Independent Bohemia Part 9

The declaration of deputy Stanek was completed by a statement of deputy Kalina who made it quite clear that the Czechs refuse responsibility for the war, and that their sympathies are with the Entente. Kalina, a prominent leader of the State Right Party, said:

"As deputies elected by the Czech nation, _we absolutely reject every responsibility for this war_.

"After three years, the government has summoned the _Reichsrat, which the Czechs never recognised_, and against which, as well as against the so-called const.i.tution, they again make a formal protest. The great Russian Revolution forced the government to a plausible restoration of const.i.tutional life.

"_The Czech nation hails with unbounded joy and enthusiasm the liberation of Eastern Europe_. The main principles of that memorable Revolution are closely related to our own traditions, _i.e._ to the principle of _liberty, equality and fraternity of all nations_. Bohemia is a free country. Never in her history did she accept laws from aliens, not even from her powerful neighbours in Europe. Liberty of individuals, liberty of nations is again our motto which the nation of Hussites is bringing before the world. In these historic moments, when from the blood-deluged battlefields a new Europe is arising, and the idea of the sovereignty of nations and nationalities is triumphantly marching throughout the Continent, _the Czech nation solemnly declares before the world its firm will for liberty and independence_ on the ground of the ancient historic rights of the Bohemian Crown. In demanding independence, the Czech nation asks, in the sense of the new democracy, for the extension of the right of self-determination to the whole Czecho-Slovak nation."

_(b) Courageous Speeches delivered by Czech Deputies in the Reichsrat_

During the subsequent session of the Reichsrat, various Czech deputies, representing all the Czech parties, made declarations, some of which we will quote in order to show the remarkable unanimity of the Czechs in their opposition to Austria and in their demand for independence. _It was chiefly this unanimity of all Czech parties and cla.s.ses in Bohemia and the absolute harmony between their action and the Czecho-Slovak action abroad which formed the real strength of the movement_.

_Dr. Stransk_, leader of the Moravian People's Party, delivered a long speech in the Reichsrat on June 12, 1917, from which we quote the following significant pa.s.sages:

"The Germans say that germanisation is not carried out except where it is in the interests of the state. We do not think that the interests of the state should go first. If the interests of a state are not identical with the liberties and interests of a nation, then _such a state has for that nation no right to exist_.

"If Clam-Martinic thinks that we will enter the Reichsrat which the Polish deputies would not attend in their present strength, then he is greatly mistaken. We heartily wish the Poles to achieve their national independence, but should we be denied an equal right, then it would mean an end to this Reichsrat. We want to enjoy the same happiness as the rest, _we want to be free from all oppression, from all foreign domination. We want to decide for ourselves the form of our political existence_. We want to choose our own laws, we want to govern ourselves. _We claim the rest.i.tution of our political independence and of the supreme historic right of the Czech nation in the lands of the Bohemian Crown. The time is ripe also when the Austrian fortresses of St. Peter and St. Paul will open, and when their prisoners will change places with their persecutors. The state and dynasty have lately taken away the rights and liberties of our nation and trampled them underfoot_."

On June 15, the National Socialist deputy _Stribrn_, openly demanded the creation of a Czecho-Slovak Republic:

"The German annexationist plans are doomed. The Czechs greet with joy the new era of equality and fraternity, an era in which a _democratic republic_ is considered as the best form of government. The Czechs demand the creation of a Bohemia in which they will possess their own independent government. _Too long have they been oppressed by Austria, and now they are determined to achieve their national liberty_."

On June 26, _Dr. Soukup_, the leader of the Czecho-Slav Social Democratic Party, made an equally remarkable statement:

"As a Social Democrat I say that we, the Czecho-Slovak nation, have also a right to a place in the sun, and we want to be seen. Do you consider that a nation numbering over ten million and boasting of a highly developed civilisation can continue to breathe under such oppressive conditions, seeing what an important role is being played by four million Bulgars, two million Greeks, two million Danes and other small nations? _We welcome the resurrection of the great and united Polish State, we witness the great Yugoslav nation shaping its boundaries along the Adriatic, and we also see Ukrainia arising. At such moments we want to live as well, and we will live_!"

_(c) After the Amnesty_

The political amnesty of July, 1917, intended to appease the Slavs, had just the opposite effect: it only strengthened the Slav resistance which acquired fresh strength and impetus by the return of the old leaders.

Kramar was hailed like a sovereign when he entered Prague again. He now became the recognised leader of the whole nation. The _Narodni Listy_ became the mouthpiece of all the most eminent leaders of the nation without party distinction. Its issue of October 31, 1917, contained a map of the future independent Czecho-Slovak State and a series of articles. We will quote only a few pa.s.sages from an article written by deputy Rasin which read as follows:

"The war has brought our problem home not only to us but to the whole world. Nothing could have better expressed our situation than the propaganda of Mitteleuropa. Austria-Hungary and Bulgaria had to form a bridge for the imperialistic march of Germany to the Persian Gulf _via_ Constantinople and Bagdad. The Czechs and Yugoslavs were to be crushed and become the victims of those plans. This was the ideal that the German nation considered as its war aim and as a war aim of Austria-Hungary. They could not have obtained a better reply than was given to them by the Czechs and Yugoslavs in their demand for their own independent states, which would be able to form a permanent bulwark against the _Drang nach Osten_ as planned by the Germans and Magyars.

Even if Herr Naumann ceases to promote the idea of Central Europe, in reality _a new programme which would do away with the old evils and a.s.sign a new mission to Austria-Hungary is inconceivable_. All the declarations of the government are only destined to conceal their real intentions. The German-Magyar hegemony is as strong as ever, and the Polish question is to be solved only according to the Pan-German programme. During this war Austria's real face has been unmasked before the whole world by her persecutions, arbitrary decrees and the Pan-German propaganda.

"The Czechs, who in their policy always went hand in hand with the Yugoslavs, saw all this, and consequently the only thing left for them to do is to insist on their att.i.tude, constantly to reveal Austria's insincerity, to reject all pretty phrases without any meaning in them, and all compromises, which we know would never be kept. _We also must reject a compromise peace which would lead to fresh wars_.

"_The policy of the Czechs cannot but aim at the absolute independence of the whole Czecho-Slovak nation_, and all our action at home and abroad must tend towards persuading the world that only thus can a stable peace in Europe be achieved."

It was about this time also when Seidler made desperate attempts to induce the Slav leaders to partic.i.p.ate in a special commission for the revision of the Austrian Const.i.tution. Dr. Stransk, speaking in the name of the Czechs, openly refused the proposal, declaring that the Czech problem could not be solved by Austria, but only by the Peace Conference, that is after the victory of the Entente. A joint committee of representatives of the Young Czech, National Socialist, Progressive Independence and Moravian Progressive Parties issued a proclamation protesting against any partic.i.p.ation of Czechs in Austrian politics, and declaring that since the Czech question is an international one and can therefore be decided only at the Peace Conference, the duty of the Czech deputies is not to a.s.sist in the revision of the Austrian Const.i.tution, but to insist upon the creation of an "_independent Czecho-Slovak State with all the attributes of sovereignty_."

Simultaneously also the Czech Agrarian deputy, _Zahradnik_, made the following remarkable declaration in the Reichsrat on September 26:

"In view of the prevailing policy directed against the Czech people, can any one wonder that _they have lost all confidence in Vienna_ and that they refuse to let this parliament decide their fate? _It is necessary to secure for all peoples, great or small, the right to decide their own destinies_. This applies also to the ten million Czecho-Slovaks who, moreover, cannot rightly be considered merely as a 'small' nation: the Czechs, too, do not desire anything more than peace, but it must not be forgotten _that our men did not shed their blood merely for imperialism or for Pan-Germanism. We do not want anything but an honourable peace which would bring equality to all peoples_, a peace a.s.suring liberty and equality to all, and not a peace which would leave our fetters unbroken. We regret that the Pope omitted to mention the Czechs in his peace offer although he mentioned the Poles. _But we shall obtain our right without alien support. The Czechs will never swerve from their demand for an independent Slovak State with all the attributes of sovereignty. The Czechs are convinced that the question of Bohemia is too great to be solved in Vienna. It must be decided at the Peace Conference_."

On November 9, deputy Stanek made it clear that the Czecho-Slovaks expect the resurrection of their independence only from the break-up of Austria:

"We cannot conceive of peace or of the transformation of Europe except when _on the ruins of the Dual Monarchy_ new national states shall arise. The German-Magyar misrule must be destroyed."

And when on November 21 Seidler talked about the peace conditions of the "enemy," Dr. Stransk interrupted him by exclaiming, "Our enemies are here, in Vienna and in Budapest!"

_(d) During Peace Negotiations with Russia_

When peace negotiations were opened with the Bolsheviks, the Austro-Hungarian delegations were also summoned, for the first time during the war, on December 3, 1917. During the speech from the throne the Czechs demonstratively left the hall. On the same day the Bohemian Union, the Yugoslav Club and the Ruthenes issued a protest against the government having published a distorted version of the Russian peace offer. In this protest the Slav deputies asked:

"How can the government answer for having purposely distorted such a highly important doc.u.ment as the Russian Note of November 28, and why did the government suppress just the paragraph out of it containing guarantees for national self-determination?"

Their declaration naturally exasperated the Germans and the government. The organ of the Austrian Foreign Office, the _Fremdenblatt_, expressed regret that the Slav parties in the Reichsrat "place obstacles in the way of peace." It also regretted that "some parties in the Austrian Parliament should take up an att.i.tude incompatible with our state's self-preservation." On the next day, M. Stanek made a declaration in the delegations in the name of Czechs and Yugoslavs, saying:

"We Czech and Yugoslav delegates declare that it is our deep conviction as well as the firm will of our respective nations that a lasting peace is possible only on the ground of the full right of self-determination.

_The Imperial Government deliberately and wilfully distorted the most important part of the Russian peace offer_, viz. the demand for the self-determination of nations. It is still more surprising that the prime ministers in both halves of the monarchy should try to deceive the public opinion of the world by a false interpretation of the right of self-determination. The Austrian Premier, Dr. Seidler, declared that the Viennese Parliament is a forum through which the nations could obtain self-determination, while the _Hungarian Premier had the impudence to describe the conditions in Hungary, which are a mockery of all civilisation, as the ideal of national liberty._ We, therefore, declare in regard to any peace negotiations: _Our national development can only then be secured when the right of self-determination of all nations shall be fully, clearly and unreservedly recognised_ with binding guarantees of its immediate realisation."

At the same time the Slavs made a proposal in the Austro-Hungarian Delegations, insisting that the peace negotiations with Russia should be conducted by a committee selected from both parliaments on the basis of nationality, and consisting of twelve Germans, ten Magyars, ten Czecho-Slovaks, seven Yugoslavs, five Poles, four Ruthenes, three Rumanians and one Italian.

Finally, on December 5, the Czech Socialist deputy Tusar declared in the Reichsrat:

"We want to be our own masters, and if it is high treason to ask for liberty and independence, then let us say at once that _each of us is a traitor, but such high treason is an honour, and not a dishonour_. As regards the negotiations with Russia, we declare that _Count Czernin does not represent the nations of Austria_ and has no right to speak in our name; he is merely the plenipotentiary of the dynasty. _The old Austria, based on police, bureaucracy, militarism and racial tyranny, cannot survive this war_. We also want peace, but it must be a just peace. The Czecho-Slovaks will under all circ.u.mstances defend their rights."

In conjunction with this declaration we may quote two other Czech Socialists showing the opinion of the Czechs on the Russian Revolution.

On November 29, deputy Modracek declared in the Reichsrat:

"The Revolution of the Bolsheviks is a misfortune for the Russian Revolution, the Russian Republic and all the oppressed nations of Europe. _So long as the German Social Democracy permits the working ma.s.ses to be brought to the battlefield in the interests of Imperialism, the action of the Bolsheviks is not the work for Socialism but for German Tsarism_. I do not undervalue the significance and the greatness of the Russian Revolution: it is the German Social Democrats who fail to perform their moral duty in this war and do not comprehend the Russian Revolution."

Still more outspoken is the declaration of deputy Winter, who said in the Reichsrat on February 21, 1918:

"The workers of the whole world will never forget that the Russian Revolution was the first social revolution on a large scale. And on this revolutionary movement Germany has directly and Austria-Hungary indirectly declared war. _Perhaps Austria-Hungary wants to repay the Romanoffs in_ 1918 _for the aid which they rendered to the Habsburgs in_ 1848.... Austria-Hungary once before engaged in the European reaction by crus.h.i.+ng revolution in Italy. She gathered the fruits of this act in 1848, 1859, 1866, and in the present war. Formerly France and Russia partic.i.p.ated in the Holy Alliance, but _to-day the Central Powers are the only refuge of reaction in Europe_."

_(e) The Const.i.tuent a.s.sembly of Prague on January_ 6, 1918

The most important manifestation of Czecho-Slovak national will took place in Prague on January 6, 1918, when all the Czech deputies a.s.sembled in order to give expression to their deep grat.i.tude for the French recognition of the const.i.tution of a Czecho-Slovak army on the side of the Entente. At the same time it was a protest against Austria-Hungary and a demand for representation at the Peace Conference.

As to the resolution unanimously adopted by this const.i.tuent a.s.sembly, there is no doubt about its meaning: in it the Czecho-Slovaks no more act with Austria but demand full liberty. This even the Austrian Premier, Dr.

Seidler, had to admit, when he declared in the Reichsrat on January 22:

"This resolution, in which we in vain look for a distant echo of dynastic or state allegiance, adopts to a certain extent an international standpoint, and shows that this people is ready, at any rate on the conclusion of peace, to accept international support with a view to obtaining the recognition of foreign states. Such a standpoint is calculated to encourage our enemies and to prolong the war.

"The resolution demands the right of self-determination in order to dissolve the existing unity of the state, and to a.s.sure full independence and sovereignty. _The resolution gives the impression of having been conceived in a sense absolutely hostile to the state_, and must be indignantly rejected by every Austrian and resisted by every Austrian Government with all the means in its power."

The Czech declaration of January 6, which is the most important of all declarations of the Czechs and which has been suppressed in the Austrian press, reads as follows:

"In the fourth year of this terrible war, which has already cost the nations numberless sacrifices in blood and treasure, the first peace efforts have been inaugurated. We Czech deputies recognise the declarations in the Reichsrat, and deem it our duty emphatically to declare, in the name of the Czech nation and of its oppressed and forcibly-silenced Slovak branch of Hungary, our att.i.tude towards the reconstruction of the international situation.

"When the Czech deputies of our regenerated nation expressed themselves, during the Franco-Prussian War, on the international European problems, they solemnly declared in the memorandum of December 8, 1870, that 'only from the recognition of the equality of all nations and from natural respect of the right of self-determination could come true equality and fraternity, a general peace and true humanity.'

"We, deputies of the Czech nation, true even to-day to these principles of our ancestors, have therefore greeted with joy the fact that all states, based upon democratic principles, whether belligerent or neutral, now accept with us the right of nations to free self-determination as a guarantee of a general and lasting peace.

"The new Russia also accepted the principle of self-determination of nations during its attempts for a general settlement and as a fundamental condition of peace. The nations were freely to determine their fate and decide whether they want to live in an independent state of their own or whether they choose to form one state in common with other nations.