Dear Slavs listen to me carefully

[GoatsMilk]

First - all European aristocracy was heavily interbred with each other for close to a millenium, that's just how things were then (and still are among the remaining nobility).

Yeah the elites of Europe were nearly entirely non Slavic in origin. In fact hatred of the slavs was an open thing across Europe not so long ago. For example hitler saw slavs as sub human, slavs were even in human zoos across europe along with africans.

Second - the rulers of Russia were Germanic only for 2 generations max, Rurik was (probably) a Swede, his son Igor Rurikovich was already bilingual, Igor's son Svyatoslav already had a Slavic name and spoke Slavic as his first language so he was functionally Slavic. All the rulers after him were fully Slavic and did not even speak Norse.

Norman conquerors of France/England and much of europe spoke French and gave themselves French names or names from the domestic cultures. Its easier to rule the peasants when you make them believe you are of them. Even during the first world war the Windsor's original name was something like saxe-coburg and gotha to hide their germanic origins on the eve of going to war with their cousins in Germany.

Third - I wonder how did you conclude that Slavs have "always" been slaves to foreign powers?

Because for much of history slavs were generally slaves to external powers or foreign dynasties.

Fourth - Bolsheviks weren't "majority Jewish", Jews were overrepresented among the Bolsheviks (and also among the Mensheviks, SRs and the Bund) since they were more urban and literate (50% urbanization rate vs 18% for Russia as a whole) and more literate than average and new ideologies spread among urban, literate populations first. Being persecuted by the Tsarist state also didn't make them love the aforementioned state.

One thing to add: the word "slave" comes FROM "Slav", not the other way around. Medieval Latin sclavus started being used for slave because so many Slavic captives were sold in that period.

Yes and the point being that Slavic peoples were so commonly sold and seen as slaves by european elites that the word slave is tied to them.

 

[Zhuge Liang]

One thing to add: the word "slave" comes FROM "Slav", not the other way around. Medieval Latin sclavus started being used for slave because so many Slavic captives were sold in that period.

Yes and the point being that Slavic peoples were so commonly sold and seen as slaves by european elites that the word slave is tied to the

Yes, that was because from the 500s AD onwards, Slavs raided Byzantium (Eastern Roman Empire) and the Byzantines raided back and took slaves. The Germanic tribes also took Slavs as captives and sold them to Byzantium through the Balkans and the Avars did the same through the Volga with the help of Norse traders.

But after 1000 AD Slavs had normal statehood and participated in normal European politics, the first Polish ruler Mieszko I was the grandfather of Cnut the Great who conquered England, Gyda of Wessex married a Russian Grand Prince etc.

 

[GoatsMilk]

the first Polish ruler Mieszko I was the grandfather of Cnut the Great who conquered England, Gyda of Wessex married a Russian Grand Prince etc.

I've heard about this before and its somewhat contested that his ancestry could actually be Scandinavian. It wouldnt surprise me because the Scandinavian elites would go on to rule most of europe, with the rest of europe being ruled by Turkic tribes.

Its a bit like when England, France and Russia all declared war on Turkiye to create a greek state. All 3 dynasties were germanic and all of them related to each other. When they won the war and created a greek state, they took a danish prince and made him the king of greece. He was less Greek then the former Ottoman sultan who ruled over that region for 400 years.

 

[Zhuge Liang]

I've heard about this before and its somewhat contested that his ancestry could actually be Scandinavian. It wouldnt surprise me because the Scandinavian elites would go on to rule most of europe, with the rest of europe being ruled by Turkic tribes.

"Most of Europe"?

They ruled Kievan Rus', Normandy and briefly England. They assimilated quickly there

And which majority of Europe was ruled by Turkic tribes? You must have access to some cutting edge new historical research that we, mere mortals, cannot yet access.