Page:The Czechoslovak Review, vol4, 1920.pdf/163

spring sunshine and national flags, as the members of the government and of the National Assembly, foreign diplomats, representatives of the churches and all the notables of Czechoslovakia went up to the castle to congratulate the president. President Tomášek of the National Assembly was the spokesman, and as usual his address was peculiarly appropriate, moderate, free from partisanship and unaffected. He closed by saying: “Leader of our national revolution, creator of our independence, teacher of the nation, guide in new ways, our golden, good, beloved little father,, may you be well and strong for many years, for many decades, to the well-being and success of the nation and the Republic.” President Masaryk’s address is found elsewhere in this issue. It is not a political speech, but the talk of a teacher to students, of a wise father to grown-up children. The address cannot be called popular, yet the general intelligence of Czechoslovaks is so high, their devotion to Masaryk so great and the publicity given to the speech so prominent, that undoubtedly a majority of the people read the speech and pondered upon it. Not the least of Masaryk’s many services to his people lies in this that he makes them think. Messages of congratulation were received from numerous heads of the state, among them from President Wilson and from the Pope. Masaryk’s health continues to be good, with the exception of an occasional cold; he is active and as hard-working as ever, rides daily on horseback, and everything points to it that he will be able to serve his country for a great many years. That is what every Czechoslovak earnestly hopes for.

There is trouble in Teschen. The plebiscite commission, composed of the French, British, Italian and Japanese representatives, is in control of the old duchy and has small military forces at its disposal. But the Poles refuse to obey its orders and by their actions have brought about a state of anarchy in the district. Foreign minister Beneš, speaking in the National Assembly on March 11, was very bitter against the behavior of Polish agitators and local authorities in Teschen. He charged that they purposely instigate riots to make plebiscite impossible; Czechs submit to the orders of the commission, Poles do not. Poles have hidden thousands of rifles and bombs, and by means of them terrorize the Silesians whose votes will decide the question—men whose dialect is more nearly related to Polish than to Bohemian, but who will not admit that they are Poles, insisting that they are Silesians, and who favor annexation to Czechoslovakia. Polish miners caused coal strikes and brought great hardship upon the neighboring steel towns of Moravia. Many Czechs and Silesians were killed in attacks by Poles. Dr. Beneš stated that he asked Paris for larger garrisons and for maintenance of order at any cost in the district that the plebiscite commission is supposed to control. The Czechoslovaks greatly regret this behavior on the part of the Poles, as friendship with Poles is desired by them, both because the two nations are nearly related, and because they would be both menaced by any future revival of German imperialism. It is stated that the vote will be taken before the middle of May, and the Czechoslovaks are supremely confident of their success. But in any case the tension will relax after that, especially as the Czechs have little inclination to blame Warsaw for the excesses of local Polish agitators in Teschen and the neighboring city of Cracow. They blame the Polish government only for its inability to control the “Rada Narodowa”, or Polish National Council which exercises authority in the name of Poland in the district in question.

Kapp’s coup d’état was an unpleasant surprise for Bohemia. The Czechs saw in him the advance guard of militarism and monarchism, and they did not like the prospects, should his revolution manage to maintain itself in power. With reaction dominant in Germany the Magyars would no longer hesitate to call back the Hapsburgs, and the weak republican government of Austria would soon give way to monarchist reaction. Czechoslovakia would then be almost surrounded by militaristic and monarchistic neighbors. There is absolutely no danger of a monarchistic movement in Bohemia itself, no traditional loyalty to a dynasty, no memories of greatness under former emperors. But danger of foreign aggression there would be, if reaction got hold of Germans and Magyars. So there was a genuine relief, when Ebert came back. The opinion prevailing in Prague is that Kapp’s rebellion and the subsequent civil war in Germany will prove extremely costly and that disorganization