Bohemia (Her Story and her Claims)

Some apology may be due for offering an account of a Central European nationality in a Review devoted mainly to Eastern lands and their problems. In view of the kinship of the Cechs with their fellow-Slavs, the Russians, the important relations of the latter to Oriental affairs—has not Mme. Olga Novikoff described for us Russia’s faith in victory?—and the fact that Bohemia deserves world-wide sympathy and comprehension in consequence of her immeasurably difficult position under the great conflict, justification may be pleaded for these pages. If to any extent sympathy and interest should be evoked by this ​brief statement of the Cech position and case, then it will not have appeared in vain. The generous indulgence of readers is confidently anticipated.

“Un petit peuple et une grande nation,” wrote Madame Georges Sand to a Prague lady long ago, with respect to Bohemia. Few words have suffered more in popular connotation than the name “Bohemian,” except, perhaps, “Alsatian.” From Paris came the operatic expression, “vie de Bohême,” evoking roystering visions of Montmartre and the Quartier Latin, and in quite serious works quite serious works “Bohemian” was synonymous with gipsy. Our object here is to show that Bohemia, reluctantly linked to the chariot of the Central Powers, or, more precisely, to the Austrian Empire, deserves present sympathy and claims future co-operation from the Entente Powers in achieving emancipation. In 1911 the Royal City of Prague welcomed the Lord Mayor of London (Sir T. Vezey Strong) and a civic deputation on their official visit to Austria, and afterwards the then Mayor of Prague, and his colleagues, were—in company with representatives of other cities—the honoured guests of the City of London. The Bohemian University of Prague, at whose head are men of European distinction, have established an English seminary, and a Prague English Circle was inaugurated for study of English and American literatures. On more than one occasion the writer has been asked for information as to the conduct of English hospitals and other institutions, for the guidance of Prague administrators. Lately decorations were conferred by H.M. the Tsar upon Cech volunteers with the French army in Champagne, and numbers are serving in the Russian ranks, and have won over 500 crosses and medals of St. George. During the Russian occupation of the Dukla Pass a year ago, two battalions of the 28th Austrian Regiment of Infantry, entirely composed of Cechs and nicknamed “The Children of Prague,” surrendered to a handful of Russians without fighting. In consequence, this regiment was struck for ever out of the list of Austrian ​regiments, and every fifth man and all the officers remaining were shot by German and Hungarian soldiers. The Cechs in Great Britain, in the early days of the War, offered their services to the War Office, and are ready to serve as soon as permission is granted. The numerous Cech colonies in America have been very active in the cause of the Allies. In addition to generous donations to the Allies’ Red Cross work, it is largely due to their efforts that German propaganda has been exposed and counteracted, intrigues of German and Austrian officials denounced, munition strikes frustrated, etc.

No wonder, then, that, as Dr. R. W. Seton-Watson said before the Royal Society of Arts,

It is tempting to dilate at length on the history of Bohemia and the Cechs, but only a meagre outline is possible. Count Lützow modestly styles his history a “sketch,” and in the preface regrets that, though the materials were in his possession, he had neither time nor opportunity for writing a complete history in English. In his words,

It is maintained that the Slavs were in the diamond-shaped area known as Bohemia (home of the Boii) long before the Christian era; but though in a majority, they were not the only inhabitants. The Boii were Celts, and the Marcomanni, who opposed Marcus Aurelius, were Teutons. The tribal name Cech gradually extended, and at length covered the whole of the Slavic tribes of Bohemia, between whom and their German neighbours age-long ​rivalry has persisted. (It is scarcely necessary to repeat the opening observations on the relations of early Slavs and Germans in “The Jugoslav Question,” in the Asiatic Review of February 15 last.) The great Slav State of Samo, who defeated his Frankish rival Dagobert, was of short duration. The introduction of Christianity by way of Moravia is associated with the honoured names of Saints Cyril and Methodius of Constantinople, the “Apostles to the Slavs,” but their mission met with hostility from the German (Roman) clergy. The “Good King Wenceslas” of our carol was Prince St. Václav, the pious and charitable son of St. Ludmilla, slain by his heathen brother Boleslav in 935.^[2] (We have visited the town of Stará Boleslav [Alt Bunzlau], where the murder occurred, and seen the memorial shrine, pictures, and relics of the saint.) To St. Vojtěch (Adalbert), Bishop of Prague, belongs the honour of completing the establishment of Christianity. The Tartars, who overran Russia and permanently affected the future history of that country, were repulsed in the mountain passes by Wenceslas I., and did not gain a footing in Bohemia.

The greatest King was Přemysl Ottokar II., whose conquests extended to the Adriatic, but whose death in battle against Rudolph of Hapsburg proved a disaster for his country. King John of Luxemburg, the knight-errant whose campaigns extended from Russia to Italy and France, touches English history in his romantic death, when, old and blind, he perished at Crecy fighting on behalf of Philip of Valois against Edward III. and the Black Prince. As Macaulay sings,

His son, the Emperor Charles IV., was of far more value to Bohemia than John had ever been, and was popularly ​honoured as “father of the country” (otec vlasti), a title afterwards bestowed on Palacky. To Charles is due the foundation of the University of Prague (1348), the building of the nové město (new town) and the treasure castle Karlův Týn (Karlstein), and his name is preserved in the watering-place Karlovy Vary (Karlsbad). The corrupt state of the Church and irregularities among the clergy, productive of momentous consequences in due course, engaged the attention of the Emperor, who supported the reformers Waldhauser and Milic, predecessors of Hus. Anne, daughter of Charles, lies beside her husband, our Richard II., in Westminster Abbey. The doctrines of Wycliffe were studied and largely adopted in Bohemia, where, indeed, they exerted more durable influence than the Lollard movement in England. We can only mention the Papal schism, the secession of German students from Prague University, the zeal of Hus and Jerome, the irresolution of King Wenceslas IV., the Council of Constance, and the martyrdom of Hus in spite of the Emperor Sigismund’s safe-conduct. This last led to the national movement, and ultimately to the Hussite wars. The Church Reformers were ranged into several parties, of which the liberal Utraquists and the more rigorous Taborites were the chief representatives. Thanks to the citizens of Prague and the indomitable flail-bearing peasant warriors under John Žižka, the vast international crusade organized by Pope Martin V. and the Emperor Sigismund against Bohemia melted away. The history of the country for long years is occupied with the religious struggles, the foiled attempts of Sigismund to occupy the Bohemian throne—in which he succeeded near the end of his life—the exploits of the blinded General Žižka, the intervention of the Polish Prince Sigismund Korybut, the Hussite invasions of Germany, and the abortive crusades of Cardinals Beaufort and Cesarini.

The elected Utraquist noble, King George of Poděbrad, has always been venerated by his countrymen, but was unable to found a dynasty. At this time we read of the rise of ​the Bohemian Brethren (Unitas Fratrum), whose spiritual descendants are the Moravians. The movement originated by Luther found ready adherents in Bohemia, and the German Reformer declared that “we had all been Hussites without knowing it.” With Ferdinand I. the Hapsburg rule began, and the introduction of the Jesuits, with consequent trouble for the Brethren. Protestantism in varying forms was the religion of the majority of Bohemians during the early years of the unfortunate and eccentric Emperor Rudolph II., but the vigorous Catholic measures of the Spanish Court and neighbouring Princes had their effects throughout Austria. The tension came to a crisis in May, 1618, when the Royal Councillors Martinic and Slavata were defenestrated by the Protestant nobles from the Hradčany windows, the first act of the disastrous Thirty Years’ War. Ferdinand II. was deposed by the Provisional Government, and Frederick, Elector Palatine, was elected. (His Queen was Elizabeth, daughter of our James I., and their son was Prince Rupert, the dashing Cavalier cavalry leader.) His brief reign was a failure, and the victory of the Imperial forces under Maximilian of Bavaria, Tilly, and Bouquoi, at Bílá Hora (White Mountain) in November, 1620, deprived Bohemia of her independence.

The White Mountain battle—which Bohemian peasants even now call “our late disaster”—was followed by merciless executions of Bohemian noblemen and Prague citizens, others of whom were driven into exile. (The square of the old Town Hall, Prague, has witnessed as ghastly reprisals as the Grande Place at Brussels.) The Roman Catholic Church was firmly established in Bohemia, and Ferdinand II.^[3] was incited by Jesuit counsellors to ​destroy all traces of Bohemian independence and learning. (The term Pfaffenkaiser, sometimes applied to Charles IV., is more appropriate to this grim fanatic.) Priests accompanied by soldiers roamed all over the country burning books and wrecking monuments. Bohemian estates were distributed among Germans, Spaniards, and Walloons, and among others the enigmatic Wallenstein (properly Waldštýn or Waldstein) acquired immense wealth. It is understood that one of his ambitions was the throne of Bohemia. The Swedish invasion under Gustavus Adolphus should have rallied the Bohemian Protestants, but achieved nothing. Two eminent Bohemian exiles were John Amos Komenský (Comenius), the educationist, and Václav Hollar, the artist and drawing master to the young Stuart Princes. The resultant persecutions were considered to surpass those by Turks and Tartars. German was substituted by law, and the Bohemian language was considered as following the tongues of the Elbe and Baltic Slavs into oblivion. The forces of Frederick the Great incessantly invaded the country, and his defeat at Kolín on the Elbe was the sequel to a victory over the Russians at Zorndorf. The whole story is related by the Sorbonne Professor, Ernest Denis, in his excellent work “La Bohême depuis la Montagne Blanche.”

A revival took place in the reign of the enlightened Joseph II., when the Jesuits were suppressed, serfdom was abolished, and permission given to print Bohemian books. The Bohemian Society of Sciences was founded, and in 1818 the Society of the Bohemian Museum, of which Goethe^[4] was a member. With increasing racial self-realization political aspirations began, though Napoleon’s proclamation to the nation was ineffectual. The historian and statesman Francis Palacky declined membership of the German Frankfort Parliament, and a Slav Congress was opened at Prague in 1848, when Europe was afflicted ​with revolutionary fever. An unfortunate outcome was the bombardment of Prague by Prince Windischgrätz. The Slovaks^[5] of Hungary and Moravia, brother-Slavs of the Cechs, whose language is practically identical—Protestant Slovaks use the Cech Bible—were adroitly rendered subservient to Budapest in 1867 by the operation of Beust’s Ausgleich, which placed Bohemia at the mercy of Vienna. The Slovaks have suffered severely from Magyar confiscation of school money and premises. The Emperor Francis Joseph promised in 1871 to accept the Bohemian crown in St. Vitus’s Cathedral, but this has never been fulfilled. As Mr. Thomas Čapek, the American-Bohemian editor, writes,

The apostles of Kultur uniformly consider themselves as veritable children of the light, and charitably regard non-Teutonic rivals as outcasts. Were Cechs, Slovaks, and other Slavs willing to accept crumbs from the rich Teutonic table in grateful docility, all would indubitably be well for them, think their opponents; but the Slavs have long realized intellectual emancipation and national consciousness. “Is not Prague an unpleasant place to live in?” we were once asked in the train by a Dresden lady who had not been there. “Warum?” we inquired; but not receiving any explanation, proceeded to make it clear that we had passed about a week there most happily. Scarcely any other people have endured more than the Bohemians from “burking” and “bowdlerizing” of intelligence intended ​for foreigners, which frequently had to pass through unfriendly hands.

It will be profitable to consider whether Bohemia and her sons have not, in spite of adverse circumstances, achieved considerable triumphs in art, science, music, and other spheres of activity. “Hundred-towered, golden Prague,” formerly thought of, if at all, as some obscure provincial town, studiously omitted from “Kultural” tourist-maps, presents a Slav and not a Teuton aspect. The dismal old alleys and courts of the Josephov, noticed on our first visit, have been replaced by handsome streets and shops. Considered by Humboldt as the most beautiful inland town in Europe, the view of Prague from the Petřín tower or the Strahov monastery garden is enchanting, and civic pride justly runs high.

The beauties of Prague do not exhaust the attractions of Bohemia for the visitor. Kutná Hora (Kuttenberg) is an old silver-mining town and mint, alternately in the possession of the Emperor Sigismund and Žižka’s Taborites, where we saw the Church of St. Barbara consecrated after restoration. Enjoyable excursions may be made to the Český Ráj (Bohemian Paradise), near the Riesengebirge, where Waldstyn had vast estates, and the castle Trosky and Hrubá Skala rock formations are interesting. The Hussite stronghold Tábor, with its huge gates and battlements, would be readily recognized by its founder Žižka were he to come to life once more. Many weeks could be spent in exploration of the romantic Šumava (Böhmerwald) region, where we have wandered over mountain and forest land in company with a local professor. Gladly would we enlarge on mountaineering expeditions on the Bohemian-Bavarian frontier, and talk of Prince Schwarzenberg’s château Hluboka (Frauenberg), near Budějovice (Budweis), the wide panorama from Svatobor view-tower, stately ruins like Velhartice Castle, rambles in deep-wooded solitudes by mountain tarns, but must refrain. Strakonice was the home of a popular Bohemian figure, Švanda ​Dudák, a kind of “Pied Piper” of magic powers whose name is given to a satirical journal. Even now, in stormy weather, older peasants speak timorously of the “Wild Huntsman” tearing through the forests with his grisly crew.

Bohemian celebrity in art goes back to the days of Charles IV., who assembled eminent artists and encouraged the Prague school of painting. A monument of this period is the castle Karlův Týn (Karlstein), his treasure-house and fortress, renovated of late years. The troubles and unrest of succeeding reigns temporarily checked artistic development, although Rudolph II. was a distinguished patron of art and science and encouraged the embellishment of the city, and reference has been made to Jesuit vandalism. The fame of Vaclav Hollar, who sketched the progress of the Great Fire from the tower of St. Mary Overies, was perhaps enhanced through his exile. Coming to modern times, most visitors have seen, in the old Town Hall, Vaclav Brozik’s large pictures representing “The Condemnation of John Hus” and “The Election of George of Poděbrad.” Thanks to the work of art societies (e.g.. Umělecká Beseda and “Manes,” after that artist whose work adorns the famous town hall clock), a number of rising painters have come to the front, and art exhibitions have been regularly organized. It is a matter of regret that we cannot dwell on representative names. In the sphere of sculpture, it is necessary to mention Sucharda’s^[6] great monument to Palacký, and the gigantic statue of Good King Wenceslas by Professor Myslbek, which we saw at a Prague exhibition. Mr. Henry Hantich, journalist and author of a practical Bohemian-French grammar, has written a handsome work, “L’Art Tcheque,” illustrated with masterpieces, and another on “La Musique Tcheque.” The American Professor W. S. Monroe is the author of an excellent popular work on Bohemia, in which he treats of every department of artistic, industrial, and social life. Mr. James ​Baker, author of “A Forgotten Great Englishman” (Peter Payne, the Hussite), has long been known as a high English authority on the country.

A stout volume would be required to discuss Bohemian musical predominance. Where there is a Slav woman, says Šafařík, there is a song, and the Cechs possess a singing accent especially noticeable when speaking foreign languages. The national hymn is Kde domov můj (Where is my home), Tyl’s poem, to a bewitching melody by Škroup, in which Bohemia is described as a rustic paradise, where gallant spirits inhabit sturdy frames in a country beloved of God. At the handsome National Theatre native operas are rendered by skilled masters. Mozart, Liszt, Wagner, Berlioz, and other eminent composers, produced their works at Prague, and since their days Dvořák, Smetana, Fibich, and many more, have demonstrated native talent to the world. Antonín Dvořák achieved world-fame after struggles with almost insurmountable difficulties connected with his humble peasant origin. Kubelík and Miss Marie Hall are two of the distinguished violinists from the Prague Conservatoire, and pupils of the celebrated Professor Ševčík who is well known in England.

Professor Louis Leger, the veteran Parisian Slavophil whose friendship we greatly value, compares the history of Bohemia to that of the Slav manuscript preserved at Rheims, once belonging to the Sazava monastery, which attracted the attention of Tsars Peter the Great and Nicholas I. Literary monuments in Bohemian abound after the twelfth century. The three periods of development of the language are—(1) First efforts; (2) maturity, from the fifteenth century to the White Mountain; and (3) romantic revival. Russian and other Slavonic scholars often encounter familiar words and phrases. The Poles availed themselves of Cech translations of the Scriptures, Kings Casimir and Vladislav Jagellon wrote Cech rescripts, and Bohemian became the diplomatic language of Lithuania. For English students, Professor Dr. ​W. R. Morfill’s grammar has not been superseded, and the dictionary of Professor V. E. Mourek (Hon. LL.D., Glasgow)—beloved by English residents and visitors to Prague—still holds the field. (We first met this kindly scholar—“Tatíček” Mourek of his students at the Tycho Brahe festival in 1901, receiving from him as cordial a welcome as to a delegate, and thus a friendship began broken only by his death.) Early Bohemian literature has been discussed by Professor Morfill in his work on Slavonic literature, and Count Lützow has written a general account. John Hus, besides his work of Church reform, succeeded in improving Cech orthography, and was as fierce against Germanisms as the Jewish hero Nehemiah who beat children for speaking half Hebrew and half Philistine. Dalimil’s Chronicle, the moral philosophy of Thomas of Štítný, and the democratic doctrines of Peter Chelčický—which won the enthusiasm of Count L. N. Tolstoy—have all survived, and Count Lützow chose the Bohemian historians as the subject of his Oxford Ilchester lectures. The famous Králická Bible was translated by the Bohemian Brethren. Komensky’s “Labyrinth of the World,” a pessimistic allegory suggestive of the “Pilgrim’s Progress,” has been translated by Count Lützow. The glory of the Bohemian national and literary revival centres round the names of Dobrovský (grammarian), Jungmann (lexicographer, whose translation of Milton’s “Paradise Lost” formed a model for the poetic language), Kollar (Pan-Slav poet), Šafarík (antiquary), and Palacky (historian), who wrote under a repressive censorship. Sir John Bowring and the Rev. A. H. Wratislaw introduced Bohemian poetry to English readers, and the recent death of Francis, Count Lützow (D.Litt. Oxon., Ph. D. Prague), historian of Bohemia and Prague, biographer of John Hus and chronicler of the Hussite wars, host to numerous visitors at the beautiful Château de Žampach, is an irreparable loss to Bohemia. The exhaustive work on Bohemian literature by Drs. Jan and Arne Novak runs into nearly 700 closely printed pages.

​With regard to industry, Bohemia is a flourishing agricultural land with “a bold peasantry, their country’s pride.” In rural districts the charming peasant costumes may still be seen on festal occasions. Madame Renata Tyršova, widow of the Sokol chieftain, has written on the subject. Professor Monroe refers to the intervention of the Jews in the land question; but those who would examine Jewish problems and influence in Austria must be referred to Mr. Wickham Steed’s volume (v.s.). The numerous and bulky railway-trucks of beet-sugar tell their own tale. Hops are extensively cultivated, and beer is a staple industry. We have seen every process at Plzen (Pilsen), from laying down grains to bottling the renowned product. In manufacture of glass Bohemia stands on a high level, and the garnet jewellery is everywhere in evidence. A chapter would be necessary for a full account of industrial conditions. The complaint of the Bohemians is that the Government makes too heavy demands upon them in order to meet revenue deficits from poorer provinces, such as the Tyrol and Galicia. “They take our money, and give us nothing in return,” said a professor to us on the occasion of a strike of University students on account of inadequate class-rooms.

As with all the Slavs, religious feeling is deep; but the Cechs smilingly affect a Gallio-like attitude to the Churches. The late American philanthropist, Mr. Jacob A. Riis, in a study of New York Bohemians, quoted a Bohemian clergyman on his people: “They are Roman Catholics by birth, infidels by necessity, and Protestants by history and inclination.” A most interesting national institution, adopted in Russia and other Slav countries, is the Sokol (Falcon) brotherhood for mental and physical culture. Thousands of members take part in the quadrennial gatherings on the Letna plain at Prague, and on one occasion a team won the silver shield of the National Physical Recreation Society in London. The Sokol organization has been dissolved by the Vienna Government as “dangerous to ​the State.” Well-favoured, pretty children are a main feature of this delightsome land; and besides visiting town and country schools, we have been over the municipal institutions for waifs and derelicts. Dr. Dvořák, head of the foundling hospital at Vinohrady, is a recognized authority on the social problem. To conclude, Bohemia eagerly looks for the final victory of the Entente Powers and the disintegration of the Hapsburg Empire. Professor T. G. Masaryk, the eminent exiled philosopher, now occupying a Chair at London University, has lectured at King’s College on the aspirations of Bohemia. (It was Professor Masaryk who fearlessly exposed the shady procedure of the Government in the “treason trial” at Agram and the Friedjung prosecution.) In his own words,

A committee of Cechs abroad—the Cech National Alliance in Great Britain, America, France, and Russia—has been formed, to propagate the cause of Čecho-Slovák independence, and to support the cause of the Allies. The forming of an independent Čecho-Slovák State, they claim, means the deliverance of more than nine millions of Slavs, who otherwise will be again forced to serve the purposes of Pan-Germanism. Independent Bohemia, Poland united under Russia, and a united Jugoslav State—these three, declare the Cechs, form the only effective barrier against the Pan-German policy of “Berlin-Bagdad,” and at the same time the best guarantee of future peace. A projected Elbe-Danube canal, linking the North Sea to the Black, would be cut, by way of the Moldau, in South Bohemia, disregarding Bohemian interests. At a meeting organized ​by the Alliance in London in March, presided over by Sir George Makgill, Bart., at which Mr. W. Joynson-Hicks, M.P., was the chief speaker, the following resolution was unanimously carried:

It is reported that since the outbreak of the War, Bohemia has been subjected to a reign of terror. Over 1,200 civilians and a great many soldiers have been sentenced to death; the possession of a copy of the Grand Duke’s Manifesto was treated as a sufficient reason for this penalty. Influential deputies languish in prison, leading newspapers are muzzled or suppressed, wives and daughters of Cech patriots are prosecuted, and the property of rich and poor is confiscated wholesale. When the American Ambassador in Vienna attempted intervention on behalf of Miss Alice Masaryk and Mme. Benes, Prague ladies imprisoned without trial since October last, the Austrian Government curtly rebuffed his efforts. With this our narrative must end.

A rendering is appended of a poem by the late Professor J. V. Sládek, translator of Shakspeare and Coleridge. This incident is related of a body of gallant men who died standing on a small area called the Star Park.