Page:The Czechoslovaks in the United States.djvu/2



HE Czechoslovaks are the westernmost branch of the great Slav race. Their language is closely related to Polish and somewhat more distantly to the Russian and Jugoslav tongues. Their geographical location in the center of Europe, rather than in the east and southeast, has helped to differentiate them from other Slavs. They are nearer to the western European and American type than any other Slav people.

The Czechoslovaks consist of two branches, the Czechs (or Bohemians), and the Slovaks. They use practically the same tongue, the difference between Czech and Slovak speech being less pronounced than that between high and low German. But there are other differences—one might call them cultural—which are of more importance and which have been causing friction in the new Czechoslovak Republic.

The reason for this is that Czechs and Slovaks, though close neighbors, have lived a separate life for nearly a thousand years. The Czechs had for centuries their own kingdom of Bohemia, until in the 17th century they were merged with the Austrian possessions of the House of Hapsburg, while the Slovaks were a part of the kingdom of Hun-