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 have similar features of culture and language.
And the Russian people - part of this great community - came from the Eastern Slavs, along with the Ukrainians and Belarusians. So why were Russians called Russians, how and under what conditions did this happen. We will try to find answers to these questions in this article.
Primary Ethnogenesis
So, we make a journey into the depths of history, or rather, at the moment when Slavic tribes begin to form , this is the 4th-3rd millennium BC.
It is then that the ethnic demarcation of the European peoples occurs. The Slavic mass stands out from the general environment. It was also not homogeneous, despite the similarity of languages, the rest of 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 territory. According to scientists, it was localized in the middle reaches of the Danube, only later the Slavs settled in the areas of modern Poland and Ukraine. Belarus and southern Russia.
Range Expansion
Further expansion of the Slavs and gives us an answer to the origin of the Russian people. In the IV-III centuries BC, the Slavic masses shifted to central Europe and occupied the river basins of the Vistula, Oder and Elba.
At this stage, one still cannot speak of any clear distinction between the Slavic population. The greatest changes in ethnic and territorial demarcation are made by the Hunnic invasion. By the fifth century AD, the Slavs appeared in the forest-steppes of modern Ukraine and to the south in the region of the Don region.
Here they successfully assimilate a few Iranian tribes and establish settlements, one of which is Kiev. However, from the previous owners of the land there are numerous toponyms and hydronyms, which made it possible to conclude 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 tribal association - Antskoy Union, it is from his midst that Russians appear. The history of the origin of this people is closely connected with the first prototype of the state.
The first mention of Russian
From the fifth to the eighth century there is a continuous struggle between the Eastern Slavs and nomadic tribes, however, despite the hostility, these peoples will be forced to coexist in the future.
By this period, the Slavs formed 15 large tribal unions, the most developed of which were the glades and Slavs living in the region of Lake Ilmen. Strengthening of the Slavs led to the fact that they appear in the possessions of Byzantium, it was from there that the first information about Russes, dews came from.
That is why the Russians were called Russians, this is a derivative of the ethnonym given to them by the Byzantines and other peoples surrounding them. There were other names similar in transcription - Rusyns, Rus.
During this chronological period, there is an active process of formation of statehood, moreover, there were two centers of this process - one in Kiev, the other in Novgorod. But both bore the same name - Russia.
Why Russians were called Russians
So why did the ethnonym "Russes" and the word "Rus" appear both in the Dnieper and in the northwest? After the great migration of peoples, the Slavs occupied the vast areas of the Center and East of Europe.
Among these many tribes are the names of Russ, Rusyns, Ruthenians, Rugs. It is enough to recall that the ethnic group of Rusyns has survived to our time. But why exactly this word?
The answer is very simple, in the Slavic language, the word "light brown" meant fair-haired or just fair, and the Slavs by anthropological type looked just like that. A group of Slavs, who originally lived on the Danube, brought this name when they moved to the Dnieper banks.
From there the terminology and origin of "Russian" originates; Russes over time turn into Russians. This part of the Eastern Slavs settles in the area of modern Kiev and adjacent territories. And this name is brought here, and since they are entrenched here, the ethnonym also settled down, with time it only slightly changed.
The emergence of Russian statehood
Another part of the Russes occupied land along the southern coast of the Baltic Sea, here they drove the Germans and the Balts to the west, and they themselves gradually moved to the north-west, this group of eastern Slavs already had princes and a squad.
And practically stood at one step from the creation of the state. Although there is a version of the North European origin of the term "Rus" and it is associated with the Norman theory, according to which the Slavs introduced statehood to the Slavs, this term meant the inhabitants of Scandinavia, but there is no evidence of this.
Baltic Slavs moved to Lake Ilmen, and from there east. Therefore, by the ninth century, two Slavic centers are named after Russia, and they are destined to become rivals in the struggle for domination, which is what gives the new people an origin. Russian man is the concept by which all the Eastern Slavs who occupied the territories of modern Russia, Ukraine and Belarus were originally designated.
The history of the Russian people at the very beginning
As mentioned above, between Kiev 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 single state.
In this battle, the northerners prevailed. In 882, Prince Novgorod of Novgorod gathered a large army and went on a campaign in Kiev, but he was not able to take the city by force. Then he went on a trick and gave his rooks for a merchant caravan, using the effect of surprise, he killed the princes of Askold and Dir from Kiev and took the throne of Kiev, declaring himself the Grand Duke.
So the Old Russian state appears with a single supreme ruler, taxes, squad and the judicial system. And Oleg becomes the founder of the Rurikovich dynasty, who ruled in Russia-Russia until the 16th century.
It is then that the history of our country and its largest people begins. The fact is that the Russians, the history of the origin of this people are inextricably linked with Ukrainians and Belarusians, who are the closest ethnic relatives. It was only in the post-Mongol period that the fragmentation of a single foundation was identified, as a result of which new ethnonyms (Ukrainians and Belarusians) appear, characterizing the new state of things. Now it’s clear why the Russians were called Russians.