History of Russia (briefly). Ancient states of the world: names, history and interesting facts Historical country

Today there are more than 250 countries in the world. But only 193 are members of the UN, while the rest have an unclear status. Many states have recently gained independence, while others are just on the path to gaining sovereignty. At the same time, historians clearly know the dates of the appearance of the youngest countries, and when the ancient and first such formations arose is hidden by a thick layer of thousand-year-old dust. Even the method of birth of countries is difficult to determine. After all, every nation has its own myths and legends about the timing of the emergence of the state.

For example, the legends of San Marino say that in 301, a member of one of the first Christian communities created a refuge for himself on the top of Monte Titano. Since then, the statehood of the small country has been counted. However, we can talk about the independence of this settlement only from the 6th century, when Italy broke up into many independent states.

Japanese legends say that the country was founded back in 660 BC, but history knows about the first state on the island - Yamato. It appeared in 250-538. Ancient Greece was one of the first civilizations, it became the cradle of modern culture, science and philosophy. However, the country received complete independence in its modern form only in 1821, having left the Ottoman Empire.

That is why, to compile such a rating, those forms of social organization that correspond to the modern features of the state were taken into account. It must be truly independent, have its own territory, language and state symbols. Our list contains those states that exist on the modern world map.

Elam, 3200 BC e. (Iran). This modern state is located in southwest Asia. The Islamic Republic of Iran appeared on the political map of the planet on April 1, 1979 during the Islamic Revolution. However, the history of statehood of this country is one of the most ancient in the world. For centuries, the states located here played a key role in the East. The country first appeared on the territory of Iran back in 3200 BC, it was called Elam. The resulting Persian Empire extended from Greece and Libya to the Indus River. In the Middle Ages, Persia was a powerful, influential state.

Egypt, 3000 BC e. This is the most ancient state on the planet, whose history is rich in interesting facts. The mysterious and mysterious country of the pharaohs became home to many types and forms of art, which then spread throughout Europe and Asia. It was from here that ancient aesthetics originated, which formed the basis of all modern arts. Egypt is the largest country in the Arab East; it is one of the centers of political and cultural life in the region. For tourists, the country is a real Mecca. Egypt's location is unique - it is located at the junction of three continents - Africa, Europe and Asia. Here two worlds collide - Christian and Islamic. Egypt appeared on the site of a mysterious and powerful ancient civilization, the history of which dates back centuries and millennia. A state appeared here back in 3000 BC, when Pharaoh Mines united several lands and created a new country. Egyptologists dubbed it the Early Kingdom. Traces of that era have come to us in the form of the Great Egyptian Pyramids, the mysterious Sphinxes and the impressive temples of the pharaohs.

Wanglang, 2897 BC e. (Vietnam). This country is located in Southeast Asia, on the Indochina Peninsula. The name of the state consists of two words, translated as “the country of the Vietnamese in the South.” The Viet civilization appeared in the Red River basin. Legends say that the people descended from a dragon and a fairy bird. The first state on the territory of present-day Vietnam appeared back in 2897 BC. For a long time, Vietnam was part of China. Since the mid-19th century, the country was a French colony. It was only in the summer of 1954 that Vietnam gained independence.

Shang-Yin, 1600 BC e. (China). China is located in East Asia and is the largest country in the world by population. It is home to more than 1.3 billion people. In terms of area, China is second only to Russia and Canada. The local civilization is one of the oldest in the world. Chinese scientists claim that it is more than five thousand years old. But written sources only testify to a 3,500-year history. A system of administrative management has long been established in China. New and new dynasties of rulers only improved it. Thus, the Chinese state, with an economy based on developed agriculture, gained an advantage over its more backward neighbors, the nomads and mountaineers. The country further strengthened with the introduction of Confucianism as a state ideology in the 1st century BC, as well as a unified writing system a century earlier. From 1600 to 1207 BC. On the territory of what is now China, the state of Shang-Yin existed. This is the first state formation in these places, the history of which is actually confirmed by both archaeological finds and narrative, epigraphic written evidence. In 221 BC. Emperor Qin Shi Huang managed to unite all Chinese lands, creating the Qin Empire. Its borders roughly correspond to modern China.

Kush, 1070 BC e. (Sudan). The area of ​​the modern state of Sudan, located in northeast Africa, is comparable to the entire Western Europe. The country's population is 29.5 million people. The country is located in the middle reaches of the Nile, on the plains, plateaus and adjacent coast of the Red Sea surrounding the great river. In the northern part of modern Sudan from 1070 to 350 BC. There was an ancient state of Kush, or the Meroitic kingdom. The remains of temples, sculptures of its kings and gods speak about this state. It is believed that at that time astronomy, medicine and writing were already developed in Kush.

Sri Lanka, 377 BC e. The name of this island state translates as Blessed Land. The country is located in South Asia near the southeast coast of India. The history of human life here dates back to the Neolithic; the first settlements discovered here date back to this period. Written history dates back to the arrival of the Aryans from India. They gave the local population the first knowledge of metallurgy, navigation and writing. In 247 BC. Buddhism appeared on the island, which had an important influence on the formation of the country and the political system. Even earlier, in 377 BC. The first kingdom appeared in Sri Lanka, the capital of which was located in the ancient city of Anuradhapura.

Chin, 300 BC. e. (Democratic People's Republic of Korea and Republic of Korea). Korea is the geographical territory that is based on the Korean Peninsula, as well as the islands adjacent to it. All of them are united by cultural and historical heritage. But once it was a single state. When Japan was defeated in World War II in 1945, Korea, a former colony, was artificially divided into two parts of responsibility. North of the 38th parallel lay the Soviet one, and to the south - the American one. On the territory of these fragments, two countries appeared in 1948 - the Democratic People's Republic of Korea in the north and the Republic of Korea in the south. Local legends say that the first Korean state was created by the son of a celestial and a bear woman, Tangun, which happened back in 2333 BC. Scientists consider the earliest stage of Korean history to be the period of the Ko Joseon state. Modern historians still believe that the date is 2333 BC. is greatly exaggerated, since no documents confirm it. And it appeared on the basis of Korean chronicles that arose already in the Middle Ages. At the beginning of its existence, Ancient Joseon was a union of tribes, the country existed in the form of separate independent city-states. Only in 300 BC. a centralized state emerged. At the same time, the proto-state Chin appeared in the south of the state.

Iberia, 299 BC e. (Georgia). Modern Georgia appears to be a young and dynamically developing independent state that has almost completely gotten rid of the Soviet legacy. The history of statehood here originates deep in antiquity. Georgia is one of the places where the most ancient monuments of our civilization were found. Historians believe that the first countries appeared on the territory of Georgia 4-5 thousand years ago. The kingdom of Colchis was located on the eastern coast of the Black Sea, and Iberia was located on the territory of modern Georgia. In 299, the legendary king Pharnavaz I came to power in this country. During the reign of him and his descendants, Iberia became a powerful state, subjugating significant lands. And in the 9th century, a new united country appeared on the territory of Georgia. Its ruler was a king from the Bagrationi dynasty.

Greater Armenia, 190 BC. e. (Armenia). For the first time, the existence of this country is mentioned in the cuneiform writings of the king of Persia, Darius I. He reigned in 522-486 BC. Herodotus and Xenophon (5th century BC) also testify to Armenia. Ancient historians and geographers marked this state on maps along with Persia, Syria and other ancient countries. When the empire of Alexander the Great collapsed, three Armenian kingdoms appeared in place of its ruins - Greater Armenia, Lesser Armenia and Sophene. The first of them turned out to be a fairly large state that united lands from Palestine to the Caspian Sea. The country appeared in 190 BC; scientists consider it to be the first in history to exist on the territory of modern Armenia.

Yamato, 250 (Japan). Japan is an important island state in East Asia. It is located on the lands of the Japanese Pacific archipelago, numbering 6852 islands. Local legends say that back in 660 BC. Emperor Jimmu founded the Land of the Rising Sun, becoming its first ruler. The first written evidence of the existence of ancient Japan as a single state is found in the historical chronicles of the 1st century Chinese Han Empire. The code of the Wei Empire already in the 3rd century speaks of 30 countries on the territory of the Japanese Islands, the most powerful of which is Yamatai. Legends say that Queen Himiko ruled there using her magic. During the Kofun period from 250 to 358, the Yamato state appeared in Japan, apparently a confederal state. This era is called “Kofun” due to the Kurgan culture of the same name. It has been common in Japan for five centuries. For example, the Daisenryo mound became the tomb for Emperor Nintoku in the 5th century.

Great Bulgaria, 632 (Bulgaria). This country is located in the east of the Balkan Peninsula, in Southeast Europe. There is evidence that such a union of peoples as Great Bulgaria existed on the territory of the state. It included the tribes of the Proto-Bulgarians and existed in the steppes of the Black Sea region and Azov for several decades from 632 to 671. The capital of this country was the city of Phanagoria, and it was founded by Khan Kubrat, who became the first ruler. This is how the history of Bulgaria as a state began.

It has been established that the most ancient states of the world were formed approximately six thousand years ago, and most of them disappeared from the face of the earth, leaving at best their names in memory of their descendants. But among them there are also those who, passing through the centuries, were able to adapt to constantly changing realities at all historical stages and, thus, survive to this day.

Regarding where and when the world's first civilization arose, researchers do not have a consensus, but most of them agree that, most likely, it was the state of Sumer. Formed at the end of the 4th century BC in the region of Southern Mesopotamia (Southern Iraq) and existing for more than two thousand years, it disappeared from the historical scene, leaving many monuments of its culture discovered during excavations. Like many other ancient states of the world, it collapsed under the onslaught of conquerors.

At the dawn of civilization, states, as a rule, occupied very small territories and did not have a large population. It is known, for example, that in the middle of the fourth millennium BC there were more than forty of them in the Nile Valley alone. The center of each of them was a fortified city, which housed the residence of the ruler and the temple of the most revered local deity.

Survival of the fittest

The ancient states of the world waged a constant struggle for survival, since there were few fertile lands, and there were many applicants for their possession. As a result, endless wars broke out, in which the local ruler acted as leader, and, if successful, supervised irrigation work. Slave labor was used little, since, due to the primitiveness of the weapons, it was dangerous to keep a large number of prisoners. They were usually killed, leaving only women and teenagers.

Formation of the state of Ancient Egypt

The picture changed at the beginning of the fourth millennium BC, when the most successful of the local kings, who went down in history under the name of Pharaoh Mines, managed to subjugate several neighboring peoples. The names of the states of the Ancient World that were part of the new kingdom remained mostly unknown, but they gave rise to a great civilization, which modern Egyptologists call the Early Kingdom.

Of all the existing states, Egypt is considered the most ancient. Its history goes back about forty centuries and is divided by researchers into several stages, each of which has its own characteristics of government and economic development. This unique culture of the country of the pharaohs enriched the world with many forms of art, which then spread to other continents.

Armenia, which came from time immemorial

The first states of the Ancient World, which have survived to this day, for the most part had a completely different ethnic composition of the population compared to what exists today. An example of this is Armenia, which has a history of two and a half thousand years, but, according to a number of researchers, arose much earlier and originated from the ancient kingdom of Arme-Shubria, which existed back in the 12th century BC.

In those years, it was a complex conglomerate of small but independent states and peoples, constantly replacing each other. As a result of a long historical journey, the Armenian nation was formed on their basis. The very name of this state in its modern sound was first mentioned in one of the documents dating back to 522 BC. There, Armenia is described as a region subordinate to Persia and located on the territory of the ancient state of Urartu, which had disappeared by that time.

Ancient Iranian state

Another ancient state in the world is Iran. Regarding the period of its origin, scientists agree that it was formed from the state of Elam, which existed in the same territory five thousand years ago and is mentioned in the Bible. In the 7th century BC, the Iranian state significantly expanded its territory, strengthened economically and transformed into the powerful and warlike Kingdom of Media, which in size exceeded the territory of present-day Iran. Its military potential was so great that over time the Medes were able to defeat the hitherto invincible Assyrians and subjugate their surrounding neighbors.

Iran, like many ancient states of the world, paved its way into the future with fire and sword. In the oldest monument of ancient Iranian literature, the Avesta, it is called the “country of the Aryans.” The tribes that later made up the bulk moved to it from the northern regions of the Caucasus and the steppes of Central Asia. Having quickly assimilated the local non-Aryan peoples, they were able to establish control over the entire territory of the country without much difficulty.

Civilization of Ancient China

When listing the states of the Ancient World that were most adapted to the vicissitudes of history, one cannot help but recall China. According to scientists of this vast eastern country, civilization on its territory arose no later than five thousand years ago, although a number of written monuments indicate a slightly younger age - three thousand six hundred years. It was during this period, marked by the reign, that a strict administrative system was founded in the country, constantly improving and covering all aspects of society.

The natural conditions of China, which developed in the basin of the Yellow and Yangtze rivers, were extremely conducive to the development of agriculture, thus determining the agrarian nature of its economy. Other neighboring states of the Ancient World were located in mountainous and steppe regions unsuitable for arable farming.

From the moment of its inception, China pursued an active aggressive policy, which, with sufficient economic potential, allowed it to significantly increase its already vast territory. It is widely known how high the level of science and culture was in Ancient China. Suffice it to mention that already in the 11th century BC its inhabitants used the lunar calendar and knew the basics of hieroglyphic writing. Around the same period, a regular army, created on a professional basis, appeared in the country.

Cradle of European civilization

This title rightfully belongs to Greece. It is known that about five thousand years ago the island of Crete became the birthplace of a unique culture, which over time spread to the mainland. On it, for the first time, the foundations of statehood were formed, trade and diplomatic relations were established, and writing in its modern form and the foundations of legislation were born.

The state and law of the Ancient World reached the highest point of their development on the coast of the Aegean Sea, where in the first millennium BC a civilization that was advanced at that time developed. It was a fairly developed state structure, built on a model and having at its disposal a developed bureaucratic apparatus. The influence of Greece in a short time spread to vast areas of the Northern Black Sea region, Southern Italy and

Despite the fact that historically the name Hellas belongs to Ancient Greece, today the inhabitants of this country extend it to the modern state, thereby emphasizing the connection with the great culture of which they are the heirs.

A country born on the islands

And at the end of the article, it is appropriate to recall another, this time an island state that came to our world from ancient times - Japan. In 661 BC, the reign of her first began. He began his activities by establishing control over the entire archipelago, which he achieved not so much by force of arms as by thoughtful diplomacy.

Japan has gone through a unique path in its development. While states associated with wars appeared on the world stage and then disappeared without a trace, the Land of the Rising Sun for many centuries managed to avoid any serious political and social upheaval. Undoubtedly, this was largely facilitated by the geographical isolation of the state. In particular, it was she who saved the country from the Mongol invasion, which at one time swept over a significant part of Asia.

A country that has preserved itself through the centuries

Japan is the only country where the dynastic continuity of imperial power has been maintained for two and a half millennia, and the outlines of its borders have remained virtually unchanged. This allows us to consider it the most ancient country, preserved almost in its original form, since other ancient states of the world, even those who managed to overcome a centuries-old path, repeatedly changed their political appearance.

Today there are 257 countries in the world, 193 of which are members of the UN, while others have a certain status. Many of these countries became independent only recently, while others are just fighting for their right to be sovereign.
Historians are well aware of the dates of the founding of young states, and as for the first countries on planet Earth, their history is shrouded in the darkness of millennia, hidden under a layer of ancient dust.
There is a lot of controversy over the very methodology for determining the most ancient states. After all, every nation has its own myths and legends about the founding of their state. For example, the legendary foundation of one of the smallest modern states, San Marino, dates back to the beginning of the 4th century. According to legend, in 301, a member of one of the first Christian communities found refuge in the Apennines, on the top of Monte Titano. Thus, formally San Marino has been considered an independent state since September 3, 301. In fact, we can talk about some kind of independence of the founded settlement only from the 6th century, when Italy broke up into many dependent and independent territories.
According to Japanese myths, the Land of the Rising Sun was founded back in 660 BC. e., but the first state on Japanese territory, Yamato, arose during the Kofu period, which dates back to 250 - 538.
Ancient Greece is considered one of the most ancient civilizations, the cradle of philosophy, culture, and science. But Greece became a truly independent country only in 1821 after it left the Ottoman Empire.
Therefore, in order to compile a correct rating, we took into account only those forms of organization of society that correspond to the modern characteristics of the state: sovereignty, own territory, state symbols, language, and so on. In addition, only those states that are on the modern world map were taken into account.
So, the rating of the most ancient states was made up of 10 modern countries from three continents.

1. Elam, 3200 BC e. (Iran)

The modern state in southwest Asia - the Islamic Republic of Iran was founded on April 1, 1979 as a result of the Islamic Revolution. But the history of statehood in Iran is one of the oldest in the world. For centuries, this country played a key role in the East. The first state on the territory of Iran - Elam - arose in 3200 BC. e. The Persian Empire under Darius I extended from Greece and Libya to the Indus River. In the Middle Ages, Persia was a strong and influential state.

2. Egypt, 3000 BC e.

Egypt is the oldest state in the world, about the history of which a lot of interesting information has been preserved. It was in this mysterious and mysterious country of the pharaohs that many types and forms of art were born, which later developed in Asia and Europe. They served as the basis for ancient aesthetics - the starting point of all the arts of our time.
Egypt is the largest country in the Arab East, one of the centers of its political and cultural life, the “tourist Mecca” of the world. Egypt occupies a unique geographical position, located at the junction of three continents - Africa, Asia and Europe and the world's two largest civilizations - Christian and Islamic.
Egypt arose on the territory where one of the most powerful and mysterious civilizations once existed, the history of which dates back centuries and millennia. In 3000 BC. e. Pharaoh Mines united the Egyptian lands and created a state that Egyptologists today call the Early Kingdom.
Echoes of that era are the Great Egyptian Pyramids, the mysterious Sphinxes and the grandiose Temples of the Pharaohs.

3. Wanglang, 2897 BC e. (Vietnam)

Vietnam is a state in Southeast Asia located on the Indochina Peninsula. The name of the country consists of two words and is translated as “the country of the Vietnamese in the South.” The Viet civilization arose in the Red River basin. According to legend, the Viet were descended from a dragon and a fairy bird. The first state on the territory of Vietnam, Van Lang, appeared in 2897 BC. e. For some time, Vietnam was part of China. In the second half of the 19th century, Vietnam became colonially dependent on France. In the summer of 1954, Vietnam became an independent state.

4. Shang-Yin, 1600 BC e. (China)

China is a state in East Asia, the largest state in the world by population (over 1.3 billion); ranks third in the world in terms of territory, behind Russia and Canada.
Chinese civilization is one of the oldest in the world. According to Chinese scientists, its age may be five thousand years, while the available written sources cover a period of at least 3,500 years. The long-standing presence of administrative systems, which were improved by successive dynasties, created obvious advantages for the Chinese state, whose economy was based on developed agriculture, compared to its more backward nomadic and mountaineer neighbors. Chinese civilization was further strengthened by the introduction of Confucianism as a state ideology (1st century BC) and a unified writing system (2nd century BC).
The Shang-Yin state, which existed from 1600 to 1027 BC on the territory of modern China, is the first state formation, the reality of whose existence is confirmed not only by archaeological finds, but also by narrative and epigraphic written sources.
In 221 BC. e. Emperor Qin Shi Huang united all Chinese lands and created the Qin Empire, the territory of which corresponds to modern China.

5. Kush, 1070 BC e. (Sudan)

The modern state of Sudan in northeast Africa is equal in area to the entire Western Europe, and its population is only 29.5 million people. The country is located in the middle reaches of the Nile River with surrounding plains, plateaus and the adjacent Red Sea coast.
Kush (Meroitic Kingdom) is an ancient kingdom that existed in the northern part of the territory of modern Sudan from 1070 to 350 BC. e. The existence of the kingdom of Kush is confirmed in the remains of temples, sculptures of gods and kings. There is evidence that writing, astronomy and medicine were already developed in Kush at that time.

6. Sri Lanka, 377 BC e.

Sri Lanka (“Blessed Land”) is a state in South Asia, on the island of the same name off the southeastern coast of Hindustan. The history of Sri Lanka begins with the Neolithic period when the first settlements were discovered in Sri Lanka. Written history begins with the arrival of the Aryans from India, who spread the rudiments of knowledge of metallurgy, navigation, and writing among the local population.
In 247 BC. e. Buddhism penetrated into Sri Lanka, which had a decisive influence on the formation of the country and its political system.
In 377 BC. A kingdom arose on the island with its capital in the ancient city of Anuradhapura.

7. Chin, 300 BC. e. (Democratic People's Republic of Korea and Republic of Korea)

Korea is a geographical territory that includes the Korean Peninsula and adjacent islands and is united by a common cultural and historical heritage. In the past there was a single state. In 1945, after the defeat of Japan in World War II, the territory of Korea, which was at that time a Japanese colony, was delimited into two zones of military responsibility: the Soviet one - north of the parallel of 38 ° N. w. and the American one to the south of it. Subsequently, in 1948, two states emerged on the territory of these zones: the Republic of Korea in the south and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea in the north.
According to legend, the first Korean state was founded by the son of a bear woman and a celestial being, Tangun, in 2333 BC. e. Historians call the earliest stage of Korean history the period of the Ko Joseon state. Most modern historians agree that the date is 2333 BC. e. is greatly exaggerated, since it is not confirmed by any historical documents other than individual medieval Korean chronicles.
It is believed that at the dawn of its development, Ancient Joseon was a tribal union consisting of separately governed city-states, and it became a centralized state in 300 BC. e. Around the same time, the proto-state of Chin was formed in the south of the peninsula.

7. Iberia, 299 BC e. (Georgia)

Modern Georgia is considered a young independent state. But the history of the formation of Georgian statehood goes back to antiquity. Georgia is one of the places where the most ancient monuments of human civilization were discovered.
Historians believe that the first states on the territory of Georgia were formed back in the 3rd-2nd millennium BC. e. These were the kingdom of Colchis, located on the eastern coast of the Black Sea, and Iberia, modern eastern Georgia. In 299 BC. e. Pharnavaz came to power in Iberia. During the reign of Farnavaz and his immediate descendants, Iberia achieved great power and became a state with significant territories. In the 9th century, a new united state arose on the territory of Georgia, the ruler of which was a king from the Bagrationi dynasty.

8. Greater Armenia, 190 BC e. (Armenia)

The first mentions of Armenia are found in the cuneiform writings of the Persian king Darius I, who reigned in 522-486. BC e., also in Herodotus (5th century BC) and Xenophon (5th century BC). On the maps of the largest historians and geographers of antiquity, Armenia is marked along with Persia, Syria and other ancient states. After the collapse of the empire of Alexander the Great, the Armenian kingdoms arose: Greater Armenia, Lesser Armenia and Sophene.
Greater Armenia, a large state stretching from Palestine to the Caspian Sea, created in 190 BC. Historians call it the first state on the territory of the modern republic.

9. Yamato, 250 (Japan)

Japan is an island nation in East Asia located in the Pacific Ocean on the Japanese Archipelago, consisting of 6,852 islands. According to Japanese legend, in 660 BC. e. Jimmu founded the Land of the Rising Sun and became its first emperor.
The first written mentions of ancient Japan as a single state are contained in historical chronicles of the 1st century AD. e. Chinese Han Empire. In the 3rd century compendium of the Chinese Wei Empire, 30 Japanese countries are mentioned, among which Yamatai is the most powerful. Its ruler, Himiko, is reported to have maintained power using "charms."
From 250 - 538 , Kofun period, the Yamato state emerges. It is assumed that Yamato was a federation.
The Kofun period is so named because of the Kofun mound culture that was prevalent in Japan for five centuries. The photo shows the Daisenryo Mound, the tomb of Emperor Nintoku, early 5th century.

10. Great Bulgaria, 632 (Bulgaria)

Bulgaria is a state in South-Eastern Europe, in the eastern part of the Balkan Peninsula. The first state of the Bulgarians about which accurate historical information has been preserved was Great Bulgaria, a state that united the tribes of the proto-Bulgarians and existed in the Black Sea and Azov steppes for only a few decades from 632 to 671. The capital of the state was the city of Phanagoria, and its founder and ruler was Khan Kubrat. This is where the history of Bulgaria as a state began.

In history, the oldest traces of primitive man’s habitation on the territory of modern Russia date back to about 700 thousand years ago. During the Neolithic era (5-6 thousand years ago), agriculture and cattle breeding became widespread in the south. The beginning of the production of metal and bronze tools dates back to 2-3 thousand years BC.

In the 1st millennium AD Hundreds of Slavic, Turkic, Finno-Ugric, North Caucasian, Tungusic, Chukchi, Aleutian and other tribes lived on a vast territory stretching from Eastern Europe to the Pacific Ocean.

The first mentions of the Slavs (Ants, Sklavins, Rosses or Russ) in Byzantine chronicles date back to the 6th century. AD At this time, dozens of cities already existed on the lands of the Slavic tribal unions, incl. such centers of craft and trade as Murom, Novgorod, Smolensk, etc. In the 6th - early. 9th centuries The army of the Rus repeatedly undertook campaigns against the possessions of Byzantium.

In 879, power in Novgorod passed into the hands of Prince Oleg. He conquered most of the neighboring Slavic tribal unions and proclaimed himself the Grand Duke of Rus'. The capital of the new state was Kyiv - the southernmost of the East Slavic cities, from where Oleg and his successors repeatedly made campaigns against Constantinople (Constantinople).

Under Prince Vladimir, who sought to strengthen his power, Christianity in its Byzantine (Orthodox) interpretation was adopted in Rus' as a single national religion in 988. Yaroslav the Wise (Grand Duke in 1019 - 54, dates of reign are given hereinafter) adopted a code of laws, uniform for all Russian lands, the “Russian Truth”. For the first time, the principle of land ownership was recognized, the order of its inheritance was introduced, and the inequality of different groups of the population was established, which later became the basis of the class, feudal organization of society.

Under Vladimir Monomakh (Grand Duke in 1113-25), an attempt was made to streamline the system of succession to the throne, the vagueness of which caused numerous strife. Nevertheless, the strengthening of the appanage principalities, which were ruled by the descendants of Monomakh, led to the disintegration of the Old Russian state into warring possessions.

In the 12th-14th centuries. The Novgorod Republic, Vladimir-Suzdal, Galicia-Volyn and other principalities especially strengthened. Prince of Vladimir-Suzdal Yuri Dolgoruky (during his reign in 1147 Moscow was mentioned for the first time in chronicles) made a claim to the Kiev throne. His son Andrei Bogolyubsky proclaimed himself the Grand Duke of Rus', moving the capital to Vladimir.

The disunity of Russian lands and internecine wars between them attracted the attention of conquerors from the west and east. The trading city-states of Pskov and Novgorod, which successfully competed in trade in the Baltic with the Hanseatic League of German cities, were attacked by Swedish and German knights. It was repulsed by the squads of Alexander Nevsky (later the Grand Duke of Vladimir), who was elected prince of Novgorod. In 1240, the Battle of the Neva with the Swedes took place, and in 1242, the battle with the German knights on Lake Peipus, known as the Battle of the Ice.

The most serious threat was approaching Russian lands from the east. The Mongols, who conquered the Siberian and Manchu tribes, part of China, the states of Central Asia and subjugated the Turkic peoples (in Rus' they were called Tatars), forced them to send troops to march to the west. In 1237-42, most of the Russian principalities were devastated and conquered, 49 cities were destroyed, 14 of them were never revived. The conquered lands regularly paid tribute to the conquerors - the Golden Horde. A significant part of Western Russian lands came under the rule of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and later - the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.

For almost 250 years, Russian lands were under the rule of the Mongols. The Principality of Moscow, around which in the 14th-16th centuries, played a special role in the victory over them. a centralized state emerged. Under Prince Ivan Danilovich (nickname Kalita, Grand Duke from 1327), Moscow became the religious center of the Russian lands, and the residence of the metropolitan was moved to it. Under the grandson of Ivan Kalita, Dmitry Ivanovich (nickname Donskoy), in 1380 the troops of Moscow and its allied principalities defeated the Horde troops on the Kulikovo field.

The dependence on the Golden Horde was finally ended under Ivan III (1462-1505), who refused to pay tribute to the Mongol khans. The Horde troops did not dare to attack the army of the Moscow principality (Standing on the Ugra, 1480). Ivan III significantly expanded Moscow possessions, annexing to them the Suzdal-Nizhny Novgorod, Yaroslavl and Vyatka lands, Perm, Rostov and Tver principalities. He conquered part of the western Russian lands from Lithuania and subjugated the Novgorod feudal republic. In 1485, Ivan III, retaining the title of Grand Duke of Moscow, began to be called the Sovereign of All Rus'. Under his rule, a single national code of laws was adopted - the Code of Laws; the former independent principalities became counties governed by the governors of Moscow. Under Vasily III (1505-33), Pskov, Smolensk, and Ryazan land became part of the Moscow state.

Ivan IV (1533-84), who went down in history as the Terrible, was crowned king in 1547 and began to be called Tsar. Russia conquered the Kazan and Astrakhan khanates, which considered themselves successors to the Golden Horde. Russia included Chuvashia, Bashkiria, and the Nogai Horde (a state of nomads located between the Volga and Irtysh). Detachments of Cossacks under the leadership of Ermak, equipped with funds from the merchants and industrialists Stroganovs, began advancing into the territory of the Siberian Khanate, which was also annexed to Russia. It became one of the largest states in the world. The country's first printing house, pioneer Ivan Fedorov, appeared, and weapons production expanded.

Under Ivan the Terrible, a system of centralized government began to take shape. An all-Russian advisory body of class representation arose - the Zemsky Sobor. After the introduction of the oprichnina and the execution of many representatives of the boyar-princely nobility, local traditions were weakened, and the role of the bureaucracy increased.

At the turn of the 16th-17th centuries. Russia is going through the Time of Troubles. The desolation of many lands associated with the oprichnina, the unsuccessful Livonian War with the Polish-Lithuanian state and Sweden for access to the Baltic Sea (1558-83) weakened the Russian state. The response to the enslavement of the peasantry (in 1581-97 laws were passed that attached it to the land and increased duties in favor of landowners) was peasant uprisings (Khlopka, Bolotnikov). They were used to their advantage by part of the feudal nobility. The crisis of the dynasty (with the death of Ivan the Terrible's son Fyodor in 1598, the tsar had no direct heirs) opened a period of struggle for power, in which Poland and Sweden intervened. The capture of Moscow by Polish troops, the capitulation of the boyar nobility to them and the threat of Poland's protégé - a Catholic - taking the throne - all this caused mass indignation in Russia, supported by the Orthodox Church. The people's militia, led by K. Minin and D. Pozharsky, liberated Moscow from the Poles in 1612. The Zemsky Sobor, assembled in 1613, elected Mikhail Fedorovich Romanov to the royal throne, this marked the beginning of a new dynasty.

In the 17th century Russia gradually overcame the consequences of the Time of Troubles. Under Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich (1645-76), the Council Code was adopted, which introduced a unified code of norms of state, civil and criminal law, the procedure for legal proceedings, and consolidated the class division of society. Uprisings of townspeople and peasants were suppressed (the largest of them in 1667-71 was led by S. Razin) against the tightening of serfdom and tax policy. After a series of wars with Sweden, Poland, the Crimean Khanate and Turkey, Left Bank Ukraine became part of the Russian state. Russian explorers reached the shores of the Pacific Ocean.

All this paved the way for reforms associated with the name of Peter I (1689-1725). The army was reorganized and the navy was created. Dozens of new manufactories arose that used the labor of serfs. The system of public administration underwent a complete transformation; it became strictly centralized, with a clear distribution of functions between boards (ministries), central and local authorities, and a strict system of subordination. The church became one of the government departments, and the position of patriarch was abolished.

During the reign of Peter I, as a result of Russia's victory in the Northern War (1700-21), the Baltic states, part of Finland and the city of Vyborg passed to it. After the war with Iran, the western shore of the Caspian Sea was annexed. The capital was moved to St. Petersburg, founded in 1703 by order of Peter I, who in 1721 proclaimed himself emperor.

After the death of Peter I, who did not have time to appoint a successor, a time came in Russia that went down in history as a period of palace coups (2nd quarter - mid-18th century). Its completion is associated with the transfer of power to Catherine II the Great (1762-96), who, being a supporter of enlightened absolutism, patronized science, art, trade, and the development of manufactures. The first banks appeared. The principle of religious tolerance was declared, and a judicial system was created, separated from the executive branch. Charters granted to the nobility and cities freed nobles from compulsory service, recognized their estates as their full property, and introduced the foundations of local self-government in provinces, districts and cities. At the same time, the peasantry, who made up the majority of the population, remained completely disenfranchised. This became the cause of one of the largest Cossack-peasant uprisings of 1773-75 under the leadership of E. Pugachev.

Under Catherine the Great, as a result of a series of wars with the Ottoman Empire, the Crimean Khanate and the lands between the Dniester and Bug were annexed to Russia, and Moldavia and Wallachia recognized her patronage. After the divisions of Poland, Western Ukraine and Belarus, part of Lithuania and Courland became part of the Russian Empire.

By the beginning of the 19th century, the Russian Empire became the largest world power. During the wars with Sweden, Turkey and Iran, it annexed Finland and almost all of Transcaucasia. Having repelled the Napoleonic invasion in the Patriotic War of 1812, liberating the countries of Central Europe from the power of Napoleon's empire, Russia became one of the guarantors of the inviolability of the monarchical order on the European continent. She played a significant role in the suppression of revolutionary democratic liberation revolutions in Central and Eastern Europe in 1848-49.

Conservative and protective tendencies also prevailed in the sphere of domestic policy. Under Emperors Alexander I (1801-25) and especially under Nicholas I (1825-55), attempts were made to prevent the spread of liberal democratic and revolutionary ideas in the country. In essence, the deepening crisis of serfdom, which became an obstacle to the implementation of the industrial revolution in the country, was ignored.

The lag behind Western European countries in the development of industry and military equipment was especially evident during the Crimean War (1853-56) between England, France, Turkey and Russia, which ended in its defeat.

Transformations in Russia began under Alexander II (1855-81) with the abolition of serfdom in 1861. Zemstvo self-government and jury trials were introduced, and military reform was carried out. These measures contributed to the rapid growth of industry, trade, and transport. According to the main indicators of their development by the beginning. 20th century The Russian Empire entered the top five leading countries in the world. Its territorial expansion also continued in the 2nd half. 19th century The Bukhara and Khiva khanates entered Russia's sphere of influence, and the Turkestan Governor-General was created.

At the same time, due to the limitations of the reform, which left landownership intact, the problem of peasant land shortage worsened. Changes in economic life and associated social processes (the growth of the stratum of entrepreneurs, an increase in the number of hired workers) were not accompanied by political modernization. Russia remained an absolutist monarchy with a class system. Due to the impossibility of legal expression of opposition sentiments, the revolutionary movement operating underground grew, incl. and resorting to methods of terror (People's Will, Socialist Revolutionaries).

Defeat in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-05 aggravated the situation in the country, which led to the revolution of 1905-07. During the revolution, Russia began to transition to a constitutional monarchy: in 1905, the State Duma was established, and legally functioning political parties were formed. Since the reforms of P.A. Stolypin, a transformation of agrarian relations began: peasants were allowed to leave the community, the economic development of the lands of Asian Russia accelerated. However, the possibilities for the peaceful, evolutionary development of the country could not be used.

Russia's participation in World War I (1914-18) had catastrophic consequences. By 1917, the economy and transport were paralyzed, and the food supply to cities was disrupted. Mass discontent became the cause of the February Revolution of 1917, the autocracy was overthrown. However, it was not possible to create a stable democratic government during the war, and the crisis in the country deepened. Its disintegration into independent national-state formations began. Subsequently, states such as Poland, Finland, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia arose. Bessarabia was occupied by Romania.

In October 1917, power in Russia passed into the hands of the authorities that spontaneously emerged during the revolution - the Soviets, which were controlled by the Bolshevik Party and its allies - the Left Socialist Revolutionaries. The ideology of Bolshevism, developed by V.I. Lenin, was based on Marxism and assumed that the conditions for a socialist revolution were ripe in the world as a whole. In January 1918, the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR) was proclaimed. In 1918, the last Russian Emperor Nicholas II (1894-1917) was executed.

The Civil War of 1917-22 and the intervention contributed to the strict centralization of all levers of economic and political power in the hands of the ruling Bolshevik party (“war communism”). All other political parties and movements were banned. In a completely ruined country in 1921, a new economic policy (NEP) was proclaimed, allowing private enterprise. In December 1922, the republics where Bolshevik power was established (Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and the Transcaucasian Federation) formed the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR).

In conditions when the idea of ​​a “world revolution” did not come true, and the NEP policy came into conflict with the ideology of Bolshevism, a struggle for power unfolded in the ruling party (from 1925 - the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks), from 1952 - the CPSU). The winner was I.V. Stalin is a supporter of the theory of building socialism “in one, separate country.” Stalin's ideas about socialism became the basis of political practice.

Collectivization (socialization) of peasant farms was carried out, as a result of which significant human and material resources were placed under state control and a centralized system for their distribution was created, which made it possible to industrialize the country.

The policy pursued led to enormous human losses. Collectivization was carried out using violent methods and contributed to famine in many areas of the country. A system of severe labor discipline was forcibly introduced. An atmosphere of intolerance towards any dissent was created in the country. Everyone who doubted the wisdom of I.V.’s policies. Stalin and his entourage were proclaimed “enemies of the people” and were subjected to repression, the peak of which came in 1937-38. The exact number of their victims is unknown; according to approximate data, about 800 thousand people were executed, camps from the late 1920s to the beginning. 1950s 18 million people passed. Forced prison labor was widely used in the process of economic modernization.

The industrialization carried out ensured the victory of the Soviet Union in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-45. According to its results, the lands of Western Ukraine and Belarus, Bessarabia (Moldova), and the Baltic states that passed to it in 1939-40 remained within the USSR. The Soviet Union also received part of the former East Prussia (Kaliningrad region), Southern Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands. The price of victory was very high; the USSR lost about 27 million people in the war. Nevertheless, the decisive contribution made by the Soviet Union to the victory over Nazi Germany and its allies and the rapid restoration of the national economy provided the USSR with a significant increase in influence in the international arena.

In con. 1940s - early 1980s The Soviet Union was the center of the system of alliances it created, which competed during the Cold War with the United States and its partners in the struggle for global leadership. The USSR managed to take 2nd place in the world in terms of basic indicators of industrial production, achieve parity in military power with the United States, and finally. 1950s-early 1960s get ahead of them in space exploration.

At the same time, the arms race and participation in local conflicts (the most difficult for the USSR was participation in the war in Afghanistan 1979-89) depleted the country's resources. The need for a transition from an extensive to an intensive type of economic development, the release of the country's creative potential, constrained by a centralized management system, and the final overcoming of the spiritual legacy of Stalinism (its exposure began at the 20th Congress of the CPSU in 1956) determined the inevitability of perestroika. Its initiator was M.S. Gorbachev (since March 1990 - President of the USSR). Measures were taken to improve relations with Western countries, and the Cold War actually ended. The country embarked on the path of democratization, and a multi-party political system began to take shape. Freedom of the press (glasnost) was approved. However, the processes initiated by perestroika went beyond the control of the union center of power. Social problems and interethnic contradictions have worsened in the country. The international system of alliances of the USSR collapsed.

In the history of Russia, on June 12, 1990, the Congress of People's Deputies of the RSFSR adopted the Declaration of State Sovereignty of Russia. In March 1991, the post of President of the RSFSR was established, and B.N. Yeltsin.

In August 1991, opponents of the policy of perestroika attempted a coup, illegally removing the President of the USSR from power. However, the decisive actions of Russian leaders and mass protests of Muscovites led to the failure of the putsch. The actions of its organizers completely discredited the union center of power and the CPSU, which was dissolved.

In December 1991, the leaders of Russia, Ukraine and Belarus signed the Belovezhskaya Accords, according to which the existence of the USSR was terminated and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) was created.

Under President B.N. Yeltsin (1991-99) in Russia, a transition to a market economy was carried out, and large-scale privatization of state property was carried out. The reforms were accompanied by an economic recession, rapid growth of inflation, unemployment, and social stratification of society. The dissatisfaction of a significant part of the people's deputies with the progress of the reforms became the cause of the conflict between the legislative and executive powers, which in the fall of 1993 took the form of armed confrontation in Moscow. In September 1993, the President abolished the Soviet system by decree. On December 12, 1993, the Constitution of the Russian Federation was adopted during a referendum, and elections to the Federal Assembly were held.

Nevertheless, contradictions between the president, the government and the opposition majority of the State Duma prevented the effective solution of society's problems. His policies were increasingly influenced by opportunistic factors and the interests of selfish pressure groups. Russia's economic situation continued to deteriorate. In 1998, a default was declared, i.e. the impossibility of repaying internal and external debt. The country is faced with serious problems in the field of social and interethnic relations. The most painful was the conflict between Russia and the separatist movement in Chechnya, which led to the first (1994-96) and second (1999-2003) Chechen wars.

A new stage in the development of Russia began with the end of the 20th century. The 1999 elections to the State Duma brought success to the pro-government parties Unity and Fatherland - All Russia. December 31, 1999 B.N. Yeltsin resigned as president of the country. The duties of the head of state were entrusted to the head of government (since August 1999) V.V. Putin. In the presidential elections in March 2000, he won a landslide victory over the other candidates.

In the history of Russia, the changed alignment of political forces made it possible to begin correcting the course of reforms and take measures to stabilize the situation in the country. It was possible to strengthen the vertical of executive power, strengthen the legal basis for reforms, and bring criminal and administrative legislation into line with the realities of a market economy. A reform of federal relations has begun, with the goal of achieving a clear redistribution of powers and jurisdiction between government bodies at various levels. To stimulate entrepreneurial activity, taxes were cut; their level in Russia became one of the lowest in the world. Measures to combat the shadow economy and changes in customs policy also contributed to the encouragement of domestic producers.

As a result, it was possible to reverse the trend towards economic decline, foreign debt stopped growing, and the standard of living of the population began to increase.

The degree of predictability and stability of foreign policy has increased. In the 1990s. Russian diplomacy has managed to establish stable relations with most states of the world based on the fact that none of them is a potential enemy. A partnership was established with NATO countries, and agreements were reached on further reductions in strategic arms with the United States.

In the beginning. 21st century Russia's foreign policy has become more pragmatic and less populist. The Russian Federation supported the campaign against international terrorism launched by the United States and treated with understanding the anti-terrorist operation undertaken by the United States in Afghanistan in 2002. Russia, while advocating an increased role for the UN, managed to establish partnerships with the United States and NATO structures. Economic and political ties with the countries of the EU and the Asia-Pacific region have become closer. Specific agreements were reached with the CIS member countries (especially with Belarus, Ukraine, Kazakhstan) on the development and deepening of integration processes.

Sergey Elishev

The deep spiritual and ideological crisis in which modern Russian society has been for several decades has acutely raised the question not only of the further prospects for the revival of Russian statehood, but also of the very fact of the existence of the Russian nation.

In the 20th century, Russia and the Russian people, as the power-forming imperial core ethnic group, experienced a huge number of a wide variety of troubles and vicissitudes, going through a series of serious trials. The revolution of 1917 marked the collapse of traditional Russian statehood and the subsequent establishment of a totalitarian communist regime in our country. The “collapse” of the USSR, inspired largely from outside (a criminal act of arbitrariness on the part of a group of high-ranking officials, comparable to the actions of the “Seven Boyars” during the Time of Troubles) – the dismemberment of the territory of Historical Russia into a number of artificially created state formations to please the West.

The absurdity of the existence of these pseudo-states is confirmed by the absence of a legally resolved issue of drawing state borders between them. Of course, boundaries exist, but only, as V.L. rightly noted. Makhnach: “these borders exist de facto, not de jure.”

Article 1, paragraph 2 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation of 1993 states that: “The name Russian Federation and Russia are equivalent.” However, this provision of the Constitution does not correspond in any way to the real state of affairs. Russian people should differentiate and understand the difference between the concepts of “country” and “state” (the analogues of these categories in English are the concepts of “country” and “state”).

Country (Central Russian “side”) is one of the long-lived categories of political geography. A country is a designation for a political, national, social and cultural state-organized society with an emphasis on its geographical (spatial) position in the world and a particular region. It is a territory with a nation (ethnic group) inhabiting it, historically comprehending it for a long time as its own living space; possessing sovereignty or being under the authority of another state(s). Naturally, it is by no means synonymous with the concept of “state”, since it has a more capacious content, including the concept of a nation, its traditional values, way of life, culture, area and territory of residence.

Country and state do not always coincide territorially. In the course of historical development in a given country, one can repeatedly observe a change in ethnic groups, dominant religions and states while maintaining the territory of the country (Mesopotamia) and even the original name (Egypt).

There may be several government entities on the territory of one country. For example, in relation to the history of Hellas (a single country, in this context and perceived by both contemporaries and their descendants in subsequent centuries), we can observe periods when on its territory there were a large number of independent policies (cities) that were independent of each other. states). Or after its conquest by Rome and its inclusion as one of the provinces of the Roman Empire, there was not a single independent state. In the history of Ancient Egypt, there were periods when a single state broke up first into two parts (Upper and Lower Egypt), and then into nomes (regions - the oldest forms of state formations in Ancient Egypt). After which there was a reverse process of uniting the nomes, first into the same two large states on the territory of one country, and only then into a single state; as well as periods when Egypt was deprived of independence and was under the rule of other states.

Pre-Mongol (Kievan) Rus' (or Gardarika (Country of Cities), as the Scandinavians called this country), was not a single centralized state, but was essentially a confederation of a large number of principalities, each of which was a separate sovereign state on the territory of Rus', i.e. .e. countries. In Germany, before 1871 (the establishment of a unified state), there were also several dozen different state entities. But all this did not stop contemporaries from talking about the territories of these state entities and perceiving them as parts of a single country.

The USSR, from the moment of its creation until its inglorious death, was a large state formation, but it was not a country, insofar as - if any state can be established by a one-time act (for example, the adoption of a constitution), then a country - never (its perception as such is formed over the centuries). It is not without reason that throughout the world, with the exception of the USSR, throughout the entire period of its existence, the country on whose territory it was located was defined as Russia (“Russia”), and its inhabitants and people from it were called “Russians.”

After the dismemberment of the USSR, a catastrophic situation developed in Russia. Historical Russia, as a country, found itself divided between several states. Currently, the areas of compact residence of Russians are by no means limited to the territory of the Russian Federation. The Russian Federation is just one of a number of state entities that arose on the territory of our country after the dismemberment of the USSR. The Russian nation does not have its own full-fledged state. The Russian people found themselves in the position of a virtually “divided” nation.

We don’t know what will happen in the future: will there be a reunification of Historical Russia and the historical territories of the empire into a single state, or will there be another fragmentation of it into smaller state entities. In any case, one thing is clear: the Russian Federation, although it has the most extensive territory of all state entities in the post-Soviet space, is a transitional state entity. And at least for this reason, it is incorrect to call the Russian Federation Russia.

Speaking about what we understand by Russia as a country and state, as well as about further prospects for the development of the Russian nation and statehood, initially, we should define and outline three categories of lands, which we will talk about in the course of our research. In this case we are talking about the territories of Historical Russia as a country; historical territories of the Russian Empire; territories that ended up as part of the USSR (a chimeroid state that arose in the territories of Historical Russia and the territories of the Russian Empire, but naturally is not a country).

Historical Russia is a country within borders close to the borders of the Russian Empire before the First World War, the Soviet Union at the beginning of the Second World War. Historically, Russia in the proper sense of the word includes Great Russia, Little Russia, Belarus, New Russia, Latgale, most of Kazakhstan with part of Turkestan, the areas of Cossack settlement in the Caucasus (Terskaya, Grebenskaya, Kubanskaya), Transnistria, the territory of settlement of Rusyns and Hutsuls, going beyond artificially drawn borders of the Russian Federation. In contrast to this concept, ethnocultural opponents of Russians call the former RSFSR “Russia”.

The historical territories of the Russian Empire include the main part of the Baltic states, most of Turkestan, Moldova (Transnistria), and the Caucasus. For example, the territories that became part of the USSR include East Turkestan, Tuva, South Sakhalin, and the Kuril Islands.

Most of the lands we mentioned are currently part of the CIS states. The process of uniting some Commonwealth states and restoring the territorial integrity of the country, in our opinion, is largely historically predetermined. What role will the Russian Federation play in this process? Perhaps the leader, or maybe not. It’s hard to say: we’ll wait and see. One thing is clear - in order for this to happen, Russian society, first of all, must overcome the discord and disagreements that undermine it from within. This can be achieved in one way - by reviving Orthodoxy in Russia, returning the people to their spiritual roots, studying and paying close attention to their history. Without knowledge of their history and culture, Russians will not be able to restore the greatness of their fatherland. To achieve this at the present time is the primary duty of every Russian person.

An important factor in understanding the possible prospects for the revival of Russian society, statehood and the very fact of the existence of the Russian nation is, of course, a clearly formulated national idea and concept of national development. The main concepts are the concepts of “nation”, “nationalism” and “empire”.

Nations and nationalism.

It should be said that the majority of modern “Russians” perceive the terms “nationalism” and “empire” with a pronounced negative connotation. An empire is usually identified with a special type of state formation, striving for the maximum expansion of its territories, coupled with the merciless exploitation of “enslaved” peoples; nationalism – with chauvinism, anti-Semiticism or Nazism.

In our opinion, such an assessment of these phenomena is a consequence of the inculcation of certain ideological attitudes that have been dominant in our society for several decades. However, the historical experience of the Russian state testifies to the great positive potential of the ideas of nationalism and the ideas of empire.

Let us turn to the concept of “nation”. There are two traditions of interpretation of this concept. “Eastern” tradition and “Western” tradition. In the Western tradition, based on a formational approach to the process of socio-historical development, a nation is a phenomenon characteristic exclusively of New and Contemporary times. The emergence of nations as a historical phenomenon is associated with the formation of a “nation’s state” (national states), as well as with the formation of capitalist relations. The formation of a nation, according to E. Gellner, is a direct result of the beginning of the modernization process, i.e. transition from a traditional agrarian society to an industrial and post-industrial society. Before the process of modernization began, nations as such did not exist.

According to the Western tradition of understanding the nation, it is the next link in the chain of development of human groups: clan - tribe - ethnicity - nation. The concept of a nation in itself is a supra-class concept. A nation as a special human collective is a historically established multi-ethnic community - a collection of subjects of the state. For example, the Spanish nation is ethnically composed of Spaniards, Catalans, and Basques.

The concept of “nation” in the Western tradition is in principle inseparable from the concept of “nation state”. From our point of view, in this tradition, the signs of a nation are the presence of a single culture, national identity and statehood or the desire to acquire such. A person’s nationality is determined not by his ethnicity, but solely by his state and legal affiliation.

National self-awareness, in other words, the ability to recognize oneself as a member of a national collective, is a defining feature of a nation. It arises in modern times, when the usual forms of community of people (clans, workshops, communities) of a corporate nature collapse, a person is left alone with a rapidly changing world and chooses a new supra-class community - a nation. Nations emerge as a result of policies aimed at the coincidence of ethno-cultural and state borders. The political movement of self-affirmation of peoples with a common language and culture as a single whole is nationalism. Nationalism can be unifying (national movements in Germany and Italy in the 19th century) and divisive (national movements in Austria-Hungary in the 19th and 20th centuries).

The concept of nation and nationalism in the Western tradition is an effective tool for studying the social life of the Western world. Unfortunately, many researchers give these concepts a global character and wrongfully apply them to the study of social processes in other regions of the world, which leads to a distortion of the subject of research and causes fair rejection of the results of their research. We join in rejecting the position of Eurocentrism.

Together with such researchers as F. Ratzel, N.Ya. Danilevsky, K.N. Leontyev, O. Spengler, L.N. Gumilyov, we stand on the position of polycentrism. This assumes the presence on Earth of several cultural centers with their own unique appearance and originality of development (Middle East, India, China, Pacific Islands, Eastern Europe). The most surprising circumstance is that all these cultural centers can be described by concepts developed by the “Eastern” tradition of studying social life. The “Eastern” tradition of interpretation of the nation and nationalism is also more suitable for analyzing the social life of Russia.

In the “eastern” tradition (in Eastern Europe and Asia), the concept of nation is synonymous with the concept of ethnicity. A nation is an ethnic group that may include other ethnic groups (according to L.N. Gumilyov - “Xenia”) that share basic national interests. In this tradition, one cannot do without understanding the ethnic nature of the nation, its natural essence, expressed in culture and national character.

According to L.N. According to Gumilyov, ethnos is a stable human community historically formed on the basis of an original stereotype of behavior, a collective of people who have a common self-awareness, some inherent stereotype of behavior and contrast themselves with all other similar groups, on the basis of the subconscious sympathy (antipathy) of people who recognize each other according to the principle of “their own”. - stranger". Ethnicity is manifested in the actions of people and their relationships, which makes it possible to divide into “us” and “strangers”. The uniqueness of an ethnos is not in the language, not in the landscape of the territory it occupies, not in economic structures, but in the way of life and traditions of the people who make it up. Ethnic self-awareness exists throughout the entire historical life of mankind, becoming in the process of nation-building the second plane of national self-awareness.

Each nation has its own unique spiritual image and its own special historical mission. A person’s nationality is determined not so much by his state-legal status as by his self-awareness, which has both an ethnic and a national component.

According to I.A. To Ilyin, nationalism is the instinct of national self-preservation. It is expressed in a certain stereotype of behavior in which the interests of one’s own nation dominate over all others. Accordingly, a nationalist is a person who loves his fatherland and puts its interests at the forefront. This does not imply ill will towards other nations, but emphasizes that the criterion for evaluating the activities of a person or group of people is its compliance with the interests of the nation.

The concept of nationalism is closely related to the concept of patriotism. Patriotism implies love for the Motherland, devotion to it, and the desire to serve its interests through one’s actions. I.A. Ilyin wrote: “The Motherland is the spirit of the people in all its manifestations and creations; nationality denotes the basic originality of this spirit. A nation is a spiritually unique people; patriotism is love for him, for the spirit, his creatures and for the earthly conditions of his life and flowering.” “Nationalism is love for the spirit of one’s people and, moreover, precisely for their spiritual originality.”

Nationalism is an active function of national self-consciousness, but tends to acquire an egoistic connotation. Patriotism is more vague, less socially active, but serves the role of blocking selfish tendencies in national self-awareness. Love for the Fatherland is of a higher order than love for one’s people, since the latter, as a rule, is blind and loves the shortcomings and vices inherent in any people to the same extent as its virtues. Love for the Fatherland has a vertical component, elevating a person from the earthly, material to the spiritual, heavenly. God's grace (energies that a person can receive from God) heals and compensates for the weaknesses and shortcomings inherent in both people and nations. But nationalism - love for the work of the Creator, who made us different, entrusted us with different missions, is no less significant for the healthy spirit of the people.

Chauvinism is an extreme form of nationalism that preaches national exclusivity, superiority, and contrasts the interests of one’s own nation with the interests of other nations to the detriment of the latter.

Nazism is the ideology and practice of racial inequality of peoples, a theoretically developed idea of ​​national superiority, control over all manifestations of people’s social life, and the use of extreme forms of violence.

Zionism is a nationalist ideology and practice associated with the idea of ​​​​relocating all Jews to Mount Zion, characterized by contempt and hatred of other peoples as racially inferior alien “goyim”, messianic expectations, ideas of “national purity”, “living space”

At a certain stage of human development in Western Europe, cosmopolitanism arose - the ideology of the so-called “world citizenship”, which denies national sovereignty and preaches the rejection of national traditions, culture and patriotism.

Later, internationalism arose - an ideology that prioritizes the common interests of the oppressed classes of different nations, manifested in their psychology and voluntary cooperation while maintaining the equality and independence of each of them.

Both cosmopolitanism and internationalism equally negatively perceive everything national. But if internationalism emphasizes the existence of a community of classes, i.e. parts of different nations, then cosmopolitanism emphasizes the insignificance of the nations themselves, the illusory nature of dividing people into nations.

The emergence of chauvinism, Zionism and later Nazism in Western Europe can be seen as a reaction to the emergence of cosmopolitanism and internationalism. As noted by I.L. Solonevich, “the idea of ​​any nationalism is an idea that unites and educates a nation to fulfill its historical mission on earth. From this point of view, chauvinism is a bad education of the nation. Cosmopolitanism is the absence of any education. Internationalism is the hard labor of a nation for purposes alien to it.” Due to the mutual influence of the cultures and peoples of the earth on each other, cosmopolitanism, internationalism, chauvinism and Nazism occur in all cultural regions of the world.

For the analysis of the social and political life of Russia, the “eastern” tradition of interpretation of the nation and nationalism is more suitable.

Nation and state.

The nation as a community and social phenomenon is inextricably linked with certain types of state.

From our point of view, we can distinguish 4 such forms and types of states and the organization of social life of mankind: traditional society, empire, chimera, national state.

Traditional society (not to be confused with “traditional agrarian society”) is a special type of state formation where power belongs to the predominant ethnic, religious, or clan grouping. It can be either a mononational or a multinational state. A distinctive feature of traditional society is tribalism - the policy of providing privileges for representatives of the dominant group to the detriment of the interests of other groups of the population. Social life is shaped by tradition rather than by a power holder, clan, or elite. This type of state and organization of human social life is characteristic of most peoples and societies, including Western European ones (before the advent of nation states).

An empire is a special type of multiethnic and multicultural state formation, the basis of which is the idea of ​​the unity of society in the name of the common good. The characteristic features of the empire are: the presence of an imperial core ethnic group, an imperial elite, a special structure of relations between the metropolis and the province, as well as between the ethnic groups included in the empire.

From the point of view of a long-term strategy for the well-being of its national minorities, an empire is the optimal type of power that unites, under the supervision and patronage of the core imperial ethnic group, ethnic groups of different cultures and customs, preserving their traditional way of life, economic structures, and a system of local self-government.

I.L. Solonevich wrote: “The Empire is the world. Internal national peace. The territory of Rome before the empire was filled with a war of all against all. The territory of Germany before Bismarck was filled with feudal inter-German wars. On the territory of the Russian Empire, all kinds of interethnic wars were stopped, and all peoples could live and work at any end of it.”

Empire is a rather rare phenomenon in world history. Not every nation can create an empire. A necessary condition for its creation can be considered the presence of a certain behavioral stereotype among the core imperial ethnic group. Its essential features are the ability to get along with other ethnic groups, adopt certain skills from them, become related to their representatives, while strictly observing the obligations undertaken to protect and protect friendly ethnic groups from external threats. The internal policy of the empire is characterized by the encouragement of marriages between representatives of the nobility of the core imperial ethnic group and the nobility of other ethnic groups included in the empire, with the aim of forming a single all-imperial nobility, cementing the unity of the empire. Its presence cannot but inspire respect. The burden of building an empire is honorable, although difficult.

The imperial core ethnos is a nation that bears the burden of creating an empire, embodying the idea of ​​​​renouncing national egoism in the name of the interests of the universal whole, implementing the principle of “divide and conquer”, acts as an arbiter in interethnic conflicts within the empire, a defender of national minorities in the face of larger ethnic groups, included in the empire (“small” with “large” versus “medium”).

The fate of the empire is inseparable from the fate of the core imperial ethnos. The completion of the process of ethnogenesis of the imperial core ethnos or its refusal to fulfill the assumed functions and behavioral stereotypes (Turkey) entails the collapse of the empire. Classic empires are the Persian, Roman, Byzantine, and Russian empires.

The term “chimera” was used by L.N. Gumilyov to designate a false ethnic community, a combination of different incompatible systems in one integrity. We have already borrowed and used this term, bringing it into political science in relation to unnatural political and legal regimes. In this case, we will use this term in a slightly different plane.

Chimeras should be understood as a type of non-viable state formation in which a false integrity is artificially created from the ethnic groups included in them (“true Aryans”, “Soviet people”). Chimeras, by their nature, are short-lived. They arise not in the course of the historical process, not in a natural way, but are artificially constructed by ideologists and imposed on the population of states that proudly take on the role of creators of a new “historical community,” encroaching on the replacement of God’s Providence in human history with the wisdom of the human mind damaged by sin. A characteristic point here, however, is that usually in such states one or another chimeroid political and legal regime prevails.

The national identity of the ethnic groups included in the chimeras is ignored, public life is built in the interests of the imposed false integrity of the population of the state. Nationalism is branded as chauvinism and Nazism (USSR) or replaced by Nazism (III Reich).

The nation state is a phenomenon exclusively of the Western world of New and Contemporary times. The formation of national states was the most important condition for the beginning of the modernization process. A special type of Western European civilization (industrial civilization), created during this process, has a certain supranational meaning.

Nationalism in nation states takes on a chauvinistic connotation. Assimilation of ethno-cultural minorities occurs during the cultural aggression of the dominant nation.

According to V.L. Makhnachu, the replacement of a traditional society or empire with national states is a change from “states in which ethnic groups were recognized as nations, to states where ethnic groups were bent into a ram’s horn and turned into members of one nation.”

A nation in a national state was a collection of subjects (monarchy) or citizens (republic). Ethnic interests were relegated to the background, and the interests of the state to which these ethnic groups belonged prevailed. It is significant that the word “nation” has two meanings – “nations” and “states”.

Empire is the destiny of Russia.

A very specific circumstance, in our opinion, is currently that the Constitution of the Russian Federation was written, having before it the Constitutions of the countries of the Western world as models of a “civilized” and “rule of law state”, and therefore bears the stamp of essential features inherent in national states. The preamble to the Constitution of the Russian Federation of 1993 says: “We, the multinational people of the Russian Federation...”. From our point of view, this is a “chimera” in the sense of L.N. Gumilev. Citizens of the Russian Federation must in every possible way resist the attempts of various political forces (both Western liberals and rabid Nazis with their slogan “Russia is for Russians!”) to implement the concept of “nation’s state” in the Russian Federation, constructing, for example, a new nation - “Russians” (in the Western understanding of this term) or force everyone to recognize themselves as “Russians”.

Attempts to construct the concept of a “national state” for Russia are unlawful, if only because approximately 30 percent of the population of the Russian Federation (according to the 1989 census) are non-Russians, and they most likely will not agree to the loss of their own ethnic identity, but are still capable of linking their fate with the fate of Russia, in which Russians are recognized as the core ethnic group that creates and shapes the empire.

It must be taken into account that the entire history of Russia and the Russian people is inextricably linked with the concept of empire. Without exaggeration, we can say that the empire is the destiny of Russia, and the difficult but honorable burden of its creation is the historical mission of the Russian people. It is impossible to say how successful it will be: Russians in their ethnogenesis have not yet emerged from the stage of breakdown. It should be remembered that not all peoples overcame this stage of ethnogenesis.

In the course of historical development, the peoples of the Russian Empire, like the Russian people, also developed an imperial stereotype of behavior. Non-Russian peoples had both love for their ethnic community and devotion to the empire. The Kazan Tatars, just half a century after joining the Russian state, took an active part in the campaign of the Minin and Pozharsky militia against Moscow to liberate it from the Polish invaders.

Currently, the imperial stereotype of behavior of the nations that are part of historical Russia has been weakened or even lost. If the future of Russian statehood should be connected with the empire, which, in our opinion, is inevitable, then the imperial stereotype of behavior must be restored. We associate its restoration with the return of the majority of representatives of the Russian nation to Orthodoxy, which will lead Russia out of the state of economic, political and moral crisis. Among non-Russian peoples, an imperial stereotype of behavior will be developed through the efforts of Russians if they fulfill their obligations to foreigners, and on their part there is no aggressive, chauvinistic rejection of the leading role of Russians.

Religious self-awareness is the basis of any self-awareness, including national one. Outside of religion there can be no nationalism, as well as no ethics and morality. Among peoples at a low level of cultural development, self-awareness is expressed in an instinctive rejection of the alien with a hostile attitude towards him. Among cultural peoples, it allows for the assimilation of certain skills and customs from other peoples.

Russian national identity, inextricably linked with Orthodoxy, organically accepts the idea of ​​​​creating an empire. The concept of the Third Rome, formulated in the 15th century (“Two Romes have fallen, the third stands, but the fourth does not exist.”) is the concept of the successor of the Roman (Byzantine) Empire - the defender of universal Orthodoxy. The goal of creating an empire was brought to Rus' by the universal Orthodox Church. Orthodoxy took deep roots into the soul of our people, and this fusion of Orthodoxy and the national identity of Russians was so strong that the word “Russian” was perceived as a synonym for the word “Orthodox.”

Russian society has discovered internal disharmony since the loss of a certain degree of intense religious feeling among the educated strata of the Russian people, which we associate with the activities of Peter I. The spiritual crisis of Russian society developed throughout the 18th and 19th centuries and led to power in the early 20th century by atheistic forces, and currently continues and causes the presence of economic, political, moral crises of the Russian people.

The way out of the spiritual crisis for the Russian people is in the revival of Orthodoxy in Russia. A necessary condition is to overcome discord and gain unity in the ranks of the Russian Orthodox Church. The Russian Orthodox Church must participate in the political life of Russian society, not limiting itself to formal calls for morality, overcoming the inactivity of the current church nomenklatura, which prohibits clergy from participating in political activities and does not bless the laity for active political service in the interests of the Fatherland.

It is difficult to say within what boundaries the new Russian state can and should find itself. It is natural that the people want to remove artificial borders and restore the territorial integrity of Historical Russia under the wing of a single state. Of course, not necessarily within the borders of the Russian Empire or the USSR: some peoples or states may not want to take this step. As they say free will.

But the forcibly interrupted historical type of development of Russian statehood, which is represented by the Russian Empire, must be restored, and it is the Empire that will best ensure the future of the Russian people, the fulfillment of their aspirations and aspirations. Not only Russians, but most of the peoples of the world believe and want this to happen. Only Rome could destroy Carthage. We are the Third Rome.

Bibliography

V.L. Makhnach, S.O. Elishev, O.S. Sergeev “Russia, which we will return.”, M., Publishing House “Grail”, 2004, p. 14.

I.A. Ilyin “The Path of Spiritual Renewal”, Collection. soch., M. 1993, vol. 1, p. 208.

Ibid., p. 196.

I.L. Solonevich “Political theses of the Russian people’s imperial (staff-captain) movement”, zh. “Our Contemporary”, No. 12, 1992, p. 139.

I.L. Solonevich “People's Monarchy”, M., 1991, p. 15

V.L. Makhnach (transcript of the Round Table “The Conceptual Apparatus of the Project of the National Doctrine of Russia”), M., ROPTs, 1995, p. 12