COMMON AND DIFFERENT IN THE HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE PEOPLES OF CENTRAL AND SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE IN MODERN TIMES (XVI - EARLY XX CENTURIES)

Life prompts researchers from different countries to study the historical experience of the peoples of Central and South-Eastern Europe. Especially since the reasons that give rise to the common problems that bind this part of the continent together continue to persist. Historians should more actively turn to the method of comparison and analysis of regularities and thus seek answers to the issues of the time. That is true that direct adaptation and automatism do not work here. The article summarizes our practical experience of learning the history of individual countries in the new era, as well as pointing out those objective factors that combined their fate not only led to unity and interdependence but also to significant features that distinguished them. At the end of the 18th century, all the peoples of the regions completely lost their independence. Still, with the beginning of the 19th century, the reverse process of national liberation struggles began, which was crowned with success at the beginning of the 20th century. Despite all the differences in the ethnic-social and state associations that were formed, and despite the features that characterize the two main regions – Central European and the Balkans, the nations that arose in this historical and geographical area included such essential features that distinguish them from the peoples of the western part of Europe. The article highlighted the unity of the neighboring regions and their difference from the rest of the continent was formed over a long period. Still, it was evident in the 18th and 19th centuries. The 20th century also added new touches. We understand that the peoples of Central and South-Eastern Europe in the 16th - 17th centuries found themselves between two shores – German and Turkish, and in the 18th -19th centuries – German and Russian, so they always had to put up with one or another rule. An objective analysis shows somewhat better political, economic, cultural, and spiritual development opportunities, which have opened up to the Central Europeans compared with the Balkan peoples.