These events were followed with particular attention in the Allied countries. After my return from Geneva I had informed Allied circles what would probably happen in Prague, and now my forecast was being carried out almost in exact detail. I had refuted all rumours of a conflict between us and Prague, and now the reports coming from there clearly demonstrated that we had been right. This was a circumstance which at that difficult period helped to strengthen our position among the Allies.
I attach to these Prague events, in their connection with the Geneva negotiations, a considerable political and historical significance. Here I do not wish to engage in a controversy about the various theories on this subject. I am merely recording the facts, and it will be for the impartial jurist and historian to examine them all and pronounce a detached judgment. The formal and solemn severing of all bonds with the former Empire and dynasty, the proclamation of the Republic, and the election of Masaryk as President, the manifestations in favour of the Allies, our movement abroad, Czechoslovak unity—all these proceedings on the part of the revolutionary National Assembly constitute an historic event directly associated with the Geneva negotiations and the coup d’état at Prague on October 28–30, 1918. Our revolutionary activity abroad had again merged with the policy at home and its opposition to the Habsburg monarchy.
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During those November days when in Germany and Central Europe everything was in a state of ferment, revolution, and chaos, when the Allies were making preparations for the Conference, when enemy territories were being occupied, and when there was a menace of Bolshevism in several countries, we in Paris were living in a state of tension, excitement, expectation, and impatience. The provisioning of Bohemia was not proceeding as rapidly as we should have liked and as we had expected from what the Allies had promised. The transport of our troops was also being continually postponed. I urged Prague to be patient, but I myself was not satisfied.
