Charles Pergler

“ All Bohemian political parties have up to this time been fighting for a qualified independence within the limits of Austria-Hungary. But the events of this terrible war and the reckless violence of Vienna constrain us to claim independence without regard to Austria-Hungary.—We ask for an independent Bohemian-Slovak state.—The Bohemian people are now convinced that they must strike out for themselves. Austria was defeated not only by Russia, but by the little, despised Serbia, and is now a dependency of Germany. ”

“ A nation fighting for its existence could have hardly given to the world an Ibsen or a Björnson. The value of Czech literature is still little known. Many a masterpiece has been penned in the musical language of this nation living in the heart of Europe. But what would have been the fruits of Czech industry and Czech genius had not the nation been compelled for centuries to struggle for mere existence? No thoughtful man or woman, no normal human being, believes in the doctrine of supermen evolved in Germany—we may not care to go so far as to call it a German doctrine. ”

“ The civilized world is well aware of the fact that in spite of the fierce opposition of the Austrian government and Austrian Germans to the development of the Czech people, this nationality has reached a plane surpassing that of any other nation in Austria, and that in literature and art it is second to no nation of its numerical strength. A nation that gave to the world men like Hus and Komensky, a nation that in modern times has produced a host of writers of the highest rank, many philosophers, statesmen, and gifted journalists, such a nation is certainly capable of governing itself. ”

“ Austria can be no more federalized than European Turkey. To permit Austria to exist in any form when this war is concluded is merely to delay the solution of a problem that will never down. And in the life of nations, as well as of individuals, delay and procrastination, the tendency to postpone a final decision, is a crime for which penalties are sure to follow. Austria has lost its right to exist. Even now it has few of the attributes of a really sovereign state. ”

“ As a nation we have proved our belief in this principle by the declaration of Monroe’s Doctrine nearly a century ago as well as by our recent beliavior toward Cuba and by our present attitude toward Mexico. What we believe to be the truth for ourselves we believe to be the truth when applied to others. We believe in the right of every nation to life and to the freedom of self-development without interference by force from other nations, provided that such a freedom does not interfere with or violate the corresponding rights of other nations. ”

“ In other words, a fact never seen or imagined before, of a mankind, a new mankind, formed by self-selection.” The ultimate test of the right of any state and any government to exist is to be found in the treatment it accords its various citizens. Unless it treats its citizens, or, as the European term runs, its subjects, equally, it loses the right to loyal support on the part of these subjects or citizens. If this test is applied to Austria, Austria appears to be the most dismal failure in modern history. ”

“ Is it too much to hope that American statesmanship will rise high enough to demand a solution of such questions, now agitating the world, and that it will insist upon such definite solution at the future peace conference? ”

“ The mere existence of Austria has become a denial of the right of numerous nations not only to develop, but to exist. These nations will not submit to the lot of slaves, and their resistance will be a constant danger signal to everybody that all is not well with the world, that a new catastrophe may result any moment because of their resistance to oppression ”

“ But Austria-Hungary as a dualistic monster became the oppressor of all who were not Germans or Magyars. It is a standing threat to the peace of Europe, a mere tool of Germany seeking conquest in the East, a state having no destiny of its own, unable to construct an organic state composed of a number of equal, free, progressive races. ”

“ The Czechs are intensely conscious of their nationality. Bohemia, once one of the most powerful of European states, lost its independence only as a result of the application of brute force. The Czech people never voluntarily surrendered their right to independence, and against the rights of nations there is no statute of limitations. When the war broke out, of all the belligerent countries only Austria failed to convoke its parliament, such as it is. ”

“ The highest ideal of statesmanship in its international sense can only be the satisfaction of legitimate national needs. Just as long as such legitimate national needs are not satisfied, the situation in Europe will be full of explosives, and just so long the peace of the world will be menaced. Especially we in America should bear in mind that the problem of small nationalities is also one of extension of democracy. Democracy in a nation will never be realized until all individuals within the nation are afforded an equality of opportunity ”

“ If we are to be successful in our aim, we must first define at least the fundamental principle, or principles, upon which we may all agree. This foundation for future discussion undoubtedly is what has become known as the principle of nationality, or, in other words, the principle that each nation, no matter how small, numerically speaking, has the right to govern itself according to its own lights and without outside interference. The value of little nations is only now beginning to be truly appreciated. ”

“ Russia is not an exception to the rule. If we stop to think about it, it is immediately recognized that the reactionary policies of Russia have been due largely to the Junkers from Russian Baltic Provinces who are of German descent. The factors thus enumerated, the right of any nation to independence once its possibility is demonstrated, the necessity of dissolving Austria in the interests of permanent peace, I believe to be decisive of the merits of the Czech case. I would not even fear the joining of purely German parts of Austria to the German Empire. ”

“ The world can well form its own judgment about a race that can celebrate and have its school children participate in the celebration of the sinking of the Lusitania! What rights and justice can a conquered nation expect from such a race? The forcible expatriation of the Poles by Prussia in the years preceding the great war as well as the Prussian behavior in Belgium and northern France since the beginningof the war makes Prussia a proper ally of Austria and of Turkey, whose Serbian and Armenian crimes are only a continuation of their histories so replete with murder, oppression, and injustice. ”

“ The world is beginning at last to realize that the German minority in Austria, during the past four decades with the active support of Berlin and always actively supported by the Hapsburg dynasty, for generations has been seeking to throttle the legitimate aspirations of non-German nationalities. ”

“ Whether we like this or not, we must accept the fact that the profoundest influences in American life are Anglo-Saxon traditions and Anglo-Saxon culture. As a nation we are different from the English, of course, but only different. The mainsprings of our national thought fundamentally are quite similar. Even those of us who are not of Anglo-Saxon descent unconsciously use Anglo-Saxon methods of thought and build upon Anglo-Saxon traditions. ”

“ The Slovaks form a part of the same ethnic group as the Bohemians; they desire to be joined with the Bohemians in one state, and this wish should be gratified not only because it manifests a natural tendency, but also because it is in the interests of Europe to gratify it. As a matter of fact an independent Bohemian-Slovak State will have a population of over twelve million inhabitants, and in territorial extent will be eighth among twenty-two European sovereignties, and it cannot be said that such a state would be small. ”

“ The war shall have been fought in vain if it does not lead to a solution of these problems. Failure to solve them aright will keep alive sparks from which will be kindled in no distant future another devastating conflagration. ”

“ Every other nation is, or was, composed of a race or of separate races, speaking each its own language; you are a nation formed by the fusion of races of different languages, brought, by superior inducements, to speak only the hereditary language of the country. In other words, you are a nation formed of nations by their own will. ”

“ He says almost literally that a sudden catastrophe is preferable to terror without end. In reading and thinking of these astonishing documents, we must of course realize that when these writers and speakers deal with the question of the destruction of Austria, they fear the destruction of German privileges and German domination in Austria; for it is well known that the utmost the Slavs within Austria ever demanded were equal rights, and that the Germans were unwilling to concede this moderate demand. ”

“ The hope in the possibility of a federal Austria is so persistent that it is worth while to endeavor to lay this ghost once and forever, and especially to demonstrate that there is no legitimate comparison between Austria and our own federal government. ”

“ The Bohemian question is simplicity itself when we consider the problem of small nationalities in Europe generally, and when we realize that to regenerate Europe means also the reconstruction of Poland, Serbo-Croatia, and the freeing of the French and Danes in Germany. ”

“ When we take into consideration the undeveloped resources of Slovakia, which naturally will form a part of the state, we see very readily that economically the future Bohemian-Slovak State will be amply able to stand on its own feet. ”

“ Can it be that Providence has not connected the permanent felicity of a nation with its virtue? The experiment, at least, is recommended by every sentiment which ennobles human nature.” Let us realize that so-called impractical statesmanship is sometimes practical in the highest degree, and that often what is considered practical statesmanship in the long run proves itself highly impractical. ”

“ This is the first and greatest influence I would point out of the discovery of America on civilization: the appearance on earth of an immense continent destined to be the new home of the old European races, where they would meet and mix and speak the same language, while in the native soil their old stocks would continue separated and up till now belligerent. ”

“ The condition of dependent or oppressed nationalities presents a problem which no country, least of all the United States, can afford to ignore, not merely as a matter of abstract justice and righteousness, but in its own interest. ”

“ Without peace, progress is or at least seems to be slow. Yet history offers plenty of examples of various social struggles and wars fought to establish the rights of man as an individual and the rights of nations as collective units with the resulting greater progress during the peace periods that followed such struggles. ”

“ It is a struggle of races for the possession of the right to their individuality—their national soul—against races denying the weak nations the same right to live as the strong nations. Prussia’s history is a history of conquest, of Germanization, and of preparations for more conquest and Germanization. ”

“ Through their own efforts against odds, they have placed themselves as the leading intellectual people in Austria-Hungary. Among them illiteracy is practically unknown. A race with such a strong determination and character has a true and real soul. The Bohemian race to-day is worthy of its illustrious past ”

“ Austrian lands, the independent Bohemian-Slovak State will be even richer. At the present time 62.7 per cent of the burden of Austrian taxation is borne by the Czech countries, while the rest of Austria carries only 37.3 per cent. The Bohemian lands surpass the other Austrian lands in the production of grain; 38 per cent of the grain lands of Austria is found in Bohemia. Of the coal found in Austria, 83 per cent is mined in the Bohemian lands ”

“ We all have an interest in seeing this power prove itself of the best in peace as it has in war, and to see the Balkan states grow in close economic and cultural contact with their neighbors and with the group of Western powers. Thus they shall also be factors making for progress and European peace. ”

“ As American citizens we consider the declaration of our right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness as the corner-stone of the structure of our democratic form of government. This principle applied to us as individuals we firmly believe to be fundamentally necessary when applied to nations. ”

“ The municipality of Prague has always furnished adequate school facilities for the small German minority in Prague, and this is decidedly more than was done by municipalities in the hands of Germans for their Bohemian minorities. ”

“ The world undoubtedly has already lost very much because of the oppression of small nationalities. Scandinavian contributions to culture—not Kultur!—and to civilization are very substantial. They were made possible largely because the Scandinavians as nations have enjoyed an untrammelled development. ”

“ If it should ever come to an European war wherein Slavs and Germans shall stand against each other, then it would mean damage to the Germans if in the present system of equilibrium southern Slav states were to take the place hitherto occupied by European Turkey. ”