Slavs are one of the indigenous inhabitants of Eastern Europe, but they are divided into three large groups: eastern, western and southern, each of these communities has similar features of culture and language.
And the Russian people - part of this large community - came from the Eastern Slavs, along with Ukrainians and Belarusians. So why the Russians were called Russians, how and under what conditions this happened. We will try to find answers to these questions in this article.
Primary ethnogenesis
So, let's take a trip into the depths of history, or rather, at the moment when Slavic tribes begin to form, this is the IV-III millennium BC.
It was then that the ethnic delimitation of European peoples took place. The Slavic mass stands out from the general environment. It was also not homogeneous, despite the similarity of languages, otherwise the Slavic peoples are quite different, this applies even to the anthropological type.
This is not surprising, since they mixed with different tribes, this result was obtained with a common origin.
Initially, the Slavs and their language occupied a very limited area. According to scientists, it waslocalized in the region of the middle reaches of the Danube, only later did the Slavs settle in the regions of modern Poland and Ukraine. Belarus and southern Russia.
Expansion of range
The further expansion of the Slavs gives us the answer to the origin of the Russian people. In the 4th-3rd centuries BC, the Slavic masses shifted to central Europe and occupied the basins of the Vistula, Oder and Elbe rivers.
At this stage, it is still impossible to talk about any clear distinction within the Slavic population. The greatest changes in the ethnic and territorial demarcation are brought by the Hun invasion. Already by the fifth century AD, the Slavs appeared in the forest-steppes of modern Ukraine and to the south in the Don region.
Here they successfully assimilate a few Iranian tribes and establish settlements, one of which is Kyiv. However, numerous toponyms and hydronyms remain from the former owners of the lands, which led to the conclusion that the Slavs appeared in these places around the above period.
At this moment, there is a rapid growth of the Slavic population, which led to the emergence of a large inter-tribal association - the Antsky Union, it is from its midst that Russians appear. The history of the origin of this people is closely connected with the first prototype of the state.
First mention of Russians
From the fifth to the eighth century, there is a continuous struggle between the Eastern Slavs and nomadic tribes, however, despite the enmity, these peoples in the future will be forcedcoexist.
By this period, the Slavs formed 15 large inter-tribal unions, the most developed of which were the glade and the Slavs who lived in the area of Lake Ilmen. The strengthening of the Slavs led to the fact that they appear in the possessions of Byzantium, it is from there that the first information about the Russians, dews comes.
That's why the Russians were called Russians, this is a derivative of the ethnonym that the Byzantines and other peoples around them gave them. There were other names close in transcription - Rusyns, Rus.
In this chronological period, there is an active process of formation of statehood, moreover, there were two centers of this process - one in Kyiv, the other in Novgorod. But both had the same name - Rus.
Why Russians were called Russians
So why did the ethnonym "Russians" and the word "Rus" appear both in the Dnieper region and in the northwest? After the great migration of peoples, the Slavs occupied vast areas of the Center and East of Europe.
Among these numerous tribes there are the names of Russ, Ruthenians, Rutens, Rugs. Suffice it to recall that the ethnic group of Rusyns has survived to our time. But why this particular word?
The answer is very simple, in the language of the Slavs the word "fair-haired" meant fair-haired or just fair, and the Slavs looked exactly like that by anthropological type. A group of Slavs who originally lived on the Danube, when moving to the Dnieper banks, also brought this name.
The terminology and origin of "Russian" originates from there, Russians withover time they turn into Russians. This part of the Eastern Slavs settles in the area of modern Kyiv and adjacent territories. And they bring this name here, and since they are entrenched here, the ethnonym has also settled down, over time it has only slightly changed.
The emergence of Russian statehood
Another part of the Russians occupied the lands along the southern coast of the B altic Sea, here they drove the Germans and the B alts to the west, and they themselves gradually moved to the northwest, this group of Eastern Slavs already had princes and a squad.
And practically stood one step away from the creation of the state. Although there is a version about the Northern European origin of the term "Rus" and it is connected with the Norman theory, according to which the Varangians brought statehood to the Slavs, this term denoted the inhabitants of Scandinavia, but there is no evidence for this.
The B altic Slavs moved to the area of Lake Ilmen, and from there to the east. Therefore, by the ninth century, two Slavic centers bear the name of Rus, and they are destined to become rivals in the struggle for dominance, this is what gives the new people their origin. A Russian person is a concept that originally denoted all the Eastern Slavs who occupied the territories of modern Russia, Ukraine and Belarus.
The history of the Russian people at its very beginning
As mentioned above, between Kyiv and Novgorod at the end of the ninth century there is a sharp rivalry. The reason for this was the acceleration of socio-economic development and the need to create a unifiedstate.
In this fight, the northerners won. In 882, Prince Oleg of Novgorod gathered a large army and went on a campaign against Kyiv, but he failed to take the city by force. Then he went to the trick and passed off his boats as a merchant caravan, taking advantage of the effect of surprise, he killed the Kyiv princes Askold and Dir and took the Kyiv throne, declaring himself a Grand Duke.
This is how the ancient Russian state appears with a single supreme ruler, taxes, a squad and a judicial system. And Oleg becomes the founder of the Rurik dynasty, who ruled in Russia-Russia until the 16th century.
That's when the history of our country and its largest nation begins. The fact is that the Russians, the history of the origin of this people, are inextricably linked with the Ukrainians and Belarusians, who are the closest ethnic relatives. And only in the post-Mongolian period, the fragmentation of a single basis was indicated, as a result of which new ethnonyms (Ukrainians and Belarusians) appeared, characterizing the new state of affairs. Now it is clear why the Russians were called Russians.
