Geo-Historical Basis of the Russian Civilization

Based on the analysis and verification of “geo-historical” generalizations of Russian historiography of the late 19th — early 20th centuries, the article analyzes and evaluates the methodological potential of the categories of space and movement as the key ones in explaining the influence of the geography and natural conditions of the Russian Plain on the initial phases of the Russian historical process. It turns out that the conditions of vast and homogeneous space with sparse population had a contradictory effect on the potential for its unification within a single state form, serving, on the one hand, as a prerequisite for integration, and on the other, as a factor of fragmentation. The feeble natural diversi-fication of the economy and the scarcity of social space gave rise — as a way of adapting to them — to the development of special forms of societal organization, power, economy, and culture. The most important factor to contribute to overcoming centrifugal trends and strengthening the coherence of the historical Russian territory on a large scale was the increased mobility of the bulk of population, the centers of economic, political and cultural life. The colonization northeastern shift in the 11th–14th centuries had important historical consequences. Its dynamics, increasing the intensity of inter-ethnic interactions and the overall scope of migrations, multiplied the differentiation of economic life and the social aggregate of society, and thus allowed to maintain continuously effective control over disproportionately large territories by small forces. This early colonization essentially influenced the formation of the main institutional features of the Russian civilization

Historiography · Homogeneous · Politics · Population · Unification · Psycholinguistics and Behavioral Studies · Regional Socio-Economic Development Trends · Security, Politics, and Digital Transformation