APPENDIX 1. THE TERMINOLOGY AND CONCEPTS USED: DEFINITIONS I n this first small chapter we wish to define more precisely the principal terms used further. It's always quite complicated procedure, but in this particular case we can do it quite correctly after describing indicative qualities of every main socio-cultural formation. We do not even hope to present here a completely exhaustive, maximum correct definitions, and in general don't believe such "statements of a things' precise meaning" make any particular sense. It seems more important to define certain theoretical basis that would make it possible to successively and exactly distinguish one socio-cultural formation or process from another, along the whole length of their historical evolution. Complexity of this task is that socio-cultural formations and processes have very long life terms and exist as an astonishing diversity of specific external forms. With it all, their essence remains one and the same. Variety of the socio-cultural formations' and processes' specific forms makes defining the terminology used here quite a practical problem. * * * HOMELAND - the most deeply transformed in a socio-cultural respect territory where representatives of a certain socio-cultural formation lived and / or still live during historically lengthy interval of time, absolutely securing this territory as their own. Homeland's territory is always furiously protected and defended from any outside invasions. Representatives of the alien socio-cultural formations may be present there only for a brief time and with many restrictions that especially concerns homelands of socio-cultural systems. Territories of the Urals and Moscow region may serve as the examples of the Russian homeland. They were assimilated according to Russian standards and are clearly interpreted as Russian homeland, though duration of these territories' occupation by the Russian population differs essentially. SOCIO-CULTURAL SYSTEM (SCS) - type of the socio-cultural formations dominating in a socio-cultural evolution. SCS-s include main part of the World's population and inhabited territories. SCS-s are characterised by great sizes of their territories and considerable quantities of own population; they possess original standards of a space, society and state organisation as well as many unique qualities because of those they do differ drastically from the rest of the socio-cultural formations. Unique characteristics of SCS-s are as follows: * ability to expand own homeland at the expense of socio-cultural assimilation of a new territories; * ability to generate complicated structure of own space, with internal buffer zones, in order to protect and defend itself from other SCS-s; * complete cycle of the space socio-cultural assimilation which includes seven principal periods; * domination of the inner logic over outer factors which are always used in a strict correspondence with the SCS's evolution internal order; * ability to create naturally dependent vassals in a course of socio-cultural transformation of other territories; * own world religion, or its own unique version; * ability to widen a circulation of own language outside own homeland, and first of all - in the internal buffer zone and among the naturally dependent vassals; * reliability and self-sufficiency of own economy; * ability to generate and invent stable original economic standards and forms which may have no analogues outside a single SCS. There are eight socio-cultural systems, and in the process of their evolution each of them goes through seven periods. With this, with every period SCS-s acquire specific distinguished forms. Thus, there are 56 essentially different external forms of SCS-s to examine which we should base all the theoretical interpretations on a correct generalisation of a very high level. INTERNAL BUFFER ZONE OF SCS - qualitatively original and distinctive socio-cultural part of the SCS's space that is always located on the "outskirts" of the SCS's homeland, along its borders with other socio-cultural formations. Internal buffer zone is destined mainly to protect homeland of a single SCS from immediate contacts with alien SCS-s and their possible aggression. It may border with an external socio-cultural buffer zone as well as an internal buffer zone of a neighbouring SCS. Organisation of an internal buffer zone is characterised by many distinctive qualities determined by the specific evolutionary process of the SCS this particular buffer zone belongs to. Example of the internal buffer zone of the past is the territory of the Great Novgorod Principality that, during socio-cultural contest of Russian SCS of the XI - XVI centuries, protected Russian homeland from the invasions of Western SCS. Modern internal buffer zone of Russian SCS is formed by the newly independent states rising after the collapse and transformation of the USSR. All of them, excluding Belarus and Kazakhstan, have formed internal buffer zone of Russian SCS, irrespective of their own wishes as well as - and especially - declarations. NATURALLY DEPENDENT VASSAL - relatively integral territory with own population that retains some - not really principal - differences from the neighbouring, dominating over it SCS, but became this SCS's inalienable part as a result of a lengthy and systematic socio-cultural transformation. It is important that sizes of states - naturally dependent vassals may vary essentially: the point isn't size in itself, but a special socio-cultural type of these formations. Naturally dependent vassals may possess a considerable amount of political and economic independence, have quite complicated - at times conflicting - relationships with their dominants, being actually just a part of a dominating SCS. In fact, they practically cannot change their socio-cultural status, and the point isn't just separate, single economic or political actions, but socio-cultural measures that should be conducted successively during several centuries and (most probably) on the competing SCS-s' own initiative. ............