Page:The Bohemian Review, vol1, 1917.djvu/88

 pean structure and which lies closest to my heart, is that brave, beautiful, but tragical land of Bohemia.

Free Bohemia is essential to the realization of the great liberative purposes of this war. We shudder today at the very thought of barbarism and ruthlessness through which the conquering ambitions of Germany and Austria are sought to be realized. But we do not acknowledge the great service which the small nations of Central Europe, and of Austria in particular, have rendered to the cause of humanity in the past. Politically, they were enslaved, but national consciousness was alive in them, and they never ceased to hope for their liberation. Their steady, determined opposition militated against the imperialistic designs of the Hapsburgs and Hohenzollerns. The Bohemian nation, since the dawn of its history, stood as a rock in the stormy sea upon which the waves of Teutonism broke in vain. Small in number, yet with an immortal national soul, Bohemia always stood in opposition to that damnable despotism which is at the bottom of the present catastrophe.

Now imagine the war ended and Bohemia left under the Hapsburgs. The German rulers of the Czechs know full well that the heart of Bohemia has been unconditionally, and from the very beginning, on the side which has now been joined by the United States. The vengeance of Austria would be terrible. What was done in Belgium and Serbia would be exceeded in Bohemia. The whole nation would be exterminated, and the destruction of this last dam to German aggression in the center of Europe would make the dream of a militaristic, domineering Mittel Europa a reality.

Free Bohemia is not merely an essential postulate of a lasting peace. It ought to be free, because it deserves freedom. Bohemia was an independent kingdom until 1526, when the pressure of the Turks induced the estates to elect a Hapsburg prince for their king. Under this dynasty the Czechs lost their independence. And do you know why? Because the Bohemian nation was the first among the nations of Continental Europe that lifted up the torch of liberty, both of body and soul. Bohemians were the people that championed true democracy since the dawn of the fifteenth century. These ideals of freedom came into collision with the German government of the Hapsburgs, for this sinister dynasty has always been characterized by a blind hatred of every symptom of freedom and democracy. One of the Bohemian literary men put recently this question: What is the big difference between the Germans and the Bohemians? And his answer was this: The Germans lost their religion for the sake of their nation: the Bohemians lost their nation for the sake of their religion. In other words, Bohemia lost its independence because it valued above all else, ideals. And today America is staking its all in the dangerous game of war because it, too, believes in ideals.

Is there any wonder that the eyes of all those to whom Bohemia is dear look up to America as the country which ought to be the chief champion of Bohemian independence?

Bohemians in France are few, compared to the hundreds of thousands that migrated to the United States, but their military record in the great European war is enviable.

At the outbreak of the war six hundred Czechs, subjects of Austria, volunteered for service in the French army for the duration of the war. Of these about four hundred came from Paris, one hundred and fifty from the provinces and some fifty came from London, where at that time they were not wanted in the English army.

They saw some real fighting. As far as the Bohemian National Alliance in Paris can ascertain, two fell at Charleroi, two in the battles of Champagne and two at Frise. In Artois, March 9, 1915, Czech soldiers covered themselves with glory. The Bohemian company of the first regiment of the Foreign Legion attacked the German trenches and forty-two boys fell around the red standard with the silver lion of Bohemia. The next losses occurred at Souchez, June 15, where eight more gave up their lives for France and Bohemia. The September fights in Champagne cost five more lives, and fourteen fell in Picardy. In addition to that four Czech volunteers of the French army were killed with the Saloniki expedition near Monastir, and one fell in Morocco.

The total losses are 80 dead, 30 permanently invalided and over 100 recovering from wounds. Decorations bestowed upon Czech volunteers are as follows: Military cross 50, military medal 11, St. George medal 20, St. George cross 3. The status to-day of the men who volunteered two and a half years ago is of some interest. On the French front 126, in the hospitals 31, aeroplane pilots 6, in Saloniki 26, in Morocco 75 with the first regiment and 77 with the second regiment of the Foreign Legion, interpreters with the French army 26, total 370. In addition to that 11 of the original volunteers were sent to munition factories.

The Czech volunteers form a very small fraction of the great French army, but what counts is that they make up fully forty percent of the Bohemian immigrants in France.