The official date is considered to be 862. It is immortalized in the monument in Veliky Novgorod "Millennium of Russia", erected in 1862. But there are doubts both in the date itself and in the meaning of the event, which is traditionally taken as the starting point of the history of Russia.
When Russia was so nicknamed
In the summer of the 6370s according to the ancient Russian chronicles, that is, in 862 according to our chronology, the Varangian kings Rurik and their brothers came to reign in Novgorod (according to some lists - first to Ladoga, then to Novgorod), having been invited there by the Slovenes, as well as Chudyu, merey, all and krivichi. From that time on, medieval Russian chroniclers led the beginning of the Rurik dynasty. And the dynasty in those days was considered the main component of the state.
In no foreign sources, including the Scandinavian sagas, which, it would seem, should have devoted special attention to this event, there is no confirmation of the legend of the vocation. In some of these years, the glorious Rorik of Jutland (aka Friesland) is mentioned, but there is not the slightest indication that he reigned in the Slavic lands.
But even if it was so, what is the basis for placing this particular event at the beginning of Russian statehood? After all, it is obvious: if the Slovenes and other tribes mentioned in the ancient Russian "Tale of Bygone Years" invited Rurik to rule with his brothers, then they already had statehood without the Vikings. Consequently, the calling of princes is an episode from the history of the already existing Russian statehood, and its beginning dates back to some earlier time.
The origin of the term "Rus" is unknown. In the same "Tale of Bygone Years" there is an indication that "in the summer of 6360, when Michael began to reign, the Russian land began to be called." 6360 "from the creation of the world" is 852 in our chronology. Michael is the Byzantine emperor Michael III, but he began to reign in 842. True, he ruled until 867, therefore, with a certain stretch, 852 can be attributed to the beginning of his reign. In any case, even the date of "nickname" known from the chronicles (there can be two meanings: to be called and to become famous), Russia as a country should be attributed at least ten years earlier than the traditional one.
Promotional video:
839 - the first mention of Russia
Old Russian chronicles tell that in 866 the Russians made a campaign against Constantinople. However, according to Byzantine sources, where this event is described in detail, it happened in 860, and now this date is generally accepted. So, again, before 862, the Russian land had a reputation in neighboring countries.
However, in foreign sources there is an even earlier indication of the existence of the Russian state. In 839, the ambassadors of the Kagan of the Rus, as the "Bertin Annals" say, arrived at the Frankish emperor Louis I on their way back to their home from Constantinople. According to them, they could not return in a direct way, fearing an attack by the hostile peoples there.
In science, disputes about where this Russian kaganate was and what he was do not stop. Few references to it are very fragmentary and may have several conflicting explanations. Be that as it may, 839 is the first mention in the literature of a state that bore the name of Russia.
Russia is not the same as Kievan Rus
However, the question arises: what grounds do we have for starting the history of the Russian - specifically Russian - state from that Russia of the 9th century? After all, the continuous tradition of independent Russian statehood, uniting most of the Russian people (moreover, it is the Russian people, in contrast to the Ukrainian and Belarusian), emerges only after the fall of the Golden Horde at the end of the 15th century. The claim of the Moscow grand dukes (and later the tsars) for monopoly succession from Kievan Rus arose at the end of the 15th - 16th centuries. and had a political significance - an attempt to conquer the Western Russian lands that were part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania-Russian. This principality, located in most of Kievan Rus, had no less reason to be considered its successor. By the way, the mentioned monument in Novgorod reflects this point of view:among the great statesmen of Russian history, it depicts the Lithuanian princes Gediminas, Olgerd and Vitovt.
The dynastic succession of Moscow (remember the famous "Rurikovichi") can hardly be considered a sufficient reason for modern historians to consider Moscow the only continuer of the ancient Russian statehood. After all, the very existence of Rurik is largely legendary.
The Russian state is a new formation that arose at the end of the 15th century through the growth of one of the principalities that arose as a result of the collapse of the ancient Russian statehood and nationality. This, by the way, underlines its name. It began to be called in the Greek manner "Russia", and not Russia.
The difference in the histories of the country, people and state
So what date should be put in the foundation of the Russian statehood? Obviously, the most important starting point here is the acquisition of external independence - 1480, "standing on the Ugra" and the fall of the Golden Horde. By the way, in commemoration of this victory, it was then ordered to celebrate it every year with a procession of the cross on June 23 (old style; although the Khan's flight happened in November).
It is clear that this date has its own prehistory - the rise of Moscow, which seems more correct to start from the moment when Moscow acquires its princely dynasty. That is, from the reign of the son of Alexander Nevsky - Daniel - in it in 1263. The preceding time is the emergence, flowering and decline of the Old Russian state.
We can observe a certain analogue in the history of France. Although the state of the Franks on the lands of Gaul, the future France, which gave it its name, arose in the 5th century, but the beginning of the French kingdom was laid by the collapse of the empire of Charlemagne in the 9th century.
Until the end of the 15th century, this is the history of the Russian people, Russian civilization, but this is not yet the history of the Russian state, this is its prehistory. It seems that the milestones of our historical path would be more accurately designated. Indeed, the very concept of "state" requires conformity to itself in reality.
In this regard, one may recall that the prominent Russian historian Sergei Solovyov (1820-1879), the author of the 29-volume History of Russia, believed that the Russian state took shape only in the 16th century. What was before, he considered the pre-state era. The real state for him was only a centralized state, and it does not arise in our country until the end of the 15th century.
Thus, the history of Russia as a country can begin in general from time immemorial, telling about primitive people on its territory. The history of the people that bore the name of Russia, and the country inhabited by it, began to acquire some contours from the 9th century. Over the course of seven centuries, various states arise and disintegrate here, until, finally, at the end of the 15th century, the state that continues to exist to this day is formed.
Yaroslav Butakov