It is very difficult to accurately determine the time period with which the emergence of the Old Russian State is associated. It is known that this event was preceded by a long period of formation and development of tribal relations in the communities inhabiting the East European Plain.
Already in the first millennium of the new era, the territory of the future Russia began to develop Slavic agricultural tribes. In the fifth century, in the process of formation of social differentiation in society , several dozen separate principalities or unions are formed. These were peculiar political associations, which subsequently transformed into a slave-owning or early feudal state. From the "Tale of Bygone Years" it becomes known the location and name of these principalities. So, glades lived near Kiev, radimichi - along the Sozh River, northerners - in Chernigov, Vyatichi - near the Oka River, Dregovichi occupied Minsk and Brest Region, Krivichi - the cities of Smolensk, Pskov and Tver, Drevlyans - Polesie. In addition to the Slavic tribes, the Proto-Balts (ancestors of Estonians and Latvians) and the Finno-Ugrians inhabited the East European Plain.
In the seventh century, more stable political formations were formed, and cities - centers of principalities - appeared. So there are Novgorod, Kiev, Polotsk, Chernihiv, Smolensk, Izborsk, Turov. Some historians tend to associate the emergence of the Old Russian state with the formation of these cities. This is partly true. However, an early feudal state with a monarchical form of government appears a little later, in the ninth to tenth centuries.
The emergence and development of the Old Russian state among the East Slavic peoples is associated with the foundation of the ruling dynasty. From annalistic sources it is known that in 862 Prince Rurik ascended the throne of Novgorod. In 882, the two main centers of Southern and Northern Russia (Kiev and Novgorod) merged into one state. The new administrative-territorial entity was called Kievan Rus. Prince Oleg became his first ruler. During this period, the state apparatus appears, orders are strengthened, and princely rule becomes a hereditary prerogative. So there is the emergence of the Old Russian state.
Later, other Slavic tribes also became subordinate to Kievan Rus : northerners, Drevlyans, streets, Radimichi, Vyatichi, Tivertsi, glade, etc.
Historians are inclined to believe that the emergence of the Old Russian state was caused by the active growth of trade and economic relations. The fact is, the waterway ran through the lands of the East Slavic peoples, which the people got the name "from the Varangians to the Greeks." It was he who played a significant role in bringing these two principalities closer together to achieve common economic goals.
The main function of the Old Russian state was to protect the territory from external attacks and implement an active foreign military policy (campaigns against Byzantium, the defeat of the Khazars, etc.).
The heyday of Kievan Rus falls on the reign of Y. the Wise. This period is characterized by the presence of the existing system of government. Under the rule of the prince was a squad and boyars. He had the right to appoint posadnikov (to manage cities), governor, tax collectors (levy trade duties), tributaries (collect land taxes). The society of the Old Russian Principality was based on both urban and rural residents.
The emergence of the state is a long and complex process. Kievan Rus was heterogeneous in its ethnic composition, multinational. Along with the Slavic communities, it also included the Baltic and Finnish tribes. And subsequently, the Old Russian nationality gave growth and development to three Slavic peoples: Ukrainians, Russians, and Belarusians.