Guide to the Thomas G. Masaryk Papers, 1918-1938 SC.1983.01
Arrangement
Repository
ULS Archives & Special Collections
Title
Thomas G. Masaryk Papers
Creator
Masaryk, T. G. (Tomáš Garrigue)
Collection Number
SC.1983.01
Extent
3 Linear Feet(2 boxes)
Date
1918-1938
Date
1918-1919
Abstract
Thomas Masaryk was an Austro-Hungarian and Czechoslovak politician, philosopher, and an icon of Czechoslovak independence by becoming the founder and first elected President of Czechoslovakia in 1918. The collection includes mostly unpublished drafts of Masryk's letters and memoranda, interviews, and articles and drafts of later published writings. The date range of the collection (1918-1919) is significant as it was during this period that Masaryk's ultimate goal of Czechoslovak sovereignty came to fruition.
Language
The material in this collection is in English and Czech.
Author
Andrew Keough.
Publisher
ULS Archives & Special Collections
Address
University of Pittsburgh Library System Archives & Special Collections Website: library.pitt.edu/archives-special-collections Business Number: 412-648-3232 (Thomas) | 412-648-8190 (Hillman) Contact Us: www.library.pitt.edu/ask-archivist URL: http://library.pitt.edu/archives-special-collections
Biography
Thomas Masaryk was born on March 7, 1850, in the former Austro-Hungarian Empire, into a working-class family of Slovak, Moravian, and Slavic decent. This ethnic decent later informed and motivated much of his life's work. After studying philosophy in Brno, Leipzig, and Vienna, Masaryk was named Professor of Philosophy at the University of Prague in 1882. As part of his dedication to Czech civilization, Masaryk began a magazine concentrated on Czech culture and science. Masaryk was also elected to the Austrian parliament, first, as a member of the Young Czech Party, and then again as a member of the Realist Party.
With the eruption of World War I in 1914, Masaryk found that the best way to attain his ultimate ideal of Czechoslovak independence from Austria-Hungary was through self-imposed exile. Between late 1914 and early 1918, Masaryk made his way across Europe and Asia to the United States -– promoting, organizing, and establishing the Czechoslovak cause along the way. His travels did much in the way of establishing the Czechoslovak Legions, which were military units designed to aid the Allied cause in Russia. The connections established by Masaryk during this period also provided the Allies with valuable intelligence and counter-intelligence information.
Named president of the provisional Czechoslovak government by the Allies, after the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire at the close of World War I, Masaryk was elected the president of a sovereign Czechoslovak Republic in 1918. He was reelected in 1920, 1927, and 1934. Due to ailing health, he resigned as president in 1935, with Dr. Edvard Benes taking the office. Two years later, on September 14, 1937, Thomas Masaryk died of natural causes.
Acquisition Information
Gift of the Czechoslovak Nationality Room Committee of the University of Pittsburgh on March 6, 1983.
Previous Citation
Thomas G. Masaryk Papers, 1918-1919, SC.1983.01, Special Collections Department, University of Pittsburgh.
Preferred Citation
Thomas G. Masaryk Papers, 1918-1919, SC.1983.01, Archives & Special Collections, University of Pittsburgh Library System
Processing Information
The Archivists' Toolkit version of finding aid prepared by Andrew Keough in September 2010.
Access Restrictions
No restrictions.
Copyright
The University of Pittsburgh holds the property rights to the material in this collection, but the copyright might still be held by the original creator/author. Researchers are therefore advised to follow the regulations set forth in the US Copyright Code when publishing, quoting, or resproducing material from this collection without the consent of the creator/author or that go beyond what is allowed by fair use.
Existence and Location of Originals
Photocopies in this collection are derived from originals located at the National Archives State Department Files in Washington, D.C., the Richard T. Crane Papers at the Georgetown University Library, and the Woodrow Wilson Papers at the Library of Congress.
Arrangement
The papers are stored in two document boxes and are divided into eleven series:
Series I. Czechoslovak Legion in Siberia
Series II. Letters to Woodrow Wilson and Robert Lansing
Series III. Articles and Interview
Series IV. The Poles: Tesin and Orava
Series V. Hungarian Invasion of Slovakia, Spring of 1919
Series VI. Messages to Benes in Paris
Series VII. Record of Discussion with General Smuts – April 7, 1919
Series VIII. Draft of First Message to Parliament
Series IX. First Outline of Nova Europa
Series X. Miscellaneous
Series XI. Czech Periodicals
Scope and Content Notes
The papers in this collection detail Masaryk's work from 1918 to 1919 at the end of the First World War. This work includes the formation of a sovereign, internationally recognized Czechoslovak state, the situation of Czechoslovak troops in the final phases of the war, the state of the Czechoslovak people after the war, and the relations of Czechoslovakia with neighboring former Central Powers (especially Poland and the Austro-Hungarian Empire) in the immediate aftermath of the war. The papers are comprised of notes, interviews, memoranda, letters, drafts, articles, telegrams, and messages.
A later addition to the collection (Series 11) contains nine issues of Czech periodicals featuring articles and images of Masaryk's life and death.
Subjects
Personal Names
Masaryk, T. G. (Tomáš Garrigue)
Geographic Names
Czechoslovakia -- Politics and government -- 1918-1938
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