The Problem of the Formation of Russian Statehood in its Civilizational and Political Dimension

The scientific aim of this article is to demonstrate, through an interdisciplinary methodology that harmoniously combines historical and political science approaches, to demonstrate the contradictory points of view of supporters of both liberal and Eurasian concepts.. Their representatives argue that the statehood of Rus’ emerged solely due to Eastern influence, specifically from Turkic hordes. These hordes, they claim, began closely interacting with the Slavic tribes settled along the middle Dnieper and adjacent territories as early as the dawn of the medieval era. Particular emphasis is placed on the Mongol influence, which, for nearly two hundred and fifty years, bound Ancient Rus’ to the Ulus of Jochi, otherwise known as the Golden Horde. According to liberal analysts, practicallythe entire history of Russian statehood for many centuries bore a “wild,” Eastern character, as it was not Rus’ itself but the great khans of the Golden Horde who dictated their unwavering will and imposed their system of values, thereby diverting Russia from the main path of true European progress. Eurasianists, by contrast, assign this period a significant progressive role, viewing it as having contributed to the formation of Great Russia and having laid the foundations of its unique civilizational identity — an identity to which, they argue, Russia is now beginning to return. In order to assess the validity or fallacy of these conclusions, one must begin with the principle of the interconnection between the state and statehood. Since statehood serves as an attribute of the state as a political institution, the author has chosen to build the evidentiary framework of this study by analyzing the early stages of Russian statehood in its civilizational and political dimensions, focusing on the events of the second half of the ninth and tenth centuries. This leads to the conclusion that the foundations of a distinctive national state and statehood were laid during this period, entirely independent of Turkic-Mongol ethnic influences.