Black Sea. In the north, along their native shores, the Swedes, Norwegians, and Danes had attained a notable degree of political development and a high level of civilisation. On the Black Sea lay the outposts of the Byzantine empire; all the great rivers of Russia led southward, and across the Black Sea was the route to Constantinople.
The political organisation of Novgorod dates from the ninth century, but at the close of this century Kiev became the capital of the Russian realm. The subsequent development of Novgorod was comparatively independent, and it later became a powerful northern republic, whose territories in the twelfth century, when Kiev grew weak, extended to the White Sea and across the Urals.
From Kiev the Russians were in touch with the Greeks, while across the Caspian they came in contact with the advancing Arabs. Further, and in especial, they had to contend with nomadic tribes, the Khazars, the Pechenegs, and the Polovzians. Kiev was able to defend itself against these peoples, but it succumbed to the Tatars, in whose onslaught against the Russians the nomad tribes were broken up.
In addition to these Asiatics, the Russians of Novgorod and Kiev had the Finns as neighbours. Before long, too, they had to maintain themselves against the Lithuanians, and, ultimately against the Slavonian Poles.
The first princes of Novgorod and Kiev whose names appear in the ninth-century chronicles are stated by the "Normanists" (basing their views upon Nestor's chronicle and other data) to have been Norsemen—Varangians. The "Slavists," on the other hand, contend that these princes were Slavs. It is certain that the state of Novgorod existed before the arrival of the three Variag brothers Rjurik, Sineus, and Truvor; but it is uncertain how this state originated, whether these princes were the first, whether they had a numerous following and how soon they became Russified.
Other Russian towns besides Novgorod appear to have been occupied by Swedish Varangians. Among these was Kiev, which was occupied twice at least, for Oleg, a successor of Rjurik, seized Kiev from the Norse princes Askold and Dir. Subsequently we are told that princes who were established in Kiev summoned Norse followers. In this connection, too, the question arises when and how the dominion of Kiev was founded in the south, whether there was a Russian realm in
