Pittsburgh Agreement
The Pittsburgh Agreement ( tschech. and Slovak Pittsburská dohoda ), German and Pittsburgh Agreement, was a closed on 31 May 1918 Agreement between the Czech and Slovak exile groups in which they laid down the foundations for the common state to be established. From the Czech side, under the leadership of the future Czechoslovak president Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk, the Slovak representatives autonomy and equality in the future state were assured.
Masaryk in 1918 came to the U.S., on the one hand to take the American government for the Czechoslovak state was founded, but on the other hand, to achieve the associations of Czech and above all to integrate the Slovak emigrants in the project and agree on the principles of the common law. ( České národní Sdruženi; Director: Karel Kramář ) in the negotiations in Pittsburgh, among others, the Slovak League (Slovenská League ), the Czech National Association were as well as representatives of Czech and Slovak Catholic clubs involved. Many Catholics had the secular and anticlerical -oriented Czech- Slovak National Council under Masaryk previously not want to connect.
The Pittsburgh Agreement noted that the joint state should consist of the old Czech lands and Slovakia. The latter thus entered as an administrative unit for the first time in the light of history. Slovakia should have an autonomous administration, its own parliament and an independent judiciary. Slovak should be education and official language. In addition, put you realize that Czechoslovakia should be a democratic republic.
The signatories of the agreement at that time were convinced that only a joint effort would secure national independence their peoples. The Slovaks were afraid that they are not without help from the Hungarian national association would be able to solve. For the Czechs, the problem was the numerous German minority in Bohemia and Moravia. By including the Slovaks, the Slavic majority would be significantly greater in the new state. In addition to the time actually widespread belief, Czechs and Slovaks were brother nations, it was mainly the fear of Germans and Hungarians, who favored the conclusion of the Pittsburgh Agreement. Different views on the future together in one state were for the time being reset.
The Pittsburgh Agreement paved the way for Masaryk, Milan Rastislav Stefanik and Edvard Beneš signed Czechoslovak Declaration of Independence ( Washington Declaration ) on 18 October 1918 then led to the proclamation of Czechoslovakia on 28 October in Prague and for the declaration of Martin on 30 October with which the Slovaks demanded their right to autonomy in the new state.
Signatories of the Pittsburgh Agreement
Albert Mamatey, Ján Janček, Ján Pankuch, Jozef Murgaš, Ján Kubásek, Ondrej Schustek, TG Masaryk, Karel Pergler, Hynek Dostal, Vojta Beneš (brother of Edvard Beneš ), Jan Straka, Ivan Bielok, Oldrich Zlámal, Michal Bosák, Pavel Šiška among other things, (Only Masaryk played in the subsequent period an important political role. )