Abstract Background. The article attempts to explore the reasons of the economic rise in the Slav-inhabited Baltic Sea region, including the role of geographical factors; the impact of international trade on the economic development of the Slavic region; the role of the coastal Slavs in developing the Baltic trade routes as well as the network of river and land communications in Central and Eastern Europe. The paper mainly focuses on the participation of the Slavs in the formation of transcontinental trade routes and the development of trade between Europe and the Arab East. Purpose. To explore medieval written sources, archaeological sources and historical literature on the economic development of the Baltic Slavs; identify the main factors of their economic rise, including the establishment of cities and the development of trade. Results. The following conclusions are made in the article: the first early medieval cities in the southern Baltic were founded by the Slavs; as early as in the VII century in the Oder river basin alone there were about a hundred settlements in the lands of lutych tribes. The cities founded by the Slavs on the southwest coast of the Baltic were large trade centers such as Veligrad (ger. Mecklenburg), Volyn (ger. Yumna), Staryhrad (ger. Oldenburg), Kolobreg, Shchetin, Arkona and others. According to the German chronicler Adam Bremensky the Slavic city of Volyn located on the island at the mouth of the Oder river, was one of the largest early medieval cities in Europe and a major international trading center. The emergence of early cities was stimulated by economic development in the Baltic Slavic region, including agriculture and crafts. However, trade was the main factor in the economic rise of the Slav-inhabited Baltic sea region. The favorable geographical location contributed to the formation in its territory of a network of waterways and landways, which were branches of international trade highways. Contrary to established views of the Slavs as exclusively agricultural people, sources indicate that the main occupation of the coastal Slavs was trade. They also engaged in the maritime piracy, the centers of which were the islands of Fembra (ger. Femarn) and Ruyan (ger. Rügen). The coastal Slavic tribes were pioneers in paving the first trade routes and in developing international trade in the Baltic region. Trade activities of the coastal Slavs to a large extent ensured the establishment of trade links between different regions of Europe and the development of transcontinental trade between Europe and the Arab East. The transcontinental water and land routes passed through the lands inhabited by the Slavs (Slavonia). An important role in its development in the early Middle Ages also belongs to the Danube Slavs (the state of Samo, Great Moravia) and Rus. Key words: early Medieval Age, Baltic Slavs, obodrytes, lutyches, ruyans, international trade routes, trade with the Arab East.
Political upheaval, external influences and domestic traditions: The emergence of the nineteenth-century Ålandic yacht
