and saw recruits wearing medals of the Virgin Mary. Here, as everywhere else during the war, I kept a careful eye on religious movements. But from France, as later from a short trip to Northern Italy (where I stayed with the Russian writer, Amfiteatroff), I returned with an easy mind.
Action against Austria.
The time had come to take public action against Austria. All Czech colonies abroad expected and demanded it. In Russia a Czech Military Unit, or “Družina,” had been formed in the autumn of 1914. In France our fellows had joined the army. In all Allied countries our people were vigorously opposing Austria and Germany, and our men were behaving well in the Austro-Hungarian army. We made this widely known with good effect. On April 8, 1915, when the Prague Regiment went over to the Russians at Dukla, even the Austrian newspapers announced that it had been disbanded, though they had until then said nothing of our movement. Political reprisals at home became more severe. As I have said, Dr. Kramář and Dr. Rašin were arrested. The Government at Vienna, yielding more and more to German influences, changed the State escutcheon and abbreviated the constitutional style of the country from that of “The Kingdoms and Lands represented in the Reichsrat” to that of “Austria.”
In our propaganda we turned all these things to account, but we lacked, so to speak, an official designation. The Southern Slavs were ahead of us with their Central organization and their manifestos. The truth was that we needed funds. Money is the sinews of all war; and, for the moment, I had little. None came from Prague, and communications with America were slow. Without money I would not and could not begin to act officially; for action, once begun, must not slacken but must increase and be intensified. Therefore I began by educational propaganda. On July 4, 1915, I spoke of John Hus to our own people and to some Germans at Zurich; and, on July 6, the fourth centenary of his martyrdom, Professor Denis and I held a meeting in the Hall of the Reformation at Geneva. Denis gave an historical address to which I added political comment. Thanks to good publicity the celebration found a favourable echo in all Allied countries, while upon our own colonies and soldiers it had the educational effect of showing that, in the spirit of our Hussite ancestors, we were fighting for a moral as well as for a political purpose. In following years we organized
