Czechoslovaks

“ While the great Slav nation of Russia became utterly disorganized and fell a helpless prey to the German robbers, the Slavs of Bohemia and Slovakia scattered as prisoners of war through millions of square miles of territory managed to come together, secure arms, establish firm discipline, and may yet prove to be the salvation of Russia from German penetration.
Is there anyone today who can doubt the ability of the Czechoslovaks to govern themselves? Can anyone claim that they have not earned the right to complete independence? ”

“ The Philadelphia convention left an overpowering impression on the Czechoslovaks present—a feeling of pride in their people and its leader, and a feeling of responsibility which the position of their people as the first liberated nation among all these small nations imposed upon the future Czechoslovak Republic. ”

“ Of all the Slav races, that of the Czechoslovaks is perhaps the most abundantly gifted with political and social sense, and with powers of organization hardly inferior to those of the Germans. . . The Czechoslovaks are less impulsive, less flighty, than their eastern and southern kinsmen, and can therefore be relied upon to redeem their promises and carry out their programme. ”

“ The Czechoslovaks are but one of a dozen nations, similarly situated, ground down under the heel of German war machines, appealing to the Allies not to forget them, when the day of final reckoning comes. But none of the races inhabiting that peculiar zone of small nations, stretching from the Baltic to the Mediterranean Sea between the great nations on the west and the immense territory of Russia, has so well succeeded in arresting the attention of the world and winning its sympathy as the ten-million nation of the Czechoslovaks. ”

“ Now, however, all doubts are forever dispelled, and I am absolutely confident that the Czechoslovaks will, as an outcome of the war, secure their political independence, for which they have longed for generations, and which they so richly deserve. ”

“ When one considers that the Czechoslovaks have been subject for four hundred years to alien rulers, that all their manhood was placed in the Austrian ranks, that their emigrants were scattered over all continents and countless jurisdictions, that there was no compelling authority, except the one of common affection for their native land and of hatred against the Germans the manner in which they lined up back of their leader deserves admiration. ”

“ They knew that among the men who took that oath in France were Czechs from the French Foreign Legion, the first of all the Czechs to put on the uniform of Allied soldiers. And they knew that in this Czechoslovak Army in France there were the first thousands of the Czechoslovaks from the New World who crossed the Atlantic in order to strike a blow for the land of their fathers. ”

“ The Czechs wrought a real miracle, when they established outside of the Bohemian territory a well-governed organization that brings together all Czechoslovaks, escaped, emigrated and captured in war. Here are two millions following of their own will their leaders. ”

“ When war was declared, the world rocked and trembled to its very foundations. The Czechoslovaks then realized that the purposes for which this war was waged by the Germans and the Austria-Hungarians, were the conquest of territory and the Kulturing of the conquered peoples. From the day of the declaration of hostilities they opposed the war, but they were forced to shoulder arms against brother Slavs, the Serbians and the Russians, and against the French, their devoted friends for many years. ”

“ The great part played by the Czechoslovaks of America in the liberation of their native land can only be properly understood if we bear in mind the character of the Czech and Slovak population in the United States. The winning of independence of any nationality is the result of interplay of various political, social, and economic forces, and the future historian, in appraising the importance of the several constituent parts of the movement for Czechoslovak independence, will not assign to American Czechoslovaks an insignificant role. ”

“ We declare emphatically that we are far worse off than the people of Vienna and German Austria. But because the Czechoslovaks are by nature so self-denying that they would rather suffer than allow the common cause to take harm, we did not cry for help. ”

“ The Czechoslovaks stand with us against the common enemy of mankind. They have shown their bravery in Siberia, in Italy, and in France. In recognizing them as cobelligerents, the allied nations make official acknowledgement of an accomplished fact and discharge a just obligation. ”

“ Slovaks and Czechs are members of the same nation, the only difference being that the Slovaks are suffering under Magyar domination in Hungary, while the Czechs are suffering under German domination in Austria.
8. It appears, therefore, that the Czechoslovaks ask the right of development in an independent state. Mere autonomy would mean that they would have to submit, at least temporarily, to a sovereignty to which they are opposed. ”

“ The spirit of courage and endurance which had enabled the Czechoslovaks to achieve their independence was now to inspire a further work of no mean significance the consolidation of a free, democratic and enlightened republic in the heart of Europe, the most westerly outpost of the great Slavonic world stretching from the banks of the Elbe and the Danube to the Pacific Ocean, and at the same time a nation bound by ties of gratitude and common interest to the Anglo-Saxon and Latin races. "At home we feel sufficiently confident," said Dr. ”

“ One point which has not been sufficiently brought out in the discussion is the distinction between the designation of the race and of the country. The term Czechoslovak properly designates a people composed of two branches, the Czechs and the Slovaks. During the war the Czechoslovaks conducted a revolution against the Hapsburgs, organized their own Czechoslovak Army and followed the leadership of the Czechoslovak National Council. Their efforts resulted in the creation of a new state, the people of which are overwhelmingly of the Czechoslovak race, but which includes minorities of other races. ”

“ West of the Rhine and north of Italy everything is in a state of chaos. Only the Czechoslovak Republic stands firmly in the very heart of Europe as an island of order and an outpost of the Allies. Its complete isolation from all friends is the principal complaint voiced by the Czechoslovaks who are trying to make the best of a difficult situation. It takes four days for a telegram to go from Prague to Paris and letters are forwarded only upon special occasion and as a special favor. ”

“ It stands to reason that the Czechoslovaks were humane and considerate in their treatment of the Russian communities in which they operated. They were soldiers with the highest military ideals. They were intense patriots, fighting for the liberation of their own country from Austro-Hungarian oppression. They could never have remained in Russia—a handful of men, thousands of miles from any base of supplies—if they had not won the confidencec and support of the civilian population. ”

“ It is interesting to read in Prague papers that Father Zlámal and several socialists from among American volunteers in the Czechoslovak legions appear on the same platform and exhort the people to imitate the Czechoslovaks in America in common sense and harmony. ”

“ Would the peace of Europe be secure, if four million people, the most advanced part of the Little Russian nation, remained in Eastern Galicia, Bukovina and Northeastern Hungary under German and Magyar rule, while from thirty to thirty-five million of their brothers enjoyed full national freedom right across artificial boundary lines? Of the varied races of Austria-Hungary Czechoslovaks and Magyars alone are contained entirely within the monarchy. ”

“ The so-called imponderabilia—the non-essentials, so infinitely more important than the essentials, will weigh heavily when the claims of this nation to an independent existence of its own are brought to the attention of the civilized part of mankind.
We already know what the Czechoslovaks could do within the realm of science and of social improvement. ”

“ The American people today are familiar with this new word, although one may well doubt, whether the great majority of the people who read the headlines only and not the detailed accounts know even now who the Czechoslovaks are. A good many of them still think that the Czechoslovaks are one of the many political parties in Russia, parties with terrible names like the Bolsheviki, Mensheviki or the Social Revolutionists. ”

“ Masaryk’s escape to Switzerland and then his journey to the courts and leading ministries of England, France, Russia, and the United States to present the case for independence of the Czechoslovaks and the record of how the tens of thousands of his soldier countrymen conducted a campaign of separatism from Austria-Hungary though far distant from their homeland, as was their leader also, is now a matter of history. ”

“ Tomorrow I will smash the Czechoslovak hands, but within a few days later Podvojsky was removed, cities occupied by Czechoslovaks grew in numbers, thousands of miles of railroad came into Czechoslovak hands and Czechoslovaks increased in Russia far more rapidly than mushrooms after rain. ”

“ There is in existence in France a Czechoslovak (Bohemian) Army which is organized under the provisions of a decree of the French Government, and the first article of which decree is as follows:
“The Czechoslovaks, organizing an autonomous army and recognizing from the military point of view the superior authority of the French High Command, are waging war under their own standard against the Central Empire.” ”

“ The intense political activity of the Czechoslovaks in America is further well illustrated by the fact that they could, and did, bring their cause effectively to the attention of the Vatican, realizing its international importance. ”

“ Czechoslovaks in this country feel a great debt of gratitude to these brave men. They could have stayed at home, for being technically Austrian subjects, before there was a free Czechoslovakia, they were not subject to draft ”

“ 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 ”

“ To such a pass was reduced that brave people which once upon a time successfully repelled the attacks of almost all Europe. As recently as last winter the leaders of the revolution were in despair; the Germans were victorious and the Allies maintained a cool attitude toward the aspirations of the Czechoslovaks. ”

“ Such peoples deserve our sympathy and aid. They ought to be told that we are not going to stand for the preservation of the Austro-Hungarian empire, that we believe in their liberty as we believe in our own; that though they are technically enemy aliens when they are in this country, they are really our friends, and when they go to fight for our cause and theirs, they have our Godspeed.”
Most of the great dailies of America have commented with admiration upon the brave stand of the Czechoslovaks. ”

“ They had little time for anything but their mission of seeing as much as possible of the American industrial ways, but they did address their countrymen in America, in New York, Chicago and Omaha. Both the members of the Czechoslovak parliament are excellent speakers and created a fine impression by their expression of gratitude to Czechoslovaks in America for the share they had in the fight for independence, and by their sensible discussion of the problems which the young republic has to face. ”

“ In a few months the new organization under the leadership of patriotic and wise men and women accomplished what had formerly seemed impossible—they induced the Czechs of the United States to lay aside for a time the prejudices which separated them and to work together in the same ranks for the support of the campaign of liberation carried on in France, England and all the Allied countries. Today we may proudly and with complete satisfaction declare that the Czechs and Slovaks both at home and abroad are completely united. ”

“ Take away the Czechoslovak lands from the Dual Monarchy, and how much will be left? What help could such crippled Austria give to Germany in any future attack on the liberties of the world? Creation of a Bohemian republic will be the greatest blow struck at German plans of conquest. ”

“ After three hundred years of slavery there is once more free Bohemia. The black and yellow flag no longer disfigures the fair vistas of Prague and the Austrian double eagle, that mean bird of prey, has been torn down from the public buildings of the Czech cities. The Czechoslovak republic is a reality.
In the life of nations a century is but a day. Less than a hundred years ago a dozen men were gathered in one of the ancient palaces of Prague; one of the men said, half in fun and half in earnest, that should the ceiling fall down on them, it would be the end of the Czech nation. ”

“ All over the world the Czechs have, by all means at their disposal, fought and counteracted the plots and rancours of their Magyar and German enemies. If at the end of this war the Czecho-Slovak nation attains its liberty and an open road to a new greatness and glory, no one will be able to say that this comes to them as a gift and that they had not done enough to deserve it. They are working and fighting in the best spirit of a modern democracy, without narrow calculation of sacrifice and immediate reward. ”