Page:The Czechoslovak Review, vol4, 1920.pdf/331
The old Husite traditions have been a powerful factor in the lives of these soldiers. The Regiment of John Hus bears number one in the roster of their regiments. Then there is also the Regiment of John Žižka, the great Husite general.
There appears on the raised platform a picked group of Czechoslovak gymnasts and athletes, members of the “Sokol” Society. This patriotic organization, which just closed at Prague a great tournament to celebrate the independence of their country, was founded in 1862, and soon became a powerful factor in the life of the nation. Beside physical training, their program includes the teaching of ethics, civics and patriotism. They aroused the national feeling and taught the people their duty in a national crisis. During the war their organization was dispersed by the Austrian government. But that government could not eradicate the influence of the teachings of previous years, for the members knew what to do and did it. Trained in the exercise of a self-imposed discipline, democratic in their relations to one another, these men carried this with them into the Czechoslovak army that they formed in foreign lands when they succeeded in escaping from the army of Austria-Hungary. It was but an easy transition from the peace footing of the Sokols to the exactions of their own national army now in open revolt against Austria. Not only abroad, but at home as well, in the shadow of the gallows and the firing-line, these Sokols were pitting their wits and all their resources against the Austro-Hungarian monarchy. The crisis had come and with it their opportunity.
That program demonstrated in miniature the qualities of mind and body of the Czechoslovak troops, and is characteristic as well of the entire nation. It showed the inherent factors of their military and political successes.
That American audience at Norfolk had a privilege to be envied. They saw a phase of the life of Czechoslovak warriors who had contributed some of the most heroic and romantic pages to the history of the Great War.