CZECH LEADERS REFER THE AUSTRIAN GOVERNMENT TO THE CZECHO-SLOVAK GOVERNMENT AS THEIR AUTHORISED REPRESENTATIVES
Speaking in the Reichsrat, deputy Staněk declared in the name of the Union of Czech Deputies on October 2, 1918:
"This terrible war, started against the will and despite the warnings of the Czecho-Slovaks, has now reached the culminating point. Two worlds have been struggling in this war. One of them stood for the Middle Ages and has with daring impudence inscribed upon its banner 'Might is Right.' Inspired by this watchword, the spirit of German Imperialism believed it had a mission to rule the whole world, and it was voluntarily joined by the rulers of Austria-Hungary in the mad desire of enslaving the whole world.
"It was not difficult to guess which side would win unless civilisation were to be thrown back for centuries. On one side stood the mediaeval spirit of autocracy; on the other, pure love of liberty and democracy. And we who have been oppressed by Austria for centuries and who have tasted Austrian 'education' have naturally not formed voluntary legions on the side of Austria. In fact the Czecho-Slovaks have not voluntarily shed a single drop of blood for the Central Powers. But our compatriots abroad, remembering the centuries-old Austrian oppression, have formed voluntary legions in all the Allied armies. They are shedding their blood for the most sacred rights of humanity and at a moment of the greatest danger for the Allies they saved the situation. In Russia, too, they are fighting for democracy. Nobody will succeed in arresting the triumphant progress of true democracy, not even the Austrian and German Governments, nor any diplomacy, nor any peace notes or crown councils. The world will not be deceived again and nobody takes the Central Powers and their governments seriously any more.
"Your peace offensives will avail nothing to you, nobody will speak with you again. Even the Austrian peoples refuse to negotiate with you, knowing the value of your words. We have no intention of saving you from destruction. Your aim is still the German-Magyar hegemony and the oppression of Slavs and Latins. You must look elsewhere for support. The fateful hour for you and the Magyars has come sooner than we expected.
"And the dynasty? Look at the electoral reform in Hungary sanctioned by the emperor! This reform is intended to destroy completely the political and national existence of the non-Magyars in Hungary. This is how the emperor keeps his word.
"In view of these events we must ask ourselves: Are there any moral guarantees in this empire? We do not see them and therefore we declare that we reject all community with the political system of this empire. We want a single front of three Slav States extending from Gdansk (Dantzig) via Prague to the Adriatic. We protest against any partial solution of the Czecho-Slovak question. The Czecho-Slovak State which must also include the Slovaks of Hungary is our minimum programme. We again emphasise our solidarity with our Yugoslav brethren, whether they live in Belgrade, Sarajevo, Mostar or Lubljana, and we ask for the removal of those statesmen who wish to subjugate the remainder of the Bosnian population. A free Yugoslavia, an independent Greater Poland and the Czecho-Slovak State are already in process of formation, closely allied to each other, not only by the knowledge of common economic interests, but also on the ground of the moral prerogatives of international right.
"Peace is in sight. We wanted to be admitted to peace negotiations with representatives of other nations. The Germans refused and replied: 'If you insist you will be hanged.' Of course the Germans never kept their word except when they promised to hang some one! But the Entente replied by deeds recognising the Czecho-Slovak army as an Allied and belligerent army. Thereupon the Austrian Government asked us, Czech leaders in Austria, to protest against it. But of course we refused. I said so openly to the Premier, and if you like, I will tell it to the Austrian Emperor himself. You would not admit us to the peace negotiations with Russia, and now you will have to negotiate with Czech leaders after all, whether you like it or not. These leaders will be representatives of the same Czecho-Slovak brigades which Count Hertling called rascals ('Gesindel'). You will have to negotiate with them, and not with us, and therefore we will not speak with you. Our question will not be solved in Vienna. If you accept President Wilson's terms, if the German people, and not the German bureaucrats, accept them, then you can have peace at once and save humanity from further bloodshed. There is no other way out, and we therefore advise you honestly and frankly to surrender to the Allies unconditionally, because in the end nothing else will be left to you.
"In agreement with the whole Yugoslav nation, in agreement with Polish representatives, voicing the will of the Polish people, the Czecho-Slovaks declare before the whole world:
'Forward in our struggle for liberty and for a new life in our own liberated, restored state!'"