Slavs

Introduction

Slavs are any of several groups of peoples, most of whom live in Eastern Europe. There are about 275 million Slavs. They speak similar languages, called the Slavic or Slavonic Languages.

History

The first Slavs lived over 5,000 years ago in a region that now forms part of northwestern Ukraine and southeastern Poland. From A.D. 200 to 500, they migrated to other parts of Europe. Some Slavs settled in what are now western Russia and eastern and central Europe. Other Slavs migrated to the region of southeastern Europe known as the Balkans.

During the 800s, the Slavs established the Great Moravian Empire, which united the peoples of central Europe for the first time. In 906, the empire was conquered by the Magyars, the ancestors of the Hungarians. Since then, the Slavs have been ruled by many foreign powers, including the Byzantine Empire, the Holy Roman Empire, Austria-Hungary, and Germany.

In 1918, after World War I ended, the Slavs established such independent states as Czechoslovakia, Poland, and the former Yugoslavia. Germany conquered these Slavic states during World War II (1939-1945).

Historians classify the Slavs into three main groups – (1) eastern, (2) western, and (3) southern – based on the regions in which these people live.

Eastern Slavs
Eastern Slavs consist of the Byelorussions, or White Russians; the Russians, or Great Russians; and the Ukrainians, or Little Russians. The eastern Slavs were strongly influenced by the culture of the Byzantine Empire. About A.D. 988, the ruler of the Russian Slavs, Grand Prince Vladimir I, married a Byzantine princess and became a Christian. As a result, most of the people under his rule also turned to Christianity. Today, many eastern Slavs belong to Eastern Orthodox churches.

Western Slavs
Western Slavs form a group that includes the Czechs; the Slovaks; the Poles; and the Wends, who also are known as Sorbs or Lusatians. The Wends live in East Germany. During the 800s, two Greek monks (named Cyril and Methodius) converted many western Slavs to Christianity. At that time, church services were held in Greek or Latin, which few people could understand. But Cyril and Methodius held services in the language of the Slavs, called Old Church Slavonic.

As the western Slavs became involved in the affairs of western Europe, they also became influenced by the Roman Catholic Church. Through the centuries, the Catholic Church has strongly influenced western European culture. Today, most western Slavs are Roman Catholics.

Southern Slavs
Southern Slavs are a group composed of the Bulgarians, the Croats, the Macedonians, the Serbs, and the Slovenes. During the 800s, a large number of southern Slavs converted to Christianity by followers of Cyril and Methodius. However, these Slavs were also strongly influenced by the Byzantine culture. Today, the majority of southern Slavs belong to Eastern Orthodox churches. Most members of the group live in the Balkans.