The genesis of ethnic relations between the peoples of the European Union on the example of the Italian society’s transformation in the Middle Ages

The issues of historical parallelism of events are relevant at all times because researchers are trying to find cyclically repeated processes in history that help to analyze the course of these processes at the present stage of society's development, extrapolating the past to the present. The problems of the relationship of nations in the European Union, which are carefully veiled by the EU leadership, have historically ancient origins in the struggle for territories, resources, logistical benefits and political alliances. The genesis of these contradictions is clearly shown in the example of Italy as the heiress of the Roman Empire. The study aimed to identify the complex influence of ethnic migration processes that affected the Apennine Peninsula in the period from the 4th to the 12th centuries, which led to a deep social, economic and political transformation of Italian society and the creation of a basis for relations with neighbouring peoples. The origins of ethnic and cultural contradictions laid down in the period from the 4th to the 12th centuries formed in the local first nations a fairly stable wariness and relative negativism towards neighbouring ethnic groups that became descendants of migrants from the Early and Upper Middle Ages from the East and North. To solve these problems, historical, social and economic, comparative and logical research methods were used, which helped draw the necessary conclusions and conclusions. The materials of the article are intended for scientists, students and researchers in the field of the ethnology of Europe and the Apennine Peninsula.