ABSTRACT
Jan Masaryk and Vojta Benes were determined to fight for a Czechoslovak state anyway; but the arrival of Stefaik gave them a Slovak partner of genuine stature and enabled them to act for the Slovaks as well as the Czechs despite the absence of support from many of the older-established politicians. The slovak national movement was not as powerful or sophisticated as the Czech. Yet in 1914 even the Czech movement did not really think in terms of national independence. Among the public at large, feelings were rather mixed. Total war was unknown. Like their relatives and friends at home, the Slovaks in America were in two minds about the future; they all agreed that Slovakia should become autonomous, but only a small group was convinced from the start that it should end up within some kind of Czechoslovak state.
