Charles Pergler

“ But can there be even the shadow of an excuse for charging Czechs with treason even to Austria? Waiving for the time being the question that Austria-Hungary declared war without consulting her own parliament, such as it is, and that she entered upon the struggle against the wishes of her own people, except the minority consisting of Germans and Magyars, it still remains a fact that even from a legalistic standpoint the Czechs are not traitors. ”

“ At least two among these many races, moreover, are strenuously, restlessly, persistently devoted to independence. No lapse of time, no defeat of hopes, seems sufficient to reconcile the Czechs of Bohemia to incorporation with Austria. Pride of race and the memories of a notable and distinguished history keep them always at odds with the Germans within their gates and with the government set over their heads. They desire at least the same degree of autonomy that has been granted to Hungary. ”

“ Future generations will happily record the influence for good which you were privileged to exercise upon a large part of the population of the world, and will accord you the place which you have so courageously won. There is perhaps nowhere recorded a more brilliant record than the with drawal of your forces in opposition to the armies of Germany and Austria, through a population at first hostile, or the march of your armies for thousands of miles across the great stretches of Siberia, all the while keeping in mind the necessity for order and organization. ”

“ If I must make a choice, I prefer war for democracy to the peace of the graveyard. These are some of the things that make many of us pause before we can even think of any co-operation with the pacifist movement. Such co-operation is certainly out of question where one of the participants is Victor L. Berger, who is pronouncedly pro-German and who, in his Milwaukee papers sometime ago, did not hesitate to oppose the just Bohemian-Slovak claims to independence. ”

“ It is at least possible for the United States to set for itself an ideal that will do justice to the races whose fate depends upon the result of this war, and then to secure an actual peace which will conform as closely as possible to the ideal which we have set for ourselves. For a century and a half; after the question might have been settled, the situation in the Turkish Empire has remained a world scandal and a constant menace to the peace of Europe, because the European powers never had the courage to bring about a final solution of the problem. ”

“ It is no affair of ours what they do with their own life, either industrially or politically. We do not purpose or desire to dictate to them in any way. We only desire to see that their affairs are left in their own hands, in all matters, great or small. (Addresses and Messages of Woodrow Wilson, Boni & Liveright, edited by Albert Bushnell Hart.)
It is clear now, as was clear then to many, that the President intended to show that the peoples of Austria-Hungary must decide their own fate, and that no new form of government would, or could, be imposed from the outside. ”

“ Having been subjected to an alien control, you were fired by a love of your former independence and for the institutions of your native land, and gallantly aligned yourselves with those who fought in opposition to all despotism and military autocracy. ”

“ I admit that our army can be used with advantage in Russia. Our men know Russia and Russian: but it would be a distinct loss to use our forces for a more police than military duty, more so, that they would not like it themselves. ”

“ In demanding independence, Czechs can plant themselves not only upon the proposition that any nation has the right to self-government, but also upon laws and constitutions which have never been repealed or abrogated with the consent of the Bohemian people. ”

“ Yet it cannot be denied that the result of many of the peace moves recently made has been to assist German imperialism in its struggle to maintain its grip, at least on Central Europe. If the war ends without a decisive victory, and especially without permanently solving the Austrian problem, the peace concluded will be simply a truce. If the Central Powers are permitted to retain any fruit of their aggression, or if they are permitted to oppress in the future any of the nationalities now under their domination, the peace so concluded will be one of the cemetery. ”

“ As to the possibility of securing a peace which will give liberty to the Slavs of Austria-Hungary, it should be borne in mind that in all probability the Germans will not consent to any just peace—to any terms of peace which the United States and the Entente can possibly accept—until Germany has reached the position where she will be obliged to accept any terms of peace which her opponents insist upon. ”

“ The Hapsburg dynasty has never kept its pledges: it has made of Austria-Hungary its family estate. It cannot be expected that the Czechoslovak and Jugoslav movements will abate with anything short of an independent Bohemia and a united, independent Jugoslavia. Should these revolutionary movements be continued after final conclusion of peace, as I believe they would, the world’s peace would still be jeopardized. ”

“ The military quality of our army is generally recognized: they are not only brave, but also intelligent (every individual knows what he is fighting for) , and they maintained discipline throughout the terrible events in Russia not only after the revolution, but also under the old regime.
From the military point of view it must be the duty of the Allies to make the most effective use of such a military force. Naturally war against Austria-Hungary and Germany is the chief objective of our army not only in France and Italy, but also in Russia ”

“ The Bolsheviks keep their power only through the weakness and incompetency of their opponents. I, and with me our army, did everything possible not to provoke the Bolsheviks: we wanted to work in Russia without obstacles. Only when the Bolsheviks showed themselves openly faithless, when they combined with the Germans, we were forced to take the defensive. With those 99 fools and criminals peaceful dealing is impossible; their aggression must be energetically repelled. ”

“ Bohemia, for all she has so much individuality and boasts so fine a history of independence, is swallowed up in Austria: only the Magyars of Hungary among all the races of the heterogeneous realm of the Hapsburgers have obtained for the kingdom of their making a standing of equality alongside of dominant Austria. (Par. 738.)
The commanding difficulty of government through out the whole course of Austro -Hungarian politics has been the variety of races embraced within the domain of the monarchy. First and most prominent is the three- sided contrast between German, Slav and Magyar. ”

“ The peace we make . . . . must deliver the once fair lands and happy peoples of Belgium and northern France from the Prussian conquest and the Prussian menace, but it must also deliver the peoples of Austria-Hungary, the peoples of the Balkans, and the peoples of Turkey, alike in Europe and in Asia, from the impudent and alien dominion of the Prussian military and commercial autocracy.
But Mr. Wilson also declared:
We owe it, however, to ourselves to say that we do not wish in any way to impair or to rearrange the Austro-Hungarian Empire. ”

“ Apart from this, the whole world now knows that Austria brought about the war not only to subjugate Serbia, but also to enable her to suppress her own non-German and non-Magyar nationalities. Any Czechs who might have fought for Austria would have been guilty of treason to their own nationality, treason both morally and legally. ”

“ It may be said that in France Czechs and Slovaks are not considered as alien enemies. The French government looks upon the Czechoslovaks as a friendly nation. The Czechoslovak National Council, with headquarters in France, which we recognize as the supreme Czechoslovak body, has issued cards in the nature of passports which, upon being produced anywhere in France, are recognized as evidence of the loyalty and reliability of the bearer, as well as of the fact that he is not an alien enemy in the real sense of the term. ”

“ While foreign relations even in the United States are entrusted to the Executive, subject to consent to treaties by the Senate, the influence of Congress cannot of course be overlooked by anyone seeking to create a favorable atmosphere, in America, to a foreign cause, or involving any steps within the sphere of foreign policy. Rather early in the war, still during the period of American neutrality, an opportunity was afforded to present the Czechoslovak cause to the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives. ”

“ American soldiers have to be transported to France also. The political and military value of our army, however, outweighs the expenses and the difficulties of transportation. (Financially our army is much less expensive than the American or British army—the pay of our troops is much lower and all equipment much less costly, our men being used to simpler forms of life.)
Our army will have a special and very important part to play on the western front at the moment of decisive victory: it will have to attempt an invasion of Austria-Hungary. ”

“ But it seems that as a general proposition Czechs and Slovaks should not be classed as alien enemies and subjected to measures adopted against alien enemies, because, in the first place, this might result in a serious injustice to loyal people, and, in the second place, because most of them are skilled workers, and all those who are here should be used, especially in industries needed for a vigorous prosecution of the war, such as munition factories, etc. ”

“ It might furthermore be said that as long as these millions of Slavs remain under Hapsburg rule, the world is not safe for democracy, and such a peace can hardly be called a victorious peace—for the United States or its allies. ”

“ A peace which will leave between twenty-five and thirty millions of the most highly advanced branches of the Slavic race to continue to suffer under Hapsburg and Magyar misrule, and which eventually will render a new war in the Near East inevitable, is a peace to which this country should not consent, until and unless it has been proved that it is beyond the power of the United States to secure a more just and lasting peace. ”

“ Hapgood not long ago quoted a statement of Lenin which said that out of a hundred Bolsheviks one is reasonable, the rest being fools and criminals—if Lenin really believes in this cynical criticism of Russia, then he is himself the greatest criminal of all. Their radical social reforms the few reasonable Bolsheviks can put into effect only through these fools and criminals, and such means and methods ultimately must always destroy the goal. ”

“ It certainly is not a disputed question that the purely Italian provinces of Austria should be joined to Italy, that there should be a united Jugoslavia and that the Roumanians should be freed from Magyar oppression. ”

“ The Czechoslovaks of America gave to the country of their birth not only money and time and political support of a highly important nature, but they also gave three thousand volunteers to the Czechoslovak forces in Europe, a very creditable number when it is considered that only those were recruited, for these forces, who were not subject to the draft. The question of the return of these men to the United States, particularly should the cause fail, presented a grave problem. ”

“ The possibility of a necessity of declaring war against Austria-Hungary and the fact that Congress may consider it wise to declare such war at the present session, and the fact that it is necessary to adopt strict methods against alien enemies, constrains us to call your attention to a situation that would seem to make advisable special measures regarding those residents of America who are technically enemies, but in fact are pro-Ally, such as the Czechoslovaks. ”

“ Militarism is domination by a military caste; preparation for defense is not necessarily militarism. If a nation defends itself against aggression, it does not become militaristic any more than a man who defends himself against burglary becomes a burglar. ”

“ Legally speaking the Czechs and Slovaks are Austro-Hungarians, but as a matter of fact they are antagonistic to Austria-Hungary and Germany, as is evidenced by the fact that there is a Czech army fighting the Austro-Hungarian and German forces in Russia, and another Czechoslovak army is being formed in France. ”

“ In Bohemia and Moravia the Czechs constitute considerably more than half the population; whilst in Hungary the Magyars, though greatly outnumbering any other element of the population, are less than half the whole number of inhabitants; and in Austria, though men of German blood are very greatly in the majority in the central provinces which may be called Austria proper, they constitute in Austria taken as a whole very little more than one-third of the population. ”

“ At the moment when adversity came to the armies with which you were fighting, and when darkness and discouragement cast a shadow upon your cause, you declined to be daunted by circumstance and retained your gallant hope. ”

“ But if a movement is to be accorded belligerent rights, international law seems to demand that the insurrectionary movement must not only have been participated in by a considerable portion of the population, as is the case with the Czechoslovaks even now, but also that the revolutionists must have proved their ability to maintain themselves in certain well-defined limits of territory, and must be established and must be prepared to maintain diplomatic intercourse with the states whose recognition is sought. ”

“ The justice of this appears sufficiently from the fact that only those men go from America to France to join the Czechoslovak Army who are not subject to our own draft laws, and that they go to fight for our common cause as well. In some cases they leave their families, they sever ties of many years in order to offer up their lives for the cause of America and Bohemia, which is also the cause of humanity. ”

“ May you contribute to her life that stamina which you so conspicuously manifested through all your trying experiences in Russia and Siberia, and may you keep in mind after your return, as you had kept in mind heretofore, that the laws of God, the laws of man, and the laws of nature require systematic order and cool counsel for their proper application and development, and for the welfare and happiness of the human race. ”

“ Of that the voices and official proclamations of the Austro-Hungarian and German governments leave no doubt.
Austrians and Germans have therefore endeavored to prevent our army from coming from Russia to France; to that end they forced the Bolsheviks to break their own agreements and pledges, to that end they are organizing their war prisoners against us and the Allies.
It is therefore in the military and political interest of the Allies and of America that our army gets from Russia to France. The more of our soldiers will get to the western front, the less America will have to send there. ”

“ The Germans, Austrians, and Hungarians are endeavoring to persuade them that it will not, and that the Entente and the United States have abandoned them.
To sum up, every one of Germany’s many ambitions in the East depend for their success upon her breaking through and crushing the ring of western and southern Slavs which encircles her on the east and southeast. For this reason (even if we look at the question from a merely selfish standpoint) there is nothing which the United States should not do to aid these Slavic races ”