Slavs today are the largest ethnolinguistic community in Europe. They inhabit vast territories and number about 300-350 million people. In this article, we will consider what branches the Slavic peoples are divided into, and talk about the history of their formation and division. We also touch a little on the current stage of the spread of Slavic culture and those religious views that the tribes adhered to during their development and formation.
Theories of origin
Further in the article we will consider what branches the Slavic peoples divide into. But now it's worth figuring out where this ethnic group comes from.
So, according to medieval chroniclers, our peoples come from a common ancestor. He was Japheth, son of Noah. This character, according to the chronicles, gave birth to such tribes as Medes, Sarmatians, Scythians, Thracians, Illyrians, Slavs, British and other European nations.
Arabs knew the Slavs as part of a community of Western peoples, which included the Turks, Ugrians and Slavs of Eastern Europe. In their military records, historians associate this conglomerate with the word "Sakalib." Later, deserters from the Byzantine army who converted to Islam began to call it that.
The ancient Greeks and Romans called the Slavs “Slavs” and correlated them with one of the Scythian tribes - cleaved. Also sometimes bring together the ethnonyms of Wends and Slavs.
Thus, the three branches of the Slavic peoples, the scheme of which is given below, have a common ancestor. But later the paths of their development diverged significantly, due to the vast territory of settlement and the influence of neighboring cultures and beliefs.
We will talk about this later.
Resettlement history
Later we will touch on each group of tribes separately, now we should understand what branches the Slavic peoples divide into and how the process of settlement took place.
So, for the first time these tribes are mentioned in Tacitus and Pliny the Elder. These ancient Roman historians in their notes spoke of the Wends who inhabited the Baltic territories. Judging by the period of life of these statesmen, the Slavs existed already in the second century AD.
The next who spoke about these same tribes were Procopius of Caesarea and Priscus, a Byzantine writer and scholar. But the most complete information relating to the pre-recorded period is available from the Gothic historian Jordan.
He reports that the Sklavny are an independent tribe that stood out from the Veneti. In the territories north of the Vistula River (present-day Vistula), he mentions the "numerous people of the Venets", which are divided into Antes and Sklaves. The first lived along the Pontus of Euxinus (Black Sea) from Danastra (Dniester) to Danapra (Dnieper). The Sklaves lived from Novietun (the city of Iskach on the Danube) to Danastra and Vistula in the north.
Thus, in the sixth century AD, the ancestors of the Slavs - the sklaves already lived on the lands from the Dniester to the Vistula and the Danube. Later, various chroniclers will mention a much more extensive settlement territory of these tribes. It covered the lands of Central and Eastern Europe.
How did the three branches of the Slavic peoples divide? The diagram we presented above shows that the movement went to the north, south and east.
Initially, the tribes moved towards the Black and Baltic Seas. Just this period is described by the Gothic historian Jordan. Then Avars invade these lands and split the single range of tribes into parts.
For two centuries (from the sixth to the eighth) they inhabit the Eastern foothills of the Alps and fall under the command of Emperor Justinian II. We know this from the mentions in the annals, which talked about the campaign of the Byzantine army against the Arabs. As part of the army are mentioned and sklavins.
In the eighth century, these tribes reach the Balkan Peninsula in the south and Lake Ladoga in the north.
Southern Slavs
Western and southern Slavs, as we see, were formed at different times. Initially, the Ants separated from the conglomerate of tribes, which went east, towards the Black Sea and the Dnieper. Only in the eighth century did this nation begin to populate the Balkan Peninsula.
The process was as follows. Some East and West Slavic tribes moved in search of better lands to the southwest, towards the Adriatic Sea.
Historians distinguish the following groups in this migration: encouraged (in European chronicles they are known as predenicents), northerners (communication with northerners is possible), Serbs, Croats and others. Basically, these are the tribes that lived along the Danube River.
Thus, the ancient Slavic peoples became a powerful force that assimilated small groups of local residents and subsequently created states on the Balkans and the Adriatic Sea.
But the southwest movement was not a one-time campaign. Different genera moved with their speed and not quite in the same direction. Thus, researchers distinguish three groups that were formed during the migration: northwest (Slovenes formed in the future), east (modern Bulgarians and Macedonians) and western (Croats and Serbs).
Western tribes
The common ancestors of the Slavic peoples, which the Romans still knew as the Wends, originally inhabited the lands of modern Poland and partly Germany. Subsequently, it was on this territory that a large group of tribes formed.
It included land from the Elbe to the Oder and from the Baltic Sea to the Ore Mountains. Researchers divide this conglomeration into three groups according to their place of residence.
The northwestern tribes were called Bodrichi (regresses and encouraged), the southern tribes were Luzhichans (part of the Serbs also entered here), and the central group was Lutichi (or Veletos). The three named peoples were originally military tribal alliances. Sometimes they talk separately about the fourth community. Its representatives called themselves Pomors and lived on the Baltic coast.
Gradually, as a result of the migration of the Slav Slavs, Polish, Silesian, Czech, Pomeranian, and Lehite tribes formed on unoccupied lands.
Thus, the Western and Southern Slavs differ in that the former were originally indigenous to these territories, and the latter came from the Danube to the Adriatic coast.
East Slavs
According to the Western European chronicles, the works of historians of the Roman Empire and the works of the Byzantines, the territory of the Eastern Slavs always correlated with the tribal association of the Ants.
As we know from the testimony of the Gothic historian Jordan, they settled the lands east of the Carpathian mountains. Moreover, the Byzantines say that the area of settlement reached the banks of the Dnieper.
Archaeological evidence agrees with this view. From the second to the fourth centuries of our era, the so-called Chernyakhov culture existed between the Dnieper and the Dniester .
Later it was replaced by the Penkovsky archaeological community. There is a gap of two centuries between these cultures, but it is believed that such a gap is caused by the assimilation of some tribes with others.
Thus, the origin of the Slavic peoples was the result of the authentic formation of larger communities from a number of small tribal associations. Later, chroniclers of Kievan Rus will give names to these groups: glade, Drevlyane, Dregovichi, Vyatichi and other tribes.
According to old Russian chronicles, due to the unification of fifteen groups of Eastern Slavs, such a powerful medieval power as Kievan Rus was formed.
Current situation
So, we have discussed what branches the Slavic peoples are divided into. In addition, they talked about exactly how the process of resettlement of the tribes went south and east.
Modern Slavic peoples are slightly different from their direct ancestors. In their culture, they unite the imprints of influences, both of neighboring nationalities and of many newcomers.
For example, the bulk of the western regions of the Russian Federation and Ukraine, once part of Kievan Rus, were under the Mongol-Tatar yoke for several centuries. Therefore, many borrowings from Turkic languages are included in dialects. Also, some traditional ornaments and ceremonies preserve the imprints of the culture of the enslavers.
Southern Slavs were more influenced by the Greeks and Turks. Therefore, at the end of the article we will have to talk about religious issues. The once pagan tribes today are adherents of different faiths of the Abrahamic religions.
The descendants may not know thoroughly what branches the Slavic peoples are divided into, but, as a rule, each person easily identifies his “fellow countryman”. Southern Slavs are traditionally more dark-skinned, and in their dialect specific phonemes slip, characteristic only for this region. A similar situation is with the descendants of Western and Eastern tribal associations.
So, what countries have become home to different branches of the Slavic nation today?
States of the Southern Slavs
Modern Slavic peoples are settled mostly in Eastern and Central Europe. However, in the context of globalization, their representatives can be found in almost any country in the world. Moreover, the peculiarity of our mentality is such that in a short time the neighbors begin to understand Slavic languages. The Slavs have always sought to introduce foreigners to their culture, while not giving in to the process of their own assimilation.
The modern southern Slavs include Slovenes and Montenegrins, Macedonians and Bulgarians, Croats, Bosnians and Serbs. Basically, these peoples live on the territory of their national states, which include Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Slovenia, Montenegro, Serbia and Croatia.
That is, in fact, this is the territory of the Balkan Peninsula and the north-eastern part of the Adriatic coast.
Southern Slavic peoples today are increasingly moving away from the idea of a community of these peoples, joining the new family of the European Union. True, several decades ago there was an attempt to create one common country with a population consisting only of southern Slavs, but it failed. This state was once called Yugoslavia.
Outside the national states, representatives of this branch of the Slavic peoples, according to official statistics, live quite a lot in Italy, Hungary, Austria, Romania, Turkey, Albania, Greece and Moldova.
Countries of the Western Slavs
Since the ethnogenesis of the Slavic peoples mainly occurred initially on the territory of modern Poland and Germany, the representatives of Western tribes practically did not withdraw from their homes.
Today, their descendants live in Poland, Germany, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Ethnologists traditionally distinguish five peoples that belong to the West Slavic branch. These are Poles, Czechs, Slovaks, Kashubians and Luzhans.
The first three ethnic groups live mainly in states with the corresponding names, and the last two - in separate areas. Luzhitsky Serbs, to which Vends, meadows and sorbes belong, inhabit Luzhitsa. This territory is divided into Upper and Lower parts, which are located in Saxony and Brandenburg, respectively.
Kashubians live on the land called Kashubia. It is part of the modern Polish People's Republic. The unofficial capital of this people is the city of Kartuzy. Also, many representatives of this nationality are found in Gdynia.
Kashubians consider themselves an ethnic group, but they recognize Polish citizenship. In their environment, they are divided into several formations depending on the place of residence, the characteristics of the national costume, activities and class distinctions. So, among them there are fences, Partian nobility, gbury, taverns, gokhs and other groups.
Thus, it is safe to say that for the most part the Western Slavic peoples retained their customs to the maximum. Some of them are still engaged in traditional crafts and crafts, however, more to attract tourists.
East Slavic Powers
The modern territory of the Eastern Slavs belongs to such countries as Russia, Ukraine and Belarus. Today, these states can be said to be at a crossroads. Their peoples are faced with a choice: to remain adherents of traditional ways or to follow the path of the southern brethren, accepting Western European values.
The once powerful power - Kievan Rus eventually transformed into three countries. Around Moscow, the Moscow kingdom was formed, and then the Russian Empire. Kiev united around itself the lands of many tribes from the Carpathians to the Don. And Belarus was formed in the forests of Polesie. Based on the name of the territory, the main part of the country is inhabited by descendants of Poleschuk and Pinchuk.
Religions of different branches of the Slavs
The Russian Federation, Ukraine and Belarus are the modern territory of the Eastern Slavs. Here, the majority of the population belongs to Orthodox Christians.
In principle, the official departure from paganism occurred in the tenth century, when the Kiev prince Vladimir the Great baptized Russia. But in 1054 there was a great schism, when the Orthodox and Catholic faiths appeared separately in Christianity. The eastern and southeastern tribes remained loyal to the Patriarch of Constantinople, while the western and southwest became supporters of the Roman Catholic Church.
At a certain stage in history, certain groups of southern Slavs convert to Islam. This is due to the fact that their lands were under the oppression of the Ottoman Empire. For co-religionists, the Turks made many concessions. Muslims today include Gorans, Bosnians, Pomaks, heaps and Torbesh.
Thus, in this article we studied the ethnogenesis of the Slavic peoples, and also talked about their division into three branches. In addition, they figured out what modern countries belong to the territory of the settlement of southern, western and eastern tribes.