boris Chichibabin In Soviet times, all vodka products were considered all-Union. There were well-known brands that were sold throughout the Union: “Russian”,
From the book History of Russia. Factor analysis. Volume 1. From ancient times to the Great Troubles author Nefedov Sergey Alexandrovich3.1. Slavic origins The world of the Slavs, who lived in the forests of Eastern Europe, until the 9th century was strikingly different from the world of the steppes, engulfed in constant war. The Slavs did not lack land and food - and therefore lived in peace. Vast forest spaces gave
From the book Baltic Slavs. From Rerik to Starigard by Paul AndreySlavic sources Perhaps the popularity of “Slavia” as the name of the Obodritic kingdom was also reflected in the works of the 13th century Polish chroniclers Vincent Kadlubek and his successor Bogukhval. Their texts are characterized by an extensive use of “scientific” terms, but at the same time
From the book Slavic Encyclopedia author Artemov Vladislav Vladimirovich From the book Scythia against the West [The Rise and Fall of the Scythian Power] author Eliseev Alexander VladimirovichTwo Slavic traditions It can be assumed that at a certain moment some ethnopolitical formations of the Slavs, inheriting the Scythians, “refused” the ethnonym “Venedi”, modifying the previous name. Thus, they seemed to strengthen themselves in their own “Scythianism”,
author Team of authorsSlavic Gods In fact, the Slavs do not have so many gods. All of them, as noted above, personify individual images that are identical to phenomena existing in nature, in the world of human and social relations and in our consciousness. We repeat that they were created by us
From the book Comparative Theology. Book 2 author Team of authorsSlavic Shrines Slavic Shrines, as well as gods, and Divas, and Churov, are not as numerous as are presented today in many books about the Slavs. The true Slavic shrines are springs, groves, oak groves, fields, pastures, camps... - everything that allows you to live
From the book Comparative Theology. Book 2 author Team of authorsSlavic holidays Slavic holidays, as a rule, were not like one another. They were constantly diversified, and various additions were made to them. There were holidays dedicated to the gods, the harvest, weddings, holidays dedicated to the Veche, at which
From the book What happened before Rurik author Pleshanov-Ostaya A. V.“Slavic runes” A number of researchers are of the opinion that ancient Slavic writing is an analogue of the Scandinavian runic writing, which is allegedly confirmed by the so-called “Kiev letter” (a document dating back to the 10th century), issued to Yaakov Ben Hanukkah by the Jewish