At this time, when one of the greatest tragedies in history is being enacted on Europe's battlefields and new foundations are being created for the political and economic life of almost the whole world, most serious deliberations are imperative. All circumstances must be considered before any action is started in order to be sure that the oceans of blood now being shed shall not be shed in vain, and that from the battlefields a better future may grow for the world. For us, the Bohemians, members of a nation which has been oppressed for centuries, careful deliberation and timely action is that much more imperative; the time has come when the terrible wounds inflicted upon us by and after the Battle of White Mountain can be healed. We, the Bohemian-Americans, have the opportunity and freedom to act. Not to use this opportunity, to misuse it, or to fail to act would be nothing less than a betrayal of our nation and a failure of our duty.

Well then, what must we do, and how must we do it in order to accomplish 2that which is required of us by the developments of the present era?

This is an extremely difficult question which can be answered only after the most serious deliberations. Only when our task is clear and when we know our mission can we expect all Bohemian-Americans to support us with their energy and their money in doing whatever will be found imperative. So far none of the bodies created, in these serious times, to defend the interests of our nation, have made known its aims and the means by which it proposes to achieve them. If, at the very start, enthusiasm and zeal rather than critical deliberation were the motive power for our actions, it is necessary now that, we see the delay it has caused in our planning--critical deliberation only should be the source of our persistent efforts and should help in removing the last obstacles for the future. At the beginning all of us were certain that the Allies would win an early victory. We figured that six would certainly defeat two, with England's rule of the seas.

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Now, after five months of the war, it is necessary to revise somewhat our calculations. It is necessary to consider cold facts, and to give the enemy his due. He never wins who underestimates or overestimates his foe. In all justice, we have to admit that Germany is accomplishing real wonders in the military, economic, and financial fields. If it has not made good its bombastic boast--to dine in Paris in a month and in Moscow one month later--it has sobered up and now works systematically, heroically, and persistently in order to assure victory. It is getting ready for a long war. Fields where formerly beets, for the manufacture of export sugar were grown, are sown with grain to feed the nation which is singularly united and determined to win. The famous German chemists and engineers are making sure the continued manufacture of all necessary goods, and inventing new implements for the defense and the aggressive acts of the country.

Financially, Germany has stood the first impact in an excellent manner, 4and it seems that until now, at least, it has been able to carry the burdens of the war most satisfactorily. Germany, contrary to the general belief, was not ready for a long war. It had lived in the illusion that it would quickly destroy the enemy. Not until now has it come to the realization that it is in a long and bloody war, and it is getting ready for such a war with the proverbial German energy.

Neither let us believe that time is an element which works against Germany only. Germany is united and need not fear internal unrest. But in England there has been unrest already which, of course, has been suppressed for the time being, and Russia had a revolution during the Russo-Japanese war which won the war for Japan. These are plain facts which may not be to our liking, but must not be overlooked.

But there is another fact. Germany, even when it fights as it does, with almost unequaled rage, bravery, and perseverance, need not hope for victory.

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Germany will not win because it must not win. German victory would make the Kaiser more than a Napoleon, because the Kaiser would have won a simultaneous victory over all his foes, and then, woe not only to those who had been defeated, but also to neutrals who, like Italy, have deserted Germany at the very last minute. Although Germany has been accomplishing wonders, it cannot perform miracles, and just as it has exhausted the energy of its western army, it will exhaust it in the east, and its glory will be over. But if we maintain that Germany cannot win, we must not rely with absolute certainty upon its decisive defeat. Such a reliance would prove our great ignorance of our own history--the Hussite wars--where not more than a handful of peasants, but full of zeal for their own cause, defended themselves successfully against practically all Europe. There are many similar examples in history where a nation filled with enthusiasm and zeal could not be subdued nor annihilated. And does not Germany offer today a picture of an enthusiastic, united nation, a nation which is determined to defend itself to the very last, and to use for its defense all of the best 6means human intellect could devise? Let us not be misled by the illusion that such a nation can be crushed.

What is the Allie's Aim?

The reasons for England's entry into the war are most ably discussed by the greatest living English writer, George Bernard Shaw, in articles now being published in the Chicago Sunday Tribune. The reason was not the violation of Belgium's neutrality. That was only a pretext handed to England by German clumsiness. The reason was the fear that the European balance of power might be upset and thus England itself endangered. England fights Germany for the same reasons today as she fought King Philip II of Spain, "over whose lands the sun did not set," in 1588; and sent Marlborough against King Louis XIV, who maintained that "he was the State," one hundred years later; and again some one hundred years later succeeded in locking Napoleon I in a cage on the Island of St. Helena; for the same reason she 7beseiged and captured Sebastopol in the Crimean War: to prevent the possibility of a rival growing strong enough to endanger her supremacy. "Who knows," says Bernard Shaw, "that in fifty years England, in alliance with Germany, will not be fighting Russia, or even France? It would not be the first time....."

France wants, in the first place, Alsace-Lorraine and the security of her colonial empire against German expansion. Those who remember the Tachod [sic] affair in 1898, when England snatched from the hands of France the Sudan occupied by Colonel Marchand, know that it was not always Germany that crossed the interests of France.

Where are the interests of Russia? First in the Balkans where they are traditional, and then in the Dardanelles which would afford her free access to the wide seas and to world trade. What about the principle of satisfying small nations, the formation of Poland, etc.? The reader may say: "Of 8course, promises are being made today, but 'promising is cheap, and giving costs a heap.'"

When they need you, they are quick to promise. Bismarck promised us a lot of things in 1866, but nobody believes today that he ever thought of fulfilling his promises. Why should England, with her Irish, Hindus, and Egyptians fight for the national principle? Why should France with her Moroccans, Algerians, and many other nationals fight for them, and why should Russia with her Finns, Letts, Ukrainians, various Tartars, and Caucasians fight for them? It is difficult to answer with any degree of logic. Today, the Poles are being promised independence by Russia just as well as by Germany which, until yesterday, was doing all it could to exterminate them. Why do they do it? Benjamin Franklin has written about it in his "Grinding" [sic] and we have a fitting saw about pulling hot chestnuts out of the fire.

What Do We Bohemians Want?

Of course, all of us heartily desire Bohemian independence. A Bohemian 9republic is the ideal for which all of us should gladly sacrifice everything. But, alas, everything in the world does not go as we should like it to go, and we cannot conquer more than fate will permit. It is healthy to have ideals, and nothing can be accomplished without them. But day dreaming or building castles in Spain saps creativeness and is a sign of weakness. Let us first be sure of what we want, and then the manly "I will, I can" is in order.

Let us look around a bit in history to see how other nations have gained their independence. Let us take, for example, Italy which, in very recent times threw off her Hapsburg yoke. Here the liberation and unification of a once great country was not the work of a few Carbonari (secret revolutionary societies); it was not given to Italy through the good graces of other powers, or of some "righteous" diplomats. It was the result of the proper application of her own power and of long and strenuous efforts. Poets had been preparing the people for independence, great statesmen like Cavoni were the builders 10of independence, and great heroes like Garibaldi were the fighters for independence. Thousands of hands and hundreds of the best brains were at work on it for about thirty years. The study of Italy's liberation would be most profitable for our people in these days. The liberation of Serbia, Greece, and other nations came about in very much the same way as that of Italy: through inner strength and persistent effort.

And what has been going on in Bohemia that would justify hopes that we can help achieve the independence of Bohemia today? Who among us has ever formulated clearly the idea of independence? What great, serious statesman or politician has ever dealt with that idea? What poet has sung about it? Where is the multitude that would be willing to pay for its liberation with blood? Our best politicians--Havlicek, Palacky, and Rieger--did not think that far. True enough, Svatopluk Cech has put many an indication into his "Pisne Otroka" (A Slave's Songs) and "Lesetinsky Kovar" (The Blacksmith of Lesetin), but these were nothing more than indications, and 11the people have failed to understand him; again, true enough, we have a handful of determined heroes in France, and many have given evidence of backbone in Austria itself. But all that may hardly be compared to the fire started by Garibaldi. The aims of Bohemian politicians were, quite contrary to a fire, yet fully in keeping with the desires of the majority of the Bohemian people to achieve autonomy--which could well be the last step toward independence. Nature does not love leaps, has said Linne, and if she does not love leaps in organic life, no doubt she does not love leaps in the life of nations, either.

Let us bear in mind that even our United States did not become in one stroke what it is today. The peace with England was signed in 1783, and not until 1787 was Washington elected President. It took four years before the country, liberated and left to her own resources, succeeded in finding the way to its own form of government. How long would this take us, unprepared as we are, surrounded by enemies, and handicapped 12by unfavorable conditions?

It is logical that the aim of the present Bohemian politicians should be nothing else but the autonomy of Bohemia. That is the nearest to independence and the most possible. It is the most possible because our present strength does not seem to suffice for anything more, and it would be a mistake to rely upon favorable circumstances and luck. "Man, help thyself.....," is an old, true, saying. It is doubly true in regard to nations. It is the most possible also because Germany would never tolerate having its southern border menaced by a Slavic state, and it is not certain that Germany will be so badly crushed that it will have to stand for anything. Finally, it is the most possible because the establishment of Bohemian independence would be contrary to the interests of England. The reason for this is that in an independent Bohemia, Russia would have great influence, and thus would extend her sphere of interests into the very center of Europe which means an impairment of the balance 13of powers and therefore a threat to the interests of England. As we have indicated already, Russia will be interested primarily in the Balkans, and her interest there will be much stronger than in us, who have been so far completely or very much of an unknown quantity officially.

"The more you ask for, the more you get," goes a saying. But there is another saying to the effect that "who wants too much, gets nothing". The present time is much too serious to be wasted in hazardous experiments. If Bohemian-America should succeed in accomplishing anything it is necessary that we assume a united front for which again it is indispensable for us to know exactly what we want. Now, at the very beginning of the present war, voices were being heard calling for Bohemian independence. Very well. But that was in the time of the first elation, and all of us felt that way. But now we have sobered up somewhat and want to know--what is what. Let us not become deluded into believing that employing a diplomat, or mailing out a pamphlet--no matter how excellent either may be--will suffice for the 14accomplishment of such a gigantic undertaking as building up a new state. (By the way, it may be worth considering that we shall be likely to run into difficulties in finding here an "excellent diplomat".) Asking people to sacrifice their money and assume the responsibility of speaking on behalf of the whole nation are most serious undertakings. They can be fully justified only when preceded by the adoption of a definite and realistic plan. No visionary dreams or promises that we shall "fix it" in due time will do.

Our duty is to do something that would serve really to benefit the Bohemian nation rather than glorified publicity in the English language daily press. That requires the most serious consideration of all arguments for and against any suggested plans. It requires perspicacity, astuteness, and an indication of creative ability that will engender confidence which is indispensable for our unification. First let us make clear what we want, and then, let us be first in doing what we want.

Jaromir Victor Nigrin