Slavic tribes as one people

The peoples inhabiting large areas of Central and Eastern Europe, Siberia, Central Asia, the Balkan Peninsula speak languages that have similarities in sound composition and grammatical structure. It is this similarity that is an important manifestation of their kinship.

All these peoples are considered Slavic. Depending on the language class, it is customary to single out 3 groups: East Slavic, West Slavic and South Slavic.

It is customary to refer the Ukrainian, Belarusian and Russian languages to the Eastern Slavic category.

To the West Slavic - Macedonian, Bulgarian, Slovenian, Serbo-Croatian.

To the West Slavic - Slovak, Czech, Polish, Upper and Lower Sorbian.

All Slavic tribes had a linguistic similarity, so we can judge that in ancient times there was a single tribe or several large groups that gave rise to the Slavic people.

The first mention of a single settlement belongs to ancient writers (the first century AD). However, archaeological excavations allow us to speak about a more ancient people. According to the fossils, it can be judged that the Slavic tribes occupied the territory of Eastern Europe for many millennia before our era. However, for some reason, a single people had to look for new lands for living.

The settlement of the Slavic tribes occurred in the era of the "great migration of peoples". This was mainly due to the changing social and economic conditions of life.

During this period, a new tool for the cultivation of land arose, so it became possible to cultivate the land as a separate family, rather than as a whole community. In addition, the constant growth of the population required the expansion of land for the production of food. Frequent wars pushed the Slavic tribes to seize new, cultivated and fertile lands. Therefore, during the military victories, some of the one people remained on the occupied territory.

East Slavic tribes are the most numerous group of Slavs.

These include:

- vyatichi. They settled on the upper and middle reaches of the Oka. It was this tribe that retained its identity longer than others. For a long time they did not have princes, public mode was characterized by democracy and self-government;

- Dregovichi. They settled between the Western Dvina and Pripyat. The name comes from the word "dregea", which means "swampy terrain". On the territory of this tribe formed the Turovo-Pinsk principality;

- krivichi. They settled along the banks of the Dnieper, the Volga, and the Western Dvina. The name was derived from the word "roof", ie. "Blood relatives". The center of this tribe was the city of Polotsk. The last leader of the Krivich was Rogvolod, who, together with his sons, was killed by the Novgorod prince Vladimir. After this incident Vladimir took his wife Rogvolod's daughter, thereby unifying Novgorod and Polotsk;

- Radimichi - a tribe that lived between the rivers of Desna and the Dnieper;

- Tiberians. They lived near the Black Sea coast between the Danube and the Dnieper. Their main occupation was agriculture;

- Croats. Lived on the banks of the San River. They were called white Croats. Engaged in cattle breeding;

- Vislyane. They occupied the territory of modern Krakow. After the conquest, the meadows were included in Poland;

- Luzhichans. They lived in the territory of Lower and Upper Lusatia, in the territory of modern Germany. Today the Lusatian Serbs (the descendants of the Lusitanians) are among the national minorities of the Federal Republic;

- Slovenian. Lived in the basin of Lake Ilmen and the Current of Mologa. The Slovenes constituted a significant part of the Novgorod population;

- Call them. They lived along the Southern Bug and the lower reaches of the Dnieper. This tribe for a long time struggled for its independence with Kievan Rus, but was forced to enter into its composition.

Thus, the Slavic tribes are an important ethnic group, play a significant role in the history of Europe and the formation of modern states.