TH E

CZECHO SLOVAK

STAT E

CHARLES EERGLER

Commissianer Of the'

Czechoslova é Republic

in the United S ta tes

NEW Y ORK

CZECHOSLOVAK ARTS CLU B

Reprintedfrom A S IA,

'ourna l of the America n Asia tic Associ

Th ira’Impression

THE CZECHOSLOVAK STATE

I

URING the first three years of theWorld War the heavy hand of Austro ' Hungarian despotism

,reinforced

by the mailed fist ofPrussia,perm itted nothing

in the Czechoslovak lands that even remotelyresembled a free expression of opinion . But assoon as the grip of theCentral Powers began toweaken

,the nation was able again to give ex

pression to its real attitude . Itwas then thatDr .Jan Herben contributed to the famous Czechdaily

,the Naroa’nz’ Listy of Prague , an article

declaring that international law cannot prevent the birth ofa new state

,and that the time

of proclaiming its maturity and capacity tomanage its ‘ affairs is a nation ’s own prerogative .

’ But,Dr . Herben says

,though the claims

of a state to existence arise from its very birth,

its existence cannot prevent a certain amountof disarrangement in the relations of the preexisting sta tes .The new statemust be inscribedon the international register . International lawmust decide whether the new state is togain admission into the society of old states

,

whether its culture entitles it to become a law

E 6 Llful member

,and whether economically and

otherwise it can command the respect a sovereign state is entitled to . The corporate stockof Norway in 1 905 commanded full respect :in 1 9 1 3 that of Albania was very low . International recognition is dependent o n a sort ofexamination . The group of old states makesinquiries as to whether the new' born child hasthe capacity of becom ing a member o n equalterms

,and especially whether it does not

bring with it the germs of future disturbance .

What would be the result of such an exami

nation,should the Czechoslovak Republic be

subj ected to one '

Many of the questions asked by Dr. Herben have been answered

,and they have been

answered in the forms prescribed by international law . All the great Allied powers

,and

the United States,have recognized the right

of the Czechoslovak nation to independenceand sovereign sta teho o d here i s in existencea recognized Czechoslovak Government . TheUn ited States and her associates in the warare committed to the policy of reestablishingthe ancient Czech state

,adj usted to modern

condition s,and in harmony with the princi

ples of nationality . Before so committing themselves

,these governments naturally asoer

ta ined whether not only as a matter ofj ustice,

but also as a matter of pract ical statesmanship this step was possible and adv isable

,and

whether the new state is endowed with allthe elements that make for permanency andstability . In the very nature of things

,the

genera l public cannot always inform itself asrapidly as governments

,and so it occasion

ally happens that questions are asked such a s :Have the Czechoslovaks the innate ability tobuild

,form

,or create a state ' Have they the

culture that i s necessary for an independentnation in the modern world ' Have they theeconomic resources necessary for independentexistence ' I shall endeavor to answer brie'ysome of these and other questions which necessarily are in the minds of many .to ' day .

II

Mr . 'ohnW . Burgess of Columbia University,

in his great work,P olitica l S cience and Com

pa ra tico Constitutiona l Law ,lays down the

proposition that the Teutonic nations are thepolitical nations par excellence

,and that the

Slavs and Greeks lack in political capacity .

The history of Bohemia furnishes a refutationof this assumption .

As early as the seventh century,when the

historical data relative to Bohem ia begin,we

find evidences of an established Bohemianstate . In the ’

eleventh century Bo hem ia ,Mo ra

v ia,Silesia

,and Poland were united underBi e

tislav I,King of Bohem ia

,and

,in the words of

Count Luetzow,the eminent h istorian

,

“Theidea of a West Slav Empire seemed on thepoint of being realized

,but the Germans

stepped in to prevent the formation of a powerful Slav State on their borders . Otokar I I

,of

the House of Pi‘emysl, for'

a time extendedBohemian rule from the Adriatic to the Baltic .

Under the “National King,George of P0

debrad,in the fifteenth century

,Bohemia was

a European power of the first rank .

All these achievements,attained under sov

ere igns belonging to houses of Czech origin ,

E 9 ]certainly show a high degree of political talent .The fact that later Bohemia succumbed tooverwhelming brute force is not proof of wantof political capacity .

Perhaps the best proof of the political powerof the Czechoslovak nation lies in the wayits revolution against Austria ' Hungary wasconducted and consummated . Like all nonGerman nations

,it was caught unprepared .

But without any cue from conventional political leadership

,the people to a man adopted

an anti ' Austrian and anti ' German attitude .

The Czechoslovak soldier refused to fight,

and went over to the Allied armies in orderto reenlist with the forces of modern civilization

,and even

,as in Russia

,to form an army

of his own . The Czechoslovak National Council very promptly became the directing bodyof these armies

,which submitted voluntarily

to its authority . Under this voluntarydisciplineCzechoslovak troops performed exploits

,the

story of which will go down in history as oneof the noblest classics of all ages . Here surelywe have conclusive proof of the ability of theCzechoslovak peoples to govern themselves .

At this writing reports from Prague show thatthe transfer of power from Austrian hands tothat of the Czech authorities took place quietly

E 'and without any excesses

,so that even the

B erliner Tagebla tt declares that the Czech revolution occurred with dignity

,and in a man

ner showing the high state of Czech culture .

III

What of the spiritual values created by theCzechs in the past and present

,what of Czech

culture ' I t is historically established that whilethe Czechs were ruled by their own kings

,

and while they were unmolested in theiraffairs

,the nation prospered and grew intel

lectually in all respects . Bohemian history isreplete with manifestations of idealism . Spiritual values have never been underestimatedby the Czechs . The Hussite war

,while it had

its social and economicbackgro und ,wa sfought

for a religious and civic idea l,and for the

rights of the Czech language against the aggressio n of the Germans .

Palacky,the great Bohemian historian

,may

have been swayed by national pride,but never

theless his contention that the Hussite war is“ the first war in the world ’s hi story that wasfought not for material interest

,but for intel

lectual ones,for ideas

,

' i s not groundless .Itmust always be remembered that theCzechJohn Hus preceded Luther by a century 'thatComenius (Komenskyf ) was one of the greatest educators of all ages 'that Peter CheléickyprecededTolstoy by four hundred years ' that

1 9 ]the Czech warrior zi

‘

i ka is regarded as oneof the originators of modern strategy .

In the second half of the nineteenth century,

in spite of unexampled persecution and oppression by the governments ofVienna and Budapest

,the‘ nation reached a cultural level sur

passing that of any other nationalityinAustriaHungary . In literature and '

arts it is secondto none . In modern times it has produced atleast three poets of the first rank

, Vrchlicky,Cech

,and Machar . Of the musicians and com

posers,one need only to mention Smetana

,

Dvorak,and Ko va i‘o vic . Of the noveli sts there

i s a legion,and they have given the world

real works of art . In philosophy,the names of

Masaryk,Krej iii

,and Drtina are known to all

scholars .According to the official sta tistics of theUnited States Immigra tion Bureau

,of all the

immigrants to the United States the Czechsshow one of the lowest percentages of illitera cy .Thus

,of the 8439 Czech arrivals in this

country in the year 1 9 1 9 ,there were only 75

illiterates,about .o o S 8 75 per cent . Almost all

the Czech immigrants are skilled workmen orfarmers . Their eagerness for knowledge andeducation is well known . As an illustration

,

in the schools of the forty northern and east

[ 1 3 ]em counties of Nebraska there are no lessthan three hundred teachers of Czech parentage

,several ofwhom are superintendents of

schools . In Chicago , their natural ethnic centre in Am erica

,there are hundreds of Czech

physicians,lawyers

,teachers

,and arch itects .

The buildings of the State of I llinois at thePanama Exposition in San ' rancisco weredesigned by a Czech architect . Statistics alsoshow that crimes of the graver sort are praetically non ' existent among Czechoslovak s .

The Czechoslovak s have their faults andv ices

,no doubt

,the same as all other national

ities,but political j uggling 1s not one of them .

The Czechoslovak Declaration of Independence of November 1 5 ,

1 9 1 5 ,declares t hat

We take the side of the fighting Slav nation sand their Allies

,without regard to victory or

defeat,because right is on their side . The

problem which side is right in this fatal war i sa question of principles and of political moral s

,

a question which at present no honest and sincere statesman

,no conscientious and thinking

nation,can evade .

This statement,I think

,represents the best

Czech thought on the subj ect of politics and

po liticalmo rals .To them politics i s no t a game,

but an expression of the nation ’s hopes and

E 14 ]desires . The best proof of this l ies in the factthat the manifesto was issued when the Russian army was forced to retreat from the Car

pathians, and when the situation ,from the

Allies ’ point of v iew,was gloomy indeed .

' reedom regained,liberty achieved

,such a

nation will add still more to the world ’s spiritual treasures .

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IV

But,we are told the Czechoslovak Statewill be

a small one,and

,as a result

,its ex i stence pre

carious,assuming that the world will remain

in anything like its present condition of international disorganization .

In the first place,as modern states go

,

the new state will not be a small one,since

it has a population of about twelve millions,

and consists of what are commonly called theBohemian countri es

,namely

,Bohemia

,Mo

ravia,and Silesia

,to which will be added the

Slovak districts of North Hungary ,fromUng

var,through Kaschau along the ethnographi

cal boundaries down the river Ipoly ( Eipel )to the Danube

,including Pressburg and the

whole Slovak north to the frontier line ofHungary . The Slovaks are the branch ofthe nation that has suffered under Magyardomination . Time and again they have ac

cepted the programme of Czechoslovak union .

The extent of the new state will be aboutEngli sh square m iles : Belgium has

1 1,373 square miles . I t is obvious that the new

state can hardly be classed as small .Moreover

,the belief in the necessity for

large states,prevalent in a certain school of

1 6 ]econom ic and pol itical theorists , and largelybased upon teachings ofKarl Marx

,i s one of

the supers titions that periodically appear,in

order to be abandoned upon a sober secondthought . The react ion against it has alreadyset in

,as ev idenced by an address delivered

some time ago by Mr .L. P . Jacks,editor of the

H ibbert ' ourna l,before the London Sociologi

cal Society .

Mr. Jacks think s that before long we shallsee the ris e of a new criticism of the wholeidea of government . What

,he asks

,are the

limits of government 'Will not the tendencybe to eliminate a number of unmanageablepropositions from the scope of human design '

Mr . Jacks believes that the next great movement of political thought will be in the direction of restrict ing rather than expanding

,

concentrating rather than spreading,the o h

jects of social endeavor.The deeper thought ,he says

,starts from the human end of the

problem ' its first principle is tha t “ industrialcivili zation is made for man

,not man for in

dustrial civili zation . Vi scount Bryce thinksthat possibly some modern s tates have become too big to manage . Mr . Justice Louis D .

Brandeis once showed pretty conclusivelythat even under modern conditions certain

E 1 7 3business concerns can become so large thattheir successful administration becomes almost physically impossible . May this not beequally true of states '

The theory that small states and nationscannot succeed is not borne out by history .

Even prior to the war there were in Europetwenty' seven states

,and the great majority

of these Were small . There were only six ofthe so ' called great powers : Russia

,Germ any ,

Austria' Hungary England ' rance,and Italy .

Portugal,Denmark

,Switzerland

,Bulgaria

,

Belgium,Norway,

Sweden,Serbia

,Greece

,

Holland,Montenegro

,and Turkey all are

,or

were,smaller than the Czechoslovak Repub

lic . The last named will hold in Europe theeighth place

,only England

,Germany

,Po

land,' rance

,I taly

,Spain

,and Russia being

larger .

V

In so far as any state is economically andcommercially self' sustaining

,that of the Cze

cho slo vaks will be able to stand upon its ownfeet . Even prior to the war

,economically and

financially Bohemia was one of the richest ofthe Austrian “ provinces . Of the burden ofAustrian taxation

,per cent was borne by

the Czech countries,while the rest of Austria

carried only 37 .3 per cent . And now ,freed

from oppressive taxation,levied in order to

lighten the burden upon purely Austrian district s incapable ofmaintaining themselves

,the

Czechs will be even richer .The Bohemian lands surpassed what were

once the other Austrian lands in the production of grain . Of the grain lands of the former Austrian Empire

,thirty ' eight per cent is

found in Bohemia . Eighty' three per cent ofAustrian coal is mined in the Bohemian

“

lands .

Sixty per cent of the Austri an iron is locatedthere . Ninety per cent

,if not more

,of the beet

sugar factori es of Austria'

are located in thelands of the Bohemian Crown ' the textile industry i s of large proportions , and leather ,paper

,furniture

,and elect ro ' technical indus

tries are of importance .

[ 1 9 ]The Encylopa ea

'ia Americana states the in

dustria l resources of Bohemia as follows“The industry of Bohemia

,favored by its

central situation,has long rendered it one

of the most important governments of theAustrian Empire . Spinning and weaving areextensively carried on in the northern andsoutheastern districts 'manufactures of lace ,ribbons

,metal and wood work

,Chemical pro

duct s,and other branches of skilled industry

are also largely developed . Pottery, po rce

lain,glassware

,cutting of precious stones

,

give employment to many hands . The glassware of Bohemia alone

,which i s known all

over Europe,employs workers . Large

quantities of beer ( Pilsener ) of the kindknown as lager are exported . Prague

,the

capital , i s the centre of the manufactures andof the commerce of the country . The largesttowns are Prague

,Pilsen

,Reichenberg

,Bud

weis,Teplitz

,Aussig

,and Eger . ' o r internal

intercourse there are excellent highways,ex

tending to ten thousand miles,and se veral

important lines of railway leading both southeast to Vi enna and northwest to Dresden .

Slo vakia,fo rm ing the northern part of what

We used to know as Hungary , has been verymuch neglected

,its mineral resources still

E 90 flremaining undeveloped . Un ited to the Czechcountries

,it will be a source of strength to the

Czechoslovak State . In 1 9 1 3 one' third of allthe iron

,gold

,and si lver mined in Hungary

was mined in Slovak ia .

These figures are sufficient to show thatAustria actually was a parasite living on thewealth of the Czech countries .

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Slav commonwealths neighbors . The idea hasbeen attacked as imperialistic and contrary tothe principle of nationality . Whatever maybe thought of it

,it i s no t contrary to the lat

ter as is contended by some,because the strip

in question,consisting of two present Hunga

rian counties,and a part of a third

,contains

a large number of Slavs .In the north the new state will border on

a united Poland,with whom relations will cer

ta inly be very friendly . Thi s will assure anoutlet to the Baltic .

Another way of gaining access to seaportsi s by internationaliza tion of such waterways asthe Elbe and the Danube . It i s probable thatinternationali zation of waterways will be afeature of the coming international readj ustm ent

,and that a free Danube will connect the

Czechoslovak s with the Jugoslavs and Rumanians in the south .

VI I

Lately,both in America and Great Britain

,

a certain apprehension has been expressedover the po ssible

’ fate of the German mino rity in Bohemia . In Central and EasternEurope hardly any state can be constructedwithout national minorities . The rights ofthese minorities must be safeguarded

,of

course . But one cannot help remarking thatthe gentlemen who now feel that the Czechmajority might oppress the German minority

,

seldom,if ever

,exhibited the solicitude they

now show when it was a question of the German minority oppressing the Czech majority .

The official Austrian statistics showed thefollowing distribution of population accordingto nationality :

SLAVS Czecho slovaks

'ugo slavs

Po les

Ruthenes

million

La tins I ta lians4 million

Rumamans

million

million

million

5 million

4 million

million

million

12 million

'10 million

[ 94 ]But these official statistics are notoriouslyfalse

,and grossly exaggerated in favor of the

Germans and Magyars . I t must be remembered that the Austrian census is not basedupon nationality

,but upon what 15 called the

language of intercourse Umg angspra che ) ,and tha t

,furthermore

,in district s with large

Czech minorities,or even actual

'

majorities,

economic pressure was brought to bear uponworkmen dependent upon German mastersofindustry to declare their language of intercourse to be German . It has been ascertainedby the Czech National Council in Prague thatin western and northwestern Bohemia

,which

the Germans claim to be wholly German territo ry ,

there are 9 7 1 members of variousCzech national organizations . Priv ate but abso lutely reliable statistics indicate that the percentage of Germans in Bohemia can hardlybe more than twenty per cent

,as against the

thirty ' seven per cent shown by the official census . Conditions in Hungary are even worse .

There the Magyars ofii cially form fifty' one

per cent of the population,but hold four hun

dred and five seats in the Parliament,out of

a total of four hundred and thirteen . The following table

,compiled by authorities on the

ethn ical situation in Austria ' Hungary,affords

E 2 5 'a more reliable basis for j udging conditions inAustria' Hungary than the official census.

SLAVS Czecho slo vaks 10 million

'ugo slavs million

Po les 5 million27 m i lli on

Ruthenes million

La tins I talians 1 million5

Rum an ians 4 millionm 2072

10 million

8 million'18 m i lli on

I show these figures merely to indicate thatthe problem is not as difficult as the Germansendeavor to make it appear . In any event

,

because the Germans and Magyars oppressthe Czechoslovaks

,it does not follow that the

latter will oppress the former . I t is a significant fact that during the whole of the nineteenth century not a single Czech statesmanadvocated

,even indirectly

,the oppression of

other peoples . o n the contrary,the Czechs

always emphasized the fact that they wouldaccord their German citi zens complete civilrights

,which

,of course

,include cultural

rights . The great Czech historian and statesman

,Pa lacky, said tha t we never had

'

,nor

ever shall have,the intention of oppressing

E 9 6 3other people ' that , true to our character , re

j ecting all desire for the revenge of pastwrongs

,we extend our right hand to all our

neighbors who are prepared to recogni ze theequality of all nations without regard to theirsize or political power . Havl icek

,the Czech

leader in 1 848 ,said that oppression never pro

duces good results,and in time brings ven

geance upon the heads of its own originators .However

,it should be pointed out here

that the principle of self' determination of nations i s frequently confused with that of therights of national minorities . In the P ravnichéRozhlea

’

y of Prague for May , 1 9 1 8 ,the Czech

j urist,Dr . J . Kalab

,discusses the claim some

times made that the idea of self' determination of nations cannot be realized

,because in

almost every territory there are found members of foreign nations . Those who reason inthis way

,he declares

,fail to differentiate be

tween the principle of self' determination ofnations and the principle of civic liberty . Bothare derived from the principle of people ’s sovereignty . But civic liberty determines the legalstatus of each individual

,whereas the self

determination of nations determines the statusof entire nations . The nation as a whole

,as

a cultural unit,cannot be subordinate to any

[ 2 7 ]one else . But that does not mean that everyindividual whom fate might have blown intothe midst of another nation is entitled to demand the right of self' determination . He

,like

every one else,is entitled to civic liberty .

Self' determination of nations is somethingsubstantially

.different from national auton

omy . National autonomy is the right of citizens of a certain nationality to have the conditions of their cultural development guaranteed in a state ruled by another culture

,or

the manner in which the state shall guarantee to members of a foreign nationality theircivic liberty . Self' determination

,on the other

hand,constitutes the demand that the nation

as a whole shall have the opportunity to makeuse of all its powers in the service of its national interests so that it may enforce its individuality in all directions , including the life ofthe state

,of course within the limitations set

by international law .

The Czechoslovaks have pledged themselves to grant the German minority in B0bemia full liberty and equal rights . In fact

,

they are in favor of an international law protect ing the rights of national minorities , andit may be one of the functions of the futureLeague of Nations to see to it that national

9 8 ]minorities are protected against attempts atdenationali zation .

Czechoslovak minorities outside of the statewill also exist

,and

,j udging from past German

history,will need this protection . Let it never

be forgotten that there is a Czech minority ofat least in Vienna

,and that there will

be Czechoslovak minorities elsewhere in lowerAustria

,as well as in Hungary

,even though

the latter be reduced as near as possible to itsproper ethnical boundari es .

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[ 30 ]na tiona l self'

g overnment , a nd by a universa l

League ofNa tions endowed with the necessa ryauthori .ty

'

The j urisdiction,authority

,and power of a

League of Nations will be largely a matter ofgrowth . It is not to be expected that theLeaguewill immediately possess the authority it ultimately should achieve . Until such time all nations that have fought together in the presentwar must hold themselves in readiness to re

si st new schemes of German aggress ion,for

it cannot be expected that the German,nur

tured for decades upon schemes of conquest,

will immediately abandon ideas which for solong a time have been the motive power ofGerman statesm anship , including the GermanSocial Democracy

,led by such men as Schei

demann and Cunow . The latter,in in

an article in the S ozia listiche Mona tshefte , endeavo red to prove the proposition that smallnations

,such as Belgium

,have lost their right

to exist .

I'

Of the constitution of the new state perhapslittle need be said . The Czechoslovaks are ademocratic nation

,and the Declaration of In

dependence issued by the Czechoslovak Provisional Government on October 1 9 ,

1 9 1 8 ,

succinctly outlines the future constitution in sofar as this can be done prior to the decisions ofthe C onstituent Assembly . It states :The Czechoslovak State shall be a repub

lic . In constant endeavor for progress it willguarantee complete freedom of conscience

,

religion and science,l iterature and art

,

speech,the press

,and the right of assembly

and petition . The Church shall be separatedfrom the State . Our democracy shall rest onuniversal suffrage 'women shall be placedon an equal footing with men politically

,

socially and culturally . The rights of the mino rity shall be safeguarded by proportional

“ representation ' national minorities shall enjoy equal rights . The government shall beparliamentary in form and shall recognizethe principles of initiative and referendum .

The standing army will be replaced by militia .

“The Czechoslovak Nation will carry o ut

E 32 ]far ' reaching social and economic reforms 'the large estates will be redeemed for homecolonization

,patents of nobility will be abol

ished . Our nation will assume its part of theAustro ' Hungarian pre ' war public debt 'the debts for this war we leave to those whoincurred them .

“ In its foreign policy the CzechoslovakNation will accept its full share of responsibility in the reorganization of EasternEurope . It accepts fully the democratic andsocial principle of nationality and subscribesto the doctrine that all covenants and treaties shall be entered into openly and franklywithout secret diplomacy .

Our constitution shall provide an efii cient,

rational,and j ust government

,which will

exclude all special privileges and prohibitclass legi slation .

'

The Czechoslovaks stand before the publicopinion of the world with a firm consciousnessthat their cause is j ust

,and that they have

fought for it cleanly and fairly . They proudlymaintain that their shield is without a stain .

They are simply asking and fighting forwhat is due them

,and for nothing more . They

have never been guilty of oppression ' theyhave never sought what properly belongs totheir neighbors . They have proved their caseto the very hilt . The white and red 'ag of theCzechoslovak State has been raised

,never to

come down again .

lVashington , D . 0.

December,19 18