The first states of the Western Slavs. The emergence of the Slavic script


Western Slavs – Czechs, Poles, Slovaks – come from the Slavic tribes who settled north of the Danube to the Baltic and Elbe. The Slavic community of the Balkan Peninsula became the basis for the formation of the southern Slavs: Bulgarians, Serbs, Croats, Slovenes, etc.

The first state of the Western Slavs was formed to fight the Avars. Its name – the Principality of Samo – it received on behalf of the founder, semi-legendary ruler of Samo. In 623, he united individual Czech tribes and defeated the Avars, after which he was elected prince and ruled for 35 years. The Principality itself successfully repulsed the attacks of the Franks, who tried to conquer the Slavic lands, but after the death of the prince in 658 the state disintegrated.

In the first half of the 9th c. a part of the territory of modern Slovakia and the Czech Republic formed the Great Moravian state, the founder of which was Prince Moymir. In 846, King Louis of Germany displaced Mojmir

and imprisoned his nephew Rostislav, who decided to free himself from German guardianship. In search of allies, he turned to the Byzantine emperor and asked to send missionaries for the Christianization of the local population, because this was allegedly the reason for the attacks of the German feudal lords.

In 863, the brothers Cyril and Methodius arrived in the country, creating the first samples of Slavonic writing. They preached Christianity, translated liturgical books into the Old Slavonic language.

However, the German king seized power in the Great Moravian state, which caused an uprising: the country’s independence was restored. However, the Great Moravian prince Sviatopolk recognized himself as a vassal of the German king, but to reduce the pressure of the Germans, he began to seek support from the Pope. He agreed to receive the missionaries of the pope, and expelled the disciples of Cyril and Methodius from the country. Therefore, the services in the Old Slavonic language in the country practically ceased.

At the end of IX c. The Great Moravian state embraced internecine strife, and in 906 Hungarians invaded and blossomed the blooming lands. The Great Moravian state disintegrated. The center of political development has moved to the Czech lands.

Avars – the tribes of the Turks, who in the VI. conquered the Danubian lands and founded there a state that existed before the beginning of the 9th century.


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The first states of the Western Slavs. The emergence of the Slavic script