The creation of Czechoslovakia in 1918 was the culmination of the long struggle of the Czechs against their Austrian rulers and of the Slovaks against Hungarisation and their Hungarian rulers.
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2 Late 19th century and early 20th century 3 World War I (1914 – 1918) |
Early history
Although the Czechs and Slovaks have similar languages, they have a different mentality a different historical experiences. The ancestors of the Czechs and Slovaks were maybe (see Samo) united in the so-called Samo‘s empire for some 30 years in the 7th century. The ancestors of the Slovaks and Moravians were then again united in Great Moravia between 833 and 907. The Czechs were only part of Great Moravia for some 7 years and split from it at the first opportunity in 895. Furthermore, in the 2nd half of the 10th century, the Czechs maybe conquered western Slovakia for some 30 years. This was the last time the two nations were united, because while the Hungarians had conquered Slovakia by the 11th century, the Czechs had their own state from around 900 to the 15th century, called the Bohemian Kingdom. Despite their separate strands of development, both Czechs and Slovaks struggled against a powerful neighboring nation (Germans for the Czechs, Hungarians for the Slovaks). For details see History of the Czech Republic and History of Slovakia. Contacts between the Czechs and Slovaks arose in the late 14th century, when the Slovaks started to study at the University of Prague, and in the 15th century with the campaigns of the Czech Hussite armies to Slovakia, and in the 17th century when Czech protestants fled to Slovakia. Also, the written Czech language was used by some educated Slovaks from the 15th century to the 18th century, besides Slovak and Latin (see History of the Slovak language). Formally, the Czechs and Slovaks were also “united“ in 1436 –1439, 1453-1457, 1490-1918, when Hungary (incl. Slovakia) and Bohemia and other Central European states were ruled by the same kings (since 1526 by the Habsburgs).
At the outbreak of World War I, the Czechs and Slovaks showed little enthusiasm for fighting for their respective enemies, the Germans and the Hungarians, against fellow Slavs, the Russians and the Serbs. Large numbers of Czechs and Slovaks defected on the Russian front and formed the Czechoslovak Legion. Masaryk went to western Europe and began propagating the idea that the Austro-Hungarian Empire should be dismembered and that Czechoslovakia should be an independent state. In 1916, together with Eduard Benes and Milan Stefanik (a Slovak astronomer and war hero), Masaryk created the Czechoslovak National Council. Masaryk in the United States, Stefanik in France, and Benes in France and Britain worked tirelessly to gain Allied recognition. When secret talks between the Allies and Austrian emperor Charles I (1916-18) collapsed, the Allies recognized, in the summer of 1918, the Czechoslovak National Council as the supreme organ of a future Czechoslovak government.
In early October 1918, Germany and Austria proposed peace negotiations. On October 18, while in the United States, Masaryk issued a declaration of Czechoslovak independence. Masaryk insisted that the new Czechoslovak state include the historic Bohemian Kingdom, containing the German-populated Sudetenland. On October 21, however, German deputies from the Sudetenland joined other German and Austrian deputies in the Austrian parliament in declaring an independent German-Austrian state. Following the abdication of Emperor Charles on November 11, Czech troops occupied the Sudetenland.
Hungary withdrew from the Hapsburg Empire on November 1. The new liberal-democratic government of Hungary under Count Michael Karolyi attempted to retain Slovakia. With Allied approval, the Czechs occupied Slovakia, and the Hungarians were forced to withdraw. The Czechs and Allies agreed on the Danube and Ipel' rivers as the boundary between Hungary and Slovakia; a large Hungarian minority, occupying the fertile plain of the Danube, would be included in the new state.Late 19th century and early 20th century
At the end of the 19th century, the situation of the Czechs and Slovaks was very different, due to the different stages of development of their overlords – the Austrians in Bohemia and the Hungarians in Slovakia – within Austria-Hungary. The only common feature was the fact that Bohemia was the most industrialized part of Austria and Slovakia that of Hungary – however at a different level:
At the turn of the century, the idea of a "Czecho-Slovak" entity began to be advocated by some Czech and Slovak leaders. In the 1890s, contacts between Czech and Slovak intellectuals intensified. The Czech leader Masaryk was a keen advocate of Czech-Slovak cooperation. Some of his students formed the Czechoslovak Union and in 1898 published the journal Hlas (The Voice). In Slovakia, some young Slovak intellectuals began to challenge the old Slovak National Party. But although the Czech and Slovak national movements began drawing closer together, their ultimate goals remained unclear. At least until World War I, the Czech and Slovak national movements struggled for autonomy within Austria and Hungary, respectively. Only during the war did the idea of an independent Czecho-Slovakia emerge. World War I (1914 – 1918)