The Founding of the Czechoslovak State and the Russian Revolutions

Abstract

This paper outlines the movement for an independent Czechoslovak state during the First World War and examines how it was affected by the Russian revolutions of 1917. After the outbreak of the War, only a limited number of Czech and Slovak leaders took up the cause for an independent state, while the majority remained loyal to the Habsburg Monarchy. In 1916, one of the early independence leaders and the first president of Czechoslovakia, T. G. Masaryk, founded the Czechoslovak National Council (CNC) at Paris with the aim of securing the support of the Allied countries. Yet since Allied governments regarded the Habsburg Monarchy as necessary for keeping the balance of power in Europe, they avoided making any commitment to support the CNC and, instead, sought a separate peace with Austria-Hungary. Consequently, the CNC could not achieve any notable results in their negotiations with the Allied governments until April 1918.

Just after the outbreak of the War in 1914, Czech and Slovak settlers and emigrants living in Russia joined the war against the Central Powers as a part of the Russian army. The Russian Imperial Governmdent supported Czechs and Slovaks who were loyal to the Russian Empire, but they made no commitment to the independence of the Czechoslovak state. Meanwhile, the Russian state also barred Masaryk, a vocal critic of Czarism, from entering the country. After the March Revolution of 1917, however, Masaryk gained entry to Russia, and he subsequently established his leadership among the Czechs and Slovaks there. He also mobilized newly-freed Czech and Slovak prisoners of war into what later became known as the “Czechoslovak Legion.”

In the Bohemian Lands, the Russian March Revolution promoted the rise of radical nationalists who claimed the independence of the Czechoslovak state from Habsburg Monarchy. Between January to July 1918, they gradually expanded their influence in the Czech political circles. Yet they lacked sufficient power to overthrow the Habsburg regime on their own. This situation eventually changed when, in April 1918, the negotiations for a separate peace between the Allied Powers and Austria-Hungary miscarried, and, subsequently, the French government turned to openly support anti-Hapsburg movements including the CNC.

After the Bolshevik November Revolution, Soviet Russia and the Central Powers signed the Brest-Litovsk treaty in March 1918. With the eastern front now closed to the Czechoslovak Legion, Masaryk instead decided to transfer his troops to the western front through Vladivostok. On their way to Vladivostok, however, the Legion revolted against the Bolsheviks. This was followed by the Siberian Expedition by the United States and Japan in August. After the outbreak of the rebellion, the CNC was officially recognized by the Allies, and it was regarded as a de facto government by the end of the War. These favorable circumstances led Czechoslovak leaders to declare the independence of the new state and established a new government with exiled leaders at the end of October of 1918.