Page:Edvard Beneš – Bohemia's case for independence.pdf/15



term Czecho-Slovaks, or simply the Czechs, includes two branches of the same nation: seven millions of Czechs living in Bohemia, Moravia, Silesia, and three millions of Slovaks inhabiting the north of Hungary, from the junction of the River Morava and the Danube to the Upper Tisza. These two peoples have the same civilisation, the same language and history: the Slovak dialect hardly differs from the Czech, certainly much less than the Slovene from the Serbo-Croat. The only obstacle to their complete union is one of a political character, the Czechs being under the yoke of Austria, while the Slovaks are under that of Hungary and the Magyars.

Till the middle of the nineteenth century, the ties which held them together were very close, and some of the most illustrious pioneers of the Czech A