The influence of international events on the attitude of the Germans towards the Czechs in 1839 through 1848

"V souladu s tezí o kontinuitě tohoto procesu a přinejmenším o nepřímém vlivu Rýnské krize přichází nejen s novými prameny, ale také s premisou, že obvykle uplatněná nacionální optika nestačí k úplnému pochopení tohoto procesu. Nacionalismus totiž nebyl sám o sobě příčinou, nýbrž součástí rozsáhlejšího fenoménu, kterým byl nárůst nedůvěry v sílu mezinárodního práva a zachování míru. Právě zde je nutné hledat elementární důvod negativní transformace německo-českých vztahů ve sledovaném období."The revolutionary year of 1848 is considered a watershed in Czech-German relations. The aim of the study is to point out the fact that these relations were characterised by greater continuity and their deterioration occurred gradually from the end of the 1830s at the latest. The main cause of this process was the influence of international events on the attitude of the German public, who eventually came to believe that relations between states and nations were increasingly defined by jus manuarium (law of the jungle) instead of the written law. One of the consequences of this feeling of insecurity was the tendency to perceive other states and nations as potential threats. In the end, the Czechs also became a potential threat, and therefore the question of their own security became a fundamental factor in the formation of the German attitude towards the Czech nation and at the same time the Czech lands