Český rozvod s c. a k. monarchií – Martínek Miloslav (2026)

In the summer of 1914, the Austro-Hungarian army entered the war full of optimism. Wearing new uniforms and accompanied by bands playing “Zachovej nám, Hospodine” and the “Radetzky March,” as well as pan-German melodies, it marched into a conflict that would last four years and erase Austria-Hungary from the map of Europe. Czech politics changed profoundly during this period. At the beginning of the war, no significant political party in the Czech lands openly advocated an independent state. Only the growing pressure of militarist circles, which undermined democratic institutions in the Austrian part of the monarchy, and Austria’s rapprochement with Prussian Germany led Czech political representatives at home and in exile towards independence. Czech leaders rejected Emperor Charles’s hesitant attempts to federalize Austria and, through the group around T. G. Masaryk that organized the Czechoslovak Legions, gained the support of Allied statesmen. At the end of October 1918, when “the Czechoslovak state entered into existence,” street bands once again played, this time replacing Austrian military marches with melodies by František Kmoch.