TEXT A. The Slavic Tribes in the 4th-7th Centuries

Task: read the text and do the tasks that follow.

Slavic tribes lived in Central and Eastern Europe, to the east of the Germanic tribes during many centuries. In the 6th century they occupied vast territories stretching from the river Labe (the Slavic name for the Elbe) to the upper reaches of the Volga and the Don, and from the Baltic Sea to the Danube and the Black Sea.

Land cultivation was the Slavs' main occupation from time immemorial. They also bred cattle, went hunting and gathered the honey of wild bees.

The Slavs lived in settlements surrounded with wooden stockades, earth banks and moats. In ancient times the Slavs lived in clans united into tribes.

As was the case with Germanic tribes, the Slavs’ tribal communities were superseded by neighbours’ communities. Then some of the community members grew rich and the best land fell into the hands of the elders and military chiefs. A Slavic military chief was called a kniaz.

In wartime the princes and their troops seized most of the booty and grew rich. The frequent campaigns forced the ordinary members of the community to go away from their farms for many weeks at a time. As a result they grew poorer and poorer and eventually became destitute.

Inside clans and tribes inequality appeared and grew more and more marked, rich nobility began to be formed.

There is no consensus among scholars as to the homeland of the Slavs. By the 7th century the Slavic tribes had split linguistically into Eastern, Western and Southern branches. The East Slavs lived to the east of the rivers Vistula and Dniester. The East Slavic tribes of the Draulyanye, the Dryhavichy, the Duleby, the Krivichy, the Radimichy, the Polochanye together with the South Slavic tribe of the Masovians and the Baltic tribe of the Yatwiags are considered to be the ancestors of the Belarusian people. The proto-Ukraninian tribes include the Volhynianye, the Draulyanye, the Polyanye, the Siveryanye the Ulychy and others. The modern Russians were formed by the Vyatichy, the Ilmen Slavs, the Severyanye and other East and South Slavic tribes.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ukrainians - cite_note-Ukrainians_IEU-26Some of the Slavic tribes settled in the Balkan Peninsula in the 7^th century. They founded the South Slavic nations: the Bulgarians, the Serbians and the Croatians.

Ex. 9. Answer the following questions.

Where did Slavic tribes live during many centuries? 2. What territories did Slavic tribes occupy in the 6^th century? 3. What was the Slavs' main occupation? 4. Who was called a kniaz? 5. What is the homeland of the Slavs? 6. Where did the East Slavs live? 6. What tribes are considered to be the ancestors of present-day Belarusians? 7. What tribes gave rise to the Russian people? 7. What tribes contributed to the formation of the Ukrainian people? 8. Where did the Western Slavs live?

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