The Czechoslovak Review/Volume 2/The Declaration of Geneva

THE DECLARATION OF GENEVA.

At the end of October a meeting was held in Geneva between the representatives of the Czechoslovak government, recognized by the Allies, and the delegates of the Czechoslovak people from Prague. It was the first time during all the course of the war that official representatives of the two parallel movements had an opportunity to meet. At the close of the conferences the delegates from Prague addressed to Dr. Edward Beneš, Czechoslovak Minister of Foreign Affairs, the following declaration of confidence and gratitude:

“After four years of complete separation from the civilized world the delegation of the Czechoslovak National Committee of Prague arrived on the soil of free Switzerland and joined hands with the representatives of the provisional government of the Czechoslovak State in Paris.

It is difficult, nay impossible, to describe in a few words the sufferings and misery of the Czechoslovak nation during these four years. Not even approximately can we estimate the sacrifices of life and property for the attainment of its freedom. But however great were the sufferings and however heavy the blows, the nation bore them with a firm faith that the dream of liberty would be realized in this war. In this firm and mystic faith in the victory of its just cause the nation was strengthened by the thought that it was not abandoned in its sufferings and that its more fortunate and free faction was fighting for liberation by the force of spirit and by weapons. On the wide plains of Russia, on the devastated meadows of northern France and in the Italian mountains the Czechoslovak flag flies over the heads of heroes who spuming death laid down their lives daily for the liberty of their nation, gaining immortal glory and winning for themselves the undying gratitude of the entire nation. With bated breath hundreds of thousands read at home news of their own army, families proudly boast of sons who fight under the Czechoslovak banners, and the day of return of the victorious legions will be a national holiday which future generations for centuries will remember.

But no less grateful is the nation to those sons of hers who fought with the weapons of the mind to gain a place for their small nation on the international stage, who voluntarily left their country and their families, afraid of no personal selfdenials and correcting misunderstanding and ignorance they convinced the world that it should return liberty to the nation, which in its greatest periods could shed blood for freedom of faith and conscience.

The names of Thomas G. Masaryk, Milan Štefanik and Edward Beneš, the names of all their associates and coworkers, whom we cannot name here, will be inscribed by the grateful nation in its memory, and history will record them in lines of metal on the most glorious pages of national annals.

The undersigned delegation of the Czechoslovak National Committee and the Union of Czech Deputies, fulfilling a sacred {{SIC|an dpleasant|and pleasant]] duty on be half of the entire nation, expresses its admiration for the heroic Czechoslovak Army, the true sons of their Hussite fathers, and its immeasurable gratitude to all the men who managed the fortunes of the nation abroad. We ask you, dear Mr. Minister, to transmit these sentiments to all those concerned.⁠Geneva, October 31, 1918.
For the Czechoslovak National Committee of Prague
Karel Kramář, President;
Václav Klofáč, Vice President.
For the Union of Czech Deputies
Francis Staněk, President;
Anton Kalina, Second Vice President;
Gustav Haberman, Vice President;
Dr. Přemysl Šámal.