"For your nations 'To be or not to be' is the inexorable choice at this moment. Here cautious subtleties are of no avail, nor the adroit reservations borrowed from diplomacy, nor discussions more or less Byzantine, 'while the Turk is at the gates.' The necessities are Faith and Work; it is thus that nations are formed."
We have already mentioned that the U.S. Government identified themselves with the resolutions adopted by the Rome Conference. As regards Great Britain, Lord Robert Cecil made the following declaration on May 23, 1918:
"Above all I welcome especially the recent congress at Rome, which has done so much to strengthen the Alliance of which Italy is a part. I believe that the congress was valuable for its wisdom and its moderation. I believe that it was valuable for the spirit of brotherhood which it displayed. But above all I welcome it because it showed that the Italian Government, as expressed by the speech of the Italian Prime Minister (Signor Orlando), recognise to the full that the principles on which the kingdom of Italy was founded were not only of local application, but extend to international relations. (Cheers) Italy has shown herself ready to extend to the Poles, to those gallant Czecho-Slovaks, to the Rumanians, and last, but not least, to the Yugoslavs, the principles on which her own 'Risorgimento' was founded, and on which she may still go forward to a greater future than she has ever seen in the past. (Cheers.) That is a great work, and those who have borne any part in it may well be proud of their accomplishment.
"People talk sometimes about the dismemberment of Austria. I have no weakness for Austria; but I venture to think that that is the wrong point of view. The way to regard this problem is not the dismemberment of Austria, but the liberation of the population subject to her rule. We are anxious to see all these peoples in the enjoyment of full liberty and independence; able by some great federation to hold up in Central Europe the principles upon which European policy must be founded, unless we are to face disasters too horrible to contemplate. The old days of arbitrary allotment of this population or that to this sovereignty or that are gone--and, I trust, gone forever. We must look for any future settlement, to a settlement not of courts or cabinets, but of nations and populations. On that alone depends the whole conception of the League of Nations, of which we have heard so much; and unless that can be secured as the foundation for that great idea, I myself despair of its successful establishment."
[(b) The May Manifestations in ]Prague
A direct re-percussion of the Rome Conference was the great meeting which took place in Prague on May 16, on the occasion of the jubilee celebration of the foundation of the Czech National Theatre.
The manifestations took pre-eminently a political character, especially as they were attended by numerous distinguished foreign guests. These included delegates from all parts of the Southern Slav territories, Poles, Rumanians and Italians. The Russians, although invited, could not take part, because of the obstacles placed in the way by the Austrian Government. As regards the Yugoslavs, there were over 100 delegates from the Slovene districts alone, including Dr. Pogačnik, deputies Ravničar and Rybář, the Mayor of Lublanja, Dr. Tavčar, President of the Chamber of Commerce, J. Kněz and others. The Yugoslavs were further represented by Count Vojnovitch and M. Hribar, by delegates of the Croatian Starčević Party, the Serbian Dissidents, Dr. Budisavljević, Mr. Val Pribičević, Dr. Sunarić, Mr. Sola from Bosnia, representatives of the national, cultural, economic institutions, and representatives of the city of Zagreb, with the mayor, Dr. Srpulje, at the head.
There were seventeen Italians with deputies Conci and De Caspari at the head. The Rumanians from Hungary and Bukovina also arrived. The Slovaks of Hungary met with the most hearty welcome. They were led by the poet Hviezdoslav. An inspiring feature was the presence of the Poles, of whom about sixty took part in the manifestations, the majority of them from Galicia, three from Silesia and one from Posen.
The delegation from Galicia included prominent representatives of the Polish Democratic Party, Count Dr. A. Skarbek, deputy and ex-minister Glombínski and deputy Witoš, the Socialist leader Moraczewski whose father took part in the Pan-Slav Congress of Prague in 1848, deputy Tetmajer, representatives of the cities of Lvoff and Cracow and of the University of Cracow, members of municipal and county councils, journalists, artists, painters, sculptors, authors and others.
At a meeting arranged in honour of the Slav guests, Dr. Kramář declared that "the Czech nation is stronger to-day than ever before. There is no worse policy than that which gives in before danger. I am sure that our people will not give way. We have suffered so much that there is no horror which could divert us from the path we follow. Happily enough, we see that what we want is also desired by the whole world. We see that we are not alone. To-day the representatives of other nations, which have suffered in the same way as ourselves, have come to us. Of course, they did not come to us only to take part in our festivals, but also to express on the Bohemian soil their determination that their nations want to live freely. We are united by the same interests. Our victory is theirs and theirs is ours."