The Origins of Russia

The Origins of Russia

The country of Russia: enormous, expansive, wide-open. The words that describe this Euro-Asian country can be attributed to its origins from its Slavic inhabitants and the takeover by the Varangians. Kievan Russia, as it was called, started its own civilization in the year 862.

The problem with the origin of the Russian State is that it is exceedingly complex and many theories are based on circumstantial evidence. A good example of this is the early history of the plains above the Black Sea. This region compromises the center of the Kievan State, yet much is unknown about these parts due to the lack of resources. Archaeological finds suggest many ideas, all of which are unconfirmed. The simplest and most accepted belief is that this area was inhabited thousands of years before the Christian era, and played a part as the center for cultural exchanges between groups of nomadic tribes. These tribes led to the beginning of Slavic history.

Little is known about the early inhabitants of the territories which later became Russia. Some archeologists believe that there was human habitation in the area dating to as far back as the Paleolithic Age (about 8000 BCE) . There is a dispute to the earliest reference to these regions. Some sources claim that writings by the Greek in the years 700 BCE uncovered the true natives, the Scythians . Other sources claim that the first historically recorded people were the Cimmerians, who appeared in 1000 BCE . These discrepancies are most likely due to the credibility of chronicles and books published during those times. Be that as it may, in 644 BCE, the Greek established the city Olbia and other centers to trade with the Scythians (who probably were of the sa...

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...y accomplished by moving their borders from a few miles away from Kiev all the way down to the Black Sea in the late 900s. The biggest accomplishment before the year 1000 was in 988 when Vladmir I, ruler of Russia, converted him and his people to Orthodox Christianity. This choice helped set Russia apart from the surrounding tribes of the east and west, while helping the relationship between Russia and Byzantium, and which led the Russian Empire in the right direction for the new millennium.

The origins of Russia is truly not as distinguished as moments such as Vladimir's conversion, or the rule of Peter the Great, yet its impact on Russia is undoubtedly much more important. If not for the year 862, Russia might have been a group of tribes, waiting to be conquered by a western nation. This date is unarguably the single most important year in Russian history.