ABSTRACT

Czechoslovakia formally came into being at the sufferance of the Allied victors of World War I, and its fate has been dependent on the interests of the European great powers ever since. Czech National Democrats leader Karel Kramar chided the Slovaks: "If it were possible to experiment in the constitutional order without fear of the future, I would give you full freedom so that you could know how we subsidize you". Years later, during the 1968 reform period, public opinion polls would show that Czechs regarded the First Republic as their primary historical "golden age". During World War I, he went into exile to promote the cause of Czechoslovak statehood with the eventually victorious Western Allies, risking treason charges at home, where Austria-Hungary was allied against the West with Germany. Czechoslovakia's relatively open educational system and high literacy rates meant that the political system was bolstered with a relatively sophisticated electorate.