Slavonic Tribes in the 4th-7th Centuries

By William Smith

Slavonic tribes had lived in Central and Eastern Europe, to the east of the Germanic tribes during many centuries. In the 6th century they 1) occ_pied vast 2) territor_es stretching from the river Labe to the upper 3) re_ches of the Volga and the Don, and from the Baltic Sea to the Danube and the Black Sea. Land 4) c_ltivation had been the Slavs' main occupation from time immemorial. They also bred 5) ca_tle, went 6) h_nting and gathered the honey of wild 7) be_s.

The Slavs lived in 1) _______ surrounded with wooden stockades, earth banks and moats. In 2) _______ times the Slavs lived in clans united into 3) _______. As was the case with Germanic tribes, the Slavs' tribal 4) _______ were superceded by neighbours' communities. Then 5) _______ of the community members grew rich and the best 6) _______ fell into the hands of the elders and military chiefs. A Slavonic military chief was called a 7) _______.

In wartime the princes and their troops 1) (seizes, seized) most of the booty and grew rich. The frequent campaigns forced the ordinary members of the community to 2) (went, go) away from their farms for 3) (much, many) weeks at a time. As 4) (the, a) result they grew 5) (poorer and poorer, poorest and poorest) and eventually became destitute. By the 7th century the Slavonic tribes had divided up into three branches: the Eastern, Western and Southern Slavs. The Eastern Slavs lived to the east of the rivers Vistula and Dnestr. They were ancestors of 6) (third, three) great fraternal peoples: the Russians, the Ukrainians and the Belarusians.

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From the History Today

31.12.2006

Kyiv Rus

By Andrew Solovdin

The state of the Eastern Slavs, the Kyiv Rus, was 1) fo_med in the 9th century with its capital in the city of Kyiv. The 2) basi_ of this state was formed by a 3) tr_be of Polyanye, called Rus. The majority of Eastern Slav tribes 4) _nited around this tribe in the 9th-11th centuries.The Kyiv princes had a big 5) a_my and many ships. They undertook 6) campai_ns to the shores of the Black and Caspian Seas. Russian 7) m_rchants traded with the European and eastern countries.

The Grand Duke of Kyiv was the supreme 1) _______. The druzhina, his garrison, was divided 2) _______elders (the Boyars and the Duke's men) and the juniors (the gridi and 3)_______). The grand Duke's garrison took 4) ________ in discussing state affairs. Rudimentary 5) ________ of a slave system existed in Kyiv Rus, but they never developed further. The growth of the productive 6) _______ provided the basis for the development of 7)__________ relations in Kyiv Rus.

The crafts were developing and were gradually 1) (breaking away, break away) from agriculture. In time the towns 2) (become, became) the centres of crafts. In this respect Kyiv Rus superceded Western Europe, where this process 3) (will take, took) shape during the period of developed feudal relations. 4) (A, The) Chronicles note the existence of 89 towns in the 11th-century Rus. Over 60 different trades 5) (knew, were known) in the 12th century Russian towns and over 150 different articles of iron and steel were manufactured. However, the insufficient social division of labour and the natural type of economy 6) (is held, held) back the development of home trade. In the 11th and early 12th centuries Kyiv Rus was a powerful, economically developing state.

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From The Guardian

12.03. 2010