Thanks to Czech Americans Czechoslovakia was born (part III)

Role of Czech Americans in formation of Czechoslovakia

Up until the beginning of WWI the Czech-American community did not seem united; it was divided into different groups such as the Progressives (the opposers of the traditional conservative response to social and economic issues), Catholics, Protestants, Socialists and other groups. But one thing they did have in common: none of them had in their plan to form a free state for both Czechs and Slovaks, which is what the future brought.

Once the times got heated and the US declared the war (WWI) on Germany, Czechs and Slovaks quickly joined together to support the formation of Czechoslovakia. As a result, the Czechoslovak National Council (CNC) was established to fight for the Czech/Slovak independence in America. The CNC actions were pivotal in setting up the neccessary negotiations between T.G. Masaryk (you can find more on T.G. Masaryk at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T.G._Masaryk), and the American president W. Wilson. T.G.Masaryk was at that time recognized by Allies as the head of the provisional Czech government. It was these CNC-led negotiations that eventually led in agreement on the formation of Czechoslovakia!

PS: By the way, did you know that if someone says “let’s meet by the statue” it automatically means among the local Czechs in Washington to meet by the statue of T.G. Masaryk? (http://krajane.radio.cz/cs/article_detail/935).

For details go to http://www.czechsinamerica.wz.cz/DPW/3-Diploma%20Work.htm