There were two other centres of a similar character, both of which were important from a political and propagandist point of view. These were the “Société de Sociologie” and the “Comité National d’Études.” The former organization, at the head of which was the sociologist Professor Worms, was applying itself to the study of the war, and every fortnight held public meetings devoted to the various nations engaged in the war, their demands and aims forming the subject of discussion. All the Austro-Hungarian questions had been publicly examined in detail, and by this process further sections of the French public had been won over.
The “Comité National d’Études” was also influential. It is a society of prominent French intellectuals who meet every week to discuss some important problem in public life. The subject is first dealt with by an expert, a discussion is then held, and if any practical steps are considered necessary they are often taken by individual members who occupy an important position in public affairs. The lectures and discussions are issued in a limited edition as memoranda, and are placed at the disposal of persons in public and political life who are interested in the respective subjects. The Society carried out much admirable work, both during and after the war.
I regularly attended the meetings of the Society, and on several occasions I lectured there on Czechoslovak matters, and on the Austro-Hungarian problem in general. Those present on these occasions comprised such important and influential persons as Léon Bourgeois, Bergson, Appel (the rector of the Sorbonne), Professor Aulard, Gabriel Séailles, Professor Gide, Professor Bouglé, Albert Thomas, Professor Brunhes, Dubreuilh (the Socialist deputy), Professor Durkheim, Denis, Gauvain, Moysset, Eisenmann, as well as a number of senators, deputies, and journalists. The “Comité National d’Études” paid special attention to the problems of oppressed nations in the spring of 1918, and through its influential members intervened with the Government for the adoption of a point of view against Austria-Hungary. After the congress at Rome I lectured to the committee under the chairmanship of Léon Bourgeois, and this led to an intervention with the Government for promoting our recognition.
Besides these groups, there were three important organizations amongst which I made acquaintances. These were the Freemasons, the League for the Rights of Mankind and Citizen-
