COMMUNITY- a supra-family association of people, a self-governing economic and social collective; characteristic of the pre-industrial stage of development of human society.
The most ancient type of community was a consanguineous community that had developed among primitive peoples.
A consanguineous community existed for a long time among the Germans, Iranians, Finno-Ugric peoples and some other peoples. Archaeologists determine its presence by the existence of "large houses", up to 300 sq.m. In each of these houses lived one patronymic (pater - "father"; a group of close relatives on the paternal side). Blood ties among these peoples continued to play an important role in the transition to the neighboring community. All members of the patronymy erected themselves to a well-remembered ancestor. Sometimes the names of ancestors were remembered for ten or twelve generations. Foreigners were accepted into such a community only on the "rights" of a slave, since he did not descend from this ancestor. In the tribe, consisting of patronymic communities, there was a strict hierarchy of clans - from the ruling to the completely ignoble. A native of an humble family could not become the head of a tribe.
Over time, the consanguineous community turned into a neighboring (territorial) one. Among the agricultural tribes, the territorial community displaces the consanguineous community earlier than among the pastoral ones. The farmer had more opportunities to feed himself, his wife and children without the constant help of the family.
Among the Slavs, a neighborhood community arose very early. This is evidenced by the finds by archaeologists of "small houses", in which only one family could live. Foreigners quite easily joined the Slavic community. Slaves captured in wars eventually had the opportunity to either leave or become full members of the community. The community elected elders. The land belonged to the community, not to an individual family. A characteristic feature of the Slavic community was the redistribution of land.
Slavic cities served as centers of tribes and a place of refuge for communal peasants from external danger. Residents of the city and rural areas were divided into tens, hundreds, thousands. Perhaps there was also a council of elders - "the elders of the city", who led the people's assembly - veche.
The development of a neighboring or peasant community among the Slavs is associated with the gradual disintegration of tribal relations and the formation of the Old Russian state.

The nature and essence of the ancient Russian community, which was called the rope, is still insufficiently studied. Probably, at an early stage, it united several nearby settlements, each of which was inhabited by several (sometimes several dozen) families. Pastures, meadow and forest lands, places of hunting and fishing, as well as livestock were in communal ownership. The community ensured the stability of relations within a tribe or an alliance of tribes. Moreover, for a long time, the communal organization hampered the processes of property stratification and the separation of more prosperous families from the free community members.
Free community members ("people", in the terminology of Russian Pravda) remained the main population of Russia in the first centuries after the formation of the Old Russian state. As the community members were taxed with princely tribute (later - taxes), the community lost ownership rights to the land, which led to the formation and expansion of patrimonial land ownership and the gradual enslavement of the peasantry.
Throughout the history of the Old Russian state and Muscovite Russia, up to the middle. 17th century the community, to a certain extent, guaranteed the peasants who were part of it a minimum of rights in their relations with the landowners and state power in exchange for the fulfillment by the community members of a certain amount of duties. Relations within the community were regulated by a mutual guarantee, which was recorded in the Russkaya Pravda and retained its significance for several centuries. Zemstvo reform ser. 16th century increased the role of community self-government, especially in areas with a predominance of the Black Sosh population. However, with the legalization of serfdom, the community increasingly fell under the control of state bodies.
Nevertheless, the community retained an important role in organizing economic and land relations in the countryside, in particular, in determining the principles for the use of communal lands - forests, rivers, meadows, etc., in the periodic redistribution of land that is in the hereditary possession of peasant farms, in the distribution between them taxes and taxes. The community retained these functions to one degree or another until the beginning. 20th century

For a long time they kept their patriarchal way of life. The people were divided into tribes, a separate tribe consisted of clans. A clan was a number of families united by family ties, owning common property and managed by one person - a foreman. Therefore, in the Slavic tribes, the concept of "senior" means not only "old", but also "wise", "respected". The tribal foreman - a middle-aged or advanced man - had great power in the family. To make more global decisions, for example, defense against an external enemy, the foremen gathered in the veche and developed a common strategy.

The collapse of the tribal community

Starting from the 7th century, the tribes began to settle, while occupying vast territories. The following factors contributed to this process:

The emergence of private ownership of agricultural implements and products of labor activity;

Ownership of own plots of fertile land.

The connection of clans was lost, the patriarchal tribal community was being replaced by a new form of social structure - the neighborhood community. Now people are connected not by common ancestors, but by the contiguity of the occupied territories and the same methods of farming.

The main differences between the neighboring community and the tribal

The reason for the weakening of family ties was the gradual estrangement of kindred families from each other. The main differences of the new social structure were as follows:

In the tribal community, everything was common - mining, harvest, tools. The neighboring community introduced the concept of private property along with public property;

The neighboring community connects people with cultivated lands, the tribal community - by kinship;

In the tribal community, the elder was the elder, while in the neighboring community, the decisions were made by the owner of each house - the householder.

Neighborhood lifestyle

Regardless of the name of the ancient Russian neighborhood community in each individual case, they all had many similar administrative and economic features. Each individual family acquired its own dwelling, had its own arable land and mowing, separately fished and went hunting.

Each family owned meadows and arable land, dwellings, domestic animals, and tools. Forests, rivers were common, and lands belonging to the entire community were also preserved.

Gradually, the power of the elders was lost, but the importance of small farms increased. If necessary, people did not go to distant relatives for help. Homeowners from all over the area came together and decided important issues at the meeting. Global interest forced to choose the one responsible for solving the problem - an elected elder.

Scholars have not come to a consensus on the name of the Old Russian neighborhood community. Most likely, in different lands it was called differently. Two names of the Slavic neighboring community have survived to our times - zadruga and verv.

The stratification of society

The neighboring community among the Eastern Slavs gave rise to the formation of social classes. The stratification into rich and poor begins, the allocation of the ruling elite, which strengthened its power through spoils of war, trade, exploitation of poorer neighbors (farm labor, and later slavery).

From the wealthiest and most influential householders, the nobility begins to form - a deliberate child, which consisted of such representatives of the neighboring community:

Elders - represented the administrative authority;

Leaders (princes) - exercised full control over the material and human resources of the community during wartime;

Magi - spiritual power, which was based on the observance of communal rituals and on the worship of pagan spirits and gods.

The most important issues were still decided at the meeting of the elders, but gradually the right to make decisions passed to the leaders. The princes in the neighboring community relied on their squad, which over time acquired the features of a professional military detachment.

The prototype of statehood

Tribal nobility, successful merchants and the wealthiest community members became the nobility, the ruling class. Land has become a value worth fighting for. In the early neighborhood community, the weaker landowners were driven from the right plots of land. During the period of the emergence of statehood, the peasants remained on the land, but on the condition that they would pay taxes. Wealthy landowners exploited their poorer neighbors and used slave labor. Patriarchal slavery arose at the expense of prisoners captured in military raids. A ransom was demanded for captives from noble families, the poor fell into slavery. Later, ruined peasants became slaves of wealthy landowners.

The change in the form of social structure led to the enlargement and consolidation of neighboring communities. Tribes and tribal unions were formed. The centers of the unions were cities - well-fortified settlements. At the dawn of the emergence of the state system, the Eastern Slavs had two major political centers - Novgorod and Kyiv.

As you know, our ancestors - East Slavs- for a long time they retained a patriarchal tribal life. They were divided into tribes. The tribe consisted of clans. Genus meant a set of families related to each other, living together, owning common property and ruled by one tribal foreman. The tribal foremen had great power, each in their own way, and having come together for a council (veche), they decided matters for their entire tribe.

Tribal communities originated from a common, most often mythical ancestor. Everything that was obtained by common labor was a common property and was divided equally among relatives. This primitive understanding of equality as a universal “leveling” was preserved among the Eastern Slavs for many centuries. A successful hunter enjoyed universal respect, not because he had a lot, but because he generously shared his prey with his relatives. More experienced, older people, bearers of the experience and knowledge of previous generations, enjoyed the greatest authority. Therefore, in the Slavic languages, the words of the same root "senior", "old", "elder", "foreman" meant at the same time both older in age and occupying a higher social position.

Over time, when tribes and clans settled over large areas, the connection between them weakened, and they broke up, dividing into independent families. Each individual family started its own special arable land, had its own mowing, hunted separately and hunted in the forests. Common tribal property was replaced by family property. In the same way, the power of the older clan (“patrimonial rulers”) also ceased to function: he could not manage all the households of his relatives if these farms were scattered over long distances. His power passed to the father of each individual family, to the "household". With the collapse of tribal ties, relatives ceased to feel their community and, in case of need, united for common affairs only in the neighborhood. Households of a well-known neighborhood met for a general council (veche). United by some common interest, they formed a community (zadruga, verv) and elected elected elders to conduct common affairs.

Thus, the oldest tribal structure was gradually replaced by a communal one, and the communities could include families belonging not only to different clans, but even to different tribes. A neighboring community is, as a rule, a village of 10-15 households, where large families of 2-3 generations lived, including adult married sons. As they grew, at a distance of 7-8 km, "in the trees" (forest), villages of 1-2 households were founded, maintaining a connection with the village. Clearing the forest for arable land required the efforts of the entire community, hence its fortress among the Eastern Slavs. The highest body of the community was the gathering of householders, where the decision was made not by voting, but by common consent, and the elders were elected.

The neighboring (territorial) community among the Eastern Slavs was the lowest link in the social organization. Neighboring communities then united into tribes, and the latter - into unions of tribes (starting from the 7th century). These unions of tribes were a fairly complex social organism. The centers of their socio-political life were fortified "towns", which eventually turned into full-fledged cities. For example, Kyiv - among the glades, Iskorosten - among the Drevlyans, Novgorod - among the Slavs, etc. In Ancient Russia already in the IX-X centuries. there were about 25 big cities. In the XI century, more than 60 cities were added to them, and by the time of the Mongol-Tatar invasion in Russia there were already about 300 cities. Cities were centers of culture. If the ancient Russian village was illiterate for a long time, then in the cities literacy was widespread, and not only among merchants, but also among artisans. This is evidenced by numerous birch bark letters and inscriptions on household items. Meetings of free male community members of the union (veche) took place in the cities, at which the most important issues were resolved.

The complication of social life within the unions of East Slavic tribes led to the allocation of a special social stratum - the elders, and the formation of governing bodies - councils of elders. The community also existed in the cities. Free urban residents, merchants and artisans, were part of hundreds - associations by profession. Their privilege was the possession of weapons. Since there were only 10 hundreds in the city, the head of the city militia, who is also a judge in civil cases, was called "thousand". This very influential position remained until 1335, when the last thousand in Moscow was executed by Grand Duke Dmitry Donskoy.

It was typical for the Middle Ages that a person belonged to a corporation that protected him. Dropped out of his group, he turned out to be thrown out of society, an outcast. There are three known cases of turning into a disenfranchised outcast: a bankrupt merchant, "the priest's son is not literate," a serf who redeemed himself. They acted under the auspices of the church, for which they worked for it. In the 6th-9th centuries, in the era of mass migrations and violent clashes between tribes, a layer of professional combatants appeared, headed by a military leader - a prince, in whose hands real power was concentrated. Possessing power and military force, relying on their authority and accumulated wealth, princes, warriors, elders confiscated part of the products they produced from ordinary community members. Thus, by the middle of the IX century. prerequisites for the formation of statehood appeared. Separate urban tribal volosts and principalities came together and united under one state authority. Thus, the Russian state was formed - Kievan Rus.

Kievan Rus was an early feudal state. In the X-XII centuries. in Russia, large-scale feudal ownership of land is taking shape in the form of princely, boyar and church possessions. The feudal patrimony (fatherland, i.e. paternal possession) becomes a form of land ownership - alienable (with the right to buy and sell) and inherited. The peasants living on it not only paid tribute to the state, but also became land dependent on the feudal lord (boyar), paying him rent in kind for using the land, or working off corvée. However, a significant number of inhabitants were still independent peasants-communes, who paid tribute in favor of the state (Grand Duke). The free rural population - smerds - owned the land on a communal right: the entire community was considered the owner of the land, the village assembly disposed of it, individual families only used it. The community protected the smerds, helped them in difficult cases, and bore collective responsibility for the murder committed on its land. Smerds enjoyed the protection of the law, but for the murder of a smerd they paid several times less vira than for the people of princes and boyars. (Articles 62,65,91 and others of Russkaya Pravda). The disparaging attitude towards smerds was expressed in the appearance of the verb "stink" - "smell like a man."

Even worse was the situation of dependent people. The purchase received from the landowner a "kupa" - a loan, tools of labor and "otaritsa" - a plot of arable land, and could not leave without returning them. In the event of an escape, he turned into a serf. Ryadovich entered the service under an agreement (row), the absence of an agreement also turned him into a serf. The sources of slavery were also purchase, self-sale, unpaid debt, serious crime, the marriage of a free man to a slave without an agreement with her master, birth from a serf or slave. The serf had no rights at all, even his children were considered the property of his master. Estates, becoming hereditary property, were certainly one of the main reasons for the feudal fragmentation of Russia, which began in the middle of the 11th and beginning of the 12th centuries.

In the second half of the 13th century, the process of formation of a centralized Russian state began. The main economic reason for its formation was the development of feudal relations "inside" and "deep" - over the entire territory of northeastern Russia, and the appearance, along with estates, of conditional feudal land tenure. This was accompanied by an intensification of feudal exploitation and an aggravation of social contradictions in the country between peasants and feudal lords.

However, even in the second half of the 15th century, the so-called “black lands” prevailed in northeastern Russia, which were characterized by communal land ownership of peasants with individual ownership of a personal plot and arable land, as well as the presence of an elected peasant volost self-government under the control of the princely administration. There were two categories of peasants: black peasants living in communities in villages that did not belong to individual feudal lords, and possessory peasants who lived on separate lands in the feudal patrimony system. Owning peasants were personally dependent on the feudal lords. These peasants still retained the right to freely move from one feudal lord to another, but in practice it increasingly turned out to be formal. The involvement of the entire rural population in the system of feudal relations led to the disappearance of many terms that in the past denoted different categories of the rural population (“people”, “smerds”, “purchases”, “outcasts”, etc.) and the emergence of a new one by the end of the 14th century. term "peasants". This name has survived to this day.

The form of social relations that existed among the Eastern Slavs in ancient times can be defined as "military democracy". Its signs were: the participation of all members (men) of the tribal union in solving the most important social problems; the special role of the people's assembly as the supreme organ of power; general arming of the people (people's militia); equality of all members of society. The ruling class was formed from two layers: the old tribal aristocracy (leaders, priests, elders) and community members who got rich on the exploitation of slaves and neighbors. The presence of a neighborhood community ("vervi", "peace") and patriarchal slavery until a certain time hampered the process of social differentiation. The supreme body of management and power in ancient Russia was the princely council. It consisted of boyars and "princely husbands". Separate functions or management of branches of the princely palace economy were carried out by tiuns and elders. Over time, these palace administrators turn into managers of the branches of the princely (state) economy. The decimal (numerical) management system is replaced by a palace-patrimony, in which political power belongs to the owner (prince-landowner or boyar-patrimony). There were two centers of power - the princely palace and the boyar estate.

Local government was carried out by trusted people of the prince, his sons, and relied on military garrisons led by thousands, centurions and tenths. Local governments receive resources for their existence and activities through a system of feeding (fees from the local population).

In the early feudal monarchy, an important state function was performed by the people's assembly - veche. Initially, his competence included all issues of state government, legislation, courts, etc. Gradually, this circle of affairs narrows, and only the functions of the highest administration remain in the veche: the calling and appointment of princes, the conclusion of agreements with them, control over administration, issues of "war and peace", etc. Current management began to be carried out by urban and rural communities (hundreds and vervi), as well as the princely administration. At the same time, the veche relied on the support of communities (rural and urban), princely power - on the support of the squad, the feudal aristocracy and soldiers.

Thus, Kievan Rus was a typical early feudal state with a fairly developed economy, social inequality and a complex interweaving of branches of power. Also characteristic was the predominance of military force, the inseparability of administrative, legislative and judicial power, and the first written law (Russkaya Pravda), reminiscent of the "barbaric truths" of Western Europe. And the community at the same time was the embryo of local government.

The neighborhood community is a traditional form of human organization. It was divided into rural and territorial communities.

Family and neighborhood community

The neighboring community is considered the latest form of tribal community. Unlike a tribal community, a neighboring community combines not only collective labor and consumption of surplus product, but also land use (communal and individual).

In a tribal community, people were related by blood. The main occupation of such a community was gathering and hunting. The main occupation of the neighboring community was agriculture and cattle breeding.

neighborhood community

Under the neighborhood community it is customary to consider a certain socio-economic structure. This structure consists of several separate families, genera. This society is united by a common territory and joint efforts on the means of production. This means of production can be called land, various lands, pastures for animals.

Main features of the neighborhood community

- common area;
– common land use;
- communal governing bodies of such a community;

A sign that clearly characterizes such a community is the presence of separate families. Such families conduct an independent economy, independently dispose of all the produced product. Each family independently cultivates its territory.
Although the family is isolated economically, they may or may not be related by family ties.

The neighboring community opposed the tribal community, it was the main factor in the decomposition of the tribal structure of society. The neighboring community had a very big advantage, which helped the neighboring community to eradicate the tribal structure. The main advantage is not only social organization, but the socio-economic organization of society.

The neighborhood community was replaced by the class division of society. The reason for this was the emergence of private property, the emergence of excess product and the increase in the population of the planet. The communal land passes into private land ownership, in Western Europe such land ownership became known as allod.

Despite this, communal property is still preserved to this day. Some primitive tribes, in particular the tribes of Oceania, retain a neighboring structure of society.

Neighborhood community among the Eastern Slavs

Historians call the neighboring community of Eastern Slavs the Vervy. This term was removed from Russkaya Pravda by Yaroslav the Wise.

Verv is a community organization on the territory of Kievan Rus. The rope was also common in the territory of modern Croatia. For the first time, the rope is mentioned in Russkaya Pravda (a collection of laws of Kievan Rus, created by Prince Yaroslav the Wise).

Vervi was characterized by circular responsibility. This means that if someone from the community commits a crime, then the entire community can be punished. For example, if someone in the vervi committed a murder, but all members of the community had to pay the prince a fine called vira.

General military service was established on the rope.

During its development, Verv was no longer a rural community, it was already several settlements, consisting of several small villages.

In the personal possession of the family in the vervi, there were household land, all household buildings, tools and other equipment, livestock, a plot for plowing and mowing. The public ownership of the ropes included forests, lands, nearby water bodies, meadows, arable land, and fishing grounds.

At an early stage of development, the rope was closely connected by blood ties, but over time they cease to play a dominant role.

Old Russian neighborhood community

The ancient Russian community, according to the chronicle, was called Mir.

The neighboring community or the world is the lowest link in the social organization of Russia. Such communities often united into tribes, sometimes tribes, during the threat of attack, united into tribal alliances.

The earth has become a land. For the use of patrimonial land, peasants (communes) had to pay tribute to the prince. Such a fiefdom was inherited, from father to son. Peasants living in a rural neighborhood community were called "black peasants", and such lands were called "black". All issues in the neighboring communities were decided by the people's assembly. To participate in it could be united in unions of tribes.
Such tribes could wage wars among themselves. As a result, a squad appears - professional equestrian warriors. The squad was led by the prince, in addition, she was his personal guard. In the hands of such a prince, all power in the community was concentrated.
Princes often used their military power and authority. And thanks to this, they took away part of the residual product from ordinary community members. Thus began the formation of the state - Kievan Rus.
The earth has become a land. For the use of patrimonial land, peasants (communes) had to pay tribute to the prince. Such a fiefdom was inherited, from father to son. Peasants living in a rural neighborhood community were called "black peasants", and such lands were called "black". All issues in the neighboring communities were decided by the people's assembly. Only adult men, that is, warriors, could participate in it. From this it should be concluded that the form of government in the community was military democracy.

It is very difficult to date it because of the uneven development of primitive societies in different regions of the Earth. In the most developed regions, this stage began in the 8th-3rd millennium BC. e., and ended (in Egypt and Mesopotamia) in the 4th millennium BC. e. with the birth of the first states.

The tribal system was gradually replaced by a new form of organization of society - a neighboring, or rural, territorial community, combining individual and communal land tenure. The neighboring community was made up of separate families, each of which had the right to a share of communal property and cultivated its own part of the arable land. Forests, rivers, lakes and pastures remained communal property. All together, the community members raised the virgin soil, cleared the forest, paved the way. Most scientists believe that the rural territorial community is a universal form of organization and is attested among all peoples who passed from the primitive system to civilization.

An important achievement of the era of the neighboring community was the discovery of metals. In the 4th-3rd millennium BC. e. stone tools began to be replaced by copper ones, then bronze ones, and from the end of the 2nd millennium BC. e. - the beginning of the 1st millennium BC. e. - iron. People gradually switched to the widespread use of metals, which significantly increased labor productivity and made it possible to develop new lands more efficiently.

In the era of the neighborhood community, significant changes took place in all spheres of society. Primitive tribes continued to improve agriculture and cattle breeding, pottery, weaving and other types of production.

The development of agriculture and cattle breeding, the emergence of crafts, the construction of large settlements indicate that man began to actively transform nature, create an artificial environment for his habitat.

The development of complex types of production - metallurgy, blacksmithing and pottery, weaving, etc. - required special knowledge and skills: blacksmiths, potters, weavers and other craftsmen began to appear in society. Between the masters and their fellow tribesmen, as well as between different tribes, the exchange of goods developed.

The development of metallurgy, blacksmithing, arable farming, specialized cattle breeding led to an increase in the role of male labor. Instead of the former equality of men and women, the power of men was established. In many societies, his power over a woman has acquired a harsh and even cruel character.

The growth of labor productivity led to the development of individual forms of activity: now one person (or one family) could do what several people (or a whole family) used to do. The individual family became the basic economic unit.

As a result of the growth of labor productivity, surpluses of products began to form, which gradually became the property of people. Thus, in primitive societies, an important factor appeared that contributed to the stratification of the community, and later to the formation of the state.

In the life of all the tribes of the era of the neighboring community, a large place was occupied by war - another source of enrichment. Boys were brought up primarily as warriors and trained in the use of weapons from early childhood. Family settlements were fortified with walls and ditches. Weapons have become more diverse.

The management of society in the era of the neighborhood community also changed. Meetings were formally preserved in the tribes, but they changed their character and turned into a meeting of male warriors: women were not allowed in the meetings. The leaders and elders, relying on the support of the noble and god-that part of the tribe, began to actually dictate their will to the whole society. Primitive democracy and equality of people were replaced by the power of tribal nobility. In relation to those fellow tribesmen who tried to oppose the establishment of the power of the leaders, they could use force.

The organization of the life of society also became more complex, people appeared - officials who controlled other people.material from the site

In the era of the neighborhood community, the social and property stratification of the primitive community occurs. Rich and prosperous families appear, among relatives and fellow tribesmen, nobility stands out from among the leaders, elders, priests and the most experienced and authoritative warriors who began to use the labor of impoverished members of the community. More warlike and populous tribes exacted tribute from their weak neighbors, threatening them with war and cruel reprisals. During military campaigns, captives were captured, who became slaves, who made up the most disenfranchised stratum of society.

Tribal unions

Separate tribes, fearing attacks from outside, united in powerful tribal unions headed by an authoritative leader. Such unions of tribes later served as a prototype of the future statehood. Often warlike unions of tribes organized military campaigns, smashed other tribes, seized rich booty, making robbery their constant trade. In the 7th-6th millennium BC. e. in the Middle East, the first proto-cities appear - Chatal-Guyuk, Jericho, Jarmo. These were well-fortified, walled settlements of farmers.