Regional Studies ● atlasofworldhistory.com

· The Mongol Avars occupied the Slav homeland and separated the South [Bulgar, Croat, Serb], West [Czech, Pole, Slovak], and East [Russia, Ukraine] Slavs. The three groups developed different cultures after losing contact with each other.

· The West Slavs adopted Roman Christianity and the Latin alphabet. The South and East Slavs chose Byzantine Christianity and the Cyrillic alphabet.

EARLY SLAVS

Central Europe population low [500]. Central Europe's climate grew wetter, crops failed, and people moved away.

Slav farmers [300]. Farmers, who spoke an Indo-European Slavic language, began to settle in central Europe. They grew grains, tended livestock, raised bees, and produced mead, an alcoholic beverage made from honey. The Slavs worshipped many gods including a god of thunder [Penum] and a god of cattle [Veles]. They had no priests and did not build places of worship. A wolf-man festival may have contributed to the concept of 'werewolves'. A spring festival with decorated eggs may have contributed to 'Easter Eggs'.

Slavs under Scythians [100 BCE]. The East Iranian Scythians expanded into central Europe and ruled the Slavs [100 BCE/300 CE].

Slavs under Ostrogoths [300 CE]. The East Germanic Ostrogoths expanded into central Europe and many Slavs became Ostrogoth subjects.

Slavs under Huns [372]. The Turkic Xiongnu left Central Asia and swept across central Europe where they became known as Huns. Ostrogoths and Slavs became Hun subjects. Many were forced to join the Hun army.

Slavs emerge [454]. After the strong Hun leader [Attila] died, no successor emerged. The East Germanic Gepids who were Hun subjects rebelled and defeated the Huns [454]. Huns including the Utigur and Kutrigur Bulgars moved east. Slav farmers, no longer under Hun control, began to be recognized as a people and expanded over a larger area.

Slavs divided [559]. The Mongol Juan-Juan moved from Asia to central Europe where they became known as the Avars [559]. Pushed further west by the Turkic Göktürks [557], the Avars occupied the center of the Slav homeland. Slavs dispersed to escape Avar attacks. The Avars cut off contact among the South, West, and East Slavs for 200 years [559/796]. The three groups of Slavs developed different cultures.

SOUTH SLAVS

Great Bulgaria [584]. The Avars lost strength after failing to take Byzantium [626]. The western Utigur Bulgars [under Kubrat], broke away from Avar control, united with the Kutrigur Bulgars, and formed Great Bulgaria [632]. Byzantium recognized the new state [635]. The Serbs and Croats, both South Slavs, moved into the Balkans about this time.

Khazars attack [668]. The founder of Great Bulgaria died [668] during a period of Khazar attacks. His five sons divided the kingdom. One group stayed on their land and became subjects of the Khazars. Others moved northeast and settled along the Volga River [Volga Bulgars], south into the Balkans and Macedonia [Danube Bulgars], and west into Italy. Bulgar expansion in the Balkans cut land contact between Byzantium and the west. Naples and Venice became independent [679].

First Bulgarian Empire [680]. After the Bulgars defeated a Byzantine army [680], Byzantium recognized Bulgaria and paid tribute [First Bulgarian Empire, 681/1018]. The Bulgar ruler [Tervel] helped restore an exiled Byzantine emperor to power [705, Justinian II] and received land as a reward. The emperor tried to recover the land, but was defeated [708].

Bulgars help Byzantium [711]. Byzantium, threatened by the Bulgars and the Umayyad Muslims, paid tribute to the Bulgars in return for peace and used all of its troops to resist the Umayyads [711]. Bulgar soldiers helped Byzantium defeat a two-year long Umayyad attack [717/718]. This victory ended Muslim expansion into Europe from the east.

Bulgars under Byzantium [755]. Byzantium took advantage of Bulgarian internal problems, attacked the Bulgars several times, and finally conquered them [775].

Bulgars fight Byzantium [792/864. The Bulgars regained their independence by defeating Byzantium [792, Marcellae]. A strong ruler [Krum, 807/814] united the Danube and Volga Bulgars and published the first written Bulgarian laws. His troops killed two Byzantine emperors in battles, and burned Byzantine cities [808/813]. After he died Byzantium defeated the Bulgars [815] and offered a 30 year peace.

Bulgars adopt Christianity [864]. The Bulgar ruler [Boris I] adopted Roman Christianity [864]. After the Roman Church did not appoint a Bulgar as head of the country's church, religious leaders changed their allegiance to Greek Christianity [870]. The Bulgarian Orthodox Church became independent and self-governing [927].

Photian Schism. Christians believe in one God composed of three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Ghost [Holy Trinity]. Early church documents state belief 'in the Holy Ghost' [325, Nicea] and 'in the Holy Ghost, who proceeds from the Father' [381, Constantinople]. A Bulgar church leader [863, Photius] opposed changing the wording to 'in the Holy Ghost, who proceeds from the Father and the Son'. Disagreement over 'and the son' [filioque] is one of the reasons that the Greek and Roman churches separated [1054].

Bulgars strong [893]. Byzantium adopted changes that resulted in much higher customs taxes on goods on Bulgar goods [894]. The Bulgars attacked and received annual tribute from Byzantium. After one of its cities [Thessalonika] was attacked by Umayyad Muslims from Crete [904], Byzantium gave land to Bulgaria in return for not taking the city.

Bulgaria attacked Byzantium after it stopped paying tribute [913] and again after it broke a peace agreement [914]. Byzantium attacked the Bulgars, but was defeated [917, Anchialos]. Despite the exhausting military campaigns, Bulgaria reached its largest size and art and literature flourished.

Bulgars attack Serbs, Croats [917]. Bulgaria attempted to expand into the Balkans where Slavic states had formed [812, Serbs; 852, Croats]. The first strong Balkan kingdom arose when a Croat leader [910, Tomislav] repelled Bulgar attacks [923], united Dalmatia and Pannonia [925], and was crowned king by the Pope [925, John X]. The Bulgars attacked the Serbs and Croats because they supported Byzantium. The Bulgars lost twice before defeating the Serbs [924], and lost to Croatia [926, Bosnian Highlands].

Bulgars attacked [927]. The Bulgars were repeatedly attacked by the Magyars [934/962], the Turks [944], and Kiev [967, 969]. Byzantium took control over most of Bulgaria [972].

Cyrillic Alphabet. Bulgar church services were conducted in Greek. Because the Bulgars wanted to weaken Byzantine influence and strengthen Slavic culture, they modified the Glagolitic alphabet developed by Byzantine monks [Cyril and Methodius] and called it Cyrillic to honor the monk's contributions [940]. Cyrillic is used by most South Slavs and East Slavs today.

Bulgars form smaller kingdom [986]. A group of Bulgars broke away from Byzantium and formed a new, smaller Bulgarian kingdom [986].

WEST SLAVS

East Franks, Slavs expel Avars [778]. The Germanic East Franks expanded into Bavaria [778] and helped the Slavs drive the Avars away [796].

Great Moravia [833]. The West Slavs formed Great Moravia [833] on land taken from the Avars. Moravia changed its allegiance from the East Franks to Byzantium and developed the first Slavic alphabet [863, Glagolitic]. After a ruler's death [895] Moravia switched its political allegiance from Byzantium to the East Franks, its religious allegiance from Greek to Roman Christianity, and its alphabet from Glagolitic to Latin.

Glagolitic Alphabet. The ruler of Moravia had the first Slavic alphabet developed in order to increase Slavic and reduce East Frank cultural influence. Two brothers [Cyril and Methodius] who were Byzantine monks created the Glagolitic alphabet [863] and taught the Moravians to read the Bible.

Magyars split Czechs, Slovaks [889]. The Magyars, who spoke a non-Indo-European Uralic language, moved into Hungary [889] to escape attacks from the Turkic Khazars and Pechenegs. The presence of the Magyars in Hungary separated the Czechs from the Slovaks for 1000 years causing these two Slavic groups to form different cultures. The Slovaks lived among the Magyars, but retained their Slavic language.

Bohemia independent [895]. Bohemia gained independence from Great Moravia [895]. The Magyars helped the East Franks conquer Moravia [906, Bratislava].

Czechs defeat Magyars [950]. The Czechs signed a peace agreement with Bohemia, ending border wars [950], and helped the East Germanic Saxons defeated the Magyars, ending fifty years of Magyar raids [955, Lechfeld].

Poland formed [966]. A strong leader [Mieszko] formed a state in Poland [962], married the daughter of Bohemia's king [965], adopted Roman Christianity [966], and enlarged the territory under his control [972/992]. He placed his land under the protection of the Pope [991, Dagome iudex].

Poland takes Moravia [999]. Poland conquered Moravia [999/1019].

EAST SLAVS

[East Slavs expand [600]. Separated from Slavs to the west and south by the Avars, the East Slavs expanded eastward into Russia. The East Slavs fought among themselves and did not develop a state.

Slaves. The East Slavs sold war captives as slaves to Byzantium and the Arabs [800]. The Byzantines used their word 'slave' [esklabenoi] as a name for the Slavs.

Kiev controlled by Swedes [860]. Slav warlords disrupted the region by their fighting. Swede traders, who traveled Russian rivers in search of furs, took control of Novgorod [860, Rurik] and Kiev [880, Oleg]. Kiev attacked Byzantium [907], signed a trade agreement [911], and became a supplier of furs, honey, and slaves to the Byzantines.

Kiev fights Pechenegs [920]. Turkic Pechenegs, under attack by other Turkic peoples, moved west [889]. After repeated Pecheneg raids, Kiev attacked and defeated the Pechnegs [920]. Wars resumed with Pecheneg victories [968/972].

Kiev adopts Cyrillic [987]. Kiev's ruler [Vladimir I] helped Byzantium put down a revolt [987], adopted Greek Christianity [988], and married the daughter of the Byzantine emperor [988]. Kiev adopted not only the Greek religion, but also the Cyrillic language. This shaped East Slav culture and isolated it from European cultures that used the Latin alphabet. Kiev defeated and severely weakened the Pechenegs [990, 1037].

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