Czech Republic - Germanic or Slavic?

[DontH8Me]

Originally Posted by CleanCutHippie

Czechs are just Soviets....lol....just because the USSR broke up into different countries doesn't change the fact

Because they used to be part of USSR - gotcha.

Can you please pinpoint on the map, where the Czechs were located?

Administrative map of the USSR

[CleanCutHippie]

Originally Posted by DontH8Me

Because they used to be part of USSR - gotcha.

Can you please pinpoint on the map, where the Czechs were located?

Administrative map of the USSR

\
my bad, I still think of Czech ppl as Russians....lol

[justinian]

Originally Posted by CleanCutHippie

\
my bad, I still think of Czech ppl as Russians....lol

Czechs were never part of the Soviet Union even though they were Communist.

They were a bloc country. They served as the buffer zone along with Romania, Poland, Former Yugoslavia, and Hungary against NATO expansion, which right now is happening since the Soviet Union fell.

[pavelni]

Originally Posted by Neutre

True.

To the original question:
The Czech Rep. is undoubtedly Slavic. Although Germans have had a strong influence there.
Before the WW II, a third of the population were Germans, and if it wasn't for the strong Czech identity which kept on being reinforced for centuries, many more Czechs would've been germanized prior to the 19th century.

Czech Rep belongs to Central Europe not because of the impact the Germans have had on them, but because Bohemia was an integral of the medieval Holy Roman Empire for much of its history. The Czech king was one of the seven prince electors and hence very powerful. If you travel to Prague, you get all the medieval architecture because the city was site of the Emperor himself. This is why Czechs get so puzzled about the sheer ignorance regarding their famous history and people perceiving them “different” from the rest of the traditional Western Europe.

[MimzyMusic]

Originally Posted by pavelni

Czech Rep belongs to Central Europe not because of the impact the Germans have had on them, but because Bohemia was an integral of the medieval Holy Roman Empire for much of its history. The Czech king was one of the seven prince electors and hence very powerful. If you travel to Prague, you get all the medieval architecture because the city was site of the Emperor himself. This is why Czechs get so puzzled about the sheer ignorance regarding their famous history and people perceiving them “different” from the rest of the traditional Western Europe.

I think it's more because they speak a Slavic language. But really Slavic is very similar to other linguistic groups of Europe, it's just as European as Romance or Germanic speaking countries. In fact today you can probably find more of the "old Europe" in central and eastern Europe.

[BaronOB]

Originally Posted by MimzyMusic

This is based on a conversation I had earlier here with a Czech guy, who said he thinks the Czech Republic is Central European like Austria, Germany, etc, but also not really German or Slavic like Poland. I always saw it as being western Slavic like Slovakia and Poland, but I'll take his word for it!

For my is Chech Republik a part of slavic world.

[meet4]

Originally Posted by MimzyMusic

This is based on a conversation I had earlier here with a Czech guy, who said he thinks the Czech Republic is Central European like Austria, Germany, etc, but also not really German or Slavic like Poland. I always saw it as being western Slavic like Slovakia and Poland, but I'll take his word for it!

He was quite right. Czechs were part of Roman Holy empire while Poles not. Also because of 30 years war, there was a lot of German and Austrian influence. At the beginning of 20th century, I believe German population was up to 25% of Czech lands.
Slovaks are quite shady, since it's hard to separate them from Bohemia and Hungary through history.

For more see: West Slavs - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sudetenland - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[OyCrumbler]

These countries we're discussing were all part of the Mitteleuropa cultural sphere. It makes sense to think of them as a bloc since they've been culturally, "genetically", and politcally entangled for so long.