Lesson one focus on russia’s history Text 1. The Setting of Russian History

The continent of Eurasia is the largest landmass on earth. It consists of two distinct regions. Around the eastern, southern and western edges of Eurasia, there are several coastal sub-continents: China, South-East Asia, India, the Middle East and Europe. Most of the population of Eurasia has always lived in this region as it enjoys warmer climates and is well watered. As a result, the coastal civilizations of China, India, the Middle East and the Mediterranean dominated the history of the entire continent.

At the heart of Eurasia, there lies a vast flatland, the largest in the world. It stretches from the Arctic Sea to the arc of mountains that extends from the Balkans, through the Caucasus and Tien Shan ranges, to northeast China. The history of Russia was enacted on this stage.

Settled agriculture was harder in the cold, dry heartland of the region. For this reason, the societies remained nomadic or semi-nomadic for a long time and their populations remained smaller. Until the middle of the first millennium of the modern era, most people lived in small societies of nomadic gatherers and hunters, though some also engaged in small-scale farming. Their wealth consisted of large herds of livestock. Scythians, Huns, and Turks created empires that squeezed tributes from local populations of farmers, traders and other pastoralists.

While pastoral nomads ruled the steppelands, agriculture spread most rapidly in the south and west, in the regions dominated today by European Russia, Belarus and Ukraine. Here the local populations included Finnic-speaking natives and growing numbers of Slavonic-speaking immigrants from the south and west. During the first millennium AD, the region to the west of the Urals became the largest consolidated farming area.

By the 9^th century the forest lands west of the Urals were a region of many small chiefdoms.

Their people lived in villages and fortified townships or grady, so that visiting Scandinavian merchants called the area Gardariki, “the land of forts”. Its people lived off farming and from fishing, hunting and forest products such as firs and honey. Occasionally, they raided neighbouring tribes for goods or slaves. Many paid tributes to pastoral nomadic peoples to the south and east, such as the Khazars, Pechenegs and Polovtsians. Much about this region is reminiscent of 17^th and 18^th century Africa, or 17^th century Canada.

landmass – огромная часть суши

edge – зд. граница

sub-continent – субконтинент ( mass of land large enough to be regarded as a separate continent but forming part of a larger mass)

to stretch = to extend

arc (of mountains) – горный массив, горная цепь

range, n – цепь (гор)

nomad ['nou…] – кочевник

nomadic – кочевой, кочующий

semi-nomadic – полукочевой

gatherer – собиратель

herds if livestock – стадо домашнего скота

to squeeze – вымогать

tribute – дань

pastoral – зд. овцеводы; пастухи

pastoralist – скотоводы

AD - anno Domini лат. нашей эры

to consolidate – объединять (ся)

native, n – уроженец; туземец; коренной житель

chiefdom –поместье; удельное княжество

fort – форт, крепость, укрепление

fortify – сооружать укрепления (крепости)

township – маленький городок или деревня, входившая в состав большого поселка

merchant – купец

to live off – жить за счет

occasionally – иногда, время от времени

to raid – совершать набеги

be reminiscent – напоминать

country

adjective

person

nation

Russia

Scandinavia

China

Ukraine

Belarus

Turkey

- Russian

- Scandinavian

- Chinese

- Ukrainian

- Belarusian

- Turkish

- a Russian

- a Scandinavian

- a Chinese

- a Ukrainian

- a Belarusian

- a Turk

- the Russians

- the Scandinavians

- the Chinese

- the Ukrainians

- the Belarusians

- the Turks