Libmonster ID: RS-590
Author(s) of the publication: G. LOVMYANSKY

1. Problems of the origin of Slavic states

In accordance with classical bourgeois theory, the concept of "state" includes three elements: the population living in a certain territory under common rule .2 This definition characterizes the static aspect of the external political organization of society, which at all stages of development is a group settled in a certain territory and organized; organization is unthinkable without the power factor. Marxism allows us to introduce a historical criterion into this definition, distinguishing a political group in which power belongs to the people from a group with power separate from the people, belonging to the ruling elite. 3 As long as the people appoint their own leaders and exercise effective control over them, it is difficult to talk about the separation of power; the state arises at the moment when the body exercising power gets its own right to it and frees itself from the control of the masses or makes it illusory.

The Slavs at the time of the creation of their states were an ethnic group, rather cohesive in terms of language and culture, but divided into a number of regional groups. Therefore, the problem of the emergence of their statehood requires consideration in two aspects: 1) the genesis of their state system as a whole, taking into account the general conditions and features of this critical stage; 2) the emergence of specific states and specific regional circumstances of this process. Among the Slavs, the transition to state forms came relatively late in comparison with other Indo-European peoples, which is explained in the historical destinies of the Slavs and, above all, in their geographical location, in considerable remoteness from the ancient centers of civilization that developed in the countries of the "fertile crescent" (Egypt-Syria-Mesopotamia), as well as from the regions of other a circle of civilization located on the northern coast of the Mediterranean Sea; in the physical features of their ancestral homeland, which, given the harsh climate and relative merits of the soil, required great efforts from the inhabitants to achieve their goal.-

The conclusions of the article are mostly based on the work of the author: N. Lowmianski. Poczgtki Polski. Z dziejow Slowian w pierwszym tys. n. e. T. 1 - 5. Warszawa. 1963 - 1973 (далее: "Poczgtki Polski").Based on abundant material, the problem of the beginning of Slavic states was recently considered by L. E. Havlik. Prvrji slovanske staty Kcharakteru vladnich struktur a pocatkum statnich formaci. "Slovancke historicke studie". 10. Praha. 1974.

2 G. Jellinek. Allgemeine Staatslehre. B. 1914/1920, S. 144 et passim; O. Balzer. Historia ustroju Polski. Lwow. 1933. str. 5.

3 See K. Marx and F. Engels, Soch. Vol. 21, pp. 170-172.

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the level of economic management that makes possible the existence of higher organizational forms of society.

Each ethnic group creates a culture on its own, but being isolated, it does so at a very slow pace (isolated peoples are usually backward), so progress almost depends on intergroup ("international") interaction. The Slavs, although not culturally completely isolated, were nevertheless at a disadvantage from this point of view, having neighbors no more or slightly more developed than themselves. Determining the location of the ancient European settlements of the Slavs (where they most likely arrived from the East) causes great difficulties, since the most abundant archaeological materials on this problem sin with a lack of certainty, when there is a need to find out their linguistic and ethnic affiliation, and the data of toponyms, especially hydronyms, are quite accurate in linguistic terms, mostly sporadic and not particularly clear chronologically. Nevertheless, taking into account the later (early AD) written sources, the Upper and Middle Vistula basin, as well as the southern part of the Pripyat basin, can be taken as the original place of settlement of the Slavs, where they can be placed and the mention of Herodotus (mid-U century BC). E.), concerning the Neurs, most probably the Slavs. During the first millennium BC, they expanded their presence in the direction of the Odra and the Baltic, as well as on the Dnieper and up its basin .4
It would be wrong to move the Slavs in any direction outside of this territory, but at the same time it does not seem possible to significantly narrow their location within the outlined region; later they will appear in the historical arena as a very significant ethnic group, so their initial base should occupy a correspondingly larger space. The Slavs, confined to these areas of settlement, were separated from the Black Sea coast and the borders of the Roman Empire by steppe Iranian and Germanic tribes, which made it difficult to establish direct contacts with the centers of civilization. Only the invasion of the Turkic Huns, and then the fall of their empire (451), gave the Slavs access to the temporarily free Black Sea zone and the Danube, where the Slavs were recognized by the Roman world and became the subject of descriptions by Jordan and Procopius of Caesarea in the middle of the VI century. Another wave of settlement of Slavs went south through the Moravian Gate, towards the Alps and the Adriatic, another moved beyond the Odra and the Elbe. After the invasion of the Roman Empire and the conquest of the Balkans (VII century), the Slavs came into direct contact with the Mediterranean civilization, drawing from there new impulses for accelerated internal development, leading them to the creation of statehood,

II . The origin of statehood among the Slavs

Although the course of internal processes among the Slavs in the period between the beginning of migration and the era of state formation remains completely mysterious for us due to the lack of sources, it is possible, however, to note that the state system was preceded by a turning point that occurred in two areas: economic and social.

As is well known, F. Engels attached great importance to arable farming and the iron ploughshare in the development of culture .5 The Slavs knew

4 An overview of the problems of the emergence of Slavism was recently made by G. Labuda . Poszukiwania nowych drog badawczych w dziedzinje starozytnosci slowian- skich. "Fragmenty dziejdw slowianszczyzny Zachodnlej". 3. Poznafi. 1975; ejusd, Aktualny start dyskusji nad etnogeneza Sfowian w historlografil. "Slavia Antiqua", 24, 1977; S. Kurnatowski. Nowsze teorie na temat pierwotnych siedzib Siowian w swietle analizy paleodemograficznj. Ibid.).

5 See K. Marx and F. Engels, Soch. Vol. 21, p. 32.

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plowing already in the first millennium BC, but for a long time they used a wooden-edged rake, which made the work unproductive. That is why, in all probability, slash-and-burn farming techniques prevailed among them6 . Only in the Black Sea regions and in the Balkans did they get acquainted with improved plowing of the land, in particular, they adopted the two-floor system 7, which caused a departure from slash-and-burn equipment, which lost its dominant importance. The intensification of farming has led to changes in the social structure, which began with the disintegration of the blood-related industrial community, which was engaged in slash-and-burn cultivation of land and consisted of a large group of small families; now farms of individual small families are being created, using one, sometimes two rals. This was the first step towards class differentiation.

The above schematic picture is confirmed in the toponymic material, which indicates the disappearance of archaic patronymic names (na-itse/itsi, ichi), the productivity of which sharply decreases around the VII century .8 These names at that time denoted settlements in which tribal groups lived, so their disappearance reflected changes in the social structure of the population - the spread of a form of economy based on an independent small family.

Especially interesting is the development of toponymy in the lands of Ukraine, where patronymic names reach south to the 50th parallel and, with rare exceptions, do not cross it. But to the south of the same parallel, numerous "plural" names of na-sheep, Inca (only occasionally found among patronymic names to the north of this parallel) have been preserved. There is no better explanation for this kind of placement of names than that the population represented by patronymic names was destroyed as a result of the Avar invasion of 558 in the south of the 50th parallel; the new Slavic colonization in these territories, which developed already in the Khazar era, had names of a "plural" form. In other words, in the southern lands of Ukraine, patronymic names should have disappeared already in the VI century.

Indeed, Bulgaria, colonized in the seventh century by East Slavic tribes, does not know patronymic names at all .9 Among the Western Slavs, patronymic names retained their productivity as early as the seventh century, when they were transferred by the local tribes of Croats, Serbs, and Obodrites to the territory of present - day Yugoslavia, where West and East Slavic waves mixed. Nevertheless, after the seventh century, patronymic names were not applied to the areas of new colonization in the entire northern Slavyansk region, that is, among the eastern and western Slavs; therefore, they are almost unknown to north-eastern Russia (Rostov Land), which is colonized on a large scale by the Slavic population.-

6 "Poczatki Polski". Т. 1, str. 297 - 305; Н. Lowmianski. Rolnictwo u Slowian. "Slownik starozytnosci slowianskich". 4. Wroclaw 1970, str. 526 - 533; ejusd. The Problem of the Origins of the Polish State in Recent Historical Research. "Questioned Medii Aevi". Varsovie, 1977, pp. 41 - 45.

7 H. K. Kondov. On the question of the system of field cultivation in the Bulgarian and neighboring lands of the Balkan Peninsula in the Middle Ages. "Byzantine vremennik", 20, 1961.

8 As a source for the history of settlement, these names are treated in "Poczatki Polski". Vol. 3, str. 11-222; t. 4, str. 278-282; t. 5, str.442 - 447 (which contains a polemic with critics of this concept). For the chronology (early) of these names, see especially: H. Walther. Ortsnamenchronologie und Besiedlung in der Altlandschaft Daleminze. "Onomastica slavogermanica". 3. B. 1967. Patronymic names show the greatest density in Western Belarus and the Czech Republic, where they were supposed to maintain their productivity longer.

9 For names in Ukraine, see: V. A. Nikonov. Two waves in the toponymy of Polesie. "Polesie", Moscow, 1968; about Ukraine and Bulgaria, see: "Poczatki Polski". T 4, str. 277 - 282.

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nor the Hungarian lowlands, which were flooded by Slavic settlers after the fall of the Avar Khaganate (795).

Thus, in the absence of written sources, we find in toponymy at least indirect confirmation of the socio-economic processes that took place among the Slavs and created the prerequisites for the state system.

Socio-economic prerequisites were a necessary condition for achieving a state form of social organization, but they did not pre-determine the automatic transition to it; they achieved effectiveness in the corresponding historical conditions, which developed differently in each country. Therefore, we will consider them when it comes to the genesis of individual Slavic states. In all countries, the same revolution took place in principle, based on the replacement of the democratic system with an authoritarian system of power or on the transformation of the tribal apparatus into a state one.

This raises the question that should be discussed here: was this apparatus formed from elements that were completely new and unknown to tribal society, or did it adopt at least some elements of the tribal apparatus, although it changed them as necessary and adapted them for new purposes? After all, the tribal system was the result of the experience of an immense number of generations and cannot be interpreted as a primitive phenomenon; it provided a more or less rational solution to problems of external and internal security, regulated the course of social life by traditional methods. It was not so easy to break it, and the social forces were not inclined to break the existing order unless absolutely necessary. Tribal society, as well as later feudal society, was characterized by attachment to the forms sanctified by custom. As they say in the Tale of Bygone Years, each (tribe) had its own custom, the right of its fathers and traditions 10 . The forces forming the state carried out a spontaneous selection of tribal institutions: some of them were adopted with certain changes, while others (there were fewer of them, but they were of fundamental importance that did not correspond to new trends) were discarded .11 One cannot even imagine the elimination of the territorial division of the tribal era at one fell swoop on its three levels: neighboring unions (communities) at the bottom, small tribes, their unions or large tribes.

The preservation (with certain modifications) of the territories of large tribes, well-known from sources, clearly emerges in the early state territorial division, even in the era of feudal fragmentation. The six or seven "provinces" of the twelfth-century Polish state correspond almost exactly to the former territories of large tribes .12 In the Czech Republic, there were perhaps two large tribal territories that remained in the Principalities of Prague and Libice until the second, which belonged to the Slavs, was liquidated in 995,13 but the third large tribal territory - the Great Moravian - retained its isolation.

The situation in Russia was more complicated, where the territorial factor operated on a completely different scale. However, even here we see that lands as units of territorial division of the state in general terms are considered to be part of the state's territorial division.

10 Complete Collection of Russian Chronicles (PSRL), vol. 1, Moscow, 1962, stb. 13; vol. 2, stb. 10.

11 On this issue, see: "Poczatki Polski", vol. 4, str. 33-229; G. Lovmianski. Основнi риси пiзньоплемiнного та ранньодержавного устрою слов'ян. "Украiнський iсторичний журнал", 1969, N 11; W. D. Koroluk. Glowne etapy rozwoju panstwowosci vvczesnofeudainej na Sfowiaaszezyzise wsdrodraej i zachodniej. "Kwartalnik Historyczny", 77, (1970).

12 Cм. "Poczgtki Polski". T. 4, str. 42 - 43.

13 "Cosmae Pragensis chronica Boemorum". Berolini. 1923, str. 53.

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These features were formed either on the basis of tribal division of territory (for example, the Seversk and Chernihiv lands were located within the borders of the Northerners, and the Polotsk and Smolensk lands were located within the borders of the Krivichi), or from the merger of tribal territories (the Kiev land covered the territories of the glades and the Drevlyans conquered by them). But the lands were also formed in the basis of their own tribes (Slovenia was the beginning of the Novgorod land, the Dulebs - Volyn, Dregovichi - Turov-Pinsk). Occasionally, some tribal territories were split up and incorporated into neighboring lands (Radimichi, Vyatichi) .14 Even among the southern Slavs, the main tribes that arrived from the north in the seventh century played the role of centers that formed the local states. The Tale of Bygone Years named among the large tribes (except Croats and Serbs) Horutans 15, who, as is known, created the Karantan state. In the lower reaches of the Danube, Proto-Bulgars played the role of the central breeding factor.

The problem of identifying smaller units of tribal structure in the state division is incomparably more difficult. In Russia, its study is complicated by the lack of sources, probably destroyed during the Mongol-Tatar invasion. In Czech and Polish historiography, there is a tendency (which is objected to by some researchers, but it seems to us that it is correct) to consider kasteljani as administrative units created from the territories of small tribes, although there is also the possibility of another connection: kasteljani, created from a neighboring union, Opole .16 The problem of South Slavic zhup 17 is even less clear . Initially, this was the name of both neighboring unions and small tribes, and their leaders were called zhupans. The earliest mention of a Slavic zhupan named Physso , or Vysso, probably refers to the leader of the neighboring union, but the Czech and Polish title of castellan [zu]pan suggests that this was also the name of the leaders of small tribes. Zhupy, known from sources of the XII and later centuries, no longer corresponded, as V. P. Grachev found out, to the ancient tribal units. However, this does not mean that the most ancient "state" zhupas were not formed on the basis of tribal zhupas. In general, it is impossible to imagine that a young state organization, preoccupied with more important issues, was engaged in breaking down old borders and establishing new ones; only at the stage of a certain internal stabilization did the state apparatus carry out border changes in some areas caused by state interests, but this required great prudence on its part. For example, Mieszko I and Boleslaw the Brave divided the main territory of the "Gniezno state" into four provinces (Poznań, Gecz, Gniezno, Włocławek), violating the existing tribal borders.19 However , during the crisis of the Polish State (1034-1039), the old borders were mostly restored mainly as a result of actions coming from below.

14 Despite the complexity of the origin of appanage principalities (see the latest work: "Ancient Russian Principalities of the XI-XIII centuries", Moscow, 1975), their tribal basis is quite clear (see "History of the USSR from ancient Times to the present day", Vol. 1, Moscow, 1966, p. 575).

15 PSRL. Vol. 1, stb. 6 (horutane); vol. 2, stb. 5 (hutane).

16 This concept (A. Sedlacek, S. Arnold) has recently been opposed by Buczek (K. Buczek. Z badan nad strukturq terytorialna Polski wczesnosreclniowiecznej. Studia Historyczne, 13, (1970); the author of these lines defends this concept in the upcoming 6th volume of Poczqtki Polski.

17 Thoroughly considered the issue of zhupakh V. P. Grachev (V. P. Grachev. Serbian statehood in the X-XIV centuries. (critique of the zhup organization theory), Moscow, 1972), questioning the connection of later zhup with tribal organization.

18 See A Bruckner. Slownik etymologiczny jgzyka polskiego. Krakow L927, str. 668.

19 "Poczatki Polski". T. 5, str. 614-61S (with map).

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The state inherited from the tribal era to a certain extent and social division: the elders with princes at the head and the masses (Plebs - according to the definition of Latin sources, people-Russian sources). The opinion that tribal elders were allegedly exterminated or driven out of the country in large part by the new state power, which relied on the armed squad 20, is confirmed in sources only in a few and non-demonstrative cases when there were conflict situations (for example, in the case of the Drevlyans conquered by Olga). In the Czech Republic, the Czech Prince Neklan defeats Prince Lucian Vlastislav, who himself dies, and his son becomes a murder victim. In 995 the sons of Slavnik in Lubitz were exterminated. However, Slavnik was no longer a representative of the tribal order, but was a prince in the state sense of this term, most likely, the same can be said about Vlastislav. Therefore, these two facts have nothing to do with the conflict between State power and tribal order.

In the history of Russia, there is also evidence that the elders of the tribes ("elders of Gradsky") during the reign of Vladimir Svyatoslavovich, they are included in the functioning of the state apparatus. Chronicle tradition has already forced Oleg and Igor to undertake long-distance military campaigns together with the military forces of different tribes, and the elders who were better armed participated in the campaigns first of all. Thus, this cooperation also confirms that there was usually agreement in principle between the new type of princes and the tribal elite. And even in the conflict between the Drevlyans and Kiev, the elders take a conciliatory position towards Olga, according to the chronicle legend.

A revolution in the social system could not happen at all despite the elders who defended tribal freedoms together with the people. The effectiveness of the tandem-tribal elders and the people-is illustrated by the heroic defense of the Veleti in the face of the onslaught of a superior German neighbor. Only the opposition of these two tribal forces to each other, the winning of the elders ' sympathy for the state model, prepared the ground for a revolution in the social system.

Thus, this coup did not make fundamental changes in the personnel of the social structure, but it did change the balance of power of its components in a decisive way; the right to make independent decisions passed from the people to the elders, or rather, to their representative, the ruling prince, which had important political, social and economic consequences.

From the tribal system, the State inherited three other basic elements, namely, the functions performed by the highest political organization in the areas of finance, troops,and the judiciary. The population of the tribal era performed rather developed financial duties: it built and maintained fortresses and glades under the leadership of the princes; provided itself with weapons necessary for military campaigns; bore the costs of maintaining the prince and the elders in general, bringing voluntary gifts for this purpose; also paid tribute extorted by stronger neighbors. In addition, the tribal prince received income from land cultivated by slaves, from the spoils of war, from duties levied on merchants as payment for protecting trade, and finally from court fines. The armed forces of the tribe consisted of a people's militia, mobilized to repel the enemy invasion, and voluntary squads organized by tribal elders

20 As it was accepted in Polish literature by Balzer (O. Balzer. Op. cit., str. 88); in Czech literature by Graus (F. Graus. Die Entstehung der mittelalterlichen Staaten in Mitteleuropa. "Historica", 10. Praha. 1966, s. 28 p., 44 nn.).

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for aggressive purposes. Local courts were held within the framework of the neighborhood union interested in them (they are reminded of the so-called kopny courts, known in Belarus and Ukraine back in the XVI-XVII centuries). The relatives of the murdered person took revenge for the murder, acting, however, by virtue of tribal law, but not by virtue of tribal law, while the veche - tribal in general cases - imposed punishments that were not only bodily, but also of a property nature. Titmar writes that at the veche, the stubborn Luthians were beaten with sticks, and if this did not help, their property was taken away .21
By inheriting these three functions, the state has made significant innovations and changes to them; it has modified their essence and purpose. Finances fall within the competence of the prince, who sets taxes and collects them with the help of his organs. Apparently, the first example of the development of the financial system was given by the Avars and Khazars, who, traveling around the Slavic lands under their control, collected tribute and at the same time were supported by the population; similar duties were known among the Slavs under such names as stan, gostitva, polyudye. In comparison with the tribal system, the state's financial system has grown immeasurably and has become more complex, intended for the extraction of production surpluses and material support in this way for the ruling class; it is precisely on the basis of finance that the class division of society has been marked - into the taxed masses of producers and the social elite that receives funds from tax collection.

The military system also changes its forms and tasks. The role of the people's militia ends with the cessation of local intertribal conflicts as a result of the emergence of a dominant state organization. Irregular squads formed earlier turn into permanent ones or into detachments that are fully supported by the prince or voivode and live under the same roof as him, but are deprived of serious significance on the scale of the state due to their small size. The armed forces are based on a vassal system and consist of soldiers scattered throughout the country, who personally owe loyal service to the prince. This military machine, acting on the instructions of the prince, performs three tasks: guaranteeing his position of power in the state, strengthening the state's position in international relations, and ensuring the security of all residents, especially the ruling elite.

The judicial system also falls under the jurisdiction of the prince, who, however, leaves the local courts at the disposal of the neighboring unions, and treats the court cases left to himself in the aspect of not only protecting the laws, but also as a source of significant financial income.

From the tribal organization, the prince also inherited a certain material right to land, which was of fundamental importance for the new social system. Among the Germans, in the time of Caesar and Tacitus, the land used by the population belonged to the tribe. It was the same among the Slavs, with the only difference that simultaneously with the spread of arable land cultivation, the right of agricultural producers to use it was strengthened. In accordance with the prevailing trend of development - the transfer of the tribe's right to the prince - the latter becomes the supreme, and in large part the direct owner of all land in the state. The opinion that the land right of the ruler was formed at later stages of the development of statehood 22 does not seem convincing to us , as it does not correspond to the general law of the state.

21 "Thietmar Merseburg-episcopi Chronicon" (Ausgewahlte Quellen zur deutschen Geschichte, 9. Berlin, s. a.). S. 268, 270 (VI, cap. 25).

22 Modzelewski takes a different position, rejecting the patrimonial character of the Polish and Russian states at an early stage (K. Modzelewski. Dziedzictwo

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in the course of the historical process and does not find strong evidence in the sources. From the very beginning of the state, the prince is a patrimonial ruler, who is by nature a feudal lord, and the taxes he collects bear the features of feudal rent. The feudal formation appears among the Slavs simultaneously with the birth of the state.

In one respect alone, the State finds no equivalent (at least outwardly) in the tribal system. Medieval states, including Slavic ones, in contrast to the widespread model of states with a single-tribe basis in the ancient Mediterranean world, are overwhelmingly multi-tribal and, moreover, consist of many large tribes, and therefore represent political associations of an unknown scale under the tribal system. However, the absence of a precedent in the tribal world in the political sense does not exclude at least a precedent of a different nature - ethnic. After the stabilization of the area of Slavic settlements around the seventh century, groups of large tribes were formed in some of its areas, which, on the one hand, were brought together by the period of long-term neighborhood and close intertribal ties, as well as common historical destinies, and on the other, were alienated from other Slavic tribes who settled at a great distance from them or lived in other geographical conditions. The study of specific organizational and state processes shows that it was precisely such ethnic groups that created the fundamental basis for the emergence of Slavic states.

III . The processes of the emergence of individual Slavic states

Economic growth and the appearance of a regular surplus product should have interested tribal elders (as an active force, inclined to accumulate wealth) in taking these surpluses under their own control in order to turn them largely to their own needs.

The problem of distribution of material wealth is interrelated with the question of power, the mastery of which was an indispensable condition for managing surpluses, and their influx served, in turn, to further strengthen the power factor. The distribution of public income in a way that was beneficial to the elders required a reversal of the inherited system of relations in which the people controlled the elders, and the transfer of the people to the control of the elders. The historical process of the epoch of the formation of class society was moving towards this goal. However, the delay (often very significant) of the moment of the coup was influenced by reasons of an ideological (instilled by upbringing adherence to the customs and laws of the ancestors) and political (greater effectiveness of the tribal organization in defensive wars) nature. Therefore, it is normal to consider that the decisions of the elders of a particular center to embark on the path of transformation of the social system were influenced - with the weakness of their own-by external impulses, and first of all by the example of a ready-made model of the state functioning in the interests of its neighbors in the interests of their social elite. It is therefore noteworthy that the first centers of the Slavic state system developed on the southern edge of Slavism, geographically connected with the Mediterranean, with its original forms of statehood, in order to move from there in a northerly direction, in areas where statehood was still an unknown phenomenon. From here:-

plemienne w ustroju Polski Piastowskiej. "Kwartalnik historii kultury materialnej". 23. 1975) and Froyanov (I. Ya. Kievan Rus. Essays on socio-economic history, L. 1974). In this issue, the correct position is taken by L. V. Cherepnin (see A. P. Novoseltsev, V. T. Pashuto, L. V. Cherepnin. Puti razvitiya feudalizma [Ways of development of feudalism], Moscow, 1972, p. 151).

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but the conclusion follows that the Slavs, creating their states, used the experience of older centers of civilization.

Certain circumstances also indicate that at the first stage, less developed state structures were more attractive to the Slavs and therefore more understandable to the tribal society. This was the model of the three steppe pastoral states created in the VI-VII centuries. and exercising sovereignty (by levying tribute) over certain Slavic tribes, namely the Avar (in the Carpathian basin) and Khazar (on the lower Volga) khaganates, as well as the Bulgarian Khanate (on the lower Danube). In fact, the entire Western, Eastern and southern Slavs turned out to be in their sphere of influence, and the borrowing of samples of some state institutions from them is clearly traced (as will be discussed below). However, the state model of nomadic peoples was not acceptable to the Slavs, since it expressed the principle of exarchy, in which the main territory of the state was not particularly burdened with economic duties (the latter were assigned to dependent lands), while the financial system of Slavic, as well as agricultural states in general, was endarchic in nature, since the main territory was taxed even more rather than dependent lands.

It should be borne in mind that the Slavs took into account a wider range of models than discussed above, referring also to the model of states that inherited ancient Rome (with Byzantium at the head). However, when creating their statehood, the Slavs also drew some elements of it - as indicated above-from their own tribal tradition, which left an original imprint on their new system.

Of the three steppe states, only the Bulgarian one, created around 681, was transformed into an organic whole with the Slavs subordinate to it, playing the role of the main large-scale tribal center in relation to them. It may have absorbed some of the Byzantine elements, especially by creating a complex bureaucratic hierarchy. 23 Even the khans received high honorary titles from the emperor: in 705 AD. Tervel is the highest title of Caesar, and Telerigus, who was exiled in 777, is a relatively modest title of consul .24 At the turn of the VIII-IX centuries, this state underwent Slavization, which was the result of the initiative not of the proto-Bulgarian factor itself, but of the then broad Slavic organizational and state wave, which undoubtedly also covered the Bulgarian Slavs.

Among the states that emerged at that time was Kievan Rus, whose Bulgarian ties are attested by the title of influential vassals of the prince - boyars, adopted from Bulgaria, 25 but undoubtedly related to an institution that also has local roots, attested by Slavic analogies. 26 The horizon of the Russian center of statehood went beyond the ideas of the Bulgarian circle, since the Kievan prince, obviously emphasizing his dominant position in relation to tribal princes, took the title not khan (as the ruler of Bulgaria), but kagan, in Khazar (or maybe Avar?)

23 For the hierarchy of Bulgarian titles, see V. Besevliev. Die protobulgarischen Inschriften. B. 1963, especially pp. 46-48. Byzantine influence is indicated by the fact that the title "ho boila tzigatos" corresponds to the position of the Byzantine spatarios.

24 R. Quilland. Recherches sur les institutions byzantines. 2. B. 1967. S. 25 (Caesar), S. 49 (Consul).

25 M. Vasmer. Russisches etymologisch.es Worterbuch. I. Heidelberg. 1953, pp. 114-115 and the Russian translation of this book (vol. 1, Moscow, 1964, pp. 203-204).

26 Such an analogue of the boyars is, for example, the optimates, who similarly surrounded the Moravian Rostislav (864). ("Annales Fuldenses". Hannoverae. 1891, p. 62), as well as Mieszko I (967) ("Die Sachsengeschichte des Widukind von Korvei". Hannover. 1935, S. 145). They are Mieszko's vassals, and they call him their lord.

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to the sample. Steppe relations are also indicated by the well-known position of voivode (deputy prince, alter ego), which corresponds to the dualistic structure of steppe states. 27
The beginning of the Russian state is lost in the darkness of the past. However, the embassy of the Khagan of the Rhos people to Constantinople, recorded in the Vertin Annals, 28 convincingly proves the existence of an already established state on the middle Dnieper, which undoubtedly arose at the turn of the VIII-IX centuries .29 It was a caesura between tribal and state existence for the entire southern part of the Slavs, associated with the decline of the Avar Khaganate. Although the consequences of this decline in Dnieper Rus are not clear, Kiev gave the state model to the northern centers of eastern Slavs, and above all to the Slovenes (who later founded Novgorod), as well as Polotsk. The organization of the state apparatus there falls in the second half of the ninth century: both these centers, as well as all the East Slavic tribes, submitted to the rule of the Kievan khagans. In this we see confirmation that this whole group of tribes represented a well-known stronger ethnic unity, which had grown closer and culturally closer even before the formation of the state center in Kiev.

On the western edge of Slavism, a state emerged early in Carantania, wedged between the Bavarians, Avars ,and Lombards. 30 Surrounded by its state-organized neighbors, Carantania became like them in terms of its system and took the place of the most ancient Slavic state, however, weak and quickly lost its independence under the pressure of the Bavarians. Already by the middle of the eighth century, the Carantan princes decided to Christianize the country and carried out this plan, which was possible only in the conditions of the state system, because history does not give reliable examples of the conversion of peoples to this faith at the tribal stage of development. Carantania had a clear ideological influence on its Slavic neighbors. Slavic ecclesiastical terminology was to develop on its territory, and the first liturgical texts passed on were to appear. To illustrate the ideological influence of Carantania (which probably also affected the political sphere) , we can cite the fact that Russia adopted the day of March 1 as the beginning of the calendar year, which was not known at that time to either Byzantium or the West (after 755), with the exception of the Aquileia Patriarchate, which transmitted this custom to Carantania and Moravia, from where it penetrated into other Slavic countries.

The Avar khaganate (whose importance was overestimated in the old literature, but rather underestimated in the modern one) probably had a hindering influence on the organizational and state attempts of the Slavs; only its fall released their initiative in this area, moreover, without encouragement from the Franks, who defeated the khaganate. Nevertheless, in later times, the Frankish state limited the political initiative of the Slavs (as the fate of the Polabian Slavs shows, which failed to create a state in the IX century, and in the German era gave birth only to imperfect state formations). Therefore, we attribute the genesis of the first go to the initiative of the Slavs themselves-

27 For the position of voivode, see A. Gieysztor. Urzgd wojewodzinski we wszesnych panstwach slowianskich. "Archeologia Polski". 16, 1971; "Pocz§tki Polski". T. 4, str. 119 - 122.

28 For more information about this embassy, see: A. N. Sakharov. Russian Embassy to Byzantium 838-839 "Society and state of feudal Russia", Moscow, 1975 "Poczgtki Polski", Vol. 5, str. 130-136.

29 As is customary in Soviet literature (see History of the USSR from Ancient Times to the Present Day, vol. 1, p. 477).

30 For the emergence of the Quarantine State, see Poczatki Polski, vol. 4. str. 230-263,

page 191

courts in Croatia and Serbia 31 . Already in 818, in the annals of the Kingdom of the Franks, there are two princes endowed with power: Borna, Prince of Gachan (Dalmatia proper), and Ljudevit, prince of Lower Pannonia (Posava). But the history of their states goes back, in all probability, to the turn of the VIII-IX centuries, when organizational and state tendencies could be represented on these lands by a certain Voynomir (795). In the middle of the IX century. In Serbia there is a state of Vlastimir, but the mention of Konstantin Porfirogenet about three of his ancestors (Vysheslav, Radoslav, Prosigoi), clearly involved in the creation of statehood, also indicates the connection of this event with the defeat of the Avars.

The consequences of this defeat made themselves felt in the western part of the Slavs, where in the first half of the IX century. Almost simultaneously with Kiev, a strong political center developed in Moravia, about which Frankish sources remain silent until 822, possibly due to its preoccupation with rivalry with the Bulgarians in the Carpathian Basin. The adoption of Christianity from Bavaria in 831 is a sign of the state structure of Moravia - already from some time; the report of an Arab Anonymous writer about Svyatopolk reveals in it the features of Avar customs (drinking koumiss), as well as the perception of Avar institutions (the position of a princely governor-voivode) .32 Under Sviatopolk, the Moravian state achieved supreme power over the lands of southern Poland (Lesser Poland, Silesia), the Czech Republic, and part of the Carpathian Basin, and, despite its rapid decline due to the Hungarian invasion (around 905), passed on to its Slavic neighbors the model of statehood along with its Avar features.

The Czech Republic and Poland belong to the northern zone of Slavism, in which statehood developed with a delay of several decades. Moravia did them the same service as Kiev did for the East Slavic north, with the difference that the west did not establish state unity due to the ethnic differences that existed in these areas. Poland was separated from the Czech Republic, Moravia, and Slovakia not only by its geographical position, but also by the historical destinies of its tribes, who got along with each other and felt closer to the Slavic Polabye, as it follows from the mention of the Tale of Bygone Years about the Lyutiches in connection with the Polish tribes .33 The penetration of the concept of the state in the Czech Republic can be traced back to 845, when 14 Czech princes (tribal) converted to Christianity in Regensburg, 34 but failed to put the country on the path of Christianization, which we see as an indication of the then weakness of state manifestations in this territory. At the same time, in 845, a characteristic feature of Czech state initiatives was revealed, which were undertaken on their own initiative by the elders of individual small tribes. The Fulda Annals of 857 give the following picture: a certain Slavochek (Sclavitagus) oppressed the people from his city [35]; this was one of the methods of creating a state organization. Only Borzhivoi, a contemporary of Svyatopolk, gave the Czech changes a central character.-

31 For these States, see Poczqtki Polski, vol. 4, str. 263-276.

32 As recently shown by T. Lewicki (T. Lewicki. S. W. NT-B. I. K arabskiej " relacji anonimowej. (2. polowa IX w.) i jego "zastepca". "Liber Joe. Kostrzewski... dicatus". Wroclaw. 1968). This generally accepted interpretation was questioned at one time by B. N. Zakhoder ("The Caspian Collection of Information about Eastern Europe", Vol. 2, Moscow, 1967, pp. 130-146), claiming that the source concerns Eastern Europe, and calls not the name, but the title of the prince "light", "holy", that it should mean "prince-priest". However, a princely title of this kind is not known to sources, despite their large number.

33 The Laurentian chronicle gives the form "lutici" (PSRL. Vol. 1, stb. 6); the correct form of "lyutiche" is given by the Ipatiev Chronicle (PSRL. Vol. 2, stb. 5).

34 "Annales Fuldenses", S. 35. On the beginning of the Czech State, see "Poczatki Polski", vol. 4, str. 349-444.

35 "Annales Fuldenses", S. 47.

page 192

zatsiy (with the center in Prague). After the fall of Moravia, the Czech Republic inherited the lands of southern Poland and, although during the tenth century it gradually lost them and failed to protect Slovakia from the Hungarians, it still retained the position of a strong Slavic state that maintained its independent position within the Empire with which it was bound by fate.

Two historical organizational and state centers were formed on the Polish lands, which, as can be seen, arose under the influence of the success of Moravia in the second half of the IX century.and took advantage of the model of its structure. However, Krakow entered the Moravian political system, and then the Czech one, and did not take much part in the construction of the Polish state, begun from Gniezno. The chronicle of Gaul named three ancestors of Mieszko I (c. 960-992) who expanded the Gniezno possessions; the oldest of them, Semowit, was supposed to be a contemporary of the Moravian Sviatopolk, which determines the chronology of the beginning of the Polish state .36 They took possession of the Polish lands from the Baltic to the Bug. Therefore, Mieszko I was already fighting wars in the Polabye, but, defeated by the Saxons (964), he compromised with the Empire, refusing to continue the offensive in the areas of German expansion. As a result, he and his successor Boleslaw the Brave captured Silesia (990) and Krakow (999), thus providing a natural ethnic base for their state.

The Polabian region, which eschewed state forms, developed in other ways, and the only solid state there, the Obodrites, founded in the first half of the tenth century, sought support in Saxony (especially from the end of the eleventh century) and thereby paved the way for German expansion to the east.

Thus, before 1000, Slavic state centers were formed, which still exist today, although their history developed under very dramatic conditions that temporarily deprived almost all of their independent existence. Overcoming these obstacles clearly shows what solid historical foundations for a large part of Europe were created by the first Slavic states that emerged in the VIII-X centuries.

36 For the beginning of the Polish state, see "Poczgtki Polski". T. 5, str. 310-621; recently B. Miskiewicz wrote about this (see "Dzieje Polski". Warszawa 1975, str. 88 nn.).

page 193


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