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The Arrest of Alice Masaryk

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 January 2017

Betty M. Unterberger
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Extract

Historians are generally agreed that during the first two years of World War I American feeling against Germany was far stronger and more intense than against Austria-Hungary. While relations between the Germanic and American peoples had not been truly friendly since the 1880s, attitudes in the United States toward Austria-Hungary were much less antagonistic. Historically there had been little direct contact between the latter two countries. It scarcely seemed necessary to Americans. The area was not only remote geographically but also remote from the national interest. As a result, there appeared to be no deep-rooted bitterness or resentment in the historic relationship between the two nations. Indeed, in the period immediately preceding the war, relations between Austria-Hungary and the United States had consisted largely of diplomatic formalities even though before the war, Austria-Hungary, next to Italy, had furnished the largest European immigration to the United States. Americans for the most part were unaware that Austria-Hungary was a multinational empire composed of many diverse ethnic groups. Few Americans knew of the vast numbers of immigrants who had come from Austria-Hungary from the areas of Slovakia and Bohemia.

Type
Articles
Information
Slavic Review , Volume 33 , Issue 1 , March 1974 , pp. 91 - 106
Copyright
Copyright © Association for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies. 1974

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References

The author wishes to acknowledge with gratitude the research support of the American Philosophical Society and the Organized Research Fund of Texas A&M University.

1. U.S. Department of Commerce, Statistical Abstract of the United States, 1916 (Washington, D.C., 1917), pp. 106-7; New York Times, Jan. 13, 1914.

2. Kertesz, Stephen D., ed., The Fate of East Central Europe (Notre Dame, 1956), p. 21 Google Scholar; Henry Adolphus Miller, “The Rebirth of the Nation : The Czechoslovaks,” Survey, Nov. 2, 1918, pp. 117-20; Karl, Wittke, We Who Built America (New York, 1939), p. 1939 Google Scholar. Not until the spring of 1918 did the term “Czech” begin to appear in American newspapers and periodicals. Prior to that time, information regarding the Czechs could only be found by searching under the term “Bohemian.” The Czech national organization was called the Bohemian National Alliance and the national journal, the Bohemian Review. As a noted authority on Czech history points out, “The use of these names creates problems for the student of the Czechs and their influences on Wilson, since the Czechs in America continued to call themselves Bohemians even after the start of the war, while the political exiles in Europe used the term Czech.” Otakar Odlozilik, “The Czechs,” in O'Grady, Joseph P., ed., The Immigrants’ Influence on Wilson's Peace Policies (Lexington, Ky., 1967), pp. 207, 209Google Scholar.

3. Masaryk, Thomas G., The Making of a State : Memories and Observations, 1914-1918 (New York, 1969), p. 92. 4Google Scholar. Charles R. Crane, Memoirs (MSS in Russian and East European Archives, Butler Library, Columbia University), pp. S3, S3A (hereafter cited as Crane Memoirs).

5. Masaryk, , Making of a State, p. 8 Google Scholar; Marcia, Davenport, Too Strong for Fantasy (New York, 1967), p. 1967 Google Scholar.

6. Crane Memoirs, p. S3A.

7. Crane Memoirs, pp. 152-55, 168; C.R.C. to J.C.D., January 1914, Charles R. Crane Papers (Russian and East European Archives, Butler Library, Columbia University) ; David F. Houston to Charles W. Eliot, Dec. 1, 1916, David Franklin Houston Papers (Houghton Library, Harvard University); Wilson, Edith B., My Memoir (Indianapolis, 1938), pp. 100, 345Google Scholar; Masaryk, , Making of a State, p. 682 Google Scholar.

8. Crane Memoirs, pp. 153-54; Houston to Eliot, Dec. 1, 1916, Houston Papers.

9. Crane to President Wilson, May 18, 1914; President Wilson to Crane, May 21, 1914, Crane Papers; New York Times, Jan. 30, Feb. 3, 1914.

10. Crane Memoirs, pp. 152-53; White House Memorandum, Mar. 2, 1917, Woodrow Wilson Papers (Manuscripts Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.); New York Times, July 4, 1914.

11. Houston to House, July 24, 1915, Houston Papers; Crane to House, summer 1915, Crane Papers; Phillips to House, July 31, 1915, M., Edward House Collection (Sterling Memorial Library, Yale University) ; New York Times, Feb. 23, 1915 Google Scholar.

12. Mary, McDowell, “Tried in Her Father's Stead,” Survey, Apr. 29, 1916, p. 116 Google Scholar; New York Times, Apr. 28, 1916.

13. H. A. Miller, “What Woodrow Wilson and America Meant to Czechoslovakia, “ in Kerner, Robert J., ed., Czechoslovakia (Berkeley, 1940), pp. 71–74 Google Scholar.

14. Eduard, Benes, My War Memoirs (Boston, 1928), p. 98 Google Scholar; Charles, Pergler, America in the Struggle for Czechoslovak Independence (Philadelphia, 1926), pp. 21–23 Google Scholar; New York Times, Nov. 28, 1914.

15. Voska, Emmanuel Victor and Irwin, Will, Spy and Counterspy (New York, 1940), pp. x–xii.Google Scholar

16. Seton-Watson, Robert W., Masaryk in England (New York, 1943), p. 33–34.Google Scholar

17. Masaryk to Voska, Dec. 27, 1914, Wilson Papers.

18. Irwin, Voska and, Spy and Counterspy, pp. 15, 16Google Scholar; Lansing to Wilson, Dec 1, 1915, Personal and Confidential Letters to the President, Record Group 59, Department of State, National Archives (hereafter cited as R.G. 59, D.S.N.A.). For an account of Voska's role in this affair see Barbara, Tuchman, The Zimmerman Telegram (New York, 1958), pp. 72–75 Google Scholar.

19. Seton-Watson, , Masaryk in England, pp. 96–100.Google Scholar

20. Crane to J.C.B., Feb. 14, 1917, Crane Papers.

21. Benes, , My War Memoirs, p. 99 Google Scholar.

22. Masaryk to Crane, Mar. 11, 1915, Crane Papers.

23. Masaryk to Roger H. Williams, Nov. 15, 1915, Crane Papers; Irwin, Voska and, Spy and Counterspy, p. 16 Google Scholar. Charles Pergler, who headed the American office of the Czecho-Slovak National Council, later informed Secretary Lansing that the “whole Czecho-Slovak movement originally was financed by subscriptions from America,” and that this continued to be their main source of funds. Pergler to Robert Lansing, Mar. 6, 1918, Files of the Committee on Public Information, D.S.N.A.

24. Irwin, Voska and, Spy and Counterspy, pp. 16 Google Scholar, 200; New York Times, Apr. 22, Aug. 31, and Nov. 9, 1915.

25. New York Times, Mar. 10, 1915.

26. Wilbur J. Carr [for the secretary of state] to Charles L. Hoover (American consul in Prague), Mar. 2, 1916, file 364.64/3Sa, D.S.N A.; McDowell, “Tried in Her Father's Stead,” p. 116; New York Times, Apr. 28, 1916.

27. Mary R McDowell to Crane, Feb. 26, 1915, Crane Papers.

28. William C. Penfield to Secretary of State, Apr. 8, 1916; Charles L. Hoover to Penfield, Mar. 11, 1916, file 364.64/41, D.S.N.A.; Richard C. Crane to Charles R. Crane, Apr. 24, 1916, Crane Papers.

29. Masaryk to Crane, Nov. IS, 1915, Crane Papers.

30. Masaryk to Crane, Nov. 29, 1915, Crane Papers.

31. Charles R. Crane to J.C.B., Apr. 20, 1916; Frederick Dickson to Crane, Apr. 20, 1915, Crane Papers; Christian Science Monitor, Dec. 1, 1915, Mar. 3 and 5, 1916.

32. Frank L. Polk (acting secretary of state) to Sabath, June 3, 1916, file 364.64/63 D.S.N.A. 33. Apparently Crane was successful in publicizing the case as similar to that of the famed Edith Cavell, because many of the headlines which featured the affair carried captions similar to those used in the Edith Cavell case. New York Times, Apr. 9, 21, and 28, 1916. See also Denni Hlasatel, Apr. 19, 1916.

34. Neiv York Times, Nov. 9, 1915. For an account of Sabath's later efforts to influence the president on behalf of Bohemian independence see Guido Kisch, “Woodrow Wilson and the Independence of Small Nations in Central Europe,” Journal of Modern History, 19 (1947) : 235-38.

35. Lansing to Wilson, June 28, 1916, Miscellaneous Letters Sent by the Secretary of State, R.G. 59, D.S.N.A.

36. Denni Hlasatel, Apr. 21, 1916.

37. New York Times, Apr. 21, 1916.

38. New York Times, Apr. 28, 1916.

39. This news was accompanied by “unbelievable, frightful” reports of new insurrections which had broken out in Prague, Pilsen, Tabor, and other Czech towns. It was reported that when such “anti-Austrian, antiwar” insurrections had occurred several months earlier, the Austrian government had made clear that they would execute the prominent Czech hostages then taken, in the event of recurrence of such insurrections. Information now available indicated that all Czech hostages were to be executed, including Miss Masaryk, . Denni Hlasatel, Apr. 27, 1916 Google Scholar. See also New York Herald, Apr. 27, 1916.

40. Christian Science Monitor, Apr. 27, 1916.

41. Secretary of State to Charles L. Hoover, Prague, Mar. 2, 1916, file 364.64/35a, D.S.N.A. 42. Penfield to Lansing, Apr. 6, 1916, Hoover to Penfield, Mar. 11, 1916, file 364.64/63, D.S.N.A.; Polk to Julia Lathrop, Apr. 21, 1916, file 364.64/43, D.S.N.A.; Denni Hlasatel, Apr. 28, 1916.

43. New York Times, Apr. 28, 1916. See also Christian Science Monitor, Apr. 21, 1916.

44. New York Times, Apr. 28, 1916. See also Christian Science Monitor, Apr. 21, 1916; Chicago Daily Tribune, Apr. 21, 22, and 27, 1916. Demi Hlasatel, Apr. 30, 1916.

45. Denni Hlasatel, Apr. 28, 1916; Christian Science Monitor, Apr. 24, 1916.

46. McDowell, “Tried in Her Father's Stead,” p. 116; Chicago Daily Tribune, Apr. 21, 1916. The Chicago piece was headlined, “Women of United States Urged to Save Alice Masaryk.” It was followed the next day by a two-column picture with an additional appeal. Chicago Daily Tribune, Apr. 22, 1916; New York Times, Apr. 28, 1916. The concern and efforts of American women in Miss Masaryk, 's behalf were described in Denni Hlasatel, Apr. 20 and 30, 1916 Google Scholar.

47. Denni Hlasatel, July 21, 1916.

48. Chicago Daily Tribune, Apr. 25, 1916. See also Denni Hlasatel, Apr. 30, 1916. Both Jane Addams and Grace Abbott had involved themselves earlier in representations to the State Department regarding the rumored massacre of Professor Thomas G. Masaryk in 1914. Addams to William Jennings Bryan, Aug. 30, 1914, file 76372/683, D.S.NA; Abbott to Louis F. Post, Dept. of Labor, Aug. 29, 1914, file 763.72/684, D.S.N.A. For Grace Abbott's initial efforts in Miss Masaryk, 's behalf see Denni Hlasatel, Apr. 20, 1916 Google Scholar.

49. Christian Science Monitor, Apr. 21, 1916.

50. For a complete record of the incoming appeals see documents in files 364.64/45- 61, D.S.N.A. See also Masaryk, , Making of a State, p. 92 Google Scholar.

51. Richard Crane to Charles R. Crane, Apr. 24, 1916, Crane Papers; New York Times, Apr. 28, 1916.

52. Herrick to Polk, Apr. 26, 1916, Polk to Herrick, Apr. 28, 1918, file 364.64/62, D.S.N.A. This was the suggestion frequently made by the secretary of state to prominent individuals, as well as organizations. For example, see Lansing to Dr. Sophonisba Breckinridge, University of Chicago, Apr. 27, 1918, Lansing to Bohemian National Alliance of America, Apr. 28, 1916, Lansing to Women's Trade Union League, Apr. 28, 1916, files 364.64/46, 364.64/49, and 364.64/50, D.S.N.A. See also Denni Hlasatel, Apr. 28, 1916.

53. Chicago Daily Tribune, Apr. 27, 1916.

54. Denni Hlasatel, Apr. 27, 1916.

55. Neiv York Times, Apr. 28, 1916. 56. Denni Hlasatel, Apr. 30, 1916. 57. Chicago Daily Tribune, May 15, 1916; Denni Hlasatel, May 10, 1916.

58. New York Times, May 9, 1916.

59. New York Times, July 21, 1916. The news of her safety was also reported on the front page of the Chicago Daily Tribune, July 21, 1916.

60. Penfield to Lansing, Aug. 2, 1916, file 364.64/100, D.S.N.A.

61. New York Times, Aug. 13, 1916.

62. New York Times, Aug. 20, 1916. The Christian Science Monitor, Aug. 21, 1916, reported that she was freed on July 3.

63. Denni Hlasatel, Aug. 21, 1916.

64. Masaryk, , Making of a State, p. 92 Google Scholar.