Ameryka wobec aspiracji niepodległościowych narodów Europy Środkowej w czasie I wojny światowej

Abstract

For a long time it was maintained in the American governmental circles that together with the liquidation of the German control over Austro-Hungary, the internal problems of the monarchy would also be solved by assurance of autonomy to the nations living on its territory. That is why the United States - despite its declarations and warm gestures towards national movements of Central European countries - were extremely cautious about the declarations of their support for the struggle for independence in this region. Earlier, Americans have recognized Polish and Yugoslavian aspirations for independence, which for Austro-Hungary meant a certain territorial loss, but not a complete disintegration. However, American attitude (as well as that of the Allies at the beginning) towards Czechoslovak movements for independence was of a totally different nature. For a long time President Wilson, the Secretary of the State Lansing, as wen as the official of the State Department displayed an anticipating attitude and did not want to take a stand in this question. With time, the developing drive for independence by Czechs and Slovaks and their demands considerably exceeded the Entente's and the United States' plans concerning Central Europe. The support for the independence of Czechoslovakia, would, anyway, mean recognition of disintegration of the Habsburg state, as without historical Bohemia it could not exist. It happened only in the final phase of the war, when the military defeat and the political crisis of Austro-Hungary decided on its fate, and the United States resolved to support the independence of Czechoslovakia. On September 3, 1918, although later than France and England, the United States recognized the Czechoslovak National Council. It was a success of the Czechoslovak fight for independence, and American Czechs and Slovaks had a considerable contribution to it. At the end of the World War I multinational Austro-Hungary - "the prison of nations", as it was figuratively called, turned out to be a relic of the past, and the clumsy project of a federation fell to the ground. In the ruins of the disintegrating Habsburg monarchy new states (Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, Poland) were de facto created and they gradually gained support and recognition in and outside Europe. The United States, although later than the other allies, supported the changes, and President Wilson, believed to be the advocate of national states, saw in their creation "the act of historical justice".