Jaroslav Victor Nigrin

“ There is no doubt that a strong national ideal was needed to cure the excesses of Polish nobility on the one side and the religious strifes in Bohemia on the other. Great men felt the need of such an ideal and sought to bring it to life by uniting both nations and by creating a union which by its force would give self-confidence to the people. ”

“ The “league of free nations,” the plan of the Prague Slavic Congress of 1848, is being realized now by Allied statesmen in Paris. It is interesting to ask, whether this league means an end of Pan-Slavism? This is hardly probable. Just as in ordinary life there are persons whom we cherish with more affection than others, so in the society of nations there are bound to be certain groupings of interest and sentiment among peoples closely related. There is no danger to the peace of the world in such ententes, especially when they are effected between Slav peoples. ”

“ Kollar’s appeal for unity of Slavs which would be the source of strength of the kindred peoples, a strength which would obtain for them respect and freedom, was actually the voice of the entire people and was therefore eagerly listened to. ”

“ Austria was helpless against Russia and Serbia, and Germany, by sending help to her partner, had to weaken her own western front. The Slavic soldiers, notably the Czechoslovaks, were not satisfied with a passive resistance; they surrendered in whole brigades and went over to the Allies and re-entered as volunteers against their former masters. In the heroic deeds of the Czechoslovak volunteers we see the dream of the poet crystallized into acts. New nations, so to speak, were being born to the world ”

“ Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity, hold good not only for individuals, but also for the natural groups of peoples, the nations. It denounced absolutism and presented a plan to change Austria into a constitutional federal state existing for the protection of smaller nationalities composing it. ”

“ The spelling cz is the Polish way of spelling the English sound ch, as in church or the Bohemian č. It is obvious that the English spelling of a Bohemian word in a Polish way, which to the average American is an uncomprehensible way, is an incongruity which must be given up. The proper spelling of foreign names is either to follow the original foreign spelling, which in this case would be difficult on account of the native hook accent, or else to imitate in a common English way the native pronunciation. ”

“ It is important at the outset to differentiate in this article between the tendencies and aims of Pan-Slavism and Pan-Germanism, for the similarity of the terms might, perhaps, confuse the casual reader. Pan-Germanism attempted to organize “Deutschthum”, Germans in Germany, Austria, and those found anywhere else, for the purpose of advancing the influence and power of the German empire all over the globe. ”

“ The intercourse between these two northern peoples was always intimate, but unfortunately the circumstances and the lack of leadership did not bring a real community of interest. Friendship among the people implies democracy, but Poland was quickly changing into an aristocracy run by selfish nobles, while the masses of the people were reduced to serfdom ”

“ Driven against their wish and conscience into the war to fight for their masters, the Germans, the long abused Čechs revolted, surrendered to the Russians in the east and to the Serbians and the Italians in the south, and supported by Čechs and Slovaks from America they formed legions to break the tyranny and subjection in which they were held. ”

“ Vladislav, a lad of 15 years, was unfortunately a weakling under whom the religious differences grew worse, while the masses of the people were slowly deprived of their liberties by the unscrupulous nobles. ”