The Czechoslovak Review/Volume 4/Jugoslavs and the Czechoslovak Republic

by Karel Kadlec

Jugoslavs and the Czechoslovak Republic

By PROF. KAREL KADLEC, PH. D.

If we must see in Germans and Magyans the greatest enemies of our nation and of our republic, in Jugoslavs we find our best allies and friends of all the neighboring nations. Our relations have always been friendly, because both sides have been conscious of close racial relationship, which led to alliance in the political field, as soon as constitutional regime was introduced in the former Austro-Hungarian monarchy. Through the division of the Hapsburg empire into the Austrian and Hungarian halves the Slavs were split; but in the Austrian parliament there prevailed close co-operation between the Czechs and a part of the Jugoslavs. When the Poles in the Galician diet defeated the federalist program of Francis Šmolka and thus betrayed the Slav program for the reconstruction of Austria championed by the Czechs, Slovenians and Croatians of Dalmatia upheld the Czech program. The diets of Bohemia, Moravia and Carniola, denying the right of the Reichsrat to approve the compromise with Hungary, refused to send deputies to it, whereas the diet of Galicia by a considerable majority voted on March 2, 1867, to send delegates to the Reichsrat. In Dalmatia the national Croatian-Serbian party endorsed the Czech attitude, but being in the minority in the diet was unable to prevent election of delegates for Dalmatia. Again in 1873, when in the interest of centralization elections to the Vienna parliament were to be transfered from the diets to electoral districts, Slovenians supported the Czechs in absenting themselves from the sessions, but the speaker declared a quorum to be present, after he had illegally dprived all absent deputies of their mandates. When later both nations were represented in the Vienna parliament, Slovenians and Croatians supported in general Czech policies, while the Poles co-operated with the Germans. The Czech-Jugoslav friendship was specially strengthened during the war, when the deputies of both nations presented at the first war session of the Austrian parliament, on May 30, 1917, demands for the destruction of dualism and transformation of the Austrian Monarchy into a federal union of free and equal nations. Since that day representatives of Czechs and Jugoslavs worked in perfect harmony for the common goal of breaking up Austria-Hungary and creating their own national states; finally they succeeded. Out of the ruins of the Hapsburg empire smashed by the world war two closely related Slav states arose on almost the same day: Czechoslovak Republic on October 28, 1918, and the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes on October 29.

If our relations with the Jugoslavs have been intimate heretofore, they will be even more cordial and sincere, as the two nations will have to rely on each other’s support in the keen rivalries of the neighboring states.

Relations of Czechoslovaks with t he Slavs of the South date from the beginning of their history. There is considerable interest in the oldest Jugoslav traditions about the origin of the Croatian and Serbian nation, as well as in the Czech tradition about the Czech beginnings. Constantine Porfyrogennitos, an author of the tenth century, writes that Croatians and Serbians according to their own traditions came to their present home from the north. from White (Great) Croatia and White Serbia. Similarly Thomas, archdeacon of Split, the oldest Croatian chronicler, who wrote in the 13th century, says that the Croatians came to Croatia from the North. Against that Czech chroniclers record a tradition, according to which the Czechoslovak tribes came to the Bohemian lands from the south. So Dalimil who composed a chronicle in rhymes at the beginning of the 14th century states that in the Serbian nation there is a land, known as Croatia; in this country there was a chieftain whose name was Čech. This Čech committed a homicide and lost his land in consequence, and then with his six brothers and their numerous retinues left Croatia for the country to which he gave his name. This tradition noted by Dalimil is found also in later Czech and Polish chronicles, and was known to later Croatian historians. Mention of it is found as late as 17th and 18th centuries.

We find similar references in Jugoslav authors Faustus Vrančič, Junius Palmotič, Jerome Kavenin, Sebestian Sladič (Dolci) etc. Among Czech authors Pešina of Čechorod calls all Christianity to arms against the Turks and emphasizes the kinship of Slav nations who suffer most by Turk cruelty. Balbín believes that Čech and Lech (legendary ancestors of the Czech and Polish nations) came originally from Illyria or Croatia. The same opinion is expressed by Jordan in his treatise on the origin of Slavs (De Originibus Slavicis, 1745).

The ties that bound the Czechoslovaks to Jugoslavs were not limited to mere literary expressions, but had a practical basis. The very beginning of our history is bound up with Jugoslavs. In the second half of the ninth century two Greek brothers, Cyril and Methodius, who knew the Slav tongues, came to Greater Moravia as apostles of the Christian religion, and not only introduced Christianity in Moravia, but also laid the foundations for a new Slav literature. Their disciples, after the destruction of the Moravian empire, continued their labors among the southern Slavs. For centuries religious relations were maintained between the Czechs and Jugoslavs. In Bohemia Slav liturgy held its own alongside Latin liturgy in the tenth and eleventh centuries. Princess Ludmila and her grandson, St. Václav, learned the Christian religion from Slav books. Slav legends of Czech saints, Ivan, Ludmila and Václav, written in Bohemia in the 11th century, were circulated among other Slavs, especially in the South. Slav liturgy was limited in the 11th century to the single abbey of Sázava, ruled by St. Procopius. At the end of the 11th century the monks were expelled and went to Hungary. Now and then liturgy was used at the court of King Václav II., when it was visited by distinguished Slav priests, among them Serbian and Croatian priests. Restoration of Slav liturgy took place during the reign of Charles IV. In 1348 this ruler received permission from Pople Clement IV. to establish in Prague a monastery with Slav liturgy, and the following year the monastery of Emaus was founded in Prague with Benedictine monks from the diocese of Sen in Croatia. This monastery was dedicated to Sts. Jerome, Cyril, Methodius, Vojtěch (Adalbert) and Procopius, patrons of the kingdom Bohemia. In 1372 on Easter Sunday the monastery church was consecrated by the Prague archibishop John in the presence of of king Charles IV., and the services were held in the Slav-Croatian tongue according to the glagol rite. Slav liturgy was kept up in the Emaus monastery until the Hussite wars, and then the monastery became the residence of the Hussite administrators of the Utraquist Church.

Charles IV. manifested his Slav feelings not only by the foundation of the Emaus monastery, but also by a letter to the Serbian ruler, Stephan Dušan, written February 19, 1355, and sent through a papal mission which he met in Pisa, as he was on his way to Rome to receive the imperial crown. The letter expresses joy over Stephen’s sympathy with the re-union of Eastern and Western Churches; Charles calls the Serbian czar his beloved brother, not merely as a ruler, but also as one who uses the common Slav tongue.

In later days we hear nothing of friendly contact of Czechs with the South Slavs. The reason is to be looked for not in any disagreements, but in the geographical separation of the two Slav nations by the interposition of Germans and Magyars. Only accidentally a Czech found himself among the Jugoslavs or the reverse. Thus we read that a Bohemian priest named Duch became the first bishop of Zagreb in 1093. In the 15th century a Czech warrior Jan Vitovec of Hřeben, later Count of Zahor, played a distinguished role in Croatian history. When Ullrich, Count of Cili, was governor of Croatia, Jan Vitovec was lieutenant governor, and after Ullrich’s death became governor. Sigismund, king of Bohemia and Hungary, has left an evil mark on Croatian history as the enemy of Bosnian independdence. In Bohemian history again an uncomplimentary mention is made of Fantinus de Valle, procurator of King Poděbrad, who was by birth a Croatian of the Ciprianovič family; as the papal legate he was hostile to King George and the Czech nation. In the history of Bohemian Brethren we nicet with a Croatian from Istria, Matthew Vlasič or Frankovič (Flacius Illyricus), a noted Protestant divine.

The Croatian magnate Nicholas Frankopan, governor of Croatia between 1616 and 1632, was lord of the Starý Jičín manor in Moravia.

In modern days the cause of Czech-Jugoslav friendship was greatly furthered by the Czech scholar Paul Šafařík who was professor in the Croatian city of Nový Sad and whose researches shed rich light on Slav antiquitics.

But systematic cultivation of Czech-Jugoslav relations did not begin until the 19th century, when through the influence of Kollár and his personal labors among the Jugoslavs of Budapest there arose the modern Jugoslav cultural movement, known as Illyrism. Gaj and his co-workers adopted from Czechoslovak orthography diacritical marks, introduced into the Czech language by John Hus. Since that period Croatians and Slovenes use Czech letters (like č, ž, instead of a combination of letters, as formerly.

Friendship between the Czechoslovak and Jugoslav nations was highly valued on both sides. Havlíček wrote in 1846 for the Pražské Noviny: “The Slavs are not one nation, but four nations, as distinct from each other, as any other European nations. Each of the Slav nations must stand for itself and none can be made responsible for the other; they have not common national pride or national shame. Because Slav tongues are so closely related, it is desirable and useful that each Slav nation should pay close attention to the others and benefit by their literatures, languages and racial traits. Only between the Czech and Illyrian (Jugoslav) nations can there be special sympathies, because as things stand, neither can be dangerous to the other, but can be very useful.”

In 1848 took place the first common political manifestation of all the Slavs of the Austrian monarchy, especially the Czechs and Jugoslavs. A Slav Congress was held in Prague in the early part of June, in order to voice the demands of the Slavs for proper political representation in the affairs of the monarchy, alongside of the Germans and Magyars. It was the Croatian politician and author, Ivan Kukuljevič Sakcinski, who first suggested the idea of a Slav congress in the National Gazette of Croatia, Dalmatia and Slavonia on April 20, 1848.

Although the Slav Congress was dispersed without results after the suppression of Prague outbreaks, and absolutist regime returned, Czechoslovak-Jugoslav sympathies could no longer be suppressed. They came to the fore immediately after the granting of the constitution by the October diploma of 1860, its modification by the February patent of 1861, and especially after the introduction of dualism in 1867. As was referred to above, Jugoslav deputies from the Austrian half of the empire backed in the Vienna parliament the program of the Czech deputies; this support was mutual. Unfortunately the division of the Hapsburg monarchy into two almost independent countries made a unitary program on the part of all Czechoslovak or Jugoslav branches impossible. But even so it is well known that Czech members of the Austrian delegation used this forum to criticize the Austro-Hungarian administration of the Bosnian affairs and sometimes brought into the discussion even the affairs of the kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia. It was a matter of course that closest relations should be cultivated between the Czechoslovak and Jugoslav nations in the field of literature and art and culture in general, and as far as possible in the economic field as well. Translation of literary novelties from one language to another was constant, attention was paid in the press of one nation to the life of the other nation, there were meetings of journalists, Sokol meets, industrial conferences etc.

Nevertheless there did not exist any systematic co-operation of the two nations in the various fields of cultural effort. The principal obstacle was the lack of political freedom. The Jugoslavs were broken up into many states and provinces, and even the Czechoslovaks could not act as a unit, as they were divided between Austria and Hungary. But in the future all such obstacles will no longer exist.

The two kindred nations have now their fate in their own. keeping; from now on they can make their mutual relations just what they wish them to be. There is no doubt that the relations will be most cordial; not merely because of race relationship, but for practical reasons which after all have so much to do with all friendships. For nations are as egotistic as individuals. They have their own special interests which they pursue by all means. If they are not sufficiently strong, they seek friends and allies; especially when they are smaller nations, as are the Czechoslovaks and Jugoslavs.

We have expelled our oppressors, but at what a cost! We enter upon our new life almost beggared and with empty hands. We are so completely robbed that we are left with our bare lives, and many with even their lives bruised. And still our former lords, our present enemies, begrudge us this bare freedom. They watch our first steps as an independent nation with anger in their hearts and calumny in their mouths, and scheme to take away from us our liberty. Germans and Magyars will continue to be the enemies of Czechoslovaks and Jugoslavs alike, a danger to their free national life. What is more natural that we should keep common watch and make an alliance for life and death.

In addition to Czechoslovaks and Jugoslavs we shall find in the anti-German and anti-Magyar camp two more nations—Poles and Roumanians. All four are interested in the erection of a strong barrier against the German push toward the East. But still there will be special ties between the Czechoslovaks and Jugoslavs, closer even than the many ties which will bind the Czechoslovaks to Roumanians. Between us and the Roumanians there will be no conflict of interests, and our economic relations will be mutually profitable. But the same is true of our relations with the Jugoslavs, and here in addition we have the strong tie of racial relationship. There is also the fact that we are much nearer to the Jugoslavs than to the Roumanians. Social composition of the nation and political views are much more closely related between the two Slav nations, than between either of them and the Latins of the Balkans. Jugoslavs like Czechoslovaks lost long ago their native nobility, whereas the Roumanians have even today their boyars, so that politically the Slav nations are democratic and therefore in closer sympathy.

Economic interests demand our closest agreement with the kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. We are half agricultural and half industrial, whereas the Jugoslav state will for long remain agricultural, and thus we can suplement each other. We shall export to Jugoslavia many industrial products, and bring back agricultural products. The Jugoslav countries are among the most exclusively agricultural states of Europe. In England those employed in tilling the soil compose only 13 per cent of the population, in France 49 per cent, in Italy 59 per cent, in Russia 75 per cent, and in Jugoslavia fully four fifths. According to 1910 figures 84 per cent of the people in Serbia followed agricultural pursuits, 88 per cent in Bosnia-Hercegovina 85 per cent in Croatia-Slavonia, and 65 per cent in the Slovenian districts.

All kinds of grain and fruit raised in Central Europe thrive in Jugoslavia. Indian corn is the most popular grain; the average amount produced is from 37 to 40 million quintals, more than any other country in Europe. Roumania raises 28 million q, Italy 21 million, Spain 7 million q of Indian corn. As the country people in Jugoslavia prefer for their own consumption yellow corn meal to white wheat flour, they have a large amount of wheat left for export. The annual production of wheat is estimated at 1.6 q to each inhabitant, against 4 in Bulgaria, 2.8 in France and 3.48 in Roumania. In some sections of southern Macedonia rice is grown; much attention is paid to flax, hemp, sugar beets, rape seed. There is much variety of fruit in Jugoslavia; in addition to the species grown in our country they have also olives, figs, chestnuts, lemons, oranges, St. John’s bread and almonds in sheltered places. Everywhere they can grow grapes, some of which make very fine wines. A large area is covered with forests, both broad-leaved and evergreen, and there is much lumber left available for export. The area covered by forests is twice the whole area of Belgium. Jugoslav lumber used to be exported to many places in southern and western Europe, as to Gette in southern France.

Cattle raising was until reecntly the principal occupation of the people in some Jugoslav countries, especially in Serbia. There cattle was the principal scurce of wealth. Gradually the country people learned to lay more stress on cultivation of the soil, but cattle continued to be of great importance. There has been so far little attention paid to improving the breeds by crossing and selection. In this respect the Jugoslavs have much to learn, and in agriculture as well. In some districts the peasants even today do not apreciate the importance of manure and fertilizers or the advantages of agricultural implements. That accounts for the low yield of crops. The most common animals raised in Jugo-

15. Eligible are those citizens of the is estimated at 15 million, more than the total of population. In spite of that there is hardly any export trade in these animals, as the people eat almost entirely mutton and goat meat. Neither are horses bred for export; they are rather small animals, but very hardy. As far as cattle is concerned, good milch cows are found in Slovenian provinces and in Croatia: we may expect to see an export of milk and butter from this part of Jugoslavia into our republic. Serbia will export to us, even more than in the past, pigs and pork products. Jugoslav fisheries, both river and sea, are of considerable importance. Bee culture was once flourishing, but later was neglected; we may hope for its restoration and the importation of honey and wax to us.

Mineral riches of the Jugoslav lands are considerable. In various locations is mined iron, lead, copper, zinc, mercury, sulphur, naphta, even silver and gold. The country possesses important coal beds; in 1913 the production of coal was 32 million quintals, without including the mines of Funfkirchen on the Danube which will undoubtedly go to Jugoslavia. In Idria in the province of Carniola the production of of mercury amounted to nearly four million crowns or 8200 quintals. There is much undeveloped wealth in the Jugoslav rivers; only very little power has been developed so far.

Thus it is apparent that the Jugoslav countries have the necessary requisites for the growth of industrial life. So far domestic manufacturing has been undeveloped, and the needs of the people were supplied largely by imports from foreign countries; this applies especially to textile industry, tanning, steel making, pottery and glassware manufacturing. There is fine opportunity here for Czech industry to capture the Jugoslav markets.

We have merely sketched the Jugoslav industrial life. It is impossible to be more exact, because as yet there are no statistical figures. But there can be no doubt that intimate industrial and commercial relations between the kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes on the one side and the Czechoslovak Republic on the other are to be desired in the interest of both sides. Both states should at once devote their attention to this question. Jugoslavia can and will send to us foodstuffs and raw materials end get in exchange Czechoslovak industrial products.