One of the greataest discussions here for some time!
Everything discussed here streams from the WWII (at least for me/Czech Rep./East Block).
Actually, the WWII started in a conflict of Hitlers Germany and Czechoslovakia - over 3 Millions of Germans lived there and Hitler claimed a huge territory, which is created by a serial of mountains all over the German borders and makes a natural defence line. It's called the Sudets or Sudetenland.
Czechoslovaks were prepared to fight. Western politics (Chamberlain, Dalladier...) had **** in trousers and in March 1938 met Hitler and Mussolini in Munich, where they signed an agreement (without a single member of the Czech government!) later called "The München Clerk". It guaranteed the Sudetenland for Germany and Czechoslovakia, by the way at that time the only democratic country in the whole area (so called "The Isle of Freedom" in the late 30's), lost it's chance to fight.
The bigheaded Germans walked into the country without a single shot, capturing all the high-tec military equipements - Czech army was one of the most modern in that time - (also the Avia B.534 Bi-Plane fighters) and then we all know what happened on 1st Sep 1939.
In second fact, the WWII (at least the European part) ended in the CS as well! The Berlin was liberated on 1st May 1945, Prague was on 8th May. I write this for reason, Marconi mentioned Stalin's dictator mind. The American units, lead by General Patton, stepped into Czechoslovakia beginning on May 45, on 5th of the same Month they liberated Pilsen, but then they had to sit on the so called "demarkation line" and wait until the Russians liberate the capital town - Prague. Somewhere I read that Patton didn't want to wait and was on his way to Prague but then another order came and he finally stopped. If he wouldn't do so, who knows how the world would look like now...
So because the capital was liberated by RA, the Czechoslovakia felt into the influence of USSR.
In 1948 there was a Communist putsch, the force was taken by the Reds...
-Economy: ****** up
-Vets: almost all of them imprisoned, some executed
-Army: all had to be Russian... (BTW, there were around 20 pieces of Mosquitoes and as a "western product", they were scrapped!!!)
In 1968, when the political atmosphere was getting more and more loosen, western products were flooding the country, the life standard was better and better, the Russian came. That's the reason why we hate them. Not a man, but the nation.
So this lasted for another 20 years and affected all. Also the WWII education. When I was on the elementary, most far we get to maybe French revolution or so. On the high school, most far we went to maybe 1st Sep 1939 or so. But most of the teachers are old Commies (the funniest are those 80+ grannies who taught Russian for tens of years and now they teach English but most of the pupils have higher skills...
) and they teach following the socialist type of education - this is memorazing facts and datas. On the opposite I know that the Western type is more based on working with datas, sticking them together, discussing, etc...)
But I think everyone who is interested in WWII must be intrested in other things that happen now, or better - the WWII is a basement of todays world curcumstances. Most of the people interested in WWII (history) were clever and vice versa.
Stereotypes here:
Germans - fat, ugly, with moustaches, drink beer
Poles - very proud (almost boasty), agressive, religious
Ukrainians - vodka drinkers, fighters (since most of them work here manually)
Russians - 100% most hated nation here, vodka drinkers, idiots, communists
Yankees - fat hamburgereaters, dummy idiots, they want the oil in Iraq (the latest stereotype)
Canadiens - they play rough hockey
Britons - footbal fighters, drinkers (it's very cheap to come to drink to Prague for a weekend and thousands of guys from the UK cross the streets in night and shout and are doing troubles)
That's my 2 cents.
To those in that club. 
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