So, he concluded, the Austro-Hungarian Empire must be destroyed. (1) And now 64 years old, and having spent thirty-two of those years as a tireless advocate for his Czechs and Slovaks, he had begun to despair that Vienna would ever grant them a status equal to that of the dominant Austrians and Hungarians. He feared the Habsburg dynasty and its minions would become even more arrogant and powerful if Austria-Hungary won this war alongside its partner, Imperial Germany. when the Great War broke out in 1914, Masaryk grew increasingly angry when his former students began dying for an Austro-Hungarian regime that saw them as second-class subjects. Masaryk experienced all of this, and more.Ī Charles University philosophy professor with four children, an American wife, and an impressive c.v. This is especially true if these "storms" included major wars, revolutions, treason, exile, espionage, death sentences, poisonings, and a family whose members suffered death, imprisonment, and mental and physical breakdowns. Learning how others have weathered storms of controversy and conflict, however, might revive one's spirits. In these dispiriting days, as the winds of political combat blow strong and cold, one's ardor to educate the young, engage with our peers, and make scholarship relevant can easily end in despair.
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