What are differences in German culture, people and Slavic culture, people? any common origin in past?

Question

What are differences in German culture, people and Slavic culture, people? any common origin in past?

Answer 1

They actually came from common ancestors. The Slavs were one of the Germanic tribes that settled in what had been the Roman Empire. The modern day Germans I believe came from a Germanic tribe known as the Alemanni as well as from the Franks. I believe that a tribe know as the Teutons also had a role in their ancestry. All these tribes were known as Germanic or Nordic Tribes as they had come from the areas of modern day Denmark, Germany, and France. The Goths for instance came from the island of Gotland in the Baltic sea.

Answer 2

Kumyk, Ossetians, Laks, Ingush, Azeri, Cossacks, Arabs, Shapsuk, Russians, Armenians, Chechens,  Iranians, Persians, Lezgin, Georgians… These are only a few of the peoples who live in the Caucasus. It was indeed called "the Mountains of Languages" by ancient travelers. Dagestan officially has 34 ethnic groups (or 32, depending on the sources). There is more than one hundred in the whole Caucasus, themselves divided in smaller groups with their own dialects.

The Caucasus has always been and still is a zone of contact and interpenetration between people. Due its mountainous geography and its position, it is a borderland, between Europe and the East, between the Slavic world and the Middle East, between Christianism and Islam. It has been used as a shelter and a road to a multitude of human groups. Empires competed for its possession. There is an extreme diversity of human population, partly mixed and intertwined. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Caucasus has been ridden with nationalist conflicts of irredentist and secessionist natures, as well as autonomist and pan Caucasian claims. "The conflicts in Nagorno-Karabakh, South Ossetia, Abkhazia, the Prigoroniy Rayon of North Ossetia, and Chechnya have together resulted in close to a hundred thousand deaths and an estimated two million six hundred thousand refugees and Internally Displaced Persons (IDP)". These conflicts largely result from the development of antagonist nationalisms in a region that had been released from an iron grip, which forcefully silenced nationalist claims. We will show that the renewed tensions have taken such a dramatic form because previous, regulating, adapted feudal structures had been crushed by imperialist rule. Peoples had no clear and enforced rule to refer to, as new theories of nationalism made their way in. The stakes of conflicts had dramatically increased, with the appearance of new resources, such as Caspian oil and gas, and modern weapons and tactics (the concept of "total war", advocated by Carl Von Clausewitz, as opposed to the feudal limited war) which led to greater destruction.

In order to understand the current situation of the Caucasus, I will present a brief summary of its characteristics (geography, religion, economy…) and study its history, mostly the soviet era. The second part of this study will focus on the current situation of the Caucasus, studying the various tensions and conflicts. The third part will examine concepts of nationalism relevant in our case and possible outcomes.



We need to understand the past to Understand the Present

A Characteristics of the Caucasus

Geographically, the Caucasus forms the mountainous region between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, and includes the plains to the North and the South. This mountain range is the highest in Europe, with a main range of about 3600 meters, and the Mount Elbrus is towering at 5642m. They play an important role in the Caucasian identity, people being strongly linked with them. An interesting example is the fact that the most popular movie in the North Caucasus, which has had a very large diffusion (bought, copied, pirated), is Braveheart. It was highly praised by locals, who felt an affinity with Scottish highlanders, their environment, and their fight. The high level of violence of local populations, culturally accepted and socially channeled, is a tradition just like it was in Scottish Highlands.

The region is an important borderland between civilizations, religions, and empires, as well as a trade route, while being at the same time an almost impenetrable refuge.

Religion is an important feature of the Caucasus. Many had their place before the soviet rule, and sixty years of state atheism have no eradicated them. Islam is extremely present, both Shiah and Sunni, along with Christianity (mostly orthodox), Judaism and Buddhism. There is currently a rediscovery of religion, particularly of Islam, which suffered more from soviet rule. People, especially the young, see religion as a part of their cultural heritage.

Answer 3

Some . But so fare in the past that any comparisons are rear.

As beings we are closer to becoming one of a kind than to any single race.

Answer 4

Today there are huge differences. Language, national identity, religion, history etc. Though I am German (raided in Germany) I cannot identify with a Czech or someone of slavic decent at all. Even within Germany, a Berliner has a hard time identifying with a Bavarian, for the same reasons of language, national identity, religion and history.

There is little doubt that we share a common ancestry but that makes little difference today.

Answer 5

The language is the main difference. These peoples have been moving around middle and central Europe for centuries. The Russian nation was decended from Slavic origins and the Germans have moved across their borders many times.