In the article "Slavs on the Threshold of Statehood" we have outlined the important moments of the beginning of the formation among the Slavs of a pre-state mechanism and foreign policy situation.
With the beginning of the 7th century, a new migration movement of the Slavs began, who occupied the entire Balkan Peninsula (see map), the territory of the eastern Alps, began to develop the territories of modern East Germany and the coastal territory of the Baltic Sea.
In the same period, the most famous and iconic early state union of the Slavs, the Kingdom of Samo, was formed.
First. It should be understood that, from a scientific point of view, the formation of a state is a long process; in the twentieth century, historians have identified a number of the most important stages of pre-state and early state formations, parallels with formations. True, work in this direction continues. This is primarily about the European peoples.
Considering the state only as an institution of violence is a thing of the past; first of all, these are the mechanisms necessary for governance and security, necessary for the society itself. It was they who contributed to the formation of early state formations (a term that we will repeat more than once, speaking of the beginning of statehood among the Slavs).
Second. In a series of articles posted on "VO", we step by step examined the development of the Slavs, described in modern scientific historiography.
Let us repeat again: the conditional lag of the Slavs from their Indo-European counterparts, for example, the East Germans, was associated with the later formation of the Slavs as an ethnic group, powerful enemies also slowed down this development (Goths, Huns, Avars), but, having gone through a series of historical vicissitudes, the Slavs approached the formation of early states.
Once again about the prerequisites
The defeat suffered by the "nomadic empire" of the Avars near Constantinople was the catalyst for the beginning of the collapse of this steppe state. This is reflected in archeology: the burial grounds of this period are sharply poorer than the previous one, and this occurs until the 70s of the 7th century. (Dime F., Somogii P.).
The actions of the Slavs and Bulgars against the Avar hegemony in the Danube began in the 20s of the 7th century, even before the campaign of the Kagan against Constantinople. And the Avars themselves were far from ethnic unity, since the formation of this community took place during the movement of the Avars or "pseudo-Avars" from Central Asia to the steppes of Eastern Europe, and a large number of other tribes joined them. Hungary differs in detail from settlement to settlement. This is indirectly evidenced by the events of 602, when part of the Avars passed to the Byzantine emperor.
Often in the scientific literature there is an opinion about the incipient symbiosis of the Avars with the Slavs, that Byzantine authors often confused one and the other, calling the Slavs in submission Avars. As if supporting these arguments, Fredegar's story that the uprising against the Avars was raised by the children of Slavs born of the Avars. This story is more reminiscent of a “flying plot” than a reflection of real events: it was the “yoke” itself, which was of an extremely difficult nature, that was the reason for the Slavic movement against the Avars.
Actually, this consumer attitude towards human resources stemmed from the Avar system itself, and was quite typical for this period. We have the opportunity to reconstruct this system based on the data on the power of the Turks.
The Turks, who received their first state "experience" within the state of the Jujans or Avars, being their "slaves", had the following state structure.
The duty of the kagan is to take care of his people day and night, to expand its borders and wealth. The world seems to be divided into its own "state" and into enemies who can either become "slaves" of varying degrees and levels, or perish. So, both the Antes and Byzantium paid "tribute" to the Avars.
On the territory of Pannonia were dependent on the Avars, but privileged in the 7th century. territories in the area of Lake Balaton, known as the Keszthean (Kestel) culture with the artisan Roman population (A. K. Ambroz).
But this did not change the main paradigm: all the subordinate tribes of the Bulgars, Gepids and Slavs, the local romanized population and the resettled inhabitants of Byzantium were considered "slaves" of the Avars.
At the same time, the overwhelming majority of "subjects" (υπήκóους) were precisely the Slavs, as indicated by archaeological data (Sedov V. V.).
It is not necessary to confuse complete slavery and the institution of subordination, which has a similar name. When the Turkic Yshbar Kagan at the end of the 6th century was offered to become a vassal of the Sui emperor Kin-tse, they explained to him this concept, which he could not perceive: “a vassal in the kingdom of Sui means the same as our word slave” (Bichurin N. Ya.).
Violence as an element of control was key in the structure of the Avar kagan, which stemmed from the idea of the structure of the "state" and the world, and it is natural that at the slightest weakening of their primitive military-clan structure, the subordinate peoples immediately rebelled or fell away. What happened in the 20s-30s of the 7th century.
Alpine Slavs
The migration of the Slavs of the Slovenian group to the Eastern Alps began in the 50s of the 6th century, firstly, due to the resettlement of the Lombards from Panonia to Italy, and secondly, under the influence and pressure of the Avars. Here, at the crossroads of strategic roads, the Principality of Karantana is formed, now the territory of Slovenia, some territories of the alpine part of Austria and Italy. Here the Slovenian alliance was forced to interact in different ways with militarily powerful neighbors: the Avars, Lombards and Franks. Already in 599 the Avars stood up for the Slavs living in the upper reaches of the Drava River, in the Eastern Alps, in the struggle against the early state formation of the Bavars. And in 605 an army from the Slavs across these borders was sent by the kagan to Italy to the Lombards. They were obviously not from these areas, since these lands for some time fell into dependence on the Friulian duke, that is, the Lombards.
In 611 or 612, the Alpine Slavs were already able to independently attack the Bavarians from Tyrol. The Bavars were a powerful tribal union that successfully fought the Franks dominating Western Europe.
A number of campaigns that we know about testify to the growth of the military power of the Alpine Slavs, who make campaigns against strong neighbors.
The unification process was going on in this part of the Slavic world, but the transition to statehood, as elsewhere, was restrained by archaic tribal relations: the transition to a territorial community had not yet taken place.
In the 30s of the 7th century. this early state formation was included or joined to the first Slavic state of Samo, and after the collapse of this association, it tries to act independently among more powerful political and military state associations.
Western Slavs
When we talk about the western direction of migration, first of all, we are talking about the colonization flow of Slavins or Sklavins, who formed a community of Alpine and Western Slavs, with the subsequent arrival of Antic tribal groups here.
In the 6th century, the Slavs (Prague-Korchak archaeological culture) advanced into the middle course of the Elbe (Laba), and in the 7th century. on the right tributary of the Elbe - the Havel (in Serbian - Gavola) and the tributary of the latter - the Spree (there is Berlin on these rivers). The Slavic tribes of the Tornowska culture or the Lusatians and the Ryusen culture - the Sorbs (Serbs) occupy, respectively, Luzhitsa, and the Sorbs occupy the territory between the Saale (both banks) and the Elbe. Thus, two Slavic ethnic groups were formed in this area. Sorbs or Serbs, obviously part of the Antic tribes, enter into military clashes with the Slovenes who settled here, for example, the fortification of Thorns (a settlement in the Spree River basin) was built on the site of a burnt-out settlement.
The warlike Sorbs became "vassals" of the kingdom of the Franks and took part in its struggle against the unconquered Germanic tribes, probably, this dependence was nominal. And during the formation of the super-union of tribesmen, the prince (dux) Dervan "surrendered himself with his people to the kingdom of Samo." Thus, the newly formed Slavic proto-states could immediately measure their strength with the Germanic tribal unions. A little later, the Saxons, who consumed gifts from the Franks for the struggle with the Slavs, did not take part in it or did not dare to participate in it.
This prince is just one of the leaders of the resettlement movement. The possible etymology of his name is interesting: Dervan, - * dervьnь, ‘old, senior.
Formation of the first Slavic state
In the 1920s, a movement of the Slavs began in the west of the Avar Kaganate, which resulted in an uprising against the Kagan almost simultaneously with the events during the siege of Constantinople, when the Slavic army left the battlefield first, causing the Kagan to leave.
This movement, which arose on the western outskirts of the Avars, did not bother them at first, since at this time they were undertaking a powerful military enterprise against Constantinople, but the defeat at the Byzantine capital and the military pressure from the Slavs changed the situation.
So, the Slavs set out on a campaign against the Avar rulers, at the same time, as Fredegar writes, the only source for these events, merchants from the Franks come to them, that is, from the territory of the former Western Roman Empire, which was conquered by the Franks during the previous century. with the participation of the Tyurinogs, Burgundians, etc. Merchants sold weapons and horse equipment to the Slavs, and given the beginning of the war, these things were probably in great demand:
“Several hundred Merovingian swords of Frankish and Alaman production of the 5th-7th centuries were found in different countries. They were made using a rather sophisticated method."
(Cardini F.)
These merchants were headed by a certain Samo. It is believed that he was not a Frank proper (who were not engaged in trade), but a subject of the "barbarian kingdom" of the Merovingians, a Gaul (Celtic) or a Galorimlian, there is even a mention in an anonymous Salzburg treatise of the 9th century. "Conversion of the Bavars and Quarantines" that he, in fact, was a Slav. This gives the researchers a reason to put forward, of course, a contested version that Itself is not a proper name, but a title similar to the term "autocratic".
And this Samo joined the Slavic campaign, the merchant business in the early Middle Ages was a risky craft, Fredegar later reports how the Slavs robbed the Frankish merchants, so there is nothing surprising in the fact that the merchants were both warriors. “However, even those merchants of the early period,” wrote A. Ya. Gurevich, - who did not engage in robbery were not devoid of belligerence."
Himself, who joined the enterprise, which promised many benefits, proved himself in the war and was chosen as a leader or "king."
The Slavs, subjects of the Avars, had their own tribal organization and army, but it seems that they did not have permanent military leaders, and the leaders appeared during campaigns and raids. Himself, who went with them on a campaign against the Avars, acted very actively in the battle. As a result, the Slavs, completely in the traditions of tribal rule of the people and taking into account its "usefulness" (utilitas), elected Himself a prince or king (rex), whom they headed for 35 years (Lovmyanskiy Kh.).
There is still no exact data where the territory of these Slavs was located, it is clear that they went to the borders of the Franks, Thuringians, Alpine Slavs and Sorbs (Serbs). But it is also difficult to agree with the fact that these were exclusively Western or part of the South Slavs, who were not so strongly subordinated to the Avars, as those who lived with them. As Pavel Deacon wrote, when the Bavars attacked the Alpine Slavs living in the upper reaches of the Drava River, the Avars came to their aid, having overcome a huge distance, so that the distances were not an insurmountable obstacle.
Based, firstly, on the understanding of the structure of the nomadic "proto-state", and, secondly, on the information that the deposition from the kaganate was caused by direct "torture", that is, the presence of the Avars on the territory of Slavic settlements in the winter go only about those Slavs who were not just "tributaries", but a conquered tribe of "slaves".
The liberation of the Slavs was achieved as a result of their repeated battles under the leadership of Samo and ended by 630. Fredegar writes about the campaigns, it can be assumed that these campaigns were to be made precisely in the area of the Avar nomads.
It is important that the war on the part of the Slavs was fought by the entire tribal army, judging by the further developments after the death of Samo, there was no druzhina organization. But, given the different types of equipment and weapons of the Slavs and Avars, this struggle was not easy.
Thus, the first state or proto-state union of the Slavs was formed in approximately a large territory of Moravia, parts of the Czech Republic and Slovakia, Austria, as well as the lands of the Lusatian Serbs and Alpine Slavs. Of course, given the historical realities, it was most likely a union of tribal unions, not a state, a "confederation" to which different tribes joined and fell away (Petrukhin V. Ya.).
So, we can say that after the first attempt to create a super-union of God by the Slavs-Antes in an outwardly unfavorable environment, the first Slavic "state" arose.
This state, or proto-state formation, had to immediately start military operations against its neighbors, however, the war at this stage was the most important component of its formation.
It so happened that the Slavs killed a group of merchants on their territory. The incident with the murder of Frankish merchants sparked hostilities between the new entity and the Frankish state. The arrogant ambassador of the Franks, Sycharius, personally insulted Samo, in response to his moderate words he said:
"It is impossible that Christians and servants of God could establish friendship with dogs."
He himself objected:
"If you are God's servants, and we are dogs of God, then, while you constantly act against Him, we are allowed to torment you with bites."
And Sycharius was expelled. Nevertheless, it can be assumed that Samo did not strive for clashes, even in the conditions that the Franks, after the victory over the Avars as allies, were not needed by the Slavs, as some researchers argue.
Rather, the properties for which he himself was chosen implied rationality in relations with neighbors, but the king of the Franks decided differently.
Dagobert I (603-639) moved an army from all over his country against the Slavs, he also hired Lombards for a fee, Alemanni dependent on the Franks also took part in the campaign.
If the Lombards and Alemanni, most likely, raided the lands of the Slavs, the first, most likely, on the neighboring Alpine Slavs, and left home with a large population, then the Franks invaded the territory of the state of Samo. Here he laid siege to the Venids (Slavs) in the Vogastisburk fortress. It is not known where this fortress was located: some researchers believe that on the site of modern Bratislava, others, objecting to them, note that Bratislava is located far from the alleged theater of military operations, there are three more hypotheses for its location: in North-West Bohemia and Franconia, but none of them is confirmed archaeologically, on the Rubin mountain near Podborzany in North-West Bohemia, a powerful fortification was excavated, which can be associated with Vogastisburk, finally, this castrum could be in the land of Sorbs, where we have many fortified settlements of this period, including including Forberg or Thorns with a rampart 10-14 meters high and a moat 5-8 m long.
The Slavs who settled in the "castle" showed active resistance, and "many of Dagobert's troops were destroyed there by the sword," which forced the king's army to flee, abandoning "all tents and things."
In response, the Slavs began to make successful raids on Thuringia, and the Sorbs of Dervan also participated in this as the closest neighbors of the Germans who joined the Samo alliance. The border of the Frankish state was open until 633-634, when, after trying to attract the Saxons to fight the Slavs, Dagobert organized the defense of the borders by the forces of the central government, solving not only the issue of combating invasions, but also ensuring the subordination of the Thuringians.
Border clashes become permanent, presumably during this period the construction of castles with powerful fortifications began among the Western Slavs.
The active actions of the Slavs were also possible because, most likely after the victories of the tributary-Slavs, other Avar "slaves" entered the struggle against the Avars or for hegemony in Pannonia - Bulgars or Proto-Bulgarians, descendants of the Utigurs and Kutrigurs, or only Kutrigurs, tribes conquered aliens from Altai (Artamonov M. I., Vernadsky G. V.).
These events take place in 631-633, the Avars defended their right to be the main ones in the Danube, the Bulgars fled: some to the Black Sea steppes to related tribes, others in the amount of ten thousand people, with wives and children, through the possessions of the Slavs, to the Bavars, where they were all killed one night. Only Altsioka survived with seven hundred soldiers, and their wives and children, they went to the Alpine Slavs and lived there with their prince Valukka (etymology: * vladyka or vel'kъ, ‘great, old), later moving to Italy, about which Paul the Deacon wrote.
However, in 658 Samo died, the early state of the Slavs, headed by him, disintegrated. He had 12 Slavic wives, 22 sons and 15 daughters.
Why was the life of this first Slavic association so fleeting?
As anthropologists note, in the event of the termination of the external threat, the need to take over the control functions from the side of the military elite was a widespread condition. These leadership functions justify the existence of military power in the eyes of society, in conditions of peace. But if this does not happen, then in the case of a decrease in the external threat and even when the death of an authoritarian military leader occurs, the disintegration of such an alliance is inevitable, which happened to the state itself (“authoritarian” does not have a negative content here).
The tribes themselves were ruled by the heads of clans - the elders, the prince was needed to unite military efforts, we have no data about the presence of our own squads, of course, Samo also had some kind of military detachment, but this was not a German squad of this period, therefore the death of the prince entailed the end of the union follows.
In the second half of the 7th century. there was a weakening of the Slovenian principality (Carantania), the disintegration of the Serbian and Croatian union into separate archonties (Naumov E. P.).
It is precisely this weakness of the early pre-state institutions among the Slavs in the middle of the 7th century. made it possible for the Avar state to recover and regain power over many Slavic associations, although, of course, not on so many harsh conditions as before. "The reason that the Avar government survived the crisis," writes the archaeologist F. Daim, "is quite rightly found in the weakness of its neighbors."
But the beginning of the Slavic states was laid.
Sources and Literature:
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The Chronicle of Fredegar. Translation, comments and entry. Article by G. A. Schmidt SPb., 2015.
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