Against the odds, not because of them: the unique path of Ancient Rus' to statehood discussed at the National Centre RUSSIA Lecture Hall

Rus' emerged not because conditions were favourable, but in spite of them — along trade routes where the economy formed the foundation and a person's origin and religion mattered little. Vasily Novikov, Candidate of Historical Sciences and Head of the Archaeological Team at the Gnezdovo Museum-Reserve, spoke about the scale and uniqueness of this "infrastructure project" on 17 September at the National Centre RUSSIA Lecture Hall's original educational event "Myths and Facts about Rus', Vikings and Slavs".

"This was statehood that took shape against the odds, not because of them. In theory, we should have broken up along the territorial divisions of those tribal unions. Instead, we followed the path of forming statehood along these trade routes, where the economy was the foundation, where what mattered was a person's ability to fit into the system of tasks, and where the faith you professed was not a matter of principle. Archaeological evidence of Christian communities on the territory of Rus' can be traced back to before the official date of the adoption of Christianity," said Vasily Novikov.

According to the historian, this process was remarkably rapid: within just a few generations — from Igor and Olga to Svyatoslav and Vladimir — Rus' became a fully fledged political player on the international stage, with representatives of different faiths, trading compounds and centres of its own. This, the historian noted, is precisely what makes it a phenomenon without parallel.

"Rus' is an absolutely unique phenomenon by every measure. The scale of this global infrastructure project called 'Rus'', its depth, speed and unusual character in this strange forested landscape can only inspire admiration and continue to fascinate scholars who study it and will go on studying it," the expert emphasised.

The event was held with the support of the Russian Military Historical Society and the "I Remember" Foundation. The meeting was moderated by Artyom Drabkin, Director of the "I Remember" Foundation and a member of the Scientific Council of the Russian Military Historical Society. Together with the speaker, he discussed the origins of the Old Russian state, the role of the Slavs and Scandinavians, and how modern researchers reconstruct events from a thousand years ago.