Where does Russia come from

wherein did Russia come from,

why is it so big,

and what are the variations between it and its neighbors?

The answers lie in an epic tale of seafaring warriors,

nomadic invaders,

and the upward thrust and fall of a medieval kingdom referred to as Kievan Rus.

inside the first millennium,

a big organization of tribes unfold via the dense woodlands of jap Europe.

due to the fact that they had no writing system,

a great deal of what we understand approximately them comes from three essential resources:

archaeological evidence,

money owed from literate students of the Roman Empire and the center East,

and, lastly, an epic history known as the primary Chronicle

compiled inside the 12th century via a monk named Nestor.

What they inform us is that those tribes who shared a not unusual Slavic language

and polytheistic faith

had by using the 7th century split into western, southern and jap branches,

the latter stretching from the Dniester River

to the Volga and the Baltic Sea.

As Nestor's story is going, after years of subjugation via Vikings from the north,

who, with the aid of the manner, did no longer wear horned helmets in war,

the region's tribes revolted and drove returned the Northmen,

but left to their own devices, they grew to become on each other.

Such chaos ensued that, sarcastically,

the tribes reached out to the foreigners they'd simply expelled,

inviting them to return and set up order.

The Vikings frequent, sending a prince named Rurik and his brothers to rule.

With Rurik's son, Oleg, expanding his realm into the south,

and transferring the capitol to Kiev,

a former outpost of the Khazar Empire,

the Kievan Rus turned into born,

"Rus" most likely deriving from an old Norse word for "the guys who row."

the brand new princedom had complicated members of the family with its neighbors,

alternating between alliance and battle with the Khazar and Byzantine Empires,

in addition to neighboring tribes.

faith performed an crucial position in politics,

and because the legend is going, in 987,

the Rus prince Vladamir I decided it turned into time to desert Slavic paganism,

and sent emissaries to discover neighboring faiths.

remove by Islam's prohibition on alcohol

and Judaism's expulsion from its holy land,

the ruler settled on Orthodox Christianity

after hearing unusual money owed of its ceremonies.

With Vladimir's conversion and marriage to the Byzantine emperor's sister,

in addition to endured trade along the Volga route,

the connection among the 2 civilizations deepened.

Byzantine missionaries created an alphabet for Slavic languages

based totally on a changed Greek script

whilst Rus Viking warriors served as the Byzantine Emperor's elite defend.

For several generations,

the Kievan Rus flourished from its wealthy sources and change.

Its noblemen and noblewomen married outstanding european rulers,

even as citizens of a few cities enjoyed remarkable way of life,

literacy, and even democratic freedoms unusual for the time.

but nothing lasts for all time.

Fratricidal disputes over succession started out to erode significant strength

as more and more unbiased cities ruled by rival princes vied for manage.

The Fourth crusade and decline of Constantinople

devastated the alternate vital to Rus wealth and electricity,

whilst Teutonic crusaders threatened northern territories.

The very last blow, however, might come from the east.

fed on by way of their squabbles,

Rus princes paid little interest to the rumors

of a mysterious unstoppable hoard

until 1237, whilst 35,000 mounted archers led by using Batu Khan

swept thru the Rus towns,

sacking Kiev earlier than persevering with directly to Hungary and Poland.

The age of Kievan Rus had come to an stop, its people now divided.

in the east, which remained under Mongol rule,

a remote buying and selling post, known as Moscow,

could develop to venture the electricity of the Khans,

conquering components in their fragmenting empire,

and, in lots of ways, succeeding it.

because it absorbed other japanese Rus territories,

it reclaimed the vintage name in its Greek form, Ruscia.

in the meantime, the western regions whose leaders had prevented destruction

thru political maneuvering until the hoard withdrew

came below the influence of Poland and Lithuania.

For the following couple of centuries,

the previous lands of Kievan Rus

populated by Slavs,

ruled by using Vikings,

taught by using Greeks,

and cut up by way of Mongols

might expand differences in society, subculture and language

that remain to the modern.