Exact definition to these communities (ethnoses, peoples, nations), without having noted their essence with evidence, it is impossible to give – therefore it at anybody did not turn out – until as there will be clear a basis of development of these human formations, and this basis in any materialistic or idealistic theories is not looked through.

What is offered in this regard by L. N. Gumilev?

His concept, to be brief, boils down to the following.

1. Gumilev put forward the following mechanism of emergence, existence and disappearance of holistic communities, calling them ethnoses: "… the relative duration of different phases of ethnogenesis can be very different, the phase of historical formation is short; the process is very intensive. The phase of historical existence at most of ethnoses is longer previous because in this period forms a complex uniqueness of the ethnos, comes to an end its expansion and conditions for formation of superethnic cultural formations are created. The phase of historical decline can vary especially strongly on the duration, so how it depends as from intensity of internal processes of decomposition of ethnos, and from its historical destiny determined by extent of development of the material basis which is saved up for the previous period, physiographic conditions of an area, and a condition of adjacent ethnoses. At last, the phase of historical relicts already entirely depends on historical and geographical features of this territory [14, p. 55].

2. Dynamics of ethnogenesis is explained by Gumilev as the presence in each person of the fluctuations of some energy which undertakes from the biosphere of Earth and transformed by the person into work. Gumilev called this ability the passionarity: "An indispensable condition of emergence and the course of process of ethnogenesis up to its attenuation, after which the ethnos turns into a relict, is its passionarity, i.e. ability to purposeful overtension. We can explain it so far, having only accepted a hypothesis, i. e. the judgment which is generalizing noted facts, but not excluding a possibility of emergence of other, more graceful explanations: the passionarity is an organic ability of an organism to absorb energy of the external environment and to give it in the form of labour. In humans, this ability fluctuates so strongly that sometimes its impulses break the instinct of self-preservation, both individual and species, as a result of which some people, in our terminology – passionaries, commit and cannot fail to do the acts that lead to a change in their environment. This change concerns equally the environment and the relations in human communities, that is ethnoses. Therefore, the passionarity has the energetical nature, refracting through the mental features stimulating hyperactivity of carriers of this sign creating and destroying landscapes, peoples and cultures" [15, p. 50].

3. The push to increase the passionarity Gumilev sees in the external factor (bursts of cosmic radiation). The fact that the pushes have cosmic origin apparently results from the fact that Gumilev could not explain by earthly reasons the linear form and huge extent on the surface of the Earth of these pushes [16]. "One and the same push can create several foci of increased passionarity (and as a consequence – several super-ethnoses). So, the push VI touched Arabia, the valley of the Indus, Southern Tibet, North China and Middle Japan. "The same push can create several centers of the increased passionarity (and as a result – several superethnoses). So, push VI reserve Arabia, valley of Indus, Southern Tibet, Northern China and Central Japan. And in all these countries arose ethnoses-peers, but each of them had original stereotypes and cultures" [17, p. 14-17].