Materials of the international conference of historians of Slavic countries - Belarus, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, held in November 2016 in Brest (Republic of Belarus) are offered to readers. The authors focus on turning points in historiislavanism, periods of wars and socio-political conflicts of the 19th-21st centuries. Historians explore the complex and contradictory processes of nation-building in the Slavic world, the impact of the confrontation of the great powers on the fate of the Slavs. Particular attention is paid to the causes of conflicts between Slavic states, the peculiarities of Russia's policy towards the Slavic world at different stages of its history.