Founding of Czechoslovakia

28th October 1918 is very important date for my country. We celebrate founding of our republic.

Until this date Bohemia, Moravia, part of Silesia and Slovakia belonged to Austrian-Hungarian empire.
28. October 1918 was Monday, a new week, so 102 years ago began the emergence of a new state - Czechoslovakia.
The year 1918 was a key period for the establishment of an independent Czechoslovak state.
8. January 1918, U.S. President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed his 14 points about the future order of the world and Europe.
Turbulent period of the last year of WWI brought a lot of events which brought substantial changes in the political map of Europe.

From Wikipedia:
Czechoslovakia was founded in October 1918, as one of the successor states of the Austro-Hungarian Empire at the end of World War I and as part of the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye. It consisted of the present day territories of Bohemia, Moravia, Slovakia and Carpathian Ruthenia. Its territory included some of the most industrialized regions of the former Austria-Hungary.
The new country was a multi-ethnic state, with Czechs and Slovaks as constituent peoples. The population consisted of Czechs (51%), Slovaks (16%), Germans (22%), Hungarians (5%) and Rusyns (4%)

Our first president Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk (1850-1937) was not only in his senior age a politician, but he was also philosopher and sociologist, member of Reichsrat of the Austrian-Hungarian Empire, one of the first staff members of the School of Slavonic and East European Studies (now part of University College London), university professor etc. 
Masaryk married Charlotte Garrigue in 1878, and took her family name as his middle name. Ch.Garrigue was born in Brooklyn to a Protestant family with French Huguenots among their ancestors.

During the first world war Masaryk travelled illegally to many places and if you consider that when the war started he was already 64 years old it
was a heroic activity. In 1918 he travelled to United States, where he convinced President Woodrow Wilson of the righteousness of his cause - founding of Czechoslovakia. On 5 May 1918, over 150,000 Chicagoans filled the streets to welcome Masaryk as Chicago was the center of Czechoslovak immigration to the United States.

Founding of Czechoslovakia
Turbulent period of the last year of WWI brought a lot of events
which brought substantial changes in the political map of Europe.

Czechoslovakia after founding till 1938

Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk became Czechoslovak president on 14th November 1918 (re-elected in May in 1920, 1927, 1934).

Here some photo from Czech TV showing the celebration today - at noon 28th October 2020

Traditional ceremony  which tooks place on this anniversary in the evening of 28th Oct  - ceremonial presentation of state awards - will due to corona epidemy not take place this year.

                    Thanks for reading                                Margaret