04-10-2004, 02:59 PM
II
Take the case of Czechoslovakia. It is the creation of the Treaty of Trianon which followed the
European War of 1914. None of the peace treaties was more drastic in its terms than the Treaty of
Trianon. Says Prof. Macartney, " By it Hungary was not so much mutilated as dismembered. Even
if we exclude Croatia, Slavonia, which had stood only in a federal relationship to the other lands of
the Holy Crownâalthough one of eight hundred years' standingâHungary proper was reduced to
less than one-third (32.6 per cent.) of her pre-war area, and a little over two-fifths (41.6 per cent.)
of her population. Territories and peoples formerly Hungarian were distributed among no less than
seven states." Of these states, there was one which did not exist before. It was a new creation. That
was the state of Czechoslovakia.
The area of the Republic of Czechoslovakia was 54,244 square miles and the population was about
13,613,172. It included the territories formerly known as Bohemia, Moravia, Slovakia and
Ruthenia. It was a composite state which included in its bosom three principal nationalities, (i)
Czechs occupying Bohemia and Moravia, (ii) Slovaks occupying Slovakiaand(iii) Ruthenians in
occupation of Ruthenia.
Czechoslovakia proved to be a very short-lived state. It lived exactly for two decades. On the 15th
March 1939 it perished or rather was destroyed as an independent state. It became a protectorate of
Germany. The circumstances attending its expiry were of a very bewildering nature. Her death was
brought about by the very Powers which had given it birth. By signing the Munich Pact on 30th
September 1938âof which the protectorate was an inevitable consequence. Great Britain, France
and Italy assisted Germany, their former enemy of the Great War, to conquer Czechoslovakia, their
former ally. All the work of the Czechs of the past century to gain freedom was wiped off. They
were once more to be the slaves of their former German overlords.
Ill
What are the reasons for the disruption of Turkey ?
Lord Eversley in his Turkish Empire 46[f.46] has attempted to give reasons for the decay of
Turkey, some internal, some external. Among the internal causes there were two. First the
degeneracy of the Ottoman dynasty. The supreme power fell into the hands either of the Vazirs of
the Sultans or more often in the hands of women of the harem of the Sultan. The harem was always
in antagonism to the official administration of the Porte, which ostensibly carried on the
administration of the state under the direction of the Sultan. The officials of every degree from the
highest to the lowest were interested in the sale of all offices, civil and military, to the highest
bidders. For securing their object, they found it expedient to bribe the inmates of the harem and
thereby win the assent of the Sultans. The harem thus became the centre from which corruption
spread throughout the Turkish Empire and which was one of the main causes of its decay. The
second main cause of the decadence of the Turkish Empire was the deterioration of its armies due
to two causes. During the last 300 years the army had lost the elan and the daring by which the
Ottomans won their many victories in the early period of their career. The loss of this elan and
daring by the Turkish army was due to the composition of the army, recruitment to which was
restricted to Turks and Arabs, and also to the diminution of opportunities of plunder and the hope
of acquiring lands for distribution among the soldiers as an incentive to victory and valour in the
latter period when the Empire was on the defensive and when it was no longer a question of making
fresh conquests, but of retaining what had already been won,
Among the external causes of the disruption of Turkey, the chief one is said to be the rapacity of
the European nations. But this view omits to take note of the true cause. The true and the principal
cause of the disruption of Turkey was the growth of the spirit of nationalism among its subject
peoples. The Greek revolt, the revolts of the Serbs, Bulgarians and other Balkans against the
Turkish authority were no doubt represented as a conflict between Christianity and Islam. That is
one way of looking at it, but only a superficial way. These revolts were simply the manifestations
of the spirit of nationalism by which they were generated. These revolts no doubt had for their
immediate causes Turkish misrule, Christian antipathy to Islam and the machinations of European
nations. But this does not explain the real force which motivated them. The real motive force was
the spirit of nationalism and their revolts were only a manifestation of this inner urge brought on by
it. That it was nationalism which had brought about the disruption of Turkey is proved by the revolt
of the Arabs in the last war and their will to be independent. Here there was no conflict between
Islam and Christianity, nor was the relationship between the two that of the oppressor and the
oppressed. Yet, the Arab claimed to be freed from the Turkish Empire. Why ? Because he was
moved by Arab nationalism and preferred to be an Arab nationalist to being a Turkish subject.
What is the cause of the destruction of Czechoslovakia ?
The general impression is that it was the result of German aggression. To some extent that is true.
But it is not the whole truth. If Germany was the only enemy of Czechoslovakia, all that she would
have lost was the fringe of her borderland which was inhabited by the Sudeten Germans. German
aggression need have cost her nothing more. Really speaking the destruction of Czechoslovakia
was brought about by an enemy within her own borders. That enemy was the intransigent
nationalism of the Slovaks who were out to break up the unity of the state and secure the
independence of Slovakia.
The union of the Slovaks with the Czechs, as units of a single state, was based upon certain
assumptions. First, the two were believed to be so closely akin as to be one people, and that the
Slovaks were only a branch of Czechoslovaks. Second, the two spoke a single * Czechoslovak *
language. Third, there was no separate Slovak national consciousness. Nobody examined these
assumptions at the time, because the Slovaks themselves desired this union, expressing their wish
in 1918 by formal declaration of their representatives at the Peace Conference. This was a
superficial and hasty view of the matter. As Prof. Macartney 47[f.47] points out.
". . . . ' the central political fact which emerges from the consideration of this history (of the
relations between the Czechs and Slovaks) for the purposes of the present age is the final
crystallization of a Slovak national consciousness , . . .' The genuine and uncompromising
believers in a single indivisible Czechoslovak language and people were certainly never so large, at
least in Slovakia, as they were made to appear. Today they have dwindled to a mere handful, under
the influence of actual experience of the considerable differences which exist between the Czechs
and the Slovaks. At present Slovak is in practice recognized by the Czechs themselves as the
official language of Solvakia. The political and national resistance has been no less tenacious, and
to-day the name of ' Czechoslovakia' is practically confined to official documents and to literature
issued for the benefit of foreigners. During many weeks in the country I only remember hearing
one person use the term for herself; this was a half German, half-Hungarian girl, who used it in a
purely political sense, meaning that she thought irridentism futile. No Czech and no Slovak feels or
calls himself, when speaking naturally, anything but a Czech or a Slovak as the case may be."
This national consciousness of the Slovaks, which was always alive, began to burst forth on seeing
that the Sudeten Germans had made certain demands on Czechoslovakia for autonomy. The
Germans sought to achieve their objective by the application of gangster morality to international
politics, saying " Give us what we ask or we shall burst up your shop." The Slovaks followed suit
by making their demands for autonomy but with a different face. They did not resort to gangster
methods but modulated their demands to autonomy only. They had eschwed all idea of
independence, and, in the proclamation issued on October 8 by Dr. Tiso, the leading man in the
autonomist movement in Slovakia, it was said " We shall proceed in the spirit of our motto, for God
and the Nation, in a Christian and national spirit." Believing in their bona fides and desiring to give
no room to the Gravamin Politic of which the Slovaks were making full use to disturb the friendly
relations between the Czechs and the Slovaks, the National Assembly in Prague passed an Act in
November 1938âimmediately after the Munich Pactâcalled the " Constitutional Act on the
Autonomy of Slovakia." Its provisions were of a far-reaching character. There was to be a separate
parliament for Slovakia and this parliament was to decide the constitution of Slovakia within the
framework of the legal system of the Czechoslovak Republic. An alteration in the territory of
Slovakia was to be with the consent of the two-third majority in the Slovak parliament. The consent
of the Slovak parliament was made necessary for international treaties which exclusively concerned
Slovakia. Officials of the central state administration in Slovakia were to be primarily Slovaks.
Proportional representation of Slovakia was guaranteed in all central institutions, councils,
commissions and other organizations. Similarly, Slovakia was to be proportionally represented on
all international organizations in which the Czechoslovak Republic was called upon to participate.
Slovak soldiers, in peace time, were to be stationed in Slovakia as far as possible. As far as
legislative authority was concerned all subjects which were strictly of common concern were
assigned to the parliament of Czechoslovakia. By way of guaranteeing these rights to the Slovaks,
the Constitution Act provided that the decision of the National Assembly to make constitutional
changes shall be valid only if the majority constitutionally required for such changes includes also a
proportionate majority of the members of the National Assembly elected in Slovakia. Similarly, the
election of the President of the Republic required the consent not merely of the constitutionally
determined majority of the members of the parliament, but also of a proportionate majority of the
Slovak members. Further to emphasize that the central government must enjoy the confidence of
the Slovaks it was provided by the constitution that one-third of the Slovak members of parliament
may propose a motion of ' No Confidence. '
These constitutional changes introduced, much against the will of the Czechs, a hyphen between
the Czechs and the Slovaks which did not exist before. But it was done in the hope that, once the
relatively minor quarrels between the two were got out of the way, the very nationalism of the
Slovaks was more likely to bring them closer to the Czechs than otherwise. With the constitutional
changes guaranteeing an independent status to Slovakia and the fact that the status so guaranteed
could not be Changed without the consent of the Slovaks themselves, there was no question of the
Slovaks ever losing their national identity through submergence by the Czechs. The autonomy
introduced by the hyphen separated the cultural waters and saved the Slovaks from losing their
colour.
The first Slovak parliament elected under the new constitution was opened on January 18, 1939,
and Dr. Martin Sokol, the President of the parliament, declared, " The period of the Slovak's
struggle for freedom is ended. Now begins the period of national rebirth." Other speeches made on
the occasion indicated that now that Slovakia had its autonomy the Slovaks would never feel
animosity towards the Czechs and that both would loyally abide by the Czecho-Slovak State.
Not even a month elapsed since the inauguration of the Slovak parliament before the Slovak
politicians began their battle against the hyphen and for complete separation. They made excited
speeches in which they attacked the Czechs, talked about Czech oppression and demanded a
completely independent Slovakia. By the beginning of March, the various forms of separatism in
Slovakia were seriously threatening the integrity of the Czechoslovak State. On March 9 it was
learnt that Tiso, the Slovak Premier, had decided to proclaim the independence of Slovakia. On the
10th, in anticipation of such an act, troops were moved in Slovakia and Tiso, the Prime Minister,
was dismissed along with other Slovak ministers by the President of the Republic, Dr. Hacha. On
the next day Tiso, supposed to be under police supervision, telephoned to Berlin and asked for help.
On Monday Tiso and Hitler met and had an hour and a half talk in Berlin. Immediately after the
talk with Hitler, Tiso got on the phone to Prague and passed on the German orders.
They were:â
(i) All Czech troops to be withdrawn from Slovakia;
(ii) Slovakia to be an independent state under German protection;
(iii) The Slovak parliament to be summoned by President Hacha to hear the proclamation of
independence.
There was nothing that President Hacha and the Prague Government could do except say ' yes ' for
they knew very well that dozens of divisions of German troops were massed round the defenceless
frontiers of Czechoslovakia ready to march in at any moment if the demands made by Germany in
the interest of and at the instance of Slovakia were refused. Thus ended the new state of
Czechoslovakia.
Take the case of Czechoslovakia. It is the creation of the Treaty of Trianon which followed the
European War of 1914. None of the peace treaties was more drastic in its terms than the Treaty of
Trianon. Says Prof. Macartney, " By it Hungary was not so much mutilated as dismembered. Even
if we exclude Croatia, Slavonia, which had stood only in a federal relationship to the other lands of
the Holy Crownâalthough one of eight hundred years' standingâHungary proper was reduced to
less than one-third (32.6 per cent.) of her pre-war area, and a little over two-fifths (41.6 per cent.)
of her population. Territories and peoples formerly Hungarian were distributed among no less than
seven states." Of these states, there was one which did not exist before. It was a new creation. That
was the state of Czechoslovakia.
The area of the Republic of Czechoslovakia was 54,244 square miles and the population was about
13,613,172. It included the territories formerly known as Bohemia, Moravia, Slovakia and
Ruthenia. It was a composite state which included in its bosom three principal nationalities, (i)
Czechs occupying Bohemia and Moravia, (ii) Slovaks occupying Slovakiaand(iii) Ruthenians in
occupation of Ruthenia.
Czechoslovakia proved to be a very short-lived state. It lived exactly for two decades. On the 15th
March 1939 it perished or rather was destroyed as an independent state. It became a protectorate of
Germany. The circumstances attending its expiry were of a very bewildering nature. Her death was
brought about by the very Powers which had given it birth. By signing the Munich Pact on 30th
September 1938âof which the protectorate was an inevitable consequence. Great Britain, France
and Italy assisted Germany, their former enemy of the Great War, to conquer Czechoslovakia, their
former ally. All the work of the Czechs of the past century to gain freedom was wiped off. They
were once more to be the slaves of their former German overlords.
Ill
What are the reasons for the disruption of Turkey ?
Lord Eversley in his Turkish Empire 46[f.46] has attempted to give reasons for the decay of
Turkey, some internal, some external. Among the internal causes there were two. First the
degeneracy of the Ottoman dynasty. The supreme power fell into the hands either of the Vazirs of
the Sultans or more often in the hands of women of the harem of the Sultan. The harem was always
in antagonism to the official administration of the Porte, which ostensibly carried on the
administration of the state under the direction of the Sultan. The officials of every degree from the
highest to the lowest were interested in the sale of all offices, civil and military, to the highest
bidders. For securing their object, they found it expedient to bribe the inmates of the harem and
thereby win the assent of the Sultans. The harem thus became the centre from which corruption
spread throughout the Turkish Empire and which was one of the main causes of its decay. The
second main cause of the decadence of the Turkish Empire was the deterioration of its armies due
to two causes. During the last 300 years the army had lost the elan and the daring by which the
Ottomans won their many victories in the early period of their career. The loss of this elan and
daring by the Turkish army was due to the composition of the army, recruitment to which was
restricted to Turks and Arabs, and also to the diminution of opportunities of plunder and the hope
of acquiring lands for distribution among the soldiers as an incentive to victory and valour in the
latter period when the Empire was on the defensive and when it was no longer a question of making
fresh conquests, but of retaining what had already been won,
Among the external causes of the disruption of Turkey, the chief one is said to be the rapacity of
the European nations. But this view omits to take note of the true cause. The true and the principal
cause of the disruption of Turkey was the growth of the spirit of nationalism among its subject
peoples. The Greek revolt, the revolts of the Serbs, Bulgarians and other Balkans against the
Turkish authority were no doubt represented as a conflict between Christianity and Islam. That is
one way of looking at it, but only a superficial way. These revolts were simply the manifestations
of the spirit of nationalism by which they were generated. These revolts no doubt had for their
immediate causes Turkish misrule, Christian antipathy to Islam and the machinations of European
nations. But this does not explain the real force which motivated them. The real motive force was
the spirit of nationalism and their revolts were only a manifestation of this inner urge brought on by
it. That it was nationalism which had brought about the disruption of Turkey is proved by the revolt
of the Arabs in the last war and their will to be independent. Here there was no conflict between
Islam and Christianity, nor was the relationship between the two that of the oppressor and the
oppressed. Yet, the Arab claimed to be freed from the Turkish Empire. Why ? Because he was
moved by Arab nationalism and preferred to be an Arab nationalist to being a Turkish subject.
What is the cause of the destruction of Czechoslovakia ?
The general impression is that it was the result of German aggression. To some extent that is true.
But it is not the whole truth. If Germany was the only enemy of Czechoslovakia, all that she would
have lost was the fringe of her borderland which was inhabited by the Sudeten Germans. German
aggression need have cost her nothing more. Really speaking the destruction of Czechoslovakia
was brought about by an enemy within her own borders. That enemy was the intransigent
nationalism of the Slovaks who were out to break up the unity of the state and secure the
independence of Slovakia.
The union of the Slovaks with the Czechs, as units of a single state, was based upon certain
assumptions. First, the two were believed to be so closely akin as to be one people, and that the
Slovaks were only a branch of Czechoslovaks. Second, the two spoke a single * Czechoslovak *
language. Third, there was no separate Slovak national consciousness. Nobody examined these
assumptions at the time, because the Slovaks themselves desired this union, expressing their wish
in 1918 by formal declaration of their representatives at the Peace Conference. This was a
superficial and hasty view of the matter. As Prof. Macartney 47[f.47] points out.
". . . . ' the central political fact which emerges from the consideration of this history (of the
relations between the Czechs and Slovaks) for the purposes of the present age is the final
crystallization of a Slovak national consciousness , . . .' The genuine and uncompromising
believers in a single indivisible Czechoslovak language and people were certainly never so large, at
least in Slovakia, as they were made to appear. Today they have dwindled to a mere handful, under
the influence of actual experience of the considerable differences which exist between the Czechs
and the Slovaks. At present Slovak is in practice recognized by the Czechs themselves as the
official language of Solvakia. The political and national resistance has been no less tenacious, and
to-day the name of ' Czechoslovakia' is practically confined to official documents and to literature
issued for the benefit of foreigners. During many weeks in the country I only remember hearing
one person use the term for herself; this was a half German, half-Hungarian girl, who used it in a
purely political sense, meaning that she thought irridentism futile. No Czech and no Slovak feels or
calls himself, when speaking naturally, anything but a Czech or a Slovak as the case may be."
This national consciousness of the Slovaks, which was always alive, began to burst forth on seeing
that the Sudeten Germans had made certain demands on Czechoslovakia for autonomy. The
Germans sought to achieve their objective by the application of gangster morality to international
politics, saying " Give us what we ask or we shall burst up your shop." The Slovaks followed suit
by making their demands for autonomy but with a different face. They did not resort to gangster
methods but modulated their demands to autonomy only. They had eschwed all idea of
independence, and, in the proclamation issued on October 8 by Dr. Tiso, the leading man in the
autonomist movement in Slovakia, it was said " We shall proceed in the spirit of our motto, for God
and the Nation, in a Christian and national spirit." Believing in their bona fides and desiring to give
no room to the Gravamin Politic of which the Slovaks were making full use to disturb the friendly
relations between the Czechs and the Slovaks, the National Assembly in Prague passed an Act in
November 1938âimmediately after the Munich Pactâcalled the " Constitutional Act on the
Autonomy of Slovakia." Its provisions were of a far-reaching character. There was to be a separate
parliament for Slovakia and this parliament was to decide the constitution of Slovakia within the
framework of the legal system of the Czechoslovak Republic. An alteration in the territory of
Slovakia was to be with the consent of the two-third majority in the Slovak parliament. The consent
of the Slovak parliament was made necessary for international treaties which exclusively concerned
Slovakia. Officials of the central state administration in Slovakia were to be primarily Slovaks.
Proportional representation of Slovakia was guaranteed in all central institutions, councils,
commissions and other organizations. Similarly, Slovakia was to be proportionally represented on
all international organizations in which the Czechoslovak Republic was called upon to participate.
Slovak soldiers, in peace time, were to be stationed in Slovakia as far as possible. As far as
legislative authority was concerned all subjects which were strictly of common concern were
assigned to the parliament of Czechoslovakia. By way of guaranteeing these rights to the Slovaks,
the Constitution Act provided that the decision of the National Assembly to make constitutional
changes shall be valid only if the majority constitutionally required for such changes includes also a
proportionate majority of the members of the National Assembly elected in Slovakia. Similarly, the
election of the President of the Republic required the consent not merely of the constitutionally
determined majority of the members of the parliament, but also of a proportionate majority of the
Slovak members. Further to emphasize that the central government must enjoy the confidence of
the Slovaks it was provided by the constitution that one-third of the Slovak members of parliament
may propose a motion of ' No Confidence. '
These constitutional changes introduced, much against the will of the Czechs, a hyphen between
the Czechs and the Slovaks which did not exist before. But it was done in the hope that, once the
relatively minor quarrels between the two were got out of the way, the very nationalism of the
Slovaks was more likely to bring them closer to the Czechs than otherwise. With the constitutional
changes guaranteeing an independent status to Slovakia and the fact that the status so guaranteed
could not be Changed without the consent of the Slovaks themselves, there was no question of the
Slovaks ever losing their national identity through submergence by the Czechs. The autonomy
introduced by the hyphen separated the cultural waters and saved the Slovaks from losing their
colour.
The first Slovak parliament elected under the new constitution was opened on January 18, 1939,
and Dr. Martin Sokol, the President of the parliament, declared, " The period of the Slovak's
struggle for freedom is ended. Now begins the period of national rebirth." Other speeches made on
the occasion indicated that now that Slovakia had its autonomy the Slovaks would never feel
animosity towards the Czechs and that both would loyally abide by the Czecho-Slovak State.
Not even a month elapsed since the inauguration of the Slovak parliament before the Slovak
politicians began their battle against the hyphen and for complete separation. They made excited
speeches in which they attacked the Czechs, talked about Czech oppression and demanded a
completely independent Slovakia. By the beginning of March, the various forms of separatism in
Slovakia were seriously threatening the integrity of the Czechoslovak State. On March 9 it was
learnt that Tiso, the Slovak Premier, had decided to proclaim the independence of Slovakia. On the
10th, in anticipation of such an act, troops were moved in Slovakia and Tiso, the Prime Minister,
was dismissed along with other Slovak ministers by the President of the Republic, Dr. Hacha. On
the next day Tiso, supposed to be under police supervision, telephoned to Berlin and asked for help.
On Monday Tiso and Hitler met and had an hour and a half talk in Berlin. Immediately after the
talk with Hitler, Tiso got on the phone to Prague and passed on the German orders.
They were:â
(i) All Czech troops to be withdrawn from Slovakia;
(ii) Slovakia to be an independent state under German protection;
(iii) The Slovak parliament to be summoned by President Hacha to hear the proclamation of
independence.
There was nothing that President Hacha and the Prague Government could do except say ' yes ' for
they knew very well that dozens of divisions of German troops were massed round the defenceless
frontiers of Czechoslovakia ready to march in at any moment if the demands made by Germany in
the interest of and at the instance of Slovakia were refused. Thus ended the new state of
Czechoslovakia.