THE CONCEPT OF «EASTERN EUROPE» IN REFLECTION OF THE EUROPEAN INTELLECTUAL THOUGHT OF THE XVIIIth – EARLY XIXth CENTURY

Abstract

Considered the peculiarities of the formation and evolution of the concept of Eastern Europe in European intellectual thought of the XVIII – early XIX centuries, analyzing and characterizing the Europe-wide factors that affected the conceptual transformation of the Eastern European region, it should be noted that the interpretation of the concept of Eastern Europe has dynamically changed during the indicated chronological framework of the study, and modern discussions about the Eastern European region have many varieties and ways of using this cultural and political concept. Summing up the definition of the concept and analysis of the formation in the European intellectual circles of the concept of Eastern Europe, we can say that the European intelligentsia differently considered the cultural and geographical boundaries of the Eastern European civilization and the peoples who inhabited this large region.