Czechoslovak Army

“ During the fourth year of the war living conditions in Prague and many smaller industrial cities became truly terrible. Most of the men, fathers of families, had been dragged away as unwilling conscripts for the Austrian army ; tens of thousands were dead by this time and other tens of thousands were fighting in the recently created Czechoslovak armies in Russia, France and Italy. Their wives and children spent their days and sometimes their nights in trying to get enough food to keep body and soul together. ”

“ The army was not only dragged into politics, but it was made a partisan army. And you have seen the consequences. Regiments, divisions, whole army corps, ran away for thirty-five versts, when they saw three German companies. There were a few noble exceptions—cavalry, artillery, storming troops and the Czechoslovak Brigade.
“These Czechoslovaks, shamefully abandoned by our infantry at Tarnopol, fought so that we should all fall on our knees before them. One brigade held up several divisions. The best men of the Bohemian nation fell there. ”

“ The second consideration which makes me absolutely confident that Bohemia will be free is the spirit of the men who form the Czechoslovak army. I first caught the spirit of this volunteer army at Petrograd in conversation with officers and men who had taken part in the famous charge at Zborov during the July offensive of the Russian army. We had received but little news of this glorious engagement in America, and hardly anything of the glorious part played by the Czechs. ”

“ The Czechoslovak army hails with feelings of pride and happiness the manly fight of the deputies in the home lands for full independence of our nation. The declaration of Bohemian and Slovak political parties, their political tactics and our determination to shed our blood to the last drop for the liberation of the nation prove sufficiently that the Czechs and Slovaks will never accept a compromise with the Hapsburgs and with Austria-Hungary. ”

“ In view of the new threat to the Allies and the peace of the world, involved in the communist revolution at Budapest, it, is of interest to note the military dispositions of the Czechoslovak Republic. There are under arms 30,000 first-class troops that served during the war with the French and Italian troops. There are also mobilized all Czechs and Slovaks up to the age of 36, who at the time of the revolution were incorporated in the Austrian Army. ”

“ In the midst of the turmoil of events in Russia, in spite of the uncertainties and dangers that surround them, the Czechs have held their army together, completed its organization, maintained its discipline, and are holding themselves ready for further service in the cause of the allies.
All know that they can do nothing more here in Russia. To a man they are anxious to get to another front where they can be of some use. Yet they know that for the present that is impossible and are stoutly making the best of an impossible situation. ”

“ But the mere fact of men going through all the dangers of desertion at the front and then entering the ranks of the “enemy” army, with the knowledge that, if taken prisoners, they would be shot out of hand, is a sufficient test of the ardour with which the Czechs desire their liberation and fight for it. It is not the case of soi-disant aristocrats knocking about the capitals of Europe and America with big phrases on their lips about the greatness of their nation and the claims which it has on the world. ”

“ But counting only the men who stand under the orders of the Czechoslovak National Council in Russia, France, Italy and even on the Macedonian front, there are 150,000 disciplined, devoted men, an army more numerous than that of Belgium or Serbia or Portugal, an army of fighters coming close after the American, English, French and Italian armies. ”

“ Since the beginning of the war the Czechoslovak nation has resisted the common enemy by every means in its power. The Czechoslovaks have constituted a considerable army, fighting on three different battle-fields and attempting, in Russia and Siberia, to arrest the Germanic invasion. In consideration of their efforts to achieve independence, Great Britain regards the Czechoslovaks as an Allied nation and recognizes the unity of the three Czechoslovak armies as an Allied and belligerent army waging a regular warfare against Austria-Hungary and Germany. ”

“ If Czechoslovakia were forced to defend itself against anyone, which we hope will not happen, then it will be capable of doing so with a considerably smaller army, because this time its defense would be—not only after decades but after even centuries—supported by the common and indivisible will of both its nations and its leadership. Our freedom, independence, and our newborn democracy have been purchased at great cost, and we shall not surrender them. ”

“ Of the Czechs who at the outbreak of the war found themselves on neutral ground or in the States of the Entente, or who were able to escape from Austria afterwards, almost every man of military age is doing his duty. There are Czechs fighting in the French army—they have specially distinguished themselves on the Somme in the Foreign Legion. There are Czechs serving in the British army—some of them have been put into the artillery, which in itself is the greatest sign of confidence that can be shown to men who nominally are “alien enemies.” ”

“ The Czechoslovak army in France claims naturally the largest share of interest among the workers in the cause of Bohemian independence in the United States. The regular work of keeping up enthusiasm for war among people of Czech blood, collecting subscriptions for the support of the movement and bringing home to America the danger of Pan-German Central Europe is kept up by the Bohemian National Alliance. ”

“ What Štefanik succeeded in doing was to have Czechoslovak prisoners from Serbia transferred to France; for in France the work of Beneš and Štefanik among the statesmen of Paris was bearing fruit. France was ready to take the radical step of sanctioning a separate Czechoslovak army as one of the allied armies.
Where were the men to come from for the new army? In France there were but few Czech immigrants, and all able-bodied men had long ago joined the French Foreign Legion. ”

“ Probably the most important meeting in the history of the Bohemian National Alliance was a manifestation in favor of a Czechoslovak army, held at the Carnegie Hall in New York on September 16th. The meeting was presided over by the mayor of New York, John Purroy Mitchel, and was attended by large numbers of prominent and influential people. Mayor Mitchel praised the Czechoslovaks for their determination to conquer liberty for their native land and declared that their cause was bound up with the victory of America and its allies. ”

“ Czechoslovak statesmen will be careful to prevent anything resembling militarism from striking roots in the Republic. The Czechoslovak army still standing in Siberia is very democratic, as is inevitable from its origin, having been organized voluntarily by the men themselves for the purpose of fighting for the independence of their native land, and against German, Magyar, and Prussian militarism. ”

“ The men of the Czechoslovak army are of the intelligent class. They have all had a good schooling, and it is by no means an uncommon thing to find University professors, lawyers, merchants and well-to-do farmers serving in the ranks as privates. ”

“ Marshall Foch said recently that the Allies had reached the top of the hill and that the going would now be easier—downhill. That applies with great force to the Czechoslovak fight for an independent position among the nations of the world. The great nations of the world are definitely pledged to this cause. An army of 150,000 men is in existence to liberate the Czechoslovak lands the very moment that the German military power is broken. ”

“ There are very few higher officers among the Czechs. In theAustrian Army the highest posts were for the most part closed, in practice, to the Slavs, as in Germany to the Jews. Thus the Czech troops at present lack leaders; but good ones will soon be formed.
“In return for this collaboration in our defense the Czechs ask us nothing! There has been no bargain between them and the Allied Powers. They claim no pledge which might embarrass us. They only claim the right to shed their blood for the cause which they feel to be just and to coincide with their destinies as a people. ”

“ In fact it is known that many thousands of Roumanian prisoners of war from Siberia preferred to attach their fortunes to the disciplined Czechoslovak army and go with them to France. It is not far from truth to estimate the number of Czechoslovak soldiers strung all the way from the River Volga to the Pacific Ocean at one hundred thousand. ”

“ Every member of the Czechoslovak Brigade realized how much depended on our resistance and how the entire Russian army would be encouraged by a demonstration that the Germans could be held up. We made it possible that the masses of deceived soldiers got over their hypnotic state and stopped running away, after they perceived that some regiments were still facing the enemy and keeping him out of Russian territory. We talked with a man who ran away with the disorganized masses. ”

“ And when the armistice with Germany came, when they heard that the Czechoslovak state for which they battled in Siberia was a reality, when they saw the Allied soldiers in Siberia spend their time in billets and make no move to get to the front, what wonder that finally the Czechoslovak soldiers themselves decided to withdraw from the war area and let the newly raised Siberian army do the fighting. ”

“ Brothers who came to France at the end of 1917 and beginning of 1918 from Russia brought with them a beautiful, truly democratic spirit. It gave to our army the character of an ideal revolutionary army. Later on this democratic spirit lost much of its power. Our training for the front trenches took a long time. There were many difficulties connected with the enlistment of men who were doing forced work as prisoners of war; private employers would not release men who made good workmen for nominal wages. Often Czechs who volunteered for fighting had to wait long months, before permitted to join. ”

“ Naturally they all wish to go home. They have not seen their families for four years and have had more than their share of active service. They could go, if they had a regard for their interests only. The Bolsheviks would be only too glad to get rid of them; Chicherin actually sent a wireless message to Prague offering safe conduct to the Czechoslovak Army in Russia. ”

“ Thus we are led to the following conclusions: that a de facto government, recognized by the Entente Powers as such, for the Czech and Slovak Lands exists, that it has an army, that the soldiers comprising that army complied with all the prerequisites of the civilized war code to be regarded as soldiers of a belligerent country and that the soldiers, if captured by the German or Austrian armies, could expect to be regarded and treated as prisoners of war. ”

“ The president of the chamber announced the startling victories of the Austro-German offensive on the Italian front and called for cheers for the emperor and the “brave” army. Cheers were given with a will by the German and Polish deputies, while the Czechs remained ostentatiously silent. ”

“ Before I close, I want to say a few things about our life in the army. The Czechoslovaks were like one big family, all called themselves brothers: discipline is very thorough, for without perfect discipline we would have all been killed there, but obedience is all voluntary, and there is no difference socially between officers and privates. ”

“ In every Allied army there are volunteer formations of Czechs and Slovaks who feel that they fight for their own country by fighting against Germany. Bohemian and Slovak immigrants in this country have collected large sums of money for the support of a movement aiming at the liberation of their brothers from the German and Magyar yoke. ”

“ Czechoslovak lands are fertile and well cultivated and under normal conditions they produce more food stuffs than are needed for their dense population. But during the war the Austrian government requisitioned most of the crops for the use of the army and for feeding the barren lands of German Austria and the great capital city of Vienna. Czech cities, and especially Prague, were starved by the central authorities, because the Czechs were considered rebels and traitors to the emperor. ”

“ It is impracticable therefore to authorize the formation of any regiment or regiments composed entirely of Bohemians, nor is it practicable to promise assignments to or continued service of any men or group of men in the same regiment.”
This order will make it impossible to keep track of men of Bohemian birth and descent who enlist in the army without waiting for conscription. It is, however, already certain that the percentage of recruits of Czech race will exceed the percentage of Americans of other stock. ”

“ The men who desert put on Italian uniforms and eagerly fight against their oppressors. As usual, Bohemians lead. Edgar Ansel Mowrer, correspondent of the Chicago Daily News, has just cabled from the Italian Army Headquarters a sympathetic account of the important part played by Czechoslovak volunteers on the Italian front. ”