of Czech propaganda. After the short rule of the first interim Government new people from Socialist circles took charge of affairs. It was therefore necessary to begin the propaganda of the Czechoslovak cause almost afresh. A special propaganda commission was set up at the branch of the National Council, and Masaryk himself attended to questions of propaganda above all else. Immediately upon his arrival in Russia he renewed contact with his acquaintances and began to extend their circle. He succeeded in securing for the Czechoslovak idea the Press organs of three political groups. These comprised Ryetch and Ruskiya vyedomosti, the daily papers of the Cadet Party; Yedinstvo, the organ of Plekhanov’s group; and finally Volya naroda, the organ of the Right Wing of the Russian Revolutionary Socialists. Masaryk also lectured as the need arose, and took part in what were known as concert meetings which were then in vogue. At that time, too, numerous interviews which he granted to representatives of the Russian Press were used for the purpose of informing the Russian public about us.
At the end of the spring of 1917 Masaryk made an attempt in Russia to bring out a paper on similar lines to the New Europe in England. This attempt did not lead to any tangible result. At Masaryk’s initiative a group of Czech Social Democrats in Moscow then issued a special memorandum for the information of Socialist circles. The State Conference at Moscow in 1917 was also used for propaganda purposes, and on this occasion the Czechs in Russia were represented by Dr. Girsa, who was also one of the speakers.
The Bolshevik Revolution naturally thrust the propaganda of the Czechoslovak cause into the background. The Russian public was too much occupied with its own affairs. Nevertheless, as far as the disturbances in the early months of the revolution permitted, the Soviet circles were kept informed about the Czechoslovak programme. The Czechoslovak Army Corps, on its journey from Russia to France, also endeavoured to make the essentials of the Czechoslovak movement known to the Russians by distributing leaflets in the localities through which it passed.
The conflict between the Czechoslovak Army and the Soviet Government naturally put an end to these efforts. The actual achievement of our troops was of such a character that no further propaganda of our cause was needed.
