Eastern European Ethnicity

Eastern European Ethnicity

The Europe East region stretches from the Baltic Sea in the north to the borders of Greece in the south. Throughout history, the region has stood at the crossroads—and often in the crosshairs—of Europe and Central Asia. Despite constant invasions and occupations over the centuries, the hardy inhabitants have, nevertheless, managed to persevere.

Early Population origins

Prior to the Roman Empire's conquests and expansion between 35 B.C. and 400 A.D., the Eastern European region was largely populated by Slavic and Baltic tribes in the north, and Celtic, Thracian and Illyrian tribes in the south. The Roman Empire conquered the Thracians in 46 A.D., but the Balts in the north managed to avoid falling under Rome's sphere of dominance.

The fate of the Illyrians is unclear, but some linguistic scholars believe the Albanian language may be a form of Illyrian or Thracian. Whether that means the Albanians are descended from the ancient Illyrians is a matter of debate. The fact remains that their origins cannot be conclusively determined and their language cannot be definitively classified, except to say that it is Indo-European and predates the Slavic migrations of the medieval period.

Post Roman Empire

Roman control of the East European region was relatively weak, partly because the population was largely rural. After the collapse of the Western Roman Empire, the southern area of the region, namely Bulgaria and Romania, remained part of the Byzantine Empire, while most of the remainder was overrun by invasions of Huns, Alans and other nomadic tribes from the Pontic steppe. Slavic tribes, possibly displaced by the invasions, spread south toward the Balkans.

The Avars and Bulgars, most likely Turkic tribes from Central Asia, arrived in the 7th century. These tribes established kingdoms called Khaganates in the south Balkans, pushing the Byzantine border south, almost to the Aegean Sea. Although subjugated by outsiders, the native Slavic tribes' culture persisted. The invaders were assimilated and “Slavicized,” creating new Slavic national identities.

In the area that now includes Belarus, Ukraine and western Russia, a confederation of Slavic tribes known as the Rus' established a kingdom with its capital in Kiev. Legend has it—though some scholars disagree—that the Rus' were ruled by a small group of Scandinavian warriors called the Varangians. Scandinavian or not, the Rus' were entirely Slavicized by the 10th century. Russia and Belarus are named after this kingdom, and both claim them as cultural ancestors.

The Magyar, a Uralic tribe from the northern part of the Asian steppe, settled in the Carpathian Basin around 900 A.D. and established the Kingdom of Hungary. However, unlike the Avars and Bulgars, the Hungarians resisted Slavic influence and maintained their language, which is closely related to Finnish and Estonian.

Mongol Attacks

Led by two grandsons of Ghengis Khan, the Mongol raids and invasions of Eastern Europe were violent and fearsome. Medieval European warfare tactics were ill-suited to fight the mounted archers of the invading horde. The kingdoms of Rus' fell to the Mongols, who swept quickly across the steppe and into the Carpathian Mountains. Hungary was the main target of the Mongol campaign in Eastern Europe and was poorly prepared to defend itself after centuries of relative peace. Nearly half of the population was killed. In the terror and panic, refugees fled the Mongol armies in numbers never before seen. The Mongol Empire expanded to include Ukraine, Russia, Poland, Hungary and Bulgaria.

Baltic Crusades

Although the Baltic region wasn't attacked by the Mongols, it was invaded by Germanic crusaders, who introduced Christianity to the local tribes.

Rise of the Ottoman Empire

In the late 1300s, Ottoman Turks vanquished the remains of the Byzantine Empire. They expanded into Eastern Europe, eventually conquering Bulgaria and the Serbian Empire of the south Balkans. The Turks met fierce resistance in Wallachia and Hungary, however. Vlad III (“the Impaler”), the Wallachian prince of “Dracula” fame, was one of the Ottomans' greatest foes at the time and played an important part in preserving the culture of Romania. The Magyars of Hungary, meanwhile, were better prepared to resist the Ottomans, having built heavy fortifications against a feared second Mongol invasion.

Sixteenth Century

By around 1500 or so, the Europe East region had evolved into three stable, primary groups. In the south, the Balkan region would remain under Ottoman rule for the next 300 years. Hungary aligned with Austria, creating the formidable Austro-Hungarian Empire, which endured until World War I. The Austro-Hungarian Empire became the largest state in Europe (excluding the Russian Empire). In the Baltic region, Lithuania and Poland joined together, forming a commonwealth government.

Europe East Today

Today the Europe East DNA profile is detected most commonly in Poland, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Lithuania and Latvia, but is also detected in smaller portions in many neighboring regions. The regional languages are predominantly Slavic, with the exceptions of Estonian and Hungarian (both Uralic languages), Romanian (a holdover from the days of the Western Roman Empire) and Albanian.