Russia, the Cossacks in the historical memory of the South Slavs (in the late XVIII - early XX centuries)

The belief in the support from Russia always lived in the historical memory of the Yugoslavs. The ideological basis of such views was the awareness of the kinship of the Eastern and southern Slavs. There was a number of historical, political, economic and cultural grounds that helped to strengthen Slavic unity. The important factors that united people were historical memory, belonging to the United Orthodox Church, as well as their struggle against the Ottoman Empire. The historical memory of the Serbs and Bulgarians is of lasting value. It reflects the most significant periods of the past, family traditions passed down from generation to generation. The article uses the works of pre-revolutionary authors, as well as the works of Soviet, Russian and Bulgarian researchers. Moreover, the study consider materials from the Central archive of Russian foreign policy, together with personal memoirs and notes of direct participants in these events.