Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
out in 1914, Masaryk was 64 years old and—his friends thought—
ready for retirement. But while most other Czech politicians
stayed in Prague and supported the Habsburg Empire, Masaryk
went abroad in protest and formed a highly original plan: to cre-
ate an independent, democratic republic of Czechs and Slovaks.
Masaryk and his supporters recruited an army of 100,000 Czechs
and Slovak soldiers who were willing to fight with the Allies
against the Habsburgs...establishing a strong case to put on his
friend Woodrow Wilson's Oval Office desk.
On the morning of October 28, 1918, news of the unofficial
capitulation of the Habsburgs reached Prague. Local supporters
of Masaryk's idea quickly took control of the city and proclaimed
the free republic. As the people of Prague tore down double-
headed eagles (a symbol of the Habsburgs), Czechoslovakia was
born.
On November 11, 1918 , four years af ter he had lef t the country
as a political nobody, Masaryk arrived in Prague as the greatest
Czech hero since the revolutionary priest Jan Hus. The dignified
old man rode through the masses of cheering Czechs on a white
horse. He told the jubilant crowd, “Now go home—the work has
only started.” Throughout the 1920s and 1930s, Masaryk was
Europe's most vocal defender of democratic ideals against the
rising tide of totalitarian ideologies.
In 2001, the US government honored Masaryk's dedication
to democracy by erecting a monument to him in Washington,
D.C.—he is one of only three foreign leaders (along with Gandhi
and Churchill) to have a statue in the American capital.
courtyards, churches, and palaces. The guard changes on the hour
(5:00-23:00), with the most ceremony and music at noon.
Walk under the fighting giants, under an arch, through the
passageway, and into the courtyard. The modern green awning
with the golden-winged cat (just
past the ticket off ice) marks the
off ices of the Czech president,
who is elected by the parliament
rather than by popular vote and
serves as more of a figurehead
than a power broker. he current
president is Václav K laus. His
consistent politics have brought
him popularity from like-minded
Czechs, but bitter resentment from those who see him as incapable
of considering points of view other than his own. Outside the
Czech Republic, Klaus is known for his unconstructive criticism
