Alois Rašín

Alois Rašín (18 October 1867 in Nechanice,^[1] Bohemia, Austria-Hungary – 18 February 1923 in Prague,^[2] Bohemia, Czechoslovakia) was a Czech and Czechoslovakian politician, economist, one of the founders of Czechoslovakia and first Ministry for Finance. He was the author of the first law of Czechoslovakia and creator of the country's currency, the Czechoslovak koruna. Rašín was a representative of conservative liberalism and was mortally wounded in assassination for being viewed as a head of the nation's capitalism.^[3]

Early years

Rašín was born as a ninth child (of which seven were alive) into the cottage in the outskirts of a small town Nechanice near Hradec Králové. His father František Rašín was a farmer, baker and a vendor of flour and cereals. His mother worked in their household and on the field. The family later bought a house in the town and another field. Later in life, Rašín described poor social reality in the area that was focused on the sugar industry.^[4] He also criticized the so-called "harfenictví": traveling musician groups connected to prostitution that expanded after the cancellation of the corvee.^[3]

From 1878 to 1881, Rašín attended a

In 1888, Rašín returned to Prague to properly continue his studies. There he was actively participating in the student movement and three years later he participated at the Conference of Slavonic students with Antonín Hajn and Václav Klofáč. The Czech youth's opinions defied against the Austrian monarchy, police and the conservative Old Czech Party. Their most powerful instrument was the Magazine of Czech Students (Czech: Časopis českého studentstva), where they propagated the adoption of universal voting rights and greater national rights for Czech people. Rašín was supporting the National Freedom Party which is another name for the Young Czech Party that got into the Bohemian Diet and in 1891 into the Imperial Council.^[3]

In October 1891, he graduated from his law studies at Charles University and continued in his political activity. In the day of the Emperor's Franz Joseph I of Austria arrival to Prague, Rašín published an anti-state legal-political text Czech State Law (Czech: České státní právo) in which he outlined the program of restoring the independent Czech state in the spirit of the democracy with the guarantees for the rights of the minorities. He joined service in the military in Hungarian Pest (where he was complaining about their cuisine^[4]) and passed an officer’s exams with the best results. But because of his previous controversial article that was confiscated by the police, he was threatened by prolonging his service in the military to two years in total and loss of his ranks.^[3]

Rašín returned from his military service in the fall of 1892 and started to work as an advocate concipient. He was elected the mayor of "Slavia": literary and rhetorical association of progressors that supported strengthening

Despite having little and questionable evidence against radical movements in Prague, the Austrian government declared a state of emergency in September 1893 and started to arrest critical voices.^[6] In October Alois Rašín was taken to custody together with redactors and editorial staff of oppositional newspapers Antonín Hajn, Josef Škába, Antonín Pravoslav Veselý, Karel Stanislav Sokol, Stanislav Kostka Neumann, and others. Journals were banned and 70 people were arrested. The defendants in the process remembered as Omladina Trial were accused of the highest treason for conspiring against the state. In fact, the group called Omladina never existed. In January 1894 the trial began and Rašín was sentenced to 2 years unconditionally to prison in Bory (cell number 248). He lost his academic titles and civil rights.^[3]

In prison, he never asked for pardon and in his free time, he pursued learning French, English, reading, translating (translated English social-political text The Eight Hour Day), and studying national economic policies. In November 1894, his father became a member of the

Rašín left prison after the amnesty in November 1895 and regain his academic titles. He returned to writing his critical anti-monarchic articles to Radical Newspaper, newly with a critique of Masaryk’s views. The Czech Progressive Movement divided to radically progressive around the journal Independence (Czech: Samostatnost) and Antonín Hajn and to nationally progressive and statutory around Radical Newspaper which Rašín turned into a journal. In 1899, he was partially involved in the creation of a Radical Statutory Party officially named Czech Statutory Party (Czech: Česká státoprávní strana) but left it year after when his son was born. He founded independent weekly newspaper Word (Czech: Slovo) and created his own Law Office. As an advocate, Alois Rašín represented Živnobanka bank.^[3]

The weekly paper ended 1905 and together with the banker of Živnobanka

In July 1918, the National Committee of Czechoslovakia (Czech: Národní výbor československý) was formed to overtake the power in the country and to create new laws. Karel Kramář was Chairman, Antonín Švehla Vice-Chairman, František Soukup Managing Director and Alois Rašín Member of the Board. In the night from 27th to 28th, Vlastimil Tusar called Rašín from Vienna and said that Czech politics needs to go to the front and support fighters in endurance and not leaving. He knew that this is a sign of surrender. Rašín said: “I was convinced that it will burst tomorrow.” ^[11] In the morning, Rašín met Švehla and others from the National Assembly. After they received Andrássyho nóta (recognition of nations to self-determination), they decided to take the power before surrender. Today, Alois Rašín is remembered as one of the Men of the 28th October (with Antonín Švehla, Jiří Stříbrný, Vavro Šrobár, František Soukup), who together declared an independent Czechoslovakian state. Rašín was the first one who publicly announced the state in the place of National Assembly, he also was the author of the first law which established an independent state.^[3]

In November 1918, the

• České státní právo, Ed.: Časopis českého studenstva, Prague 1891 (this brochure was forbidden)
• Můj finanční plán, Pražská akciová tiskárna, Prague 1920
• Listy z vězení, Prague 1937
• Mé vzpomínky z mládí, Prague 1928
• Financial Policy of Czechoslovakia during the First Year of its History, Clarendon Press, Oxford 1923 (online at
  Archive.org
  )
• Finanční a hospodářská politika do konce roku 1921, Pražská akciová tiskárna, Prague 1922
• Národní hospodářství, Český čtenář, Prague 1922
• Die Finanz- und Wirtschaftspolitik der Tschechoslowakei, Duncker & Humblot, Munich/Leipzig 1923

Further reading

Wikisource has original works by or about:
Alois Rašín

• Alois Rašín – Dramatický život českého politika by Čechurová Jana, Prague 1997
• Alois Rašín – Jeho život, dílo a doba by Hoch Karel, Prague 1934
• Říjen 1918 by Klimek Antonín, Prague 1998
• Paměti dr. Aloise Rašína (editor Ladislav Rašín), Brno 1994
• Dr. Alois Rašín – Úvahy a vzpomínky by Penížek Josef, Prague 1926
• Rašínův památník (editors F. Fousek, J. Penížek, A. Pimper), Prague 1927
• Alois Rašín by Vencovský František, Prague 1992

References