Independent Bohemia | Page 2

be
progressive and democratic both in her domestic and foreign policy. A
glorious future is no doubt awaiting her. She will be specially able to
render an immense service to the League of Nations as a bulwark of
peace and conciliation among the various peoples of Central Europe.
The break-up of Austria will, of course, affect enormously the
constitution of the future Europe, and in our last chapter we have tried
to give an outline of these impending changes of conditions and
international relations. The break-up of Austria was bound to come
sooner or later, whether some misinformed critics or prejudiced
pro-Austrian politicians liked it or not. We ourselves were always
convinced, and we declared openly, that Austria could not survive this
war, because she was at war with the majority of her own subjects, who
wished for nothing more than for her destruction. Unfortunately the fact
that the sympathies of the thirty million of Austrian Slavs and Latins
were on the side of the Entente, constituting such an incontestable
moral asset for the Allies as it does, has not always been fully
appreciated by Allied public opinion. We ourselves, however, never
doubted for a moment that the Allied cause would ultimately triumph
and that we would achieve our independence, because we knew that in
struggling for this aim we were only carrying out the unanimous will of
our whole nation. Without waiting for any pledges, without regard as to
which side would be victorious, our nation has from the beginning
staked its all on the Allied victory and has contributed with all its
powers to hasten it. Despite all adverse circumstances, our people, at
first completely at the mercy of their enemies, ruthlessly persecuted and
tortured by them, nevertheless remained firm and resolute. Their
attitude was most outspoken and courageous at all times, and they have
also rendered the Allies active assistance, which is being duly
appreciated by them. It is chiefly due to the efforts of the subject
peoples themselves, of whom the Czechs have certainly been the most
outspoken, that the collapse of Austria has occurred, which finally
sealed the fate of Kaiserism and of the Pan-German plans of
Mitteleuropa.
To-day our hopes for a better future are at last being fulfilled as a result

of the Allies' complete victory, assuring the creation of a new and just
international order. Our much-afflicted yet undaunted people already
consider themselves as independent. The Peace Conference, at which
the Czecho-Slovak Government will be represented, will only confirm
the existence of an independent Czecho-Slovak State.
In conclusion, we should like to express our deep gratitude to all our
English friends for their valuable assistance in our struggle for the
realisation of our ideals. We especially wish to thank once more the
British Government for the generous step taken by them in recognising
us as an Allied and belligerent nation. It was chiefly because of this
recognition and of the gallant deeds of our army that we achieved all
our subsequent diplomatic and political successes. We may assure
Great Britain that the Czecho-Slovaks will never forget what they owe
to her, and that they will endeavour to do their best to merit the trust so
generously placed in them.
VLADIMIR NOSEK.
9, GROSVENOR PLACE, LONDON, _November_, 1918.

[Illustration: The International Position Of The Czecho Slovak
Republic In Future Europe]

CONTENTS
I. WHAT is AUSTRIA-HUNGARY? II. AUSTRIA-HUNGARY AND
THE PRESENT WAR III. CZECH POLITICAL PARTIES BEFORE
AND DURING THE WAR IV. TERRORISM IN BOHEMIA
DURING THE WAR _(a)_ Czech Deputies and Leaders imprisoned
and sentenced to Death; _(b)_ Monster Trials, Arbitrary Executions,
Internment of Civilians, etc.; _(c)_ Persecution of the Press; _(d)_
Reichsrat Interpellations. V. HOW THE CZECHO SLOVAKS AT
HOME ASSISTED THE ALLIES VI. THE MILITARY AND
POLITICAL ACTION OF THE CZECHO-SLOVAKS ABROAD VII.
THE CZECHS AT HOME BEGIN TO SPEAK _(a)_ Czech
Declaration of May 30, 1917; _(b)_ Courageous Speeches delivered by
Czech Deputies in the Reichsrat; _(c)_ After the Amnesty; _(d)_
During Peace Negotiations with Russia; _(e)_ The Constituent
Assembly of Prague on January 6, 1918; _(f)_ The Oath of the Czecho
Slovak Nation; _(g)_ The Slovaks' Attitude; _(h)_ The Czecho-Slovak

National Council in Prague. VIII. CZECHO-SLOVAK
CO-OPERATION WITH OTHER NON-GERMAN NATIONS OF
CENTRAL EUROPE _(a)_ The Congress of Rome; _(b)_ The May
Manifestations in Prague. IX. BOHEMIA AS A BULWARK
AGAINST PAN-GERMANISM
APPENDIX OF SOME RECENT DOCUMENTS
BIBLIOGRAPHY

I
WHAT IS AUSTRIA-HUNGARY?
1. The Habsburg Empire is built upon centuries-old traditions of
reaction and violence. Its present power is chiefly based on the alliance
which Bohemia and Hungary concluded with Austria against the
Turkish peril in 1526. The Czechs freely elected the Habsburgs to the
throne of Bohemia which remained a fully independent state, its
alliance with Austria and Hungary being purely dynastic. But soon the
Habsburgs began