When war broke out, the Czecho-Slovaks all over the world felt it their
duty to prove by deeds that their place was on the side of the Entente. The
Czecho-Slovaks in Great Britain, France and Russia volunteered to fight for
the Allies, while in the United States of America, where there are some one
and a half million Czecho-Slovaks, they have counteracted German propaganda
and revealed German plots intended to weaken the American assistance to
the Allies.
1. In France 471 Czechs, _i.e._ over 60 per cent., entered the Foreign
Legion and greatly distinguished themselves by their bravery. The majority
of them have been mentioned in dispatches and received the Military Cross.
They have also won five crosses and twenty medals of the Russian Order of
St. George. Their losses amount to more than 70 per cent.
Further, many Czechs living in Great Britain at the outbreak of the war
joined the French Foreign Legion in France, and after His Majesty's
Government allowed Czechs to volunteer for service in the British army in
the autumn of 1916, practically all Czechs of military age resident in
Great Britain enrolled so far as they were not engaged on munitions. In
Canada, too, the Czechs joined the army in order to fight for the
British Empire.
The most important part was taken, however, by the Czecho-Slovak colonies
in Russia and America. In Russia, where there are large Czecho-Slovak
settlements, numbering several thousand, a Czecho-Slovak legion was formed
at the outbreak of the war which has rendered valuable services, especially
in scouting and reconnoitring. This legion grew gradually larger,
especially when Czech prisoners began to be allowed to join it, and
finally, under the direction of the Czecho-Slovak National Council, it was
formed into a regular army. In September, 1917, it had already two
divisions, and in 1918 fresh prisoners joined it, so that it counted
some 100,000.
In order to be able fully to appreciate this achievement, we must remember
that this was an army of volunteers, organised by the Czecho-Slovak Council
without the powers of a real government. At the beginning of the war the
Czecho-Slovaks not only had no government of their own, but not even any
united organisation. And if we realise that to-day, after three and a half
years of strenuous effort, the National Council are recognised by the
Allies as the Provisional Government of Bohemia with the right of
exercising all powers appertaining to a real government, including the
control of an army as large as Great Britain had at the outbreak of the
war, it must be admitted that the action of the Czecho-Slovaks abroad was
crowned with wonderful success.
In Russia the difficulties with which the National Council had to cope were
especially grave, and mainly for two reasons. In the first place, the
Czecho-Slovak prisoners who voluntarily surrendered were scattered all over
Russia. It was extremely difficult even to get into touch with them. In
addition there was a lack of good-will on the part of the old Russian
Government. Thus very often these prisoners, who regarded Russia as
Bohemia's elder brother and liberator, were sadly disillusioned when they
were left under the supervision of some German officers, and thousands of
them died from starvation. Nevertheless they never despaired. Eager to
fight for the Allies, many of them entered the Yugoslav Division which
fought so gallantly in the Dobrudja. Nearly all the Czech officers in this
division were decorated with the highest Russian, Serbian and Rumanian
orders. Half of them committed suicide, however, during the retreat rather
than fall into the hands of the enemy.
It was not until after the Russian Revolution, and especially after the
arrival of Professor Masaryk in Russia in May, 1917, that the Czecho-Slovak
army in Russia became a reality.
The Czecho-Slovaks have been mentioned in Russian official _communiqués_ of
February 2, 1916, and March 29, 1917. The most glorious part was taken by
the Czecho-Slovak Brigade during the last Russian offensive in July, 1917,
in which the Czechs showed manifestly the indomitable spirit that animates
them. Since every Czech fighting on the side of the Entente is shot, if he
is captured by the Austrians, the Czechs everywhere fight to the bitter
end, and rather commit suicide than be captured by their enemies. For this
reason they are justly feared by the Germans. As in the Hussite wars, the
sight of their caps and the sound of their songs struck terror in the
hearts of the Germans and Magyars. At the battle of Zborov on July 2, 1917,
the Czechs gave the whole world proof of their bravery. Determined to win
or fall, they launched an attack almost without ammunition, with bayonets
and hand-grenades--and they gained a victory over an enemy vastly superior
in numbers.
According to the official Russian _communiqué_:
"On July 2, at about three o'clock in the afternoon, after a severe and
stubborn battle, the gallant troops of the Czecho-Slovak Brigade
occupied the strongly fortified enemy position on the heights to the
west and south-west of the village of Zborov and the fortified village
of Koroszylow. Three lines of enemy trenches were penetrated. The enemy
has retired across the Little Strypa. The Czecho-Slovak Brigade
captured sixty-two officers and 3150 soldiers, fifteen guns and many
machine guns. Many of the captured guns were turned against the enemy."
Finally, however, when the Russians refused to fight, the Czechs had to
retire as well. General Brussiloff declared:
"The Czecho-Slovaks, perfidiously abandoned at Tarnopol by our
infantry, fought in such a way that the world ought to fall on its
knees before them."
2. The spontaneous and unanimous political action of the Czecho-Slovaks
abroad became co-ordinated when Professor Masaryk escaped from Austria and
placed himself at the head of the movement.
_Professor Masaryk_, the distinguished Czech leader and scholar, whose name
we have already mentioned in the preceding chapters, went to Italy in
December, 1914, and although he desired once more to return to Austria
before leaving finally for France, he found it too dangerous, as the reign
of terror had already been established in Bohemia. He accordingly went to
Switzerland and afterwards on to France and England. In October, 1915, he
was appointed lecturer at the newly founded School of Slavonic Studies at
King's College, University of London. Mr. Asquith, then Prime Minister, who
was prevented through indisposition from presiding at Professor Masaryk's
inaugural lecture on October 19, 1915, sent the following message to
the meeting:
"I congratulate King's College on Professor Masaryk's appointment, and
I can assure him that we welcome his advent to London both as a
teacher--the influence of whose power and learning is felt throughout
the Slav world--and as a man to whose personal qualities of candour,
courage and strength we are all glad to pay a tribute. We believe that
his presence here will be a link to strengthen the sympathy which
unites the people of Russia and Great Britain."
"First and foremost the Allies are fighting for the liberties of small
nations, to the end that they may be left in future free from the
tyranny of their more powerful neighbours to develop their own national
life and institutions. Above all, to-day our thoughts and our
sympathies are moved towards Serbia, whose undaunted courage wins day
by day our unbounded sympathy and admiration."
During the lecture on the Problem of Small Nations in the European Crisis,
Professor Masaryk outlined his political programme which he has ever since
insisted the Allies should adopt, to destroy the German plans of
Mitteleuropa. He declared:
"Great Britain came into this war to protect little Belgium, and now
with her Allies she is faced by the task of protecting Serbia. This
evolution of the war is almost logical, for Germany's aim is and was
Berlin--Bagdad, the employment of the nations of Austria-Hungary as
helpless instruments, and the subjection of the smaller nations which
form that peculiar zone between the west and east of Europe. _Poland,
Bohemia, Serbo-Croatia (the South Slavs) are the natural adversaries of
Germany_, of her _Drang nach Osten_; to liberate and strengthen these
smaller nations is the only real check upon Prussia. Free Poland,
Bohemia and Serbo-Croatia would be so-called buffer states, their
organisation would facilitate and promote the formation of a Magyar
state, of Greater Rumania, of Bulgaria, Greece and the rest of the
smaller nations. If this horrible war, with its countless victims, has
any meaning, it can only be found in the liberation of the small
nations who are menaced by Germany's eagerness for conquest and her
thirst for the dominion of Asia. The Oriental question is to be solved
on the Rhine, Moldau and Vistula, not only on the Danube, Vardar and
Maritza."
Soon afterwards Professor Masaryk issued a proclamation signed by
representatives of all Czecho-Slovaks abroad, the full text of which reads
as follows:
"We come before the political public at a moment when the retreat of
the victorious Russian army is exploited against Russia and her Allies.
We take the side of the struggling Slav nations and their Allies
without regard to which party will be victorious, simply because the
Allies' cause is just. The decision as to which party in this fatal
struggle is defending the right, is a question of principle and
political morality which to-day cannot be evaded by any honest and
clear-thinking politician nor by any self-conscious nation. But we are
prompted to step forward also by our vivid sense of Slav solidarity: we
express our ardent sympathies to our brother Serbs and Russians, as
well as to our brother Poles, so heavily struck by the war. We believe
in the ultimate victory of the Slavs and their Allies, and we are
convinced that this victory will contribute towards the welfare of the
whole of Europe and humanity. The spiteful anti-Slav attitude of
Ferdinand the Koburg and his government cannot retard the victory of a
just cause.
"The Czech nation made an alliance with Hungary and the Austrian
Germans by a free election of a Habsburg to the throne of the kingdom
of Bohemia in 1526; but the dynasty created through a systematic
centralisation and germanisation a unitary absolutist state, thus
violating their treaty guaranteeing the independence of the Bohemian
State within and without. The Czech nation, exhausted by the European
and Habsburg anti-reformation, has only since the Czech regeneration at
the end of the eighteenth century been able to resist this violence. It
was especially the revolution of 1848 which challenged it.
"The revolution was crushed, and the secured rights of nations,
especially of the Czechs, were again sacrificed to absolutism which,
however, was shattered by the war of 1859, and replaced by an
incomplete constitutionalism. Then Vienna gave way to the Magyars. But
the Czechs had to content themselves with solemn promises that were
never kept. The Czech nation started a struggle of passive opposition.
Later on it also took an active part in the new parliament, but whether
in parliament or in the diets, it always claimed its historic right of
independence and struggled against the German-Magyar dualism. The
attempts made to come to an understanding were frustrated by the
obstinate spirit of domination of the Germans and Magyars.
"The present war has only accentuated the Czecho-Slovak opposition to
Austria-Hungary. War was declared without the parliament being
consulted: all other states presented the declaration of war to their
parliaments for ratification, only the Viennese Government was afraid
to consult its peoples, because the majority of them would have
declared against the war. The representatives of the Czech nation would
have certainly protested with the greatest emphasis. That is why the
government did not consult a single Czech deputy or politician with
regard to taking so momentous a step.
"The Czech nation has always in modern times defended a thoroughly Slav
programme. Also during this war, which has found our nation unprepared
like all other peaceful nations, the Czechs have since the very
beginning expressed their sympathies for Russia, Serbia and their
Allies, notwithstanding the unprecedented Austrian terrorism,
suppressing every manifestation of the real feelings of the people. The
pro-Austrian declarations are enforced by the government. To-day the
leading Czech politicians are in prison, the gallows have become the
favourite support of the incapable administration, and Czech regiments
have been decimated for acting spontaneously up to our national Czech
programme. The rights of the Czech language have been ruthlessly
violated during the war, and the absolutist military rule has reigned
throughout Bohemia and other non-German and non-Magyar parts of the
monarchy as in enemy countries. Every declaration in the Czech journals
is suppressed, while our national adversaries are not only allowed to
make propaganda against the Czech nation, but even the pan-German
orgies in the spirit of Lagarde, von Hartmann, Mommsen, and Treitschke
are supported by Vienna and Budapest.
"Under these circumstances the Czech nation cannot continue to keep
silence. That is why the Czech and Slovak emigrants abroad deem it
their duty to inform foreign opinion about the true situation of
Bohemia, to interpret the aspirations of the Czecho-Slovak nation to
the Allied statesmen, politicians and journalists, and to defend the
Czecho-Slovak programme.
"The Czech parties have hitherto striven for the independence of their
nation inside Austria-Hungary. _The course which this fratricidal war
has taken and the ruthless violence of Vienna make it necessary for all
of us to strive for independence without regard to Austria-Hungary. We
are struggling for an absolutely independent Czecho-Slovak State_.
"The Czech nation has come to the conclusion that it must take its
destiny into its own hands. Austria was defeated not only by Russia,
but also by the small and despised Serbia, and became a dependency of
Germany. To-day it has recovered a little under the direction of
Berlin, but that desperate strain of forces does not deceive us: it is
only a proof of the abdication of Austria-Hungary. We have lost all
confidence in the vitality of Austria-Hungary, and we no more recognise
its right to existence. Through its incapability and dependence it has
proved to the whole world that the assumption of the necessity of
Austria has passed, and has through this war been proved to be wrong.
Those who have defended the possibility and necessity of
Austria-Hungary--and at one time it was Palacký himself--demanded a
confederated state of equal nations and lands. But the dualist
Austria-Hungary became the oppressor of non-German and non-Magyar
nationalities. It is the obstacle to peace in Europe and it has
degenerated into a mere tool for Germany's expansion to the East,
without a positive mission of its own, unable to create a state
organisation of equal nations, free and progressive in civilisation.
The dynasty, living in its absolutist traditions, maintains itself a
phantom of its former world empire, assisted in government by its
undemocratic partners, the barren aristocracy, the anti-national
bureaucracy, and the anti-national military staff.
"To-day there is no doubt that Austria-Hungary wrongly used the
assassination at Sarajevo as a pretext against Serbia. Vienna and
Budapest did not hesitate to use forged documents manufactured by their
own embassy against the Yugoslavs, and in this policy of deceit Vienna
and Budapest have persisted during this war. To this deceit they have
now added revengeful spitefulness and cruelty truly barbarian against
the non-Germans and non-Magyars.
"Germany shares the guilt with Austria-Hungary; it was in Germany's
power and it was her duty towards civilisation and humanity to prevent
the war and not to take advantage of the imperialist lust of Vienna and
Budapest.
"Austria-Hungary and Germany are fighting with their Turkish and
Bulgarian Allies for a cause which is unjust and doomed."
Later on, when _Dr. Edward Benes_, lecturer at the Czech University of
Prague and author of several well-known studies in sociology, also escaped
abroad, the Czecho-Slovak National Council was formed, of which Professor
Masaryk became the president, _Dr. Stefanik_, a distinguished airman and
scientist, Hungarian Slovak by birth, the vice-president, and Dr. E. Benes
the general secretary. A French review was started in Paris (_La Nation
Tchèque_) in May, 1915, which became the official organ of the
Czecho-Slovak movement. Up to May, 1917, it was published under the
editorship of Professor Denis, and since then its editor has been Dr.
Benes. A Central Czech organ is also published in Paris called
_Samostatnost_ ("Independence"), edited by Dr. Sychrava, an eminent Czech
journalist.
The undisputed authority enjoyed by Professor Masaryk among all the
Czecho-Slovaks is undoubtedly the secret of the great strength and unity of
the movement. It is also the reason for the great diplomatic successes
achieved by the Czechs. The chief lieutenants of Professor Masaryk were Dr.
Benes, an untiring worker with rare political instinct and perspicacity,
and Dr. Milan Stefanik, who entered the French army as a private at the
beginning of the war, was gradually promoted, and in May, 1918, rose to the
rank of brigadier-general. He rendered valuable service to France as an
astronomist before the war, and as an airman during the war. He has
rendered still greater service to the Czecho-Slovak cause as a diplomat.
These three men, unanimously recognised by the two million Czecho-Slovaks
in the Allied countries as their leaders, were finally, in the summer of
1918, recognised also by the Allies as the _de facto_ provisional
government of the Czecho-Slovak State, with all rights and powers of a real
government. The central seat of the Czecho-Slovak Government is in Paris,
and official Czecho-Slovak representatives and legations are in all the
Allied capitals.
3. The first political success of the National Council was the Allies' Note
to President Wilson of January 10, 1917. The Czechs are especially grateful
to France for this first recognition of their claims.
In this Note, in which the Allies for the first time stated publicly and
explicitly their war aims, the Allies declared that these include:
"The reorganisation of Europe guaranteed by a stable settlement, based
upon the principle of nationality, upon the right which all peoples,
whether small or great, have to the enjoyment of full security and free
economic development, and also upon territorial agreements and
international arrangements so framed as to guarantee land and sea
frontiers against unjust attacks; the restitution of provinces or
territories formerly torn from the Allies by force or contrary to the
wishes of their inhabitants; _the liberation of Italians, Slavs,
Rumanians and Czecho-Slovaks from foreign domination_; the liberation
of the peoples who now lie beneath the murderous tyranny of the Turks,
and the expulsion from Europe of the Ottoman Empire, which has proved
itself so radically alien to Western civilisation."
The greatest success of the Czecho-Slovak National Council, however, has
been the formal recognition by France of the formation of an autonomous
Czecho-Slovak army in France with the National Council at its head. By this
act France recognised:
(1) That the Czecho-Slovaks have a right to form an army of their own,
which right appertains only to a sovereign and independent nation;
(2) That the Czecho-Slovaks have a right to fight on the side of the
Entente, and therefore are to be considered as one of the Allies;
(3) That the political direction of the army is reserved to the
Czecho-Slovak National Council, which right is usually accorded only to the
government of an independent state.
The full text of this historic document, signed by the President of the
French Republic, M. Poincaré, the French Premier, M. Clémenceau, and the
Foreign Secretary, M. Pichon, and dated December 19, 1917, reads
as follows:
"1. The Czecho-Slovaks organised in an autonomous army and recognising,
from the military point of view, the superior authority of the French
high command, will fight under their own flag against the Central
Powers.
"2. This national army is placed, from the political point of view,
under the direction of the Czecho-Slovak National Council whose
headquarters are in Paris.
"3. The formation of the Czecho-Slovak army as well as its further work
are assured by the French Government.
"4. The Czecho-Slovak army will be subject to the same dispositions as
regards organisation, hierarchy, administration and military discipline
as those in force in the French army.
"5. The Czecho-Slovak army will be recruited from among:
(_a_) Czecho-Slovaks at present serving with the French army;
(_b_) Czecho-Slovaks from other countries admitted to be transferred
into the Czecho-Slovak army or to contract a voluntary engagement with
this army for the duration of war.
"6. Further ministerial instructions will settle the application of
this decree.
"7. The President of the War Cabinet, the Secretary of War, and the
Foreign Secretary are charged each in his own sphere to bring into
effect the present decree, which will be published in the _Bulletin des
Lois_ and inserted in the _Journal Officiel de la République
Française_."
In a covering letter, dated December 16, 1917, and addressed to M.
Poincaré, the French Premier and the Foreign Secretary declared:
"France has always supported by all means in her power the national
aspirations of the Czecho-Slovaks. The number of volunteers of this
nationality who at the outbreak of the war enlisted to fight under the
French flag was considerable; the gaps created in their ranks prove
unquestionably the ardour with which they fought against our enemies.
"Certain Allied governments, especially the Russian Provisional
Government, did not hesitate to authorise the formation on our front of
units composed of Czecho-Slovaks who had escaped from the oppression of
their enemy.
"It is only just that this nationality should be given means of
defending, under their own flag and side by side with us, the cause of
right and liberty of peoples, and it will be in accord with French
traditions to assist the organisation of an autonomous Czecho-Slovak
army."
Needless to say, the joy over this recognition was very great in Bohemia,
while the German papers were furious. The _Neue Freie Presse_ of December
28 devoted its leading article to the Czecho-Slovak army on the Western
front, and concluded with the following remarks:
"Although the strength of this new army is estimated at 120,000 men,
the Czecho-Slovak army will not have a decisive influence on the
military operations. Nevertheless, it may do us considerable harm in
case we should transfer troops to the Western front. However, the
greatest harm is in the moral effect which this act of wholesale
treachery of the Czechs will have on the military power of the
monarchy. In any case the co-operation of the Czecho-Slovak army on the
side of the Entente will only strengthen the Allies' belief that right
is on their side."
Soon afterwards Italy also generously allowed an expeditionary corps of the
Czecho-Slovak army to be formed from the Czecho-Slovak prisoners of war who
surrendered to her. On May 23, 1918, the Czecho-Slovak troops welcomed the
Prince of Wales to Rome, and soon afterwards they distinguished themselves
on the Piave and were mentioned in one of General Diaz's dispatches and
also in the official Italian _communiqué_ of September 22, 1918.
From the recognition of the Czecho-Slovak army followed the full
recognition which the National Council obtained from the Allies.
4. While the general secretariat was actively working for these concessions
in the West, Professor Masaryk, after devoting his attention to the
education of public opinion in Great Britain on the importance of Bohemia,
by means of private memoranda and various articles in the _New Europe,
Weekly Dispatch_ and elsewhere, decided in May, 1917, to go to Russia.
In Russia, Professor Masaryk succeeded admirably in uniting and
strengthening all Czecho-Slovak forces, and in organising a regular army of
the many thousands of Czecho-Slovak prisoners there. As we have already
pointed out elsewhere, before the Revolution these efforts of the National
Council and the Czech prisoners, who were always eager to fight for the
Allies, were rendered immensely difficult by the obstacles inherent in the
geographic conditions of Russia and by obstacles placed in their way by the
old Russian régime.
Unfortunately now, when the Czecho-Slovaks had at last succeeded after much
work in realising their plans, the Czecho-Slovak army became powerless
owing to the collapse of Russia. Without ammunition, without support from
anywhere, the Czecho-Slovaks thought they could no more render very
effective service to the Allies in the East. They decided, therefore, to go
over to join their compatriots in France.
The position of our army was as follows: After the offensive of July, 1917,
the Czechs retreated to Kieff where they continued to concentrate fresh
forces. At that time they numbered about 60,000, and this number had
gradually increased to 80,000 by the end of 1917. They always observed
strict neutrality in Russia's internal affairs on the advice of their
venerable leader, Professor Masaryk. It was necessary to counsel this
neutrality for the sake of our army itself, since it contained partisans of
different creeds and parties disagreement among whom might have led to its
dissolution. On the whole, the Czecho-Slovaks, who are an advanced nation,
fully conscious of their national aspirations, remained unaffected by the
misleading Bolshevist theories. The Czechs abstained throughout from
interfering with Russian affairs, yet they did not wish to leave Russia as
long as there was any chance for them to assist her. It was not until the
shameful peace of Brest-Litovsk in February, 1918, that Professor Masaryk
decided that the Czecho-Slovak army should leave Russia _via_ Siberia and
join the Czecho-Slovak army in France. The Bolsheviks granted them free
passage to Vladivostok.
This journey of some 5000 miles was not, however, an easy task for an army
to accomplish. The troops had to move in small échelons or detachments, and
concentration at the stations was prohibited. They had to procure their
trains and their provisions, and they had constant trouble with the
Bolsheviks, because in every district there was a practically independent
Soviet Government with whom the Czechs had to negotiate. The first
detachments with the generalissimo of the army, General Diderichs, at the
head arrived in Vladivostok at the end of April, 1918. But the other
detachments were constantly held up by the Bolsheviks and had great trouble
in passing through.
They moved from Kieff _via_ Kursk, Tambov, Penza and Samara. The two
last-named towns lie on the line between Moscow and Tcheliabinsk at the
foot of the Urals, whence a direct line runs across Siberia to Vladivostok.
As we have already pointed out, the Bolsheviks agreed in principle to allow
our troops to leave Russia. Their commander-in-chief, General Muraviev,
allowed the Czechs free passage to France on February 16. The same
concession had been granted by the Moscow Soviet. On the whole the Czechs
were on tolerably good terms with the Bolsheviks. Professor Masaryk
rejected every plan directed against the Bolsheviks submitted to him even
by such of their political adversaries as could not justly be called
counter-revolutionaries. The Czecho-Slovak troops went still further; they
actually complied with the request of the Bolsheviks and partially
disarmed. The trouble only began in May, 1918, when the Bolsheviks yielded
to German intrigues and resolved to destroy our army.
Already at the beginning of May the Czechs had begun to feel embittered
against the Bolsheviks, because in defiance of the agreement their troops
were constantly being held up by local Soviets. At Tambov, for instance,
they were held up for a whole month. At Tcheliabinsk the Czechs had a
serious scuffle with Magyar ex-prisoners on May 26, and the Bolsheviks
sided entirely with the Magyars, even arresting some Czecho-Slovak
delegates. The Czechs simply occupied the city, liberated their comrades,
and at a congress held by them at Tcheliabinsk on May 28 it was decided to
refuse to surrender any more arms and ammunition and to continue transports
to Vladivostok, if necessary with arms in their hands. This was a reply to
Trotsky's telegram that the Czecho-Slovaks should be completely disarmed,
which the Czecho-Slovaks defied as they knew that another order had been
issued by Trotsky simultaneously, no doubt on the instigation of Count
Mirbach, saying that the Czecho-Slovak troops must be dissolved at all
costs and interned as prisoners of war. The Bolsheviks now arrested
prominent members of the Moscow branch of the Czecho-Slovak National
Council on the ground that they were "anti-revolutionaries." They alleged
also that they had no guarantee that ships would be provided for the Czechs
to be transported to France, and that the Czechs were holding up food
supplies from Siberia. The Bolsheviks deliberately broke their word, and
Trotsky issued an order to "all troops fighting against the
anti-revolutionary Czecho-Slovak brigades" in which he said:
"The concentration of our troops is complete. Our army being aware that
the Czecho-Slovaks are direct allies of the anti-revolution and of the
capitalists, fights them well. The Czecho-Slovaks are retreating along
the railway. Obviously they would like to enter into negotiations with
the Soviets. We issued an order that their delegates should be
received. We demand in the first place that they should be disarmed.
_Those who do not do so voluntarily will be shot on the spot._ Warlike
operations on the railway line hinder food transports. Energetic steps
must be taken to do away with this state of affairs."
The Czecho-Slovaks were greatly handicapped, since they were not only
almost unarmed, but were also dispersed along the trans-Siberian line in
small detachments which had considerable difficulty in keeping in touch
with each other. Nevertheless the fates were favourable to them. They were
victorious almost everywhere, thanks to their wonderful spirit and
discipline.
The first victories gained by the Czecho-Slovaks over the Bolsheviks were
at Penza and Samara. Penza was captured by them after three days' fighting
at the end of May. Later the Czecho-Slovaks also took Sysran on the Volga,
Kazan with its large arsenal, Simbirsk and Yekaterinburg, connecting
Tcheliabinsk with Petrograd, and occupied practically the whole
Volga region.
In Siberia they defeated a considerable force of German-Magyar ex-prisoners
in Krasnoyarsk and Omsk and established themselves firmly in Udinsk. On
June 29, 15,000 Czecho-Slovaks under General Diderichs, after handing an
ultimatum to the Bolsheviks at Vladivostok, occupied the city without much
resistance. Only at one spot fighting took place and some 160 Bolsheviks
were killed. The Czecho-Slovaks, assisted by Japanese and Allied troops,
then proceeded to the north and north-west, while the Bolsheviks and German
prisoners retreated to Chabarovsk. In September the Czech and Allied troops
from Vladivostok joined hands with the Czecho-Slovaks from Irkutsk and
Western Siberia, and thus gained control over practically the whole
trans-Siberian railway. By this means they have done great service to the
Allies, especially to Great Britain, by defending the East against the
German invaders. Furthermore, it was the Czecho-Slovaks' bold action which
induced Japan and America at last to intervene in Russia and for the sake
of Russia, and it was their control of the Siberian railway which made such
intervention possible. Let us hope that their action will lead to the
regeneration and salvation of the Russian nation.
The service rendered by Czecho-Slovak troops to the Allied cause was, of
course, justly appreciated by the Allies. Mr. Lloyd George sent the
following telegram to Professor Masaryk on September 9:
"On behalf of the British War Cabinet I send you our heartiest
congratulations on the striking successes won by the Czecho-Slovak
forces against the armies of German and Austrian troops in Siberia. The
story of the adventures and triumphs of this small army is, indeed, one
of the greatest epics of history. It has filled us all with admiration
for the courage, persistence and self-control of your countrymen, and
shows what can be done to triumph over time, distance and lack of
material resources by those holding the spirit of freedom in their
hearts. Your nation has rendered inestimable service to Russia and to
the Allies in their struggle to free the world from despotism. We shall
never forget it."
The deeds of our army met with equal admiration and gratitude also in
Bohemia. This is clearly shown by the speech of the Czech deputy Stríbrný,
delivered in the Austrian Reichsrat on July 17, and entirely suppressed in
the Austrian and German press. Despite the vigilance on the part of the
Austrian authorities, however, we have been able to secure the full text of
this remarkable speech which reads as follows:
"GENTLEMEN,--Let me first of all emphasise that my speech is not a
defence of the Czech nation and of the Czech soldiers. There are no
judges in this parliament competent to judge us.
"You call us traitors. We accept your declaration as the view of our
enemy. Nothing more--nothing less.
"You gentlemen on the German benches, you dared, however, to touch the
honour of our soldiers--you called them cowards. And in this respect we
are not going to keep silent. We shall always protest against such
injustice! We shall never permit these heroes to be abused by being
called 'cowards.' If there is a single gentleman among you he ought for
a moment to reflect on the soul of a Czech soldier--a soldier who has
been compelled by force to fight in a war which the German Imperial
Chancellor has openly called 'a war of Germans against the Slavs'; a
soldier who was compelled under the threat of immediate execution to
take up arms against the interests of the Slavs, against the interests
of his brothers, against the interests of his own country--Bohemia.
Well then, was it cowardice on the part of this soldier when he,
exposed to the fire of Austrian and German guns and machine guns from
behind, went over to the other side? Was he a coward when, while free
to remain in his captivity as a prisoner of war safely waiting until
the end of the war, he volunteered to fight again and was ready to risk
his life and health once more? Is that Czech soldier a coward who went
once more into the trenches, although aware that if he were captured he
would not be treated as an ordinary prisoner of war but as a deserter,
and hanged accordingly? Is that man a coward who sacrifices his family
which he has left behind and his soil and property inherited from his
ancestors? Is that man a coward who sacrifices himself, his father and
mother, his wife and children for the sake of his nation and country?
"Is that Czech soldier not a hero who to-day is voluntarily fighting
from the Ural Mountains to Vladivostok, on the Piave and in France?
"If there is a single gentleman, a real gentleman among you, let him
stand up and answer these questions.
"And if there is not such a gentleman among you, remember the words of
our bitter enemy the late Minister for Home Defence, Baron Georgi, who
related to this House in a secret sitting all that our regiments have
accomplished. He could not as a soldier suppress a sigh and say, 'We
regret all those treacheries of Czech soldiers, still more because from
their deeds committed on the side of our enemy we can realise what a
splendid military material we have lost.' And if this is not
sufficient, I will remind you of the opinion of those who are in your
eyes the best judges--the Prussian officers. In an Austrian officers'
canteen where Czech soldiers had been abused the whole evening by being
called cowards, the Prussian officers present were asked to give their
opinion on this point. They answered, 'We shall only be able to judge
as to whether the Czechs are cowards or not when they begin to fight
against us.'
"You should at least be gentlemanly enough not to slander your enemies
who have proved themselves to be greater heroes than any other
soldiers, because they are voluntary heroes, whereas the others are
heroes under compulsion!
"This question of cowardice is therefore, I hope, settled forever.
"And now with regard to the title of 'traitors.' _We are traitors to
Austria--every one of us admits it honestly_. Not one of you, however,
has the right to reproach us for this. All of you are patriots by
order, and it cannot be otherwise in a dynastic state like Austria.
"With regard to the patriotism of the Magyars, we have proofs of this
dating from 1866. They have done the same as we are doing to-day. They
surrendered and organised Klapka's legions against Austria. The fact
that they were punished for their treachery by being given their own
independence does not speak against us.
"Yes, gentlemen, we are traitors as much as you Magyars, or as you
Germans were, or would be under similar circumstances. And _we want the
same as you want_, i.e. _to be free citizens of our own state_. Our own
state--that does not mean to have a few officials or one more
university. To have a state of our own--that means to be able to decide
freely if our soldiers shall go to war again, and if they do, to see
that they go only for the interests of their own nation, and not for
the interests of their enemies. An independent state--that means for us
no longer to die by order of foreigners, and no longer to live under
foreign domination.
"Let me remind the gentlemen on the German benches of a lesson in
history. Up till 1866 Germany was nominally under the sceptre of the
Habsburg dynasty--a German dynasty, mind you. Prussia and Northern
Germany felt the indignity of the 'foreign' rule of the Habsburgs--and
they started the fratricidal war in 1866 in order to get rid of this
rule....
"It is for you gentlemen on the German benches to speak! Let him who
regrets the blood then spilt stand up and speak. Let him stand up and
condemn Bismarck and William I. who started the war in order to deliver
Germany from the same yoke from which we are trying to free ourselves
to-day. If there is a single man among the Germans who would be
prepared to say that the war against Austria should never have
happened, let him stand up. That war was carried on to free Germany
from the incapable rule of Vienna and it had the same aim in view which
you reproach us with to-day and call high treason!
"You are silent, gentlemen! We are satisfied with your silence. And now
go and continue to stone and abuse us."
5. In the meantime, Professor Masaryk arrived in the United States _via_
Japan in May, 1918. He was accorded a splendid reception at Chicago where
some 200,000 Czecho-Slovaks, as well as various Allied representatives,
greeted him. His presence in the United States not only stimulated
recruiting among Czecho-Slovaks there, but had also political results,
especially when the Central Powers launched their peace offensive.
At the end of May, Mr. Lansing issued the following statement:
"The Secretary of State desires to announce that the proceedings of the
Congress of Oppressed Nationalities of Austria-Hungary which was held
in Rome in April have been followed with great interest by the
Government of the United States, and that the nationalist aspirations
of the Czecho-Slovaks and Jugoslavs have the earnest sympathy of this
government."
This declaration was endorsed by the representatives of Great Britain,
France and Italy at Versailles on June 3, 1918. On June 29, Mr. Lansing
completed and explained his statement as follows:
"Since the issuance by this government on May 29 of a statement
regarding the nationalist aspirations for freedom of the Czecho-Slovaks
and Jugoslavs, German and Austrian officials have sought to
misinterpret and distort its manifest interpretation. In order,
therefore, that there may be no misunderstanding concerning the meaning
of this statement, the Secretary of State to-day further announces the
position of the United States Government to be that _all branches of
the Slav race should be completely freed from German and Austrian
rule_."
On the following day, that is on June 30, 1918, President Poincaré
presented the Czecho-Slovak army with a flag and delivered an inspiring
speech to them.
On the occasion of the handing of this flag by President Pioncaré to the
Czecho-Slovak army, M. Pichon, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, on behalf
of the government of the French Republic, addressed the following letter to
Dr. Edouard Benes, the general secretary of the Czecho-Slovak National
Council in Paris:
"At the moment when the 21st Regiment of Chasseurs, the first unit of
the autonomous Czecho-Slovak army in France, after receiving its flag,
is leaving its quarters to take up its position in a sector amongst its
French brothers-in-arms, the Republican Government, in recognition of
your efforts and your attachment to the Allied cause, considers it just
and necessary to proclaim _the right of your nation to its independence
and to recognise publicly and officially the National Council as the
supreme organ of its general interests and the first step towards a
future Czecho-Slovak Government_.
"During many centuries the Czecho-Slovak nation has enjoyed the
incomparable benefit of independence. It has been deprived of this
independence through the violence of the Habsburgs allied to the German
princes. The historic rights of nations are imperishable. It is for the
defence of these rights that France, attacked, is fighting to-day
together with her Allies. The cause of the Czechs is especially dear to
her.
"France will never forget the Prague manifestation of December 8, 1870.
Neither will she forget the resistance of its population and the
refusal of Czech soldiers to fight for Austria-Hungary, for which
heroism thousands of these patriots paid with their lives. France has
also heard the appeals of the Czech deputies of January 6, April 13,
and May 16, 1918.
"Faithful to the principles of respect for nationalities and the
liberation of oppressed nations, _the Government of the Republic
considers the claims of the Czecho-Slovak nation as just and well
founded, and will, at the right moment, support with all its solicitude
the realisation of your aspirations to independence within the historic
boundaries of your territories_ at present suffering under the
oppressive yoke of Austria and Hungary.
"It is very pleasant for me, Monsieur le Secrétaire Général, to make
this declaration. Your sentiments, reflecting those of your
compatriots, are for me the measure of the high degree of the future
happiness of your country.
"In the name of the Government of the French Republic I tender _my
warmest and most sincere wishes that the Czecho-Slovak State may
speedily become, through the common efforts of all the Allies and in
close union with Poland and the Jugoslav State, an insurmountable
barrier to Teutonic aggression_ and a factor for peace in a
reconstituted Europe in accordance with the principles of justice and
rights of nationalities."
It is unnecessary to add long comments to this clear and explicit state
paper which forms a veritable pledge on the part of France to secure
Czecho-Slovak independence. It is a recognition of Bohemia's right to
independence and of the National Council as the supreme organ of the
Czecho-Slovak nation abroad. At the same time it is also an acceptance of
our programme of the reorganisation of Central Europe, necessitating the
break-up of Austria, and in this respect it is also a success and a pledge
for the Poles and Yugoslavs.
6. If France and Italy showed such deep understanding of the cause of
Bohemia's liberty, exhibited in practice by special military conventions
concluded with our National Council, Great Britain may be proud of no less
generosity. Although having no direct interests in seeing Bohemia
independent, Great Britain, true to her traditions as a champion of the
liberties of small nations, did not hesitate to give us a declaration which
not only fully endorses all pledges of France and Italy, but which goes
still further and practically recognises our full national sovereignty.
On August 9, 1918, His Majesty's Government issued the following
declaration:
"Since the beginning of the war the Czecho-Slovak nation has resisted
the common enemy by every means in its power. The Czecho-Slovaks have
constituted a considerable army, fighting on three different
battlefields and attempting, in Russia and Siberia, to arrest the
Germanic invasion.
"_In consideration of their efforts to achieve independence, Great
Britain regards the Czecho-Slovaks as an Allied nation and recognises
the unity of the three Czecho-Slovak armies as an Allied and
belligerent army waging a regular warfare against Austria-Hungary and
Germany_.
"Great Britain also recognises _the right of the Czecho-Slovak National
Council as the supreme organ of the Czecho-Slovak national interests,
and as the present trustee of the future Czecho-Slovak Government to
exercise supreme authority over this Allied and belligerent army_."
It will be readily seen of what a tremendous significance this declaration
is from an international point of view. Apart from the fact that it
recognises our efforts towards independence, the declaration says
explicitly that the Czecho-Slovaks, abroad and at home, are an Allied
nation, which implies that the Allies will treat them henceforward as such,
and will allow their government to establish consular service and to send
representatives to Allied conferences. The sovereignty both of the
Czecho-Slovak army and of the National Council is fully recognised in this
declaration which proclaims "the unity of the three Czecho-Slovak armies
(in Russia, France and Italy) as an _Allied and belligerent army_ waging
_regular warfare_ against Austria." Only a sovereign army is a belligerent
army waging regular warfare. Thus the Czecho-Slovaks, according to
international law, are no more rebels but regular soldiers whom, when
captured, Austria has no more the right to execute. Similarly also the
recognition of the National Council as the "trustee" of the Czecho-Slovak
Government is clear and explicit; in fact a "trustee" is the word applied
to a provisional government of a state. As a matter of fact, the National
Council, on the ground of this recognition of full sovereignty, was
constituted as a Provisional Government on October 14, 1918, and has the
power to exercise all rights appertaining to a sovereign and independent
government.
Thus implicitly Great Britain considers Czecho-Slovak independence already
a _fait accompli_. It speaks of and considers a Czecho-Slovak State no more
as a probability, but as a certainty. As with the Czecho-Slovaks so with
Great Britain, Austria exists no more.
The recognition is of additional importance because it comes from Great
Britain who has always been considered a traditional friend of Austria, and
who is known for conservatism in foreign politics. The decision to issue a
declaration of such far-reaching importance was surely arrived at only
after due and careful deliberation. The step which Great Britain has taken
thereby once more proves the deep sense of justice and the far-sightedness
of British statesmen. Needless to say that the Czecho-Slovaks will always
remain grateful to Great Britain for this bold and generous act. Its
immediate effect has been consternation in Vienna and encouragement both to
the Czecho-Slovak soldiers fighting on the side of the Entente and to the
Czech leaders courageously defending Bohemia's rights in Vienna. As deputy
Klofác put it at a meeting in Laibach on August 15:
"Henceforward the Czechs will refuse to hold any negotiations with
Vienna, with whom any compromise is now out of the question. The
Czecho-Slovaks will firmly continue the struggle for complete national
independence, strengthened by the support of other Slavs, and by the
knowledge that the British and other Allied governments had formally
acknowledged and were working for the establishment of an independent
Czecho-Slovak State."
This chapter would not be complete if we did not quote the subsequent
declarations of the United States of America and Japan, practically
endorsing the British declaration.
On September 3, Mr. Lansing issued the following statement:
"The Czecho-Slovak peoples having taken up arms against the German and
Austro-Hungarian empires, and having placed in the field organised
armies, which are waging war against those empires under officers of
their own nationality and in accordance with the rules and practices of
civilised nations, and Czecho-Slovaks having in the prosecution of
their independence in the present war confided the supreme political
authority to the Czecho-Slovak National Council, the Government of the
United States recognises that a state of belligerency exists between
the Czecho-Slovaks thus organised and the German and Austro-Hungarian
empires.
"It also recognises _the Czecho-Slovak National Council as a_ de facto
_belligerent government_, clothed with proper authority to direct the
military and political affairs of the Czecho-Slovaks.
"The Government of the United States further declares that it is
prepared to enter formally into relations with the _de facto_
government thus recognised for the purpose of prosecuting the war
against the common enemy, the empires of Germany and Austria-Hungary."
A week later the Japanese Government, through the medium of its ambassador
in London, communicated the following declaration to the Czecho-Slovak
National Council:
"The Japanese Government have noted with deep and sympathetic interest
the just aspirations of the Czecho-Slovak people for a free and
independent national existence. These aspirations have conspicuously
been made manifest in their determined and well-organised efforts to
arrest the progress of the Germanic aggression.
"In these circumstances, the Japanese Government are happy to regard
the Czecho-Slovak army as an Allied and belligerent army waging regular
warfare against Austria-Hungary and Germany, and to recognise the
rights of the Czecho-Slovak National Council to exercise the supreme
control over that army. They are further prepared to enter into
communication with the duly authorised representatives of the
Czecho-Slovak National Council, whenever necessary, on all matters of
mutual interest to the Japanese and the Czecho-Slovak forces in
Siberia."