"CZECHOSLOVAKIA (Ciskoslovensko,
Ciskoslovensk4 Republika). - The republic of Czechoslovakia is
a new creation in respect of its name and state-form only. Its
modern history as an independent entity begins with the dramatic
collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy at the close of the World
War, and the definitive proclamation of Czechoslovak independence
on Oct. 28 1918. Some of its constituent territories, however,
notably Bohemia and the lands of the Bohemian crown (Moravia,
Silesia, Lusatia) enjoyed, up to the year 1620, many centuries of
independent existence and played an important, sometimes a
dominating, part in the political and religious history of central
Europe.
The republic has a pop., according to the census of 1921, of 1
3,595, 818, and an area of about 55,000 sq. m. (approximately the
size of England and Wales). It comprises three great natural
regions: (1) Bohemia, (2) Moravia and Silesia, (3) Slovakia and
Russinia (Sub-Carpathian Russia = Podkarpatskd Rus).
Bohemia, with an area of some 20,400 sq. m., has a pop. of
6,664,932; Moravia, with 8,600 sq. m., 2,660,737 inhabitants;
Silesia, 1,800 sq. m., and 670,937 inhabitants; Slovakia, 20,000
sq. m., and 2,993,479 inhabitants; Russinia, 5,000 sq. m., and
605,731 inhabitants. The whole is about 600 m. long and has a
maximum breadth of 185 miles. In respect of population it occupies
the tenth place among European countries; in respect of size the
fourteenth place; in density of population the seventh. The
frontiers were fixed by the Peace Treaties of St. Germain,
Versailles and Trianon, while a portion of the ancient principality
of resin (Teschen) was adjudicated to it by the Paris Conference
(July 1920). On the W. and N., where it borders upon Bavaria,
Saxony, Prussia and Poland, it is enclosed by mountains, some of
them of very considerable height, which form on those sides a
natural and strategic frontier. In Bohemia the highest peak Snezka
(Schneekoppe) has an altitude of 5,216 ft., in Slovakia the summits
of the Carpathians and of the High Tatra rise to a height of
between 7,000 and 8,000 ft. South of these ranges lie fertile and
well-watered plains and lowlands extending to the borders of
Austria, Hungary and Rumania. Some 60% of the entire area of the
republic is included in the basin of the Danube, the rest being
traversed by the Labe (Elbe) and the Vltava (Moldau), the former
passing in particular through regions remarkable for their rich
fertility. Some one-third-of the entire surface of the country is
covered by forests. The climate of the republic is a medium between
a maritime and continental one.
Prague, the capital (677,000 inhabitants), is picturesquely
situated on the Vltava and justly famous for its architectural
beauty. Bratislava (Pressburg), the capital of Slovakia, with its
great Danubian harbour, is the gateway of central European trade to
the East and the Balkans. Other towns of importance in the republic
are Brno (Briinn), with 200,000 inhabitants, the capital of
Moravia, and the centre of an old established and flourishing
textile industry; Plzen (Pilsen) with 10o,000 inhabitants, famous
for its beer and as the seat of the Skoda iron works; Kosice
(Kaschau), the commercial centre of eastern Slovakia; and UThorod
(Ungvar), the capital of Russinia. Of German towns in
Czechoslovakia (most of them with a considerable Czechoslovak
minority), Liberec (Reichenberg), and Jablonec (Gablonz), are
important industrial centres. Carlsbad (Karlovy Vary), and
Marienbad (Marif nske Lazne), are famous spas. Czechoslovakia
indeed is one of the richest states of Europe in mineral and
health-giving waters, and possesses more than 200 watering places
and health resorts. Besides Carlsbad and Marienbad, Franzensbad,
Teplice (Teplitz), Podebrady (in Bohemia), Luhacovice in Moravia,
Piestany, Trencianske Teplice, Sliac and Strbske Pleso (4,100 ft.
above sea-level) in Slovakia, are noted. At Jachymov
(Joachimsthal), in North Bohemia, radium is produced.
Ethnology.
The population of Czechoslovakia is ethnologically of a
mixed character. The prevailing element is that of the Czechs (7
millions), with whom the Slovaks (22 millions) form one people;
indeed as long ago as the 9th century the kingdom of Great Moravia,
with frontiers roughly identical with the present boundaries of the
Czechoslovak Republic, was the creation of the Slav people, who
occupied in common a territory stretching from W. Bohemia to the
Carpathians.
The Czechs and the Slovaks, or, to give them their united name,
the Czechoslovaks, are a branch of the great Slav family of which
the Russians are the most numerous and the most important member
and to which the Serbo-Croats with the Slovenes, the Poles, the
Bulgarians and the Wends of Germany also belong. Even after the
conquest of Slovakia by the Hungarians, which resulted in Slovak
territory being separated from Czech territory till they were
reunited in 1918, an intellectual connexion between the two
branches of the one family was always maintained, and some of the
foremost names in Czech literature are those of writers who were
Slovaks by birth. The difference between the Czech language and the
language spoken in Slovakia is merely dialectical and the struggle
for independence, culminating in the declaration of the
Czechoslovak State, has emphasized and developed the sentiment of
Czechoslovak unity. It is not without interest to note that the
three principal leaders of the movement for independence were a
Moravian of Slovak descent (i?'Iasaryk), a Slovak (Gen. Stefanik),
and a Czech (Dr. Benes).
Of the non-Czechoslovak races in the republic the Germans are
the most numerous, numbering some 31 millions, chiefly dispersed
along the W. and N. frontiers of Bohemia and in 'Moravia and
Silesia. Their presence is largely the result, firstly of a
colonization which was favoured by the Bohemian kings and princes
of the 12th and 13th centuries, and secondly of a policy of
Germanization pursued by the Habsburg rulers from the date of the
battle of the White Mountain in 1620 (when the Czechs lost their
independence) up till the very close of the World War.
On the day following the attainment of Czechoslovak
independence, Oct. 29 1918, the Germans of Bohemia and Moravia -
the so-called Sudetenland Germans - declared the districts where
they predominated a province of the new Austrian State, which had
been constituted some eight days previously. It was not until the
Treaty of St. Germain was concluded on Sept. to 1919 and the
Austrian Government released the Germans from the oath of
allegiance they had taken to the new Austrian Republic, that the
Germans desisted from openly fighting against incorporation in the
Czechoslovak Republic. Their claim to self-determination was
rejected by the Peace Conference. From the mere presence of the
Germans within 1 For an Austrian view of the nationality question,
see the article
Austrian Empire (Ed.
E. B.).
the historic frontiers of the Czechoslovak State it would indeed
have been difficult, with justice, to deduce a right of
self-determination, that is to say, the right, in this case, of
retaining all the fruits of misused power. In Slovakia the Slovaks
were subjected to a similar system of Magyarization. The Hungarian
census of 1910 purported to show that in Slovakia there were
1,697,552 Slovaks and 901,793 Hungarians. The correct figures,
however, were shown by the census of 1919 to be Slovaks 2,141,000,
Hungarians 665,000.
Other nationalities occupying portions of the Czechoslovak
Republic are Ruthenians 600,000 and Poles 250,000. On the other
hand there are some 500,000 Czechoslovaks in Austria, 450,000 in
Hungary, more than 200,000 in Yugoslavia and Rumania, and over
800,000 in America.
Special provision is made in the Constitutional Charter of the
republic (in accordance with the terms of the Treaty of St.
Germain) for the protection of national, religious and racial
minorities. Difference in religious belief, confession or language,
constitute no obstacle to any citizen in regard to entry into the
public services or offices, to the attainment to any promotion or
dignity, or to the exercise of any trade or calling. In towns and
districts in which there lives a considerable section (20% or more)
of citizens speaking a language other than Czechoslovak, schools
are to be provided, the instruction to be imparted in the language
of that minority. Such a minority has also a right to a
proportionate amount of the funds set aside by the State or by the
local authorities for purposes of education, religion or
philanthropy. The courts of justice and the public offices are also
required to pay due regard in respect of language to the desires of
a minority which numbers at least 20% of the inhabitants of the
locality. Every act tending to force a citizen to abandon his
nationality - in other words oppression of a citizen on account of
his race - is expressly prohibited.
Creation of the Republic
When in July 1914 Austria commenced hostilities against Serbia,
thus bringing about the World War, this act of aggression took
place against the will of the Czechs and Slovaks, at that time
subject to Austrian and Hungarian rule respectively. Open protest
or organized revolt, however, was impossible owing to the proximity
and indeed the presence in overwhelming numbers of German and
Hungarian troops, who were expressly garrisoned among the Czech
population in order to stifle any possible outburst of national and
pro-Ally sentiment. Direct political action was equally impossible,
as the Austrian Parliament was suspended. Whenever opinions did
happen to be expressed which could be construed as criticism of
Austria or Germany the offenders were speedily punished, and it was
not long before the political leaders of the Czechs and Slovaks
found themselves in confinement, some of them under sentence of
death, while the Czech and Slovak press was subjected to a rigorous
censorship and many of its organs prohibited from appearing. Some
of the political leaders escaped over the frontier - among them
Prof. Thomas Garrigue Masaryk and Dr. Eduard
Benes, who were subsequently to lead a
success :3,500,000 English Miles 1, 0 ao
Kilometres Czechoslovakia Frontier 1921 poilow
stria-Hungary 191C411. Provincial Boundaries
Railways ful campaign abroad for the destruction of the Austrian
Monarchy and the attainment of Czechoslovak independence.
The persecutions, sometimes revolting in their cruelty, to which
(on account of their pro-Ally sympathies) the Czechs were subjected
during the first two years of the war, had the effect of uniting
all the different political parties into one single national block;
and when the Austrian Parliament was at length convoked in May 1917
the Czech parties made a unanimous declaration that it was their
aim to work for the union of Czechs and Slovaks as one people in an
independent state.
As the war proceeded, further declarations of national and
anti-Austrian sentiment were made, the most notable being the "
Twelfth Night Manifesto," issued at Prague on Jan. 6 1918, in which
all the Czech deputies of the Austrian Reichsrat and of the Diets
of Bohemia, Moravia and Silesia unanimously demanded full
independence and representation at the future conference which
should conclude peace in Europe.
Meanwhile the Czechs, who were as Austrian subjects obliged to
serve in the Austrian army, lost no opportunity of passing over to
the Allies. Of 70,000 prisoners taken by Serbia early in the war
35,000 were Czechs. Of these 32,000 perished during the Serbian
retreat or died of fever or cholera. The remnant, 3,000 in number,
proceeded to France and there joined the Czechoslovak legions
already fighting on the French front. Of a total of 600,000 Czech
troops in the Austrian army over onehalf surrendered to the Allies.
In Russia a Czechoslovak legion was formed at the outset of the
war, and later this grew into a regular army which by 1918 numbered
10o,000 men.
The activities of Prof. Masaryk in Russia, England and America,
enthusiastically supported by his compatriots living abroad, and
especially by the Czechs and Slovaks who had emigrated to the
United States, the self-sacrificing valour of the Czechoslovak
legions on the French, Italian and Russian fronts, and the work of
the Czechoslovak Council with its headquarters at Paris, moved the
Allies to acknowledge the last-named body as the de facto
Provisional Government of the Czechoslovak State. On July 13 1918 a
Czechoslovak National Council, representing all parties, was formed
at Prague as a complement to the National Council already existing
at Paris. This was the first direct step taken at home towards the
establishment of the new State.
On Aug. 9 1918 the British Government issued the following
declaration: " Since the beginning of. the war the Czechoslovak
nation has resisted the common enemy by every means in its power.
The Czechoslovaks have constituted a considerable army, fighting on
three different battle-fields and attempting, in Russia and
Siberia, to arrest the Germanic invasion. In consideration of their
efforts to achieve independence, Great Britain regards the
Czechoslovaks as an Allied nation and recognizes the unity of the
three Czechoslovak armies as an Allied and belligerent army waging
a regular warfare against Austria-Hungary and Germany... ." This
declaration materially helped to seal the fate of Austria, and
implicitly recognized Czechoslovak independence as an accomplished
fact. France and Italy, by accepting the assistance of Czechoslovak
legions on the French and Italian fronts, had already practically
acknowledged Czechoslovakia's claims (Briand, 1916). In the first
week of Sept. 1918 the United States of America and Japan issued
declarations practically endorsing the British declaration. On Oct.
14 1918 the Czechoslovak National Council was constituted as a
Provisional Government with all the attributes of sovereign and
independent power. On Oct. 17 the Austrian Emperor Charles issued a
manifesto offering the various nationalities of his empire a
measure of autonomy on the basis of an Austrian federation. The
offer was too partial and came too late. Austria's hour had struck.
The Czechs at home declined even discussion with the Vienna
Government, and declared that the question of Czechoslovakia must
be left to the Peace Conference. On the 18th the Provisional
Government at Paris issued a declaration of independence, signed by
Prof. Masaryk, Dr. Benes and Gen. Stefanik. On Oct. 27 the
Austro-Hungarian Government recognized the rights of the
Czechoslovaks, and cabled to President Wilson at Washington a
request for an armistice and peace negotiations.
Thus, on Oct. 28 1918 the Czechs regained the independence which
they had lost almost 300 years before, at the ill-fated battle of
the White Mountain on Nov. 8 1620. The National Council at Prague
issued a proclamation of independence and took over the reins of
government. In spite of the presence of Austrian and Hungarian
garrisons in Prague and other towns, there was no bloodshed. Every
consideration was shown to the Imperial troops and the Imperial
civil authorities, who were allowed to vacate their posts without
being subjected to force, and the universal rejoicings of a
liberated people were happily marred by no scenes of violence.
On Nov. 16 the first representative body of the Czechoslovak
people - the National Assembly as it was called - met at Prague.
Its members, 236 in number, were selected from all the different
political parties in proportion to their strength as shown by the
last parliamentary election previous to the war. The Assembly
proceeded to decide upon the form of government to be adopted. The
unanimous decision of the Assembly was in favour of a republic, and
Prof. Masaryk, at that time still absent abroad, was unanimously
chosen as first president. A Cabinet was formed, with Dr. Kramaf,
who during the war had been sentenced to death for treason and
afterwards reprieved, as premier, and Dr. Benes as foreign
minister.
Two days after the declaration of the independence of the
Czechoslovak State, which had been signed also by the
representatives of Slovakia, the Slovak National Council issued a
"Declaration of the Slovak nation," wherein it was solemnly set
forth that the Slovaks in blood, in language and civilization form
part of the Czechoslovak nation. A considerable time, however,
elapsed before the Slovaks were allowed without hindrance to unite
fully with the Czechs. The Hungarians (Magyars) declined to
surrender the territories inhabited by Slovaks, and it was
necessary to call in the military help of the Czechs before the
last Hungarian troops, who had initiated a reign of terror in
Slovakia, could be driven out of the land.
In the extreme eastern corner of the Czechoslovak Republic,
there is situated a little autonomous region of Russinia (or
Sub-Carpathian Russia), which, together with Slovakia, was part and
parcel of the Hungarian Kingdom till the Treaty of St. Germain
permitted its incorporation with Czechoslovakia. The National
Central Council of the Ruthenians, which met on May 8 1919 at
Uzhorod, their capital, unanimously adopted a resolution approving
of incorporation with Czechoslovakia, on special terms of autonomy.
Thus by the express will of their peoples, the various lands
represented in the Czechoslovak Republic, viz. Bohemia, Moravia,
Silesia, Slovakia and Russinia, united to form one State with a
single central Government having its seat at Prague. The tasks,
almost infinite in number, confronting the new State were of great
gravity. The country had been brought by the Austro-Hungarian war
policy to the very brink of economic and financial ruin. A starved
and decimated population stood face to face with difficulties, not
only on every frontier but indeed to some extent within the borders
of the State itself. The spirit of courage and endurance which had
enabled the Czechoslovaks to achieve their independence was now to
inspire a further work of no mean significance - the consolidation
of a free, democratic and enlightened republic in the heart of
Europe, the most westerly outpost of the great Slavonic world
stretching from the banks of the Elbe and the Danube to the Pacific
Ocean, and at the same time a nation bound by ties of gratitude and
common interest to the Anglo-Saxon and Latin races. "At home we
feel sufficiently confident," said Dr. Kramaf, the premier, at the
first session of the National Assembly, "of being able to rely upon
our own powers alone, and that without injustice to others. We
shall count upon the devotion of all towards the State and we shall
show that not only have we been able to achieve our liberty but
that we know how to preserve it and to be really free - worthy of
our great past, of our traditions and of our sufferings." The
National Assembly confirmed all the emergency measures which had
been passed by the National Council between Oct. 28 and the date of
the first session of the Assembly, such for instance, as enactments
declaring the Austro-Hungarian code of laws (with some few express
exceptions) as still in force and measures securing continuity in
the executive and administrative offices of State. There was thus
no appreciable break in political, legal or local administration.
The framing of a constitution for the new State was early proceeded
with. On Feb. 29 1920, after a parliamentary committee had been at
work on its provisions for almost a year, a constitution of the
republic was adopted by the National Assembly.
Constitution
The framers of the constitution were largely influenced by the
American and French constitutions, and the American principle of
the division and balance of the legislative, executive and judicial
powers was followed.
The actual terms of the constitution are introduced by a
preamble, which runs: " We, the Czechoslovak nation, desiring to
consolidate the perfect unity of our people, to establish the reign
of justice in the Republic, to assure the peaceful development of
our native Czechoslovak land, to contribute to the common welfare
of all citizens of this State and to secure the blessings of
freedom to coming generations, have in our National Assembly this
29th day of February 1920 adopted the following Constitution for
the Czechoslovak Republic: and in so doing we declare that it will
be our endeavour to see that this Constitution together with all
the laws of our land be carried out in the spirit of our history as
well as in the spirit of those modern principles embodied in the
idea of Self-determination, for we desire to take our place in the
Family of Nations as a member at once cultured, peace-loving,
democratic and progressive." Legislative authority is exercised by
two popularly elected bodies, a Chamber of Deputies of 300 and a
Senate of i so members. Of these, the Chamber of Deputies, as the
more fully representative of the popular will, possesses greater
powers, being enabled in certain cases to carry through its
legislation in face of the opposition of the Senate. The Senate was
intended to play the part of an organ of supervision, so as to act
as a preventive of too hasty or too loosely drawn-up legislation.
It has in more than one instance already exercised its power as a
checking and restraining authority with good effects - its
amendments even on substantial points having been several times
accepted by the Lower Chamber.
Suffrage is universal, both men and women who have attained the
age of 21 years being able to vote in elections to the House of
Deputies. To vote in elections to the Senate the voter must have
reached the age of twenty-six.
The president of the republic is elected in a joint session of
the two Chambers. His period of office is fixed at seven years, and
he may be reelected at the end of his first term for a second
period of seven years. For a third term, however, he cannot be
elected until after the expiration of seven years from the
conclusion of his second term of office. This restriction does not
apply to the first president - President Masaryk.
The president of the republic is not answerable at law for his
official acts. He may be impeached in one case only - namely, for
high treason, on the motion of the Chamber of Deputies; and his
only punishment, if found guilty, is the loss of his office and
disability ever to hold it again. For each and all of his State
acts one minister at least is responsible.
Among other outstanding terms of the constitution are the
following: - The Czechoslovak State is declared to be a democratic
republic with an elected president at its head. To make any
alteration in its frontiers a constitutional law is required - a
law which, as opposed to an ordinary law, has to be passed by a
three-fifths majority of Parliament. Russinia (Sub-Carpathian
Russia) is granted the widest possible autonomy compatible with the
integrity of the Czechoslovak Republic. The Chamber of Deputies is
elected for six years, the Senate for eight. Deputies must be at
least 26, senators 45 years of age. They possess immunity, but may
be handed over to the ordinary courts by resolution of the House to
which they belong. Parliament must sit twice a year. Declarations
of war and amendments to the constitution require a vote in their
favour of three-fifths of all members of both Houses. Cabinet
ministers may participate in the meetings of either House and on
the request of either House must attend its session.
Finance and army bills must be introduced first in the Lower
House, the Chamber of Deputies. A measure passed by the Chamber of
Deputies becomes law, in spite of its rejection by the Senate, if
the Chamber of Deputies by a vote of the majority of its entire
membership repasses the measure.
During the period when Parliament is not sitting, a permanent
commission of 24 members (16 from the deputies and 8 from the
senators) sits to enact urgent measures which have temporarily the
force of law. They lose their validity unless confirmed within two
months by the Parliament which subsequently meets.
Cabinet ministers are appointed by the president; they need not
be members of either House.
I n respect of civic rights no privileges of sex, birth or
vocation are recognized. Titles may be conferred only when they
refer to office or occupation. The liberty of the press, the right
of free expression of opinion by word, writing, printed matter,
etc., liberty of conscience and religious profession are
guaranteed. All religious confessions are equal before the law.
All citizens of the republic are fully equal before the law and
enjoy equal civil and political rights whatever be their race,
language or religion; the special provisions for the protection of
national and other minorities have already been referred to. The
constitutional charter thus represents an honest effort to set up a
truly democratic: republic which shall fairly meet the demands of
the varied races and religions within its borders.
Administration and Justice
The executive Government is placed in charge of 15 ministries
concerned with the following matters: - foreign affairs, interior,
finance, commerce, labour, food supplies, railways, health, social
welfare, justice, agriculture, public instruction, national
defence, posts and telegraphs, and the unification of laws. The
collective responsibility of this Cabinet of ministers is expressly
laid down in the charter of the constitution. The president of the
republic enjoys such executive power as is expressly assigned to
him by the constitution, and he has his own office - the
president's bureau - presided over by a permanent official, to
conduct such matters as fall within his competence and to
facilitate communication with the rest of the executive.
For purposes of political administration the republic has been
divided into administrative subdistricts, the heads of which are
appointed by and directly responsible to the central Government.
Local civil government is carried on by popularly elected parish,
district, urban and municipal councils.
The tribunals of the republic are the Supreme Court of Justice,
which sits at Brno and is the court of final appeal both in civil
and criminal causes, two high courts sitting at Prague and Brno
respectively, 33 provincial courts and 410 district courts, all of
which possess j urisdiction in both civil and criminal causes.
Commercial cases are dealt with by the ordinary courts, except at
Prague where a special commercial court sits. Litigation in mining
matters is conducted before special benches attached to the
district courts in. mining districts. In large industrial centres
there are also industrial courts to deal with disputes between
employers and workpeople. At Prague there sits also an electoral
court which decides upon the validity of disputed elections or
forfeiture of seats and other questions relating to parliamentary
or elected bodies. A constitutional court decides whether laws
promulgated by Parliament are in harmony with the charter of the
constitution.
Previous to 1918 the territories now composing the Czechoslovak
Republic were of course subject to the Austrian or Hungarian code
of laws respectively. On the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian
Monarchy the Austrian code was adopted for the lands of the
Bohemian crown and the Hungarian code for Slovakia. A special
Ministry - that for " the unification of legislation and
administrative organization " - has been entrusted with the
unification of the law s for the whole republic; and two
commissions of legal experts under the control of the Ministry of
Justice were in 1921 at work on a careful revision of the old
codes, which when completed would be issued as a uniform code for
the entire republic.
Foreign Policy
" Our policy," said Dr. Benes in 1921, " is a policy of
peace: in domestic affairs our programme is the logical sequel to
our foreign policy, namely, social and racial order and justice,
and unremitting effort on behalf of social and political democracy.
The Great War must have taught us all that a calm and sensible
discussion of all our differences is possible." The Czechoslovak
Republic was first and foremost concerned, while avoiding all that
may smack of chauvinism or imperialism, to maintain its integrity
within the frontiers assigned to it by the Peace Conference. To
that end it insisted upon the strict observance of the Treaties of
Versailles, of St. Germain and of Trianon. It favoured an
Anglo-French entente or alliance, seeing therein a substantial
guarantee for the due carrying-out of those pacts. An intimate
collaboration with England and France was a conditio sine qua
non for Czechoslovakia. The creation of the so-called " Little
Entente," aiming at the preser vation of the status quo in
central Europe, was the primary outcome of Czechoslovak foreign
policy. Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia and Rumania became bound
together in the Little Entente by a treaty of alliance (Convention
with Yugoslavia dated Aug. 13 1920, with Rumania April 23 1921),
positive in so far as it aimed at the establishment and maintenance
of peace, security and normal economic conditions in central
Europe, and defensive in so far as it was directed against all
attempts at reaction menacing the existence of the new states. The
efficacy of the Little Entente as a counter-reactionary alliance
was manifested in April 1921, and again in October 1921, when its
concerted action helped to frustrate the two attempts of Charles of
Habsburg-Lorraine to recapture the throne of Hungary.
In respect of Austria Czechoslovakia was animated by the desire
to assist in relieving the economic situation of the country, while
opposed both to the incorporation of Austria with Germany and to
the foundation of a Danubian confederation. It was in favour of
aiding Austria on a broad basis of financial and economic help, to
be rendered generally to the states of central Europe by
international agreement. It was in favour of creating in central
Europe a new political and economic system by which permanent peace
would be secured - a definite understanding between all the "
Succession States " of the former AustroHungarian monarchy in the
matter of communications, post, telegraphs, navigation, finance and
banking, exchange of goods and commercial treaties generally,
opening up the way to a system of unfettered economics and freer
trade - but at the same time jealously guarding the economic and
political sovereignty of the Czechoslovak Republic.
In respect of Hungary Czechoslovakia was at one with Yugoslavia
and Rumania in holding that a Habsburg restoration would be a
casus belli. These countries adopted the view laid down by
the Paris Conference on Feb. 2 1920, which declared that " it is
not within the intention nor can it be regarded as the duty of the
principal Allied Powers to intervene in the internal affairs of
Hungary or to dictate to the Hungarian people what form of
Government or of Constitution they shall adopt: nevertheless the
Powers cannot allow the restoration of the Habsburg dynasty to be
regarded as a question concerning the Hungarian nation alone. They
declare therefore that a restoration of this nature would be in
conflict with the very basis of the peace settlement and would be
neither recognized nor tolerated." On the other hand Czechoslovakia
was desirous of renewing economic and political relations with
Hungary, the more so as agricultural Hungary might be regarded as
the complement of industrial Czechoslovakia, supplying her with
natural products and providing a market for Czechoslovak
manufactures.
With Poland the relations of the Czechoslovak Republic were for
a considerable time seriously troubled by the question of Teschen,
both countries laying claim to that territory. The Paris Conference
in July 1920 decided for the partition of the disputed area; and
the decision, though it signified no small sacrifice for the
Czechoslovaks and caused deep disappointment throughout the
country, was accepted loyally in the hope that by this sacrifice
the friendship of the Poles would be secured. In the words of Dr.
Benes, " the Czechoslovak Government regards the conflict with the
Poles as definitively ended and is desirous of systematically
pursuing a policy of rapprochement." It was in this sense
that the whole policy of Czechoslovakia towards Poland was
directed, and the Czechoslovaks were hopeful that Poland would
ultimately join with the Little Entente.
Towards Russia the policy of Czechoslovakia was logically
consistent. It had always been opposed to intervention in Russia,
and insisted upon Russia desisting from any act that might be
construed as intermeddling in the affairs of Czechoslovakia, in
particular the pursuit of Bolshevist propaganda on Czechoslovak
territory. The Czechs were animated with intense sympathy for the
real Russian people, and looked forward to the day when they will
be able to cooperate as kinsmen in the reconstruction of a peaceful
and well-ordered Russia.
In pursuance of its practical policy of rapprochement
and economic cooperation in the reconstruction of central Europe in
particular and of Europe in general, Czechoslovakia concluded a
series of commercial treaties with her various neighbours and with
the Allied Powers.
Political Parties
Not only was there in 1918-21 a sharp contrast in policy between
the Czechoslovaks and the minority races living within the republic
- the Germans and the Magyars - but each nationality was split up
into a multiplicity of factions. The Czechoslovaks had 199
representatives in the House of Deputies and 103 in the Senate, and
this total of 302 members was divided among no less than nine
parties. The Germans and the Magyars were also proportionately
split up. The strongest party in the republic was that of the
Czechoslovak Social Democrats, which up to Sept. 1920 was
represented by 74 deputies and 41 senators. The left wing of the
party,-22 deputies and 5 senators - after a somewhat violent
quarrel, then broke away and formed an independent organization
owing allegiance to the Third (Moscow) International. This
Communist party established its own organ, the " Rude' Prdivo
" (The Red Rights), in opposition to the " Pravo
Lidu" (The Rights of the People), the organ of the Social
Democratic party. The Social Democrats were well organized among
the industrial workers and agricultural labourers. They pursued a
Marxist programme aiming at the socialization of the State, the
means of production and consumption: they were opposed to a
dictatorship of the proletariat, and were for evolutionary as
opposed to revolutionary methods. They supported the peace policy
of the Czechoslovak Government in foreign affairs, and were
strongly opposed to intervention in Russia. They were also in
favour of a closer cooperation with the German democratic element
in the State.
The Communists aimed at a dictatorship of the proletariat, the
creation of workmen's and military councils and a close handin-hand
cooperation with Soviet Russia.
The Popular party, composed of Catholics and recruited largely
from Slovakia and the country districts of Moravia, was represented
by 33 deputies and 18 senators. Its organization was chiefly in the
hands of the priests. It championed the rights of private ownership
against Socialism, and combated the anti-Rome movement which was
taking place throughout the republic. In foreign affairs it
supported the Government.
The Agrarian party numbered 42 members, and published an
important daily, the "Venkov " (Country). It was drawn from the
peasant and small-farmer class, was in favour of land reform,
private property rights and increased production all round. It was
opposed to Socialism.
The National Socialists numbered thirty-four. They pursued a
national as opposed to an international social policy, being thus
opponents of the Social Democrats and in particular antagonistic to
Communism. They were opposed to the Soviets, but while favouring a
constitutional Russia were against any intervention in that
country.
The National Democrats (Liberals), whose organ was the "
Narodni Listy," numbered twenty-nine. They were led by Dr.
Kramaf, and, being mostly recruited from the educated, professional
and official classes, were more influential than the numbers
suggest. They were strongly represented in Prague and other cities.
They were, of course, opposed to Marxism and Communism. In domestic
politics they were strongly Nationalist and suspicious of the
Germans. They were the champions of State authority, order and
public morals.
Of the German parties the strongest was again the Social
Democratic party, originally numbering 31 deputies and 16 senators,
but having subsequently lost three deputies who formed a German
Communist party acting more or less in concert with the
Czechoslovak Communists.
In 1921 the total number of Socialists of every complexion in
the House of Deputies was 141, as opposed to 137 Bourgeois members
(Czechoslovaks 199, Germans 72, Magyars 7). In the Senate the
Socialists numbered 68, as against 75 Bourgeois members
(Czechoslovaks 103, Germans 37, Magyars 3).
The composition of the Chambers sufficiently explained the fact
that up to Sept. 1921 the Government of the republic had remained
in the hands of a Coalition Cabinet, or (as at the latter date) of
a Cabinet composed of permanent officials supported by a coalition
of parties.
Social Legislation
The democratic sentiment of the Czechoslovak nation, and its
maturity in social matters, resulted in the adoption of a social
policy which, while proceeding without undue haste, was
characterized by a comparatively rapid course of reform. Social
legislation first took the form of accident and sickness insurance.
In respect of the former an increase of 30% in the payments to the
insured as compared with July I 1917 was made, while at the same
time better terms were given in the insurance of miners and of
railwaymen; insurance against sickness was completed by extending
it to agricultural and domestic workers as well as to the families
of the insured. In addition to this, in the course of fixing the
premiums to be paid, the amount of State support was several times
increased. Sickness insurance was made to include maternity
insurance. Oldage and invalidity pensions were not universal; they
were made to apply, outside civil servants, to clerks and private
officials only.
Pensions were also secured to the widows and orphans of the
assured. A universal scheme of old-age and invalidity insurance was
before Parliament in 1921. Pensions for war invalids had been
granted by special enactments. Insurance against unemployment was.
,originally introduced as an emergency measure, but the economic
conditions following the war necessitated the maintenance and
extension of this form of insurance, which for normal times has
been given legal sanction according to the Ghent system, by State
contributions to the payments made by the trade unions.
"the most notable accomplishment of the young republic in the
field of social-political reform has been the enactment of Dec. 19
1918 establishing an 8-hour day for industrial and agricultural
workers (with some specific exceptions). Prohibitions in respect of
night work, the work of women (especially mothers) and young
persons have been dealt with in the sense of the resolutions
adopted at international conferences.
Wages have also been the subject of legislation; special
commissions have been empowered to regulate the wages in the
so-called " home " industries (sweating), and an arbitration board
has been appointed to fix the salaries of clerks in the metal
industry, thus minimizing the danger of conflicts in respect of
wages having to be settled by means of strikes.
By a far-reaching policy an attempt has been made towards
solving the housing problem. A special enactment protects tenants
against arbitrary treatment at the hands of landlords in respect of
notice to quit and raising of rents. Numerous enactments have also
been passed for the encouragement of building operations. The State
grants generous support to local authorities and to cooperative
societies. These grants amounted in 1919 and 1920 to more than
625,000,000 crowns.
A vast measure of freedom, compared with their position under
the Austrian regime, has been granted to women both politically and
socially. Politically women are now the equals of men, and there is
nothing legally to prevent a woman occupying any position in the
various professions or in the administration of the State. In the
two Houses of Parliament they were represented in 1921 by 16
members.
Nationalization of the coal-mines and the great industrial
concerns was one of the main items on the programme of the
Socialist parties. In practice moderate discussion was still
proceeding in 1921 with the view of giving a more democratic
character to factories and other undertakings and assuring a closer
cooperation of the workers in the management. In regard to the
mines specialists were in conference as to the part to be taken by
the State and by public bodies in ownership and management. A first
step towards democratizing industrial undertakings was taken by an
enactment touching mining councils. By this enactment it is made
possible, where more than 20 workers are employed, for an elected
council to cooperate in securing the welfare of the workers, to see
to the due execution of contracts and agreements, to settle
disputes, and to take part in the management of philanthropic
institutions.
Another enactment assures to miners a 10% share of the net
profits, this sum to be employed for educative, philanthropic, or
other purposes of utility for the benefit of the miners.
On the principle of the mining councils, factory or industrial
councils were projected for all industrial undertakings.
The idea underlying these councils was to create, as it were, a
certain constitution for factories by which the workman who had
hitherto been a mere machine should become a creative factor,
closely identified with the organization of the undertaking,
conscious of responsibility, and thus making of democracy the same
reality in economic life as it had already become in political
life.
Land Reform
Long before the political revolution of 1918 the Czechoslovaks
had been convinced of the necessity for a far-reaching measure of
land reform, both from a social and economic point of view as well
as from national considerations. Vast entailed estates were the
property of a small group of landlords (in Bohemia 37.7%, in
Moravia 34.4%, in Silesia 39.9% of all land belonged to owners
representing 0.1% of the population), while great masses of the
people did not own a single acre of their native land. The great
majority of the landlords were nobles of foreign origin who
acquired their 'estates at the hands of the Habsburg conqueror from
1621 onwards, when, after the battle of the White Mountain, the
lands of the Czech nobles and yeomen were confiscated, the owners
being executed or, as adherents of the Moravian Brotherhood and
other Protestant churches, preferring to pass into exile rather
than surrender their faith. The demand for the nationalization of
the great landed estates was thus not only supported as a social
and economic necessity in order to provide the landless population,
notably the legionaries, with land, but was, deep in the minds of
the people, regarded as a legal rectification of the wrongs
suffered through the confiscations which followed the defeat of the
White Mountain.
The Act by which the great estates were sequestered was
unanimously passed by the National Assembly on April 16 1919. It
gives the State the right to " take " (seize) and distribute
estates in so far as they exceed 150 hectares (370 ac.) of arable
land or 250 hectares (617 ac.) of land of any kind. Estates
belonging to the house of Habsburg-Lorraine, property illegally
acquired, as well as the property of persons who during the war
were guilty of gross offences against the Czechoslovak nation are
taken for a compensation paid to the Reparation Commission at
Vienna. In all other cases the State gives to the owner a
proportionate compensation based on the average prices in the years
1913-7. For the purchase and distribution of the land a " State
Land Office" has been set up. A share in the distribution may
be claimed on the one hand by private persons to the amount of 15
hectares (37 ac.) - the amount suitable for cultivation by one
family; on the other hand by agricultural, housing and cooperative
societies. The lands taken over by the State may, of course, be
used for other purposes of public utility and remain the property
of the State. Even persons without means may obtain land, an
enactment enabling them to purchase on credit to the extent of
nine-tenths of the value of the land acquired. Special protection
is given to small holders. This Land Act was to be carried out in a
series of successive periods, during the first of which only
estates over 5,000 hectares (12,350 ac.) would be affected.
The Army. - The military forces of the republic were
organized, immediately on the attainment of independence, on a
democratic basis. The army was formed of the legionaries who had
fought in Russia, France and Italy on the side of the Allies, and
of those Czechoslovak troops who, on the collapse of
Austria-Hungary, streamed back from the various fronts. Recruits
now serve for two years, and the strength of the army is fixed at
150,000. This force, which is in essence a militia, is designed to
be something different from a mere fighting machine. During their
term of service the men are given not only military training but
also educational advantages, as well as the opportunity of learning
some handicraft. Well-organized continuation schools and systematic
courses of lectures aim at providing the young soldier with a
complete adult education. The Sokol societies, in collaboration
with the army gymnastic clubs and with the Y.M.C.A., devote
themselves systematically to the physical and moral welfare of the
troops.
Education
In Bohemia, Moravia and Silesia the standard of education -
elementary, higher and technical - is excellent, and there are
practically no illiterates - a state of affairs attributable to the
interest which the Czech nation (imbued with the traditions of
Comenius) had ever taken in education. In Slovakia the situation is
different. The Slovaks under the Hungarian regime were kept in a
backward state - they did not possess a single Slovak school -
while still worse conditions prevailed in Russinia, some 75% of the
population being unable to read or write. The Czechoslovak
Government, between 1918 and 1921, set up some 2,000 additional
elementary and some 40 higher schools in Slovakia and Russinia
(including 80 new German schools), so that a vast improvement in
the educational status of those countries is only a matter of
time.
In the entire republic there are four universities, three Czech
and Slovak - the Charles University of Prague, the Masaryk
University of Brno and the Comenius University of Bratislava - and
one German (at Prague). The Masaryk and Comenius Universities are
new foundations since 1918. There are four polytechnics enjoying
university rank at Prague and Brno, two of them being Czech and two
German. At Pfibram in Bohemia there is a high school of mines,
while two other high schools have been founded at Brno, one for
veterinary science and the other for agriculture.
A high standard of physical training is set by the popular
gymnastic organizations, known as " Sokols." In addition to the
original Sokol Society (founded in 1862) there are the special
organizations of the Labour (Socialist) and the Catholic Gymnastic
Unions (under Sokol influence). The great Sokol union has a
membership of over 300,000 in all, and the programme includes not
only physical but also moral and disciplinary training, aiming at
the production of citizens of character and patriotism. The Sokol
organization and the Sokol spirit were one of the mainsprings of
the movement resulting, in the years 1914 to 1918, in the formation
of the Czechoslovak legions on the various European battle-fronts.
The " Scout " movement, too, both for boys and girls, has since
1918 developed with much success, especially in collaboration with
the other original Czech gymnastic and sport corporations.
Religion
The religious history of the lands which now compose the
Czechoslovak Republic has a special interest for the
Englishspeaking world owing to the fact that the work of John Hus,
the great Czech reformer (1369-1415) was largely a result of the
influence of Wyclif. At the beginning of the 17th century some 90%
of the Bohemians were Protestant, but the loss of independence and
the effects of religious persecution (the Counter-Reformation)
under the aegis of the Habsburg dynasty, caused the position to be
reversed, and up to 1918 almost 90°o of the Czechoslovak population
was entered in the official statistics as belonging to the Roman
Catholic Church. This adherence was, and still is, often only
nominal, for the statistics take no note of the great mass of
indifferentism and liberalism which prevails in the ranks of the
Church. Two other tendencies were also manifest during the last few
decades before the war: a movement among the intellectual classes,
and to some extent among workers also, towards a non-ecclesiastical
religious life; and an " Away from Rome " movement which in one
aspect helped to recruit the ranks of Free Thought and on the other
hand resulted in a growth of the Protestant churches. Between 1918
and 1921 about 1,000,000 persons left the Roman Church, the most
conspicuous secession being that which resulted in the formation of
a national " Czechoslovak Church." A considerable section of the
priesthood demanded some dogmatical reforms, including the
abolition of celibacy, the introduction of the vernacular into the
Church services, and a more democratic administration of Church
affairs. On the Holy See declining to meet these demands the "
Czechoslovak Church " was founded in Jan. 1920. It has a membership
of some 500,000, and possesses 120 churches. Further large
secessions took place in favour of the Free Thought movement. The
Protestants number about one million, the largest body being the
Evangelical Church in Slovakia with a membership of over 400,000.
In Bohemia ,the Evangelical Church of Czech Brethren represents a
spiritual and historical continuity with the old Hussites. It was
constituted in 1918 by the fusion of two existing Protestant
bodies, the Reformed (Calvinist) Church and the Evangelical
(Lutheran) Church. Other Protestant denominations (Presbyterian,
Congregational, Baptist) are in smaller numbers. The Greek Church
in Slovakia and SubCarpathian Russia has a membership of over
500,000, while the Jews number about 350,000.
Economics and Finance
The economic and financial position of Czechoslovakia showed
signs in 1921 of steady recovery from the chaos which succeeded the
close of the war. Rich in natural resources and peopled by an
intelligent, experienced and frugal population, the country had
every reason to look forward to a prosperous industrial development
in the future. Without Slovakia the republic would be mainly an
industrial State: with it there is a slight preponderance in favour
of agriculture, 41-5% of the entire population being occupied on or
in connexion with the land and 38% in industry and commerce.
In special branches of industry Czechoslovakia is prominent
among European countries, as for instance in the production of
sugar and glass. In the manufacture of alcoholic liquors it
occupies third place among European countries. It is less
favourably placed in respect of the iron and textile industries,
having to rely to a large extent upon the import of raw materials
from abroad. The coalmines of the country are capable of producing
some 15 million tons of black coal and 24 millions of brown coal
(lignite). The yield of iron ore is almost one million tons
annually, while gold, silver, tin, graphite and salt are also
mined. Iron and steel foundries exist at Kladno near Prague, as
well as in Moravia and in Slovakia. Their blast furnaces produce
1,700,000 tons of pig-iron annually. The output of steel amounts to
298,000 tons, iron in bars 400,000 tons, iron girders 130,000 tons
and sheet-iron 34,000 tons. Czechoslovakia manufactures and exports
agricultural machinery, plant for sugar refineries and
distilleries, locomotives, railway carriages and trucks and other
rolling-stock, motor-cars, tractors. Aeroplanes are made at Prague
and Plzen (Pilsen). In its output of graphite Czechoslovakia takes
second place among European countries, Great Britain being the
first. Naphtha wells are working with favourable results at Gbely
in Slovakia, and researches in progress at other points (Russinia)
promise results that would make Czechoslovakia independent of
foreign sources in respect of petroleum, even if no surplus were
produced for export. Potters' clay, kaolin and felspar, which have
largely facilitated the development of the flourishing porcelain
industry, are found in various parts of the country, which is also
fortunate in possessing sand suitable for use in the manufacture of
the glass for which Bohemia has long been famous.
The economic importance of Czechoslovakia is strikingly shown by
a comparison with the rest of the former Austro-Hungarian Monarchy.
Previous to the war the present Czechoslovak territories were
responsible for 92% of the sugar produced by Austria-Hungary, for
46% of the spirits, beer 57%, malt 87%, foodstuffs 50%, chemicals
75%, metals 60%, porcelain too %, glass 90%, cotton goods 75%,
woollen goods 80%, jute 90%, leather 70%, gloves 90%, boots 75%,
paper 60%. The war, of course, cut off the supply of raw materials
for the textile trade, which in 1921 was still suffering from
shortage, particularly of raw cotton.
Czechoslovakia is the only European State which can export
sugar: it is the second largest beet-sugar producer in the world,
having I some 500,000 ac. of beet under cultivation. In 1920-1 some
715,000 tons of sugar were produced, 189 factories and refineries
being engaged in the industry, and 300,000 tons were available for
export.
Of beer 13 million hectolitres are brewed annually, of which one
million are exported. Exceptionally fine hops are grown in the
Zatec (Saaz) district of Bohemia, and of these no less than 40% are
exported. The republic has 676 breweries and 140 malt-houses.
With an area of over to million ac. of forest it is only natural
that Czechoslovakia exports not merely large quantities of timber
but also furniture, bent-wood furniture, toys, musical instruments,
etc. Of the bent-wood furniture 90% is exported and finds a ready
market in England and America. Paper is also produced to the extent
of some 250,000 tons annually. Of porcelain 30,000 tons is produced
annually in 68 factories, Karlovy Vary (Carlsbad) being the chief
centre of the pottery industry.
Glass manufacture in Bohemia dates from the 15th century.
Bohemian glass enjoys a world-wide reputation, which is well
deserved: the crystal ware of Bor (Haida), the imitation jewelry
and stones of Jablonec (Gablonz), the paste and semi-precious
stones of Turnov, are exported to every part of the globe. Over
60,000 workpeople are employed in the glass industry.
Leather is among the more important manufactures of
Czechoslovakia. Boot factories employ 40,000 workmen, glove
manufactories the same number. Some three-fourths of the entire
output in both these wares are exported, largely to England and to
Germany.
Czechoslovakia, as already indicated, is not only an industrial
State: it possesses at the same time a highly developed agriculture
in which over 40% of the entire population is engaged, that is to
say, some 5,700,000 persons are workers in some way or other
connected with the land. Climate and soil are favourable: beet-root
is grown up to an altitude of I, too ft. and corn to 1,300 ft.
above sealevel. Only 4% of all arable land in the country is
unproductive (in Great Britain 15%). The chief agricultural
products are potatoes and vegetables, beet-root and hops, wheat,
rye, barley and oats. The agriculture of the republic supplies the
material for several important industries, including the production
of sugar, beer and spirits, starch (120 factories), syrup, glucose,
chicory, coffee substitutes from rye and barley, jams. Alcohol and
spirits are distilled in 1,100 distilleries employing 18,000
workmen and producing annually some. 380,000 hectolitres (1919-20;
1,151,000 hectolitres before the war). Excellent wines are also
made, those of Melnik in Bohemia and the Slovakian wines being the
best known.
Agriculture is encouraged by a suitable system of education.
Since it came into being the republic had by 1921 founded 13 new
agricultural schools, and in all there were 180 agricultural and
forestry schools (higher and elementary), including the so-called "
winter schools," while more than 50 periodicals appeared regularly
for the technical instruction of those engaged in agriculture. The
agricultural interests were also represented directly in the
Parliament by a strong Agrarian party.
The foreign trade of Czechoslovakia was in 1921 growing steadily
in volume. Previous to the war the country's products were, of
course, classed as Austrian goods: now the description of " Made in
Czechoslovakia " was beginning to make its way in the markets of
the world. In 1919 the republic exported merchandise to the extent
of 566 million tons and imported 183 millions. In 1920 these
figures rose to 690 and 200 million tons respectively. In 1919
Czechoslovak exports to Great Britain (exclusive of colonies)
amounted to a value of 238 million crowns, imports to 328 millions.
Sugar, malt, hops, beer, mineral waters, glass, porcelain, leather,
gloves, furniture and toys are the principal articles of export to
Great Britain.
While suffering from the symptoms affecting central Europe
generally, the republic was distinctly better off as regards its
financial situation than any of its neighbours. The budgets of 1919
and 1920 disclosed deficits of 5 billion and 3 billion kronen
respectively, but in that for 1921 the revenue slightly exceeded
the expenditure. Czechoslovakia was thus the only country in
central Europe with a well-balanced budget. The national debt
amounted to some 40 billion crowns, against which the state itself
possessed assets in the shape of forests, coal mines, the former
domains of the Habsburgs, mineral, naphtha, radium and other
sources of natural wealth, besides the State-owned railways.
Communications
As a wholly inland nation, Czechoslovakia has to rely in the
matter of transport upon its railways and its waterways, notably
the Elbe, which connects the republic with Hamburg and the North
Sea, and the Danube, which unites it with the east of Europe and
the Balkans. Under the peace treaties Czechoslovakia acquired her
own docks and warehouses in the harbour of Hamburg. Before the war
the Czechoslovak traffic on the Elbe totalled some 4 million tons
annually. On the Danube the amount was 2 millions, but this total
bids fair, under normal conditions, to be easily passed, inasmuch
as the work of developing the port of Bratislava, the construction
of docks, warehouses and shipbuilding yards, was already proceeding
energetically. It was also proposed to link up the Elbe and the
Danube by a canal which would enable direct transport to be
effected from North and Baltic Seas to the Black Sea. A further
scheme in contemplation was that of a Danube-Oder canal.
The total length of railway track in Czechoslovakia was in 1921
a little over 8,000 m., which represents 1 m. of railway for every
82 sq. m. of area. In the course of a few years this mileage was to
be largely increased, Parliament having voted some 6,500 million
crowns for further construction and improvements. Some 4,700 m. of
track are State-owned; the rest are in the hands of private
companies, but were gradually to be taken over by the State.
Czechoslovakia has 5,000 post-offices, some io,000 m. of
telegraphs, and close upon 8,000 m. of telephone communication.
Aerial posts are established with Paris, Warsaw, Berlin, Vienna and
Budapest, in addition to which there exist also cross-country
services. The republic possesses seven radio-telegraph
stations.
Literature, Art and Music
The Czechs have possessed a notable literature from the 13th
century onwards. It has shared the vicissitudes of the nation
itself and like it been in danger of extermination at the hands of
fanatic foes. The names of Hus, Chelcicky and Comenius (Komensky)
are connected with the pre-Renaissance religious periods. The
revival of the Czechs after a hundred years of torpor, due to the
loss of their independence in 1620 and subsequent oppression at the
hands of the Habsburgs and the dominant Germans, gave birth, from
1780 onwards, to a literary activity which still continues to yield
rich fruit. From the modest and simple art of the patriotic poets
and novelists of the first half of the 19th century, whose work
nevertheless was an influential factor in the awakening of a
national sentiment among the common people, Czech literature, after
a period characterized by the romanticism of Macha and the critical
realism of Havlicek, arrived at a school which, while it took its
inspiration from the sources of the national spirit, did not shut
itself out from foreign influences. Vrchlicky, a master of verse
and a perfect cosmopolitan, and tech, who took the material for his
epics from Czech history, are the outstanding names of this epoch.
Among their contemporaries were Heyduk and Sladek, two poets both
belonging in form and in matter to the national school. Sladek was,
with his excellent translations, one of the first to make Czech
readers acquainted with the riches of English literature
(especially Shakespeare). Eminent among the novelists of this
generation were Nemcova, a good observer of social conditions who
reproduced in her works the charm of Bohemian peasant life; her
kinswoman Svetla, Arbes and Zeyer. Neruda, a poet of bitter irony
but of profound faith in and affection towards his nation, was also
the author of novels, notable for their original realism, and
numerous belletristic works of a high order. He marks the period of
transition to the younger generation of writers, in the forefront
of whom stands the poet and novelist Hachar, who revolutionized the
conception of Czech patriotism and is famous for his historical
glosses. Jirasek, the author of a vast series of novels and short
stories, drawing their material from Bohemian history, unites the
past with the present generation. By the healthy spirit of
patriotism breathed in all his works Jirasek contributed not a
little to maintaining among the masses of the people a national
consciousness and faith in a better national future. The youngest
literary generation in Czechoslovakia was represented in 1921 in
particular by three leading poets: So y a, a writer of delicate
lyrics; Bezruc, who sings of social and national oppression, and
Bi'ezina, a profound visionary and pantheistic mystic. Among prose
writers the leading contemporary names are Svobodova, apek, a
robust realist, and Sramek, who has also met with success as a
dramatist. In Slovakia the foremost name is that of the poet
Hviezdoslay.
The Czechs were famous as musicians as far back as the 15th
century. The history of modern Czech music commences with the
creator of Czech opera, Frederick Smetana. The compositions of
Dvorak have become classics. Among contemporary composers in 1921
the foremost were Foerster, Novak, Ostrcil, and Suk; and as
executants Sev ik, Kubelik and Ondricek.
Eloquent testimony is given by the beautiful churches and
palaces of Prague - largely Gothic and baroque in style - to the
architectural genius of the nation. The graceful cathedral of St.
Vitus, rising above the castle (Hrad) on the heights of
the Hradcany (Prague), is a magnificent specimen of Gothic. The
beautiful church of St. Barbara at Kutna Hora, the royal castle of
Karluv Tyn, the Powder Tower, the church of St. Nicholas, the King
Charles bridge at Prague, are among the many objects of universal
admiration which are to be found in Bohemia.
Of modern sculptors the works of Myslbek and Sucharda are
prominent in the public monuments at Prague. The latter, as well as
others of the younger school of Czech sculptors, such as Bilek,
Kafka and Maiatka, studied under Rodin at Paris.
Modern painting among the Czechs begins with Josef Manes
(1826-71) and Czermak (1831-78), and Ales. Brozik is known for his
historical canvases, among them " John Hus before the Council of
Constance," while others worth mention are the marine painter
Knuepfer, the landscape painters Slavicek and Hudecek, and Preisler
and Svabinsky as painters of portraits and allegorical subjects.
Mucha has won a name abroad for decorative work and historical
canvases. In Slovakia, Jo z a eprka and his school have devoted
themselves to interpreting peasant life.
Science and Philosophy
In the course of the new intellectual life, by which after three
hundred years of subjection the Czech nation again entered the
ranks of the living peoples of Europe, scientific effort early
resumed its due place.
At the very threshold of the .Czech renaissance men of science
were among the first pioneers of national thought, as for example
Dobrovsky the philologist, and in the ensuing generation Purkyne
(Purkinje) the physiologist, and Palacky the greatest of Czech
historians. Scientific effort received an impetus from the
establishment of an independent Czech university at Prague in 1881,
and from that time there is hardly a branch of science in which
workers of profound and creative talent did not arise (in physics
Zenger, in biology Vejdovsky), while a whole series of eminent
names as well in the technical and mathematical as in the
historical and philological (e.g. Zubaty) sciences might be
mentioned.
Philosophy was early cultivated in Bohemia. At first the
influence of German thought, German enlightenment and idealism was
apparent, particularly in Kollar (a Slovak); the influence of Kant
was seen in Palacky, that of Hegel and post-Kantian speculation in
Aug. Smetana, while the philosophy of Herbart had a deep influence
on educationists like Lindner, Durdik and Hostinsky. To the more
recent tendencies of contemporary philosophical thought the way was
opened up by Thomas G. Masaryk, who, as a counterpoise to German
speculation and the intellectualism of Herbart, emphasized the
critical study of English philosophy, notably Hume, Spencer and
Mill, and the French Comte; at the same time he fully appreciated
the value of Kant in epistemology. Masaryk's work, Spirit of
Russia, is a close analysis of the Russian philosophy of
history, and of the Russian religious, moral and political thought.
Enriched by new ethical and religious elements, Czech philosophy
manifests itself in Masaryk's works as a new realism or humanism. A
whole series of philosophic thinkers - Drtina, Foustka, Radl and
Benes - followed in Masaryk's footsteps.
BIBLIOGRAPHY. -W. F. Bailley, The Sla y s of the War
Zone (1916); E. Benes, Bohemia's Case for
Independence (1916, with an introduction by H. Wickham-Steed);
Detruisez l'Autriche-Hongrie (1916); Besteaux,
Bibliographie Tcheque (1920); Alex Broi, The First
Year of the Czechoslovak Republic (1920), The Rise of the
Czechoslovak Republic (1919); Cisar, Pokorny, Selver, The
Czechoslovak Republic (1921); T. Z ` apek,
Bohemia under Habsburg Misrule (1915); The Bohemian
Biography (1918); Dedecek, La Tchecoslovaquie et les
Tchecoslovaques (1919); Louis Eisenmann, La
Tchecoslovaquie, une carte hors texte (1921); Etienne Fournol,
De la Succession d'Autriche (1918); Hoetzl and Joachim,
The Constitution of the Czechoslovak Republic (1920); D.
Jurkovic, Slowakische Volksarbeiten (1915); T. G. Masaryk,
The New Europe (1918), The Problem of Small Nations in
the European Crisis (Council for the Study of International
Relations 1916); B. Matejka and Z. Wirth, L' Art tcheque
contemporaine (1920); W. S. Monroe, Bohemia and the
Czechs (1910); Vl. Nosek, Independent Bohemia (1918);
C. Pergler, The Czechoslovak State (1919); C. Rivet,
Les Tchecoslovaques (4th ed., 1921); P. Selver,
Anthology of Modern Bohemian Poetry (1912); R. W.
Seton-Watson, German Slav and Magyar (1916), The
Czechoslovak Republic (1921); E. Stern, La legislation
ouvriere tchecoslovaque (1921); J. E. S. Vojan, Modern
Musical History of Bohemia (1917); Weiss, La Republique
Tchecoslovaque (1919). (T. G. M.)
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