Tomáš Masaryk
Tomáš Masaryk | |
---|---|
President of Czechoslovakia | |
In office 14 November 1918 – 14 December 1935 | |
Prime Minister | |
Preceded by | Office established |
Succeeded by | Edvard Beneš |
Member of the House of Deputies | |
In office 17 June 1907 – 25 September 1917 | |
Constituency | Moravia |
In office 9 April 1891 – 25 September 1893 | |
Constituency | Bohemia |
Personal details | |
Born | Tomáš Masaryk 7 March 1850 Czech Progressive Party (1900–1918) |
Spouse | |
Children | 5, including Alice, Herbert, Jan and Olga |
Alma mater | University of Vienna (PhD, 1876; Dr. habil., 1879) |
Profession | Philosopher |
Signature | |
Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk[a] (7 March 1850 – 14 September 1937) was a Czechoslovak statesman, progressive political activist and philosopher who served as the first president of Czechoslovakia from 1918 to 1935. He is regarded as the founding father of Czechoslovakia.
Born in
With the fall of Austria-Hungary in late 1918, the First Czechoslovak Republic received recognition from the Allied powers and Masaryk was recognised as head of its provisional government. He was formally elected president in November, and was reelected three times subsequently. Masaryk presided over a period of stability as Czechoslovakia emerged as a strong democratic state. He resigned from office in 1935 due to old age, and was succeeded by Beneš. He retired to the village of Lány and died two years later at the age of 87.
Early life
Masaryk was born to a poor, working-class family in the predominantly Catholic city of Hodonín, Margraviate of Moravia, in Moravian Slovakia (in the present-day Czech Republic, then part of the Austrian Empire). The nearby Slovak village of Kopčany, the home of his father Jozef, also claims to be his birthplace.[1] Masaryk grew up in the village of Čejkovice, in South Moravia, before moving to Brno to study.[2]
His father, Jozef Masárik, was Slovak, born in Kopčany, Slovakia. Jozef Masárik was a carter and, later, the steward and coachman at the imperial estate in the nearby town of Hodonín. Tomáš's mother, Teresie Masaryková (née Kropáčková), was a Moravian of Slavic origin who received a German education. A cook at the estate, she met Masárik and they married on 15 August 1849.
Education
After grammar school in Brno and Vienna from 1865[3] to 1872, Masaryk attended the University of Vienna and was a student of Franz Brentano.[4] He received his Ph.D. from the university in 1876 and completed his habilitation thesis, Der Selbstmord als soziale Massenerscheinung der modernen Civilisation (Suicide as a Social Mass Phenomenon of Modern Civilization), there in 1879.[4] From 1876 to 1879, Masaryk studied in Leipzig with Wilhelm Wundt and Edmund Husserl.[5] He married Charlotte Garrigue, whom he had met while a student in Leipzig, on 15 March 1878. They lived in Vienna until 1881, when they moved to Prague.
Masaryk was appointed professor of philosophy at the Czech Charles-Ferdinand University, the Czech-language part of Charles University, in 1882. He founded Athenaeum, a magazine devoted to Czech culture and science, the following year.[6] Athenaeum, edited by Jan Otto, was first published on 15 October 1883.
Masaryk's students included Edward Benes and Emanuel Chalupny.[7]
Masaryk challenged the validity of the epic poems
Masaryk was greatly influenced by the 19th-century cult of science.[9] The 19th century was an age of tremendous scientific and technological advances, and as such scientists enjoyed immense prestige. Masaryk believed that social problems and political conflicts were the results of ignorance, and that provided that one undertook a proper "scientific" approach to studying the underlying causes it would be possible to devise the correct solutions.[9] As such, Masaryk saw his role as an educator who would enlighten the public from its ignorance and apathy.[9]
Politician
Masaryk served in the
When the
During World War I and afterwards, Masaryk supported the unification of Kingdom of Serbia and Kingdom of Montenegro.[12]
Masaryk championed
Czechoslovak Legion and US visit
On 5 August 1914, the Russian High Command authorized the formation of a battalion recruited from Czechs and Slovaks in Russia. The unit went to the front in October 1914 and was attached to the Russian Third Army.
From its start, Masaryk wanted to develop the legion from a battalion to a formidable military formation. To do so, however, he realized that he would need to recruit Czech and Slovak prisoners of war (POWs) in Russian camps. In late 1914, Russian military authorities permitted the legion to enlist Czech and Slovak POWs from the Austro-Hungarian army; the order was rescinded in a few weeks, however, because of opposition from other areas of the Russian government. Despite continuing efforts to persuade the Russian authorities to change their minds, the Czechs and Slovaks were officially barred from recruiting POWs until the summer of 1917.[citation needed] Under these conditions, the Czechoslovak armed unit in Russia grew slowly from 1914 to 1917. Masaryk preferred to concentrate on elites rather than public opinion.[14] On 19 October 1915, Masaryk gave the inaugural address at the newly opened School of Slavonic Studies at King's College London on "The Problem of Small Nations in the European Crisis", arguing that on both moral and practical grounds that the United Kingdom should support the independence efforts of "small" nations such as the Czechs.[14] Shortly afterwards, Masaryk crossed the English Channel to go to Paris, where he delivered a speech in French at the Institut d'études slaves of the Sorbonne on "Les Slaves parmi les nations" ("The Slavs Among the Nations"), receiving what was described as a "vigorous applause".[14]
During the war, Masaryk's intelligence network of Czech revolutionaries provided critical intelligence to the allies. His European network worked with an American counterespionage network of nearly 80 members, headed by
In early 1916, the Czechs and Slovaks in Russian service were reorganized as the First Czecho-Slovak Rifle Regiment.[citation needed] In a rare attempt to influence public opinion, Masaryk opened up an office on Piccadilly Circus in London whose exterior was covered with pro-Czechoslovak slogans and maps with the intention of attracting the interest of those walking by.[14] One of Masaryk's most important British friends was the journalist Wickham Steed who wrote articles in the newspapers urging British support for Czechoslovakia.[19] Another important British contract for Masaryk was the historian Robert Seton-Watson, who also wrote widely in the British press urging British support for the "submerged" nations of the Austrian empire.[20] After the 1917 February Revolution he proceeded to Russia to help organize the Czechoslovak Legion, a group dedicated to Slavic resistance to the Austrians. Miliukov became the new Russian foreign minister in the Provisional government, and proved very sympathetic towards the idea of creating Czechoslovakia. After the Czechoslovak troops' performance in July 1917 at the Battle of Zborov (when they overran Austrian trenches), the Russian provisional government granted Masaryk and the Czechoslovak National Council permission to recruit and mobilize Czech and Slovak volunteers from the POW camps. Later that summer a fourth regiment was added to the brigade, which was renamed the First Division of the Czechoslovak Corps in Russia (Československý sbor na Rusi, also known as the Czechoslovak Legion – Československá legie). A second division of four regiments was added to the legion in October 1917, raising its strength to about 40,000 by 1918.
Masaryk formed a good connection with Russian supreme commanders, Mikhail Alekseyev, Aleksei Brusilov, Nikolay Dukhonin and Mikhail Diterikhs, in Mogilev, from May 1917.
Masaryk travelled to the United States in 1918, where he convinced President
T.G. Masaryk's heroic defence of the Jewish defendant in the Hilsner Trial left a lasting mark on him and led to a deep interest in Jewish thought, Zionism and interreligious relations.[22] At the same time, according to Czech historian Jan Láníček, Masaryk believed that Jews had a "great influence on newspapers in all the Allied countries", and helped the nascent state of Czechoslovakia during its struggle for independence.[23]
Leader of Czechoslovakia
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With the fall of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1918, the Allies recognized Masaryk as head of the provisional Czechoslovak government. On 14 November of that year, he was elected president of Czechoslovakia by the National Assembly in Prague while he was in New York. On 22 December, Masaryk publicly denounced the Germans in Czechoslovakia as settlers and colonists.[24]
Masaryk was re-elected three times: in May 1920, 1927, and 1934. Normally, a president was limited to two consecutive terms by the 1920 constitution, but a one-time provision allowed the first president–Masaryk–to run for an unlimited number of terms.
On paper, Masaryk had a somewhat limited role; the framers of the constitution intended to create a parliamentary system in which the
He used his authority in Czechoslovakia to create the Hrad (the Castle), an extensive, informal political network. Under Masaryk's watch, Czechoslovakia became the strongest democracy in Central Europe. Masaryk's status as a Protestant leading a mainly Catholic nation led to criticism, as did his promotion of the 15th-century proto-Protestant Jan Hus as a symbol of Czech nationalism.[25]
There were founded "The Masaryk Academy of Labour", for the scientific study of scientific management too, with the Masaryk's supporting in Prague in 1918 and Masaryk University in Brno.[26]
Masaryk visited France, Belgium, England, Egypt and the Mandate for Palestine in 1923 and 1927. With Herbert Hoover, he sponsored the first Prague International Management Congress, a July 1924 gathering of 120 global labour experts (of which 60 were from the United States), organized with Masaryk Academy of Labour.[27] After the rise of Adolf Hitler, Masaryk was one of the first political figures in Europe to voice concern.
Masaryk resigned from office on 14 December 1935, because of old age and poor health, and was succeeded by Edvard Beneš.
Death and legacy
Masaryk died less than two years after leaving office, at the age of 87, in Lány. He was buried next to his wife in a plot at Lány cemetery, where later the remains of Jan Masaryk and Alice Masaryková were laid to rest.
Masaryk did not live to see the Munich Agreement or the Nazi occupation of his country, and was known as the Grand (Great) Old Man of Europe.
Commemorations
As the founding father of Czechoslovakia, Masaryk is revered by Czechs and Slovaks.
Masaryk University in Brno, founded in 1919 as Czechoslovakia's second university, was named after him when it was founded; after 30 years as Univerzita Jana Evangelisty Purkyně v Brně, it was renamed for Masaryk in 1990.
Commemorations of Masaryk have been held annually in the Lány cemetery on his birthday and day of death (7 March and 14 September) since 1989.
The Czechoslovak, then Czech Order of Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk, established in 1990, is an honour awarded to individuals who have made outstanding contributions to humanity, democracy and human rights.
He is commemorated by a number of statues, busts, plaques, coins and postage stamps. Although most are in or of the Czech Republic and
Avenida Presidente Masaryk (President Masaryk Avenue) is a main thoroughfare in the exclusive Polanco neighbourhood of Mexico City. In 1999 the city of Prague donated a statue[29] of Masaryk to Mexico City, one of the two originals made when the statue for the Prague Castle was being prepared for the 150th anniversary of his birth.[30]
The community of Masaryktown, Florida, founded by Slovaks and Czechs, is named after him.[31]
In Israel, Masaryk is considered an important figure and a national friend. A village was named after him -
Streets in Zagreb, Belgrade, Dubrovnik, Daruvar, Varaždin, Novi Sad, Smederevo and Split are named Masarykova ulica, and a main thoroughfare in Ljubljana is named after Masaryk. Streets named Thomas Masaryk can be found in Geneva[34] and Bucharest.[citation needed]
Asteroid 1841 Masaryk, discovered by Luboš Kohoutek, is named after him.[35]
Honours and awards
He received awards and decorations before and after World War I.[36][37]
National honours
- Austria-Hungary: Jubilee Military Medal (1898)
- Austria-Hungary: Military Jubilee Cross (1908)
- Czechoslovakia: Czechoslovak War Cross 1918 (1919)
- Czechoslovakia: Czechoslovak Revolutionary Medal (1919)
- Czechoslovakia: Order of the Falcon (1919)
- Czechoslovakia: Czechoslovak Victory Medal (1922)
Foreign honours
- Kingdom of Yugoslavia: Order of Karađorđe's Star (1920)
- France: Légion d'honneur (1921)
- Kingdom of Italy: Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus (1921)
- Tunisia: Order of Glory (1923)
- United Kingdom: Order of St Michael and St George (1923)
- Belgium: Order of Leopold (1923)
- Spain: Order of Charles III (1924)
- Denmark: Order of the Elephant (1925)
- Poland: Order of the White Eagle (1925)
- Austria: Decoration of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria (1926)
- Kingdom of Romania: Order of Carol I (1927)
- Kingdom of Romania: Commemorative Cross of the 1916–1918 War (1927)
- Greece: Order of the Redeemer (1927)
- Latvia: Order of the Three Stars (1927)
- Empire of Japan: Order of the Chrysanthemum (1928)
- Kingdom of Egypt: Order of Muhammad Ali (1928)
- Netherlands: Order of the Netherlands Lion (1929)
- Holy See: Order of the Holy Sepulchre (1929)
- Lithuania: Order of the Cross of Vytis (1930)
- Finland: Order of the White Rose of Finland (1930)
- Portugal: Military Order of Saint James of the Sword (1930)
- Estonia: Order of the Cross of the Eagle (1931)
- Spanish Republic: Order of the Spanish Republic (1935)
- Siam: Order of the White Elephant (1935)
- Colombia: Order of Boyacá (1937)
Philosophy
Masaryk's motto was "Do not fear, and do not steal" (
Books
He wrote several books in Czech, including The Czech Question (1895), The Problems of Small Nations in the European Crisis (1915), The New Europe (1917), and The World Revolution (Svĕtová revoluce; 1925) translated into English as The Making of a State (1927). Karel Čapek wrote a series of articles, Hovory s T.G.M. ("Conversations with T.G.M."), which were later collected as Masaryk's autobiography.
Personal life
Masaryk married
Born and raised a
Family tree
Tomáš Masaryk | Charlotte Garrigue | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Alice | Herbert | Jan | Eleanor | Olga | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Bibliography
- (1885) Základové konkretné logiky (Foundations of Concrete logic). Prague. (German: Versuch einer concreten Logik), Vienna, 1887).
- (1898) Otázka sociální (The Social Question). Prague. (German: Die philosophischen und sociologischen Grundlagen des Marxismus), Vienna, 1899).
- (1913) Russland und Europa (Russia and Europe). Jena, Germany. (The Spirit of Russia, tr. Eden and Cedar Paul, London, 1919).
- (1918) The New Europe, London.
- (1919) The Spirit of Russia: Studies in History, Literature and Philosophy, trans. by Paul, Eden and Cedar, 2 vols. (London: Allen & Unwin, 1919) [2] Vol. 1, [3] Vol. 2.
- (1922) The Slavs After the War, London.
- (1925) Světová revoluce (World revolution). Prague. (The Making of a State, tr. H. W. Steed, London, 1927; Making of a State, tr. Howard Fertig, 1970.)
See also
- School of Brentano, a group of philosophers and psychologists who studied with Franz Brentano
- 1841 Masaryk, an asteroid
References
- ^ Czech: [ˈtomaːʒ ˈɡarɪk ˈmasarɪk]
- ^ Michaláč, Jozef 2007 T.G. Masaryk a kopčianska legenda. Kde sa v skutočnosti narodil náš prvý prezident? Bratislava: Nestor.
- ^ Čapek, Karel. 1995 [1935–1938]. Talks with T.G. Masaryk, tr. Michael Henry Heim. North Haven, CT: Catbird Press, p. 77.
- ^ Brno, Studium na gymnáziu, návštěvy města (in Czech), Masarykův ústav a Archiv AV ČR, retrieved 2 March 2019
- ^ a b Zumr, Joseph. 1998. "Masaryk, Tomáš Garrigue (1850–1937)". pp. 165–66 in the Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy, ed. Edward Craig. London: Routledge.
- ^ Čapek, Karel. 1995 [1935–1938]. Talks with T.G. Masaryk, tr. Michael Henry Heim. North Haven, CT: Catbird Press, p. 33
- ISBN 978-87-7684-737-1.
- ISSN 0002-9602.
- ^ Wein, Martin. 2015. History of the Jews in the Bohemian Lands. Leiden: Brill, pp. 40-43, including Hilsner's biography Table of Contents
- ^ a b c Orzoff 2009, p. 30.
- ^ "Србија некада мамила као Америка". www.novosti.rs.
- ISBN 978-80-87173-47-3.
- ^ Sistek, Frantisek (January 2019). "Czech-Montenegrin Relations, In: Ladislav Hladký et al., Czech Relations with the Nations and Countries of Southeastern Europe, Zagreb: Srednja Evropa 2019".
- ^ https://www.mujrozhlas.cz/their-own-words/feminist-legacy-charlotte-and-tomas-garrigue-masaryk
- ^ a b c d e Orzoff 2009, p. 44.
- ^ Popplewell 1995, p. 237
- ^ Masaryk 1970, pp. 50, 221, 242
- ^ Voska & Irwin 1940, pp. 98, 108, 120, 122–23
- ^ Bose 1971, p. 233
- ^ Orzoff 2009, p. 41.
- ^ Orzoff 2009, p. 43.
- ISBN 978-80-87173-47-3.
- ^ Wein, Martin. 2015. History of the Jews in the Bohemian Lands. Leiden: Brill, p. 60-63, including Masaryk's biography with a focus on Jewish ties, also see 40-46 on Hilsner Trial itself Table of Contents
- ISBN 978-1-137-31747-6.
Later on, Masaryk repeated the same story, only instead of using 'partly managed' he used the phrase 'a great influence on newspapers in all the Allied countries'. The great philosopher and humanist Masaryk was still using the same anti-Semitic trope found at the bottom of all anti-Jewish accusations.
- ^ Orzoff 2009, p. 140.
- ^ Orzoff 2009, p. 123.
- ^ Preclík, Vratislav: K stému výročí vzniku Masarykovy akademie práce (One hundred years of the Masaryk Academy of Labour), in Strojař (The Machinist): Journal of MA, časopis Masarykovy akademie práce, January–June 2020, year XXIX., issue 1, 2., ISSN 1213-0591, registrace Ministerstva kultury ČR E13559, pp. 2–20
- ^ Proceedings from 1.PIMCO "Encyclopedy of Performance", 2500 pages (3 volumes "Man", "Production", "Business") Masaryk Academy of Labour, Prague 1924 - 1926
- ^ "Thomas Garriue Masaryk – Public Art and Architecture from Around the World".
- ^ http://www.mzv.cz/public/60/43/b3/1 44368_14893_odhaleni.jpg Photo of the unveiling by the President of the City Government Rosario Robles and the Lord Mayor of the City of Prague Jan Kasl
- ^ "Statue of Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk". Prague.eu The Official Tourist Website for Prague. Retrieved 17 June 2022.
- ^ Blackstone, Lillian (23 March 1952). "Into center of state". St. Petersburg Times. p. 19. Retrieved 1 November 2015.
- ^ Martin Wein, A History of Czechs and Jews: A Slavic Jerusalem. London: Routledge, 2015, specifically pp. 50-63 [1]
- ^ "KKL Czech Presidents' Birthday".
- ^ Plan of the City Center, Genf 2000 (Thomas Masaryk Chemin)
- ISBN 978-3-540-29925-7.
- ^ Acović, Dragomir (2012). Slava i čast: Odlikovanja među Srbima, Srbi među odlikovanjima. Belgrade: Službeni Glasnik. p. 369.
- ^ "Řády a vyznamenání prezidentů republiky" (in Czech). vyznamenani.net. 18 December 2012. Retrieved 24 May 2021.
- ^ Masaryk, T. G.: Otázka sociální, Praha 1896, German 1898 Otázka sociální: základy marxismu filosofické a sociologické I. a II., MÚ AV ČR, Praha 2000 (6. č. vyd.).
- ^ see publications: Charlotta Garrigue Masaryková (Charlie Masaryková): „O Bedřichu Smetanovi“ (About B. Smetana), články v Naší době 1893 (Articles in Journal „Naše doba“ 1893), Epilogue Miloslav Malý, Masarykovo demokratické hnutí (issued by Masaryk's Democratic Movement, Prague, 2-nd edition), Praha 1993
- ^ "Masarykův vztah k náboženství" (in Czech). rozhlas.cz. 7 March 2015. Retrieved 18 July 2016.
- ISBN 978-963-7326-39-4. Retrieved 7 August 2013.
Sources and further reading
- Bose, A. C. (1971). Indian Revolutionaries Abroad, 1905–1927. Patna: Bharati Bhawan. ISBN 81-7211-123-1.
- M. and R. Weatherall, London, 1934; and Masaryk on Thought and Life, London, 1938)
- Masaryk, T. (1970). Making of a State. Howard Fertig. ISBN 0-685-09575-4.
- Orzoff, Andrea (2009). Battle for the Castle: The Myth of Czechoslovakia in Europe, 1914–1948. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-536781-2.
- Popplewell, Richard J (1995). Intelligence and Imperial Defence: British Intelligence and the Defence of the Indian Empire 1904–1924. Routledge. ISBN 978-0-7146-4580-3. Archived from the originalon 26 March 2009. Retrieved 18 January 2008.
- Preclík, Vratislav (2019). Masaryk a legie (in Czech). Paris Karviná in association with the Masaryk Democratic Movement, Prague. p. 219. ISBN 978-80-87173-47-3.
- Voska, E.V; Irwin, W (1940). Spy and Counterspy. New York. Doubleday, Doran & Co.
- Walzel, Vladimir S.; Polak, Frantisek; Solar, Jiri (1960). T. G. Masaryk – Champion of Liberty. Research and Studies Center of CFTUF, New York.
- Wein, Martin. A History of Czechs and Jews: A Slavic Jerusalem. London: Routledge, 2015, 40-65 specifically on T.G. Masaryk and Jews [4]
- Wiskemann, Elizabeth. "Masaryk and Czechoslovakia," History Today (Dec 1968), Vol. 18 Issue 12, pp 844–851 online
External links
- Works by Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk available online and for download from the catalogue of the Municipal Library in Prague Archived 2017-02-22 at the Wayback Machine (in Czech).
- Thomas G. Masaryk Papers
- Works by or about Tomáš Masaryk at Internet Archive
- Newspaper clippings about Tomáš Masaryk in the 20th Century Press Archives of the ZBW