Page:Two Architects of New Europe – Masaryk and Beneš.pdf/8

34 Slavs. He himself had married a Russian who was naturally much interested in all these ideas. They saw in Russia, if not a savior, at least a possible protector.

By contrast, Masaryk had married an American. He was not a Pan-Slav and took little interest in Neo-Slavism. He did not want to Slavicize Austria and Austrianize the Czechs; he wanted each nation to retain its own nationality. If he shifted at all, he shifted to the left and though he started out with his own party insignificant in numbers, he soon influenced the spirit and ideals of all the parties. He was their political Tolstoi. And when the war broke out he was not only the recognized leader of a party, but he had the moral authority to lead the nation. His achievements during the World War made him the "little father" of his nation. It was he who wrote in his recent book: The New Europe: "Caesar or Jesus—that is that watch-word of democratic Europe."

Edward Beneš was born in Bohemia in 1884. He came from a poor Czech peasant family consisting of five sons and two daughters. Of this family, three of the boys, including Edward, became teachers, one a carpenter, another a mechanic, and the two girls married farmers.

Edward, who was the live-wire of the family, succeeded in working his way through university and acquired the best education. In his early high-school days, he was a star soccer–football player until he suffered an accident in which bones were broken. In harmony with his