Page:The Czechoslovak Review, vol3, 1919.djvu/77

 utral lands. From the foundation of the Bohemian National Alliance we may date the beginning of the organized fight of our people in America for the liberation of their brothers from the Hapsburg subjugation.

One of the first bodies bearing this name and having these aims was organized in Chicago in the fall of 1914. About the same time societies with similar names and generally with relief and political purposes combined sprang up in other centers of the Bohemian speaking people, like New York, Omaha, Cleveland, Detroit, etc. In February 1915 these local societies held a convention in Cleveland at which the name Bohemian National Alliance was accepted as the designation for the entire movement and the Chicago society was selected as the Central body of the organization which from that time on spread into the Czech settlements in America. There were a great many obstacles at first. Neutrality was the policy of the United States, and many timid men voiced the opinion that the Bohemian National Alliance by adopting a determined stand against the German side of the great quarrel was not observing the spirit of American neutrality. There were many also who remembered the wonderful efficiency of the German and Austrian armies and feared that the anti-Austrian attitude of the Czechs in America would make the difficult situation of the Czechs in Bohemia still more difficult, when Austria should have won the war. There were even a few men whose sympathies were with the German-Austrian side, and they gathered around Frank Iska, a leader of the freethought group in Chicago, whose wife was a German Jewess. At that time also the Austro-Hungarian consulates as a part of their work kept track of the activities of former Austrian subjects, and working together with the wide spread German propaganda and having the use of millions of dollars they made the efforts of discontented Austrian subjects look insignificant. One might also mention that among the less desirable qualities of our people is found a lack of confidence in their own leaders, and this distrust was adroitly worked upon by Iska and his few sympathizers. Thus during the first year of its existence the Bohemian National Alliance increased in strength but slowly. No news came from Bohemia, except official Austrian reports trying to make the world believe that the various nations of the dual empire supported loyally their emperor and his war. There was no one who could authoritatively expound the real sentiments of the people at home, as no one from Bohemia was allowed to get beyond the boundaries of the Central Powers. It was up to the clear thinking and politically mature men among our people here to convince the masses of their countrymen in America that they must take a part in the great struggle. Of these men the best known is Joseph Tvrzicky, who in the spring of 1915 became secretary of the Bohemian National Alliance and conducted the early fights against Austrian tools and against the men with little faith. Dr. L. J. Fisher was president of the Alliance from its foundation until the fall of 1918, when he joined the Czechoslovak army in France as medical officer, and James F. Štěpina served faithfully as treasurer four years.

The one great force which helped to strengthen the young movement was the appeal of Masaryk to the Czechs of America, to undertake the financing of the revolutionary campaign. This gave the organization a definite task and its workers something to do which they felt able to