Pittsburgh Agreement Creates Czechoslovakia 1918 Plaque in 2004

The Pittsburgh Agreement was a memorandum of understanding completed on May 31, 1918, between members of Czech and Slovak expatriate communities in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. It replaced the Cleveland Agreement of October 22, 1915. It is named for the city of

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

, where the agreement was made. The agreement prescribed the intent of the cosignatories to create an independent

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

.Votruba M.
"Pittsburgh Agreement"
University of Pittsburgh, Slovak Studies Program. Accessed October 28, 2013. This was achieved on October 18, 1918, when the primary author of the agreement,

Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk Tomáš () is a Czech name, Czech and Slovak name, Slovak given name, equivalent to the name Thomas (name), Thomas. Tomáš is also a surname (feminine: Tomášová). Notable people with the name include: Given name Sport *Tomáš Berdych (born 198 ...

, declared the independence of Czechoslovakia. Masaryk was elected the first president of Czechoslovakia in November 1918.

Background

The historical setting of the Pittsburgh Agreement was the impending dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in the months before the end of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. By September 1918, it was evident that the forces of the

Habsburg monarchy The Habsburg monarchy, also known as Habsburg Empire, or Habsburg Realm (), was the collection of empires, kingdoms, duchies, counties and other polities (composite monarchy) that were ruled by the House of Habsburg. From the 18th century it is ...

, the rulers of

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...

, would be defeated by the Allies: Britain, France, and Russia. Between 1860 and 1918, close to one million people of Slovak and Czech ethnicity migrated to the United States and other nations. At the time, these immigrants were officially recorded as

Austrians Austrians (, ) are the citizens and Nationality, nationals of Austria. The English term ''Austrians'' was applied to the population of Archduchy of Austria, Habsburg Austria from the 17th or 18th century. Subsequently, during the 19th century, ...

or Hungarians (Magyars), which did not reflect their actual ethnic origin. However, the United States allowed Czech and Slovak nationalist groups to form and operate.Mahoney, W
"The history of the Czech Republic and Slovakia."
The Greenwood Histories of the Modern Nations. 2011. Google Books. In English. Accessed October 30, 2013 On October 22, 1915, at the Bohemian National Hall on Broadway,

Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...

, Ohio the Slovak League of America and the Bohemian (Czech) National Alliance signed the Cleveland Agreement. With this, the two groups agreed to work together towards a united and independent state for Czechs and Slovaks. Joining the Czech and the Slovak population groups helped the Slovaks break away from the Hungarian state of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and created a state with a clear Slavic majority to overcome the large German-speaking population of

Bohemia Bohemia ( ; ; ) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. In a narrow, geographic sense, it roughly encompasses the territories of present-day Czechia that fall within the Elbe River's drainage basin, but historic ...

Meeting

On Friday, May 31, 1918, a meeting of the Czecho-Slovak National Council under the presidency of

was called into order at the Loyal Order of Moose Building, 628-634 Penn Avenue,

. Present were representatives of fraternal organizations including the Slovak League of America; the Czech National Federation; the First Slovak Evangelical League and the Association of Czech Catholics.Grinnel D.
"The Pittsburgh Agreement"
Penn State University. Western Pennsylvania History. Accessed 28 October 2013 These associations represented immigrants to America from

Moravia Moravia ( ; ) is a historical region in the eastern Czech Republic, roughly encompassing its territory within the Danube River's drainage basin. It is one of three historical Czech lands, with Bohemia and Czech Silesia. The medieval and early ...

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

, and Czech Silesia. (Thursday, May 30, 1918, the Memorial Day public holiday saw many Czech and Slovak residents of Pittsburgh come downtown to fete Masaryk's arrival). The signed document bring data 30 May 1918.

Agreement

An agreement was drafted which read: :"1. We approve (sanction) the political program, which endeavors to bring about a Union of the Czechs and Slovaks in an independent state comprising the Czech Lands, (the lands of the Bohemian Crown) and Slovakia. : 2. Slovakia will have its own administration, its Diet and its courts. : 3. The Slovak language will be the official language in schools and in public life in general (in Slovakia). : 4. The Czecho-slovak state will be a republic, its Constitution will be democratic. : 5. The organization of the collaboration of the Czechs and the Slovaks in the United States will be amplified and adjusted according to the needs and according to the changing situation, by mutual agreement. : 6. Detailed rules concerning the organization of the Czecho-Slovak State are left to the liberated Czechs and Slovaks and their legal representatives (to establish)."

Signatories

Slovak

Ivan Bielek (1886–1941)

Bielek, born in Slovakia, was vice president and director of the Czecho Slovak Commercial Corp. of America, an import company founded in 1918.

Michal Bosák (1869–1937)

Bosák, born in Okruhle, Slovakia, was a banker and shipping agent who, during World War I, raised funds for the campaign for an independent Slovak nation.

Ivan Daxner (1860–1938)

Daxner was born in Nagykallo, the son of political activist, Stefan Marko Daxner. He became a banker and continued this profession upon emigrating to the United States. He became the executive secretary of the Slovak League of America. He said, : "Away from the Magyars, but not into Czech subservience; we want to join Czechs as equals."

Ján Adolf Ferienčík (1863–1925)

Ferienčík was the editor of ''Slovenský hlásnik'' (Slovak Herald), the weekly publication of the Slavonic Evangelical Union of America.

Matúš Gazdík

Ignác Gessay (1874–1928)

Gessay, born in the Orava region, Slovakia, to a peasant family, became a school teacher before emigrating to the United States. In the United States, he worked as a journalist with Ján Pankúch.

Milan Alexander Getting (1878–1951)

Milan Getting was a Slovak journalist and politician and later a diplomat. He emigrated to the United States in 1902. He was a publisher of the newspaper of the Slovak Sokol.

Jozef Hušek (1880–1947)

Husek, a Catholic, was born in Okolicne, Slovakia. He emigrated to the USA in 1903 and worked in journalism and the Slovak League of America.

Ján Janček Jr. (1881–1933)

Janček, born in Ruzomberok, Slovakia, was a writer, news editor, and later, a politician and the mayor of Ruzomberok.

L. Jozef Karlovský (1887–1964)

Ján Kubašek (1885–1950)

Rev. Kubašek emigrated from Slovakia to

Yonkers Yonkers () is the List of municipalities in New York, third-most populous city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and the most-populous City (New York), city in Westchester County, New York, Westchester County. A centrally locate ...

, the United States, in 1902 and was ordained in 1914. He became president of the Association of Slovak Catholics.

Albert Mamatey (1870–1923)

Mamatey, born in Kláštor pod Znievom, Slovakia, was the president of the National Slovak Society and the Slovak League of America. He advocated the preservation of Slovak culture while also assisting Slovak immigrants to be well-regarded in their new land.

Gejza H. Mika

Jozef Murgaš (1864–1929)

Rev. Jozef Murgaš was a Roman Catholic priest born in Tajov, Slovakia. In 1896, he emigrated to the United States to a Slovak parish in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. He was a founding member of the Slovak League of America.

Ján Pankúch (1869–1951)

Pankúch emigrated to the United States from Slovakia in 1885 and worked for the Slovak League of America. He was a journalist in

, Ohio.

Andrej Schustek

Schustek was chairman of the first district of the Slovak League of America. In Chicago, on the second anniversary of the independence of Czechoslovakia, :"He assured us, the Bohemians, that every Slovak is a sincere brother of ours, a son of one mother - Slovakia. He referred to the frequently overlooked fact that until recently, the Slovaks did not have their own Slovak schools, that ever since childhood they were brought up to hate Bohemians and everything Slavic. Therefore, it is not surprising that many of them are still against us today, especially when they are continually instigated by hired or voluntary agents."

Pavel Šiška

Rev. Šiška was the financial secretary of the Slovak League of America.

Czech

Vojta Beneš (1878–1951)

Vojta Beneš was born in Kožlany as the brother of

Edvard Beneš Edvard Beneš (; 28 May 1884 – 3 September 1948) was a Czech politician and statesman who served as the president of Czechoslovakia from 1935 to 1938, and again from 1939 to 1948. During the first six years of his second stint, he led the Czec ...

. Vojta Beneš was an organizer of the Bohemian National Alliance of America. In 1917, he published ''How Bohemians Organised'', reflecting the nationalist movement.

Hynek Dostál (1871–1943)

Dostál was the editor of the ''Hlas'' newspaper of St. Louis and the editor of the journal of the Saint John Nepomuk Chapel, the first Czech Catholic newspaper in the United States.

Ludvík Fisher (1880–1945)

Fisher was president of the Czech National Alliance.

Innocent Kestl

Rev. Kestl was a Czech Catholic priest who became the vice president of the Czechoslovak National Council.

Josef Martínek (1889–1980)

Martinek, born in Poděbrady (nowadays Palackého Street 130), a small town east of Prague, emigrated to Cleveland, Ohio, as a metal worker. He became a newspaper editor, socialist, and Czech nationalist.

Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk (1850–1937)

was a member of the Austrian government and a philosopher at the University of Prague. He was key in securing the Czech people's independence and became Czechoslovakia's president.

Joseph P. Pecivál

Karel Pergler (1882–1954)

Karel Pergler, born in Liblin, Bohemia, emigrated to the United States in childhood. He became a lawyer and a journalist. Pergler was head of the Slav Press Bureau, founded in May 1918, and a member of the Bohemian National Alliance and the Bohemian Chapter of the Socialist Party of America. He later became the Czechoslovak ambassador to the United States.

B. Simek

Bohumil Shimek was a Czech-American botanist who was active in the campaign for Czechoslovak independence in the

Jan Straka

Oldřich Zlámal (1879–1955)

Rev. Zlámal was born in Korkory, Moravia. He was ordained in the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

, Ohio in 1904.

Jaroslav Joseph Zmrhal (1878–1951)

Zmrhal was a principal and superintendent in the Chicago Public Schools system.Zmrhal J. J
"Bohemia. A brief evaluation of Bohemia's contribution to civilisation"
Bohemian National Alliance. Chicago, Illinois. 1917. Accessed November 2, 2013.

Outcome

On October 18, 1918, a Czech provisional government in Paris announced the Czechoslovak Declaration of Independence.

References

External links

Original Pittsburgh agreement on Czechoslovakia to return to Pittsburgh
PopCityMedia.com website. February 27, 2007.

Consulate General of Czech Republic in Montreal.

Embassy of the Slovak Republic in the United States of America.

University of Pittsburgh.
Masaryk and America - testimony of a relationship.
Kovtun G. J. Library of Congress, 1988. {{Portal bar, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Pennsylvania History of Pittsburgh Czech-American history Rusyn-American history Silesian-American history Slovak-American history 1918 in Czechoslovakia 1918 in Pennsylvania 1918 documents May 1918 in the United States