EN
Self-determination towards the Germans, Germany and the German national consciousness based on a concept of the opposite German nature presented a constant in the Czech national discourse of the 19the and the first half of the 20th century, which was a traditionally emerging auto-stereotype of the Slavic 'dove' nature. An important feature of this idea, especially in the first half of the 19th century, was compensation of cultural insufficiency which they experienced: absence of 'great' history connected with wars and subjugation of foreign territories was partly a historically compensated by an emphasis on the Slavs' own 'peacefulness' connected with enforcement of Herder's concept of universal humanity. From the late 19th century, contemplation on the Slavic nature can be divided into two lines: pseudo-scientific and sociological line connected with natural sciences and geographical determinism and the older idealistic line operating with facts concerning history, culture and ideas. Both approaches refer to a different concept of the nation, which was specified by utterly different values such as idea, programme or substance and existence. Despite this fundamental difference, their outcomes were of a similar nature; they had a similar identifying and ideological function, pointed to the national present or future time and demanded an alternative to historicism. The stereotype of the 'peaceful' Slavic nature played an important role in attempts to formulate political and cultural programmes based on the idea of Slavic affinity.