Eastern Slavs and the beginning of Russia

1. Eastern Slavs and the beginning of Russia

2.

Detailed information about the settlement of the Eastern Slavs is
given in his famous "Tale of Bygone Years" by the monk of the KievPechersk Monastery Nestor, who lived at the beginning of the XII
century. In his chronicle, Nestor names about 13 tribes (scientists
believe that these were tribal unions) and describes in detail their
places of settlement. Near Kiev, on the right bank of the Dnieper,
there lived a glade, along the upper course of the Dnieper and
the Western Dvina - Krivichi, along the banks of the Pripyat Drevlyans. On the Dniester, Prut, in the lower reaches of the
Dnieper and on the northern coast of the Black Sea, Uliches and
Tivertsy lived. Volhynians lived to the north of them. Dregovichi
settled from Pripyat to Western Dvina. On the left bank of the
Dnieper and along the Desna, the northerners lived, along the river
Sozh - a tributary of the Dnieper - Radimichi. Ilmen Slovenes lived
around Lake Ilmen

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Neighbors of the Eastern Slavs in the west were the Baltic peoples,
the Western Slavs (Poles, Czechs), in the south - the Pechenegs
and Khazars, in the east - the Volga Bulgarians and numerous
Finno-Ugric tribes (Mordovians, Mari, Murom).The main
occupations of the Slavs were agriculture, which, depending on
the soil, was slash-and-burn or shifting, cattle breeding, hunting,
fishing, beekeeping (collecting honey from wild bees). In the 7th8th centuries, in connection with the improvement of the tools of
labor, the transition from a fallow or transfer system of agriculture
to a two-field and three-field system of crop rotation, the Eastern
Slavs experienced the decomposition of the clan system, an
increase in property inequality.

5.

The development of handicrafts and its separation from
agriculture in the VIII-IX centuries led to the emergence of cities centers of handicrafts and trade. Usually cities arose at the
confluence of two rivers or on a hill, since such an arrangement
made it possible to defend against enemies much better. The
oldest cities were often formed along the most important trade
routes or at their intersections. The main trade route passing
through the lands of the Eastern Slavs was the route “from the
Varangians to the Greeks,” from the Baltic Sea to Byzantium. In
the 8th - early 9th centuries, the tribal and military nobility stood
out among the Eastern Slavs, and military democracy was
established.

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The leaders turn into tribal princes, surround themselves with a
personal squad. Stands out to know. The prince and the nobility
seize the tribal land in a personal hereditary share, subordinate the
former tribal governing bodies to their power. Accumulating values,
seizing lands and lands, creating a powerful military squad
organization, making campaigns to seize military booty, collecting
tribute, trading and engaging in usury, the nobility of the Eastern
Slavs turns into a force that stands above society and subjugates
previously free communes. This was the process of class formation
and the formation of early forms of statehood among the Eastern
Slavs. This process gradually led to the formation of an early feudal
state in Russia at the end of the 9th century.