Muristek
Many Slavic languages refer to Germans as "Nemci” which has the root meaning of someone who is a foreigner or someone whom you don't understand. Though it is believed that Germans and Slavs derived from common ancestors at some point many millennia ago (of course, all human beings are ultimately related), their divergence from one other over the course of time has caused great calamities throughout history. I would argue that this was due in part to the language barrier and the fractured/Balkanized nature of feudalism in Central Europe during the Middle Ages. Indeed, it is the misunderstandings between these two great peoples (the most numerous in Europe) that has caused the greatest strife and instability in human history which has never been fully resolved. Whenever I visit Europe, the one thing I notice is the immaturity of many German politicians in their televised discussions of Russia and the rest of Eastern Europe. I also remember challenging (diplomatically) Michael Libal (German Foreign Minister for Southeastern Europe) speaking on the Yugoslav civil war when I was a graduate student at Harvard. He became extremely agitated and flustered when I asked him why Germany hated the Serbs so (despite the supposed remorse/apology for starting WWII) and why his government was illegally interfering in the Balkans (considering the damage Nazi Germany wrought there during WWII). I have the feeling that many German leaders still harbor significant resentment over their historic loss during WWII. It was this loss that formed the basis for revenge that destroyed Yugoslavia in 1990 when a newly reunified Germany and the Vatican illegally recognized Croatia and Slovenia despite the fact that neither Yugoslav republic was mature enough to civilly deal with its minorities who had been so brutally persecuted during WWII. Instead of being grateful that the Soviet Union allowed German reunification (it didn't have to), they stung the Slavs the first chance they got in the first international action of the newly-unified Germany by destroying Yugoslavia.
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