CHAPTER IV
IN THE WEST
(Paris and London. Sept. 1915—May 1917)
IT was time to transfer the centre of our work to the Allied capitals. Even before leaving Prague I had urged that we should be represented in Paris, London and Petrograd, at least; and that, to this end, enough of us should go abroad. Beneš, whom I was expecting, was destined for Paris, while I was to be in London. He reached Geneva on September 2, 1915. I left on September 5, and he followed me to Paris on September 16.
In 1915 Paris was the military and London the political headquarters of the Allies. For France it was important to win and to hold British sympathies and, through them, to influence America also. Besides, England stood closer than France to the Italians. Therefore I decided to live in London, and to visit Paris occasionally. Despite the submarines, communications were quick and easy. Now and then Beneš was to come to London. That, in fact, is what we did. Paris and London together formed an active political whole. The Anglo-French Entente was of the utmost importance during the war and the making of the Peace; and it is important still.
London suited me, too, for purposes of communication with America—an increasingly weighty matter. A very notable branch of our propaganda was being developed in America, as I shall presently show; and when mishap compelled us to alter our channels of underground communication with Prague, I used messengers from America and Holland. From London it was easier to keep in touch with both of these countries.
But our political position in England and France was still precarious. Of our political leaders I alone was abroad, whereas a number of prominent Southern Slav members of the Austrian and Hungarian Parliaments, whose names had become known through the Agram High Treason trial of 1909 and through their anti-Austrian activities generally, had got away in time. In addition, the heroic struggle of Serbia created a living programme for all the Southern Slavs and indeed for Europe—a programme written in blood, for the savagery of
