Kievan Rus

Kievan Rus’ was the earliest East Slavic state dominated by the city called Kiev. According to the Primary Chronicle (the earliest chronicle of Kievan Rus’) a man named Rurikestablished himself in Novgorod in about 860. He was a ruler selected by many Slavic and Finnish tribes. However, the Kievan Rus’ was founded under the rule of Prince Oleg when Novgorod and Kiev were unified. To Understand the rise and the fall of the Kievan Rus’ is important to know its’ economical, political, and social structures.

Starting with the economy, the state’s rapid development was based on its advantageous location; it was near the major lands and water trade routes.  The economy of this feudal [republic] or early [monarchy] was based on foreign trades and agriculture. This is why the location of Kievan Rus’ was important. The habitants of Kievan Rus’ used the Dnieper River for commerce trades. As the development of the Roman Empire, rivers were important for the rise of any city. The Dnieper River facilitated the trade of this East Slavic state to other tribes and cities. Also, the favorable local conditions helped to develop agriculture.  It is not coincidence that when the economy of Kievan Rus’ was getting worse, Kievan Rus’ began to decline. Another important fact to mention is that others classes had to pay a tribute to their princes.

In the area of political system, the original component tribes had no political tradition, so its first rulers were the ones who had economically powerful. Vladimir I was the first ruler to give Rus’ political unity. Kievan Rus’ institutions showed a feudal republic or an early monarchy. There was the Veche (a city assembly), in which this organization resolved all matters on behalf of the population. The Veche was composed of freemen and it decided on questions of war and peace and on the invitation, recognition, or expulsion of a prince. On the top of Kievan Rus’ political institutions with the Veche, there was the Kniaz(prince). The grand prince ruled and dispensed justice with the help of Druzhina. Druzhina were the retainers, who maintained the power of the grand prince by military strength. Another political institution was the Boyars’ Duma (Council of landlords). It was composed by the eldest and the wealthiest people of the tribe. 

Additionally, the succession of the princes was according the ascension from the elder brother to the younger and from the youngest uncle to the eldest nephew. This rotated system of advancement of its members, gave them political experience in the lands they could someday expect to rule from Kiev. Junior members of the dynasty began their official careers as rulers of a minor district, progressed to more lucrative principalities, and then competed for the coveted throne of Kiev.

These junior members of the dynasty got the help of officials and soldiers for their political and military services. In exchange, the officials and the soldiers received income and land from the princes. As the members of ruling clan became more numerous, they identified themselves with regional interests instead of the larger patrimony. Also, another reason of Kievan Rus’ Dynasty fall was that Kievan Rus’ splintered into many principalities and it left Rus’ vulnerable to foreign attach such as the Mongols Invasion on 1236-1240. The principalities never organized a common defense, and in turn each was conquered and pillaged. However, this system did not survive from the Kievan Rus’ fall.

It is also important to mention that one of the reason of the rise of Kievan Rus’ dynasty was because of the conversion of Rus’ into Christianity. Christianity was introduced by Vladimir I, who adopted Greek Orthodoxy from the Byzantines. As we learned from Roman Empire, religion is very important in a society. Vladimir chose Eastern Christianity to destroy [paganism] of the East Slaves. Also, it helped him to have more power and to justify his position as the ruler by God. Moreover, the conversion made an important cultural impact on the Kievan Rus’. Some of the examples are that the written language emerged among the Easter Slavs. Also, there were many types of literatures such as sermons, history, and [hagiography]. Churches, cathedrals, and plazas were some of the types of architecture.

In the social system, there were four major social groups of the Kievan Rus. The Muzhi was the upper class later known as boyars. It was composed by the prince and his family, the Druzhina (retainers), the local aristocracy, and the clergy. After this social class, there was the Liudi, which it was the middle class, urban population. Then, there were the Smerdy (free peasants), and the slaves. Having this kind of social system, it is understandable how the prince had the complete power over some place, and over the other classes. It is also reasonable, that if a junior member is ascended to become a prince of a bigger city, maybe he wanted or did not want to leave his previous place. On the contrary, if a junior member was so ambitious, he could do anything to gain power with the help of the  Druzhina.

The bad economy, the separation of the regions or cities of Kievan Rus’ made this dynasty fall. It was vulnerable to the invasion of Mongols. However, these are not the only reasons of why Kievan Rus’ ended by the beginning of 13^th century.