Page:Nosek-great-britain-and-the-czecho-slovaks2.djvu/17

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page has been validated.

11

compiled an admirable little anthology of Bohemian poetry, but beyond that very little has been translated from Czech into English. There are one or two descriptive books in English, notably Monroe’s „Bohemia and the Czechs“, but a great deal more ought to be published about us in English. From political literature one could recommend Mr. Seton Watson’s book on Hungary, as regards the Slovak question. Mr. T. Čapek has published a book in America on „Bohemia under Habsburg Misrule“ and the history of our movement has been outlined in Dr. Beneš’ „Bohemia’s case for Independence“ and my own „Independent Bohemia“. It is to be hoped, however, that a more detailed account of our remarkable revolution against Austria-Hungary may at a later date be published in English, when we shall be able to judge it from a more retrospective attitude, and when we shall be in possession of all documents and evidence relating to it.

The future relations between Great Britain and the Gzecho-Slovak Republic should develope chiefly in the following directions:

a) Economic relations. It should be realised in Great Britain that Bohemia is the most important factor in Central Europe from the economic point of view. Bohemia is very rich industrially as well as in mineral wealth and agriculture, even if she has suffered owing to the war, and if her industries have been temporarily suspended owing to lack of raw materials. Before the war Bohemia formed by far the most productive part of the whole Austrian Empire. She produced 929-lbs of grain per inhabitant, while the rest of Austria yielded only 277 -lbs. Bohemia also monopolised almost the whole sugar and beer industry in Austria. Other products exported from Bohemia included the famous Bohemian glass, gloves, hops, paper, coal, iron, textile products, agricultural products and machinery, etc. Altogether it may be safely estimated that the total export from the Czecho-Slovak territory before the war amounted to some forty million pounds annually. On the other hand we used to import from England and the colonies various machinery and metals, cotton and wool, tea, coffee, spices and other colonial products.

In view of the present situation, when our industries are almost entirely suspended owing to lack of raw materials, British capital could with great advantage be utilised in providing such raw materials for the manufacture of textile and other articles, while agriculture in Bohemia could be helped if English live stock, fertilisers and seeds were imported. Incidentally, such step would prove both a sound investment and a sound policy, for it would enable the Czecho-Slovaks to emancipate their trade and industries from the tute-