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 is creating new worlds: freedom of speech, freedom of action have at last become realities.” The Slavs, “among whom liberty was ever cherished,” were determined not to embark on the course of oppression which had marred the history of the Latin and Germanic peoples:

The manifesto then raised an even more vital concern: the desire for the free development of Slav nationality: “Not less sacred to us than man in the enjoyment of his natural rights is the nation, with its sum total of spiritual needs and interests. Even if history has attributed a more complex human development to certain nations than to others, it has none the less always been seen that the capacity of those other nations for development is in no way limited.”

The manifesto denounced those nations which, in pursuit of their own aims, infringed on the just rights of other peoples to nationhood:

The Slavs did not seek vengeance for these wrongs; they were prepared to “extend a brotherly hand to all neighbouring nations who are prepared to recognise and effectively champion with us the full equality of all nations, irrespective of their political power or size.”

As for Austria’s political future, the Slavs were determined that “the state must be fundamentally reconstructed, if not within new [geographical] boundaries, at least upon new principles.” Foremost among these was the transformation of the imperial state into a “confederation of nations, all enjoying equal rights.” In this new union the Slavs envisaged “not