1928 Svornost Czech-English Map of the United States and Czechoslovak Republic

A scarce, impressive bilingual (Czech-English) c. 1928 sheet containing two maps, one of the United States and one of Czechoslovakia, prepared by journalist Rudolf Jaromír Pšenka and published in Chicago by the 'Bohemian Daily' Svornost (meaning 'Unity'). The broadsheet map celebrates Czech immigration to the United States.

A Closer Look

The sheet is divided roughly into three. The top third presents a map of the United States of America and its territories, with red dots representing known Czech communities listed in an index on either side of the map. Large concentrations of Czech communities appear around New York City, Pittsburgh, in Texas, and, above all, in the Midwest. In the margins are flags of the United States, Czechoslovakia, and various European countries.

The middle third of the sheet contains a title panel with publication information and circular maps of various regions of Czechoslovakia, along with images of Prague and the Tatra Mountains in Slovakia, patriotic text (including the national motto Pravda Vítězí, 'Truth Prevails!'), and the country's coats of arms.

The bottom third of the sheet is an indexed map of the Czechoslovak Republic, with additional circular maps of various regions and portions of neighboring countries. The 'lands' (země, akin to provinces) of the country are color-shaded and labeled for easy distinction. The unshaded upper portion of Silesia is the Hlučín Region, which was awarded to Czechoslovakia in the Treaty of Versailles, to the great annoyance of the region's mostly German population. Cities and towns (listed in the index below the map), rivers, major transportation links, and other features are labeled throughout. At the top-right is information on the country's area and population, including the proportion of various ethnicities.

Rallying to the New Republic

The Svornost was founded in 1875 by August Geringer (1842 - 1930), a Bohemian immigrant. Large numbers of Czech and Slovak migrants came to the United States after the failed Uprisings of 1848 and in the late 19th century, when Austro-Hungarian restrictions on emigration were lifted. Though distributed throughout the country, the large concentration of Czechs in the Midwest made Chicago a cultural center for the emigrant community; Slovaks more often settled in Pennsylvania or along the Eastern Seaboard. The two communities stayed connected with their homeland. They cooperated towards the common aim of creating a joint state independent of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, with the Czech National Alliance and the Slovak League of America signing agreements to this end in Cleveland in 1915 and Pittsburgh in 1918.

The First Czechoslovak Republic (1918 - 1938) was established in the aftermath of World War I (1914 - 1918), replacing a significant portion of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Despite balancing a complex mix of nationalities, the new state was more stable than many other republics created in the aftermath of empires in the interwar period. Nevertheless, ethnic tensions, especially around the significant German-speaking minority increased over time. The issue of the 'rights' of Germans was used as a pretext by Nazi Germany to occupy the Sudetenland in September 1938, instigating a crisis that resulted in the Munich Agreement, often seen as the key event in the appeasement of Nazi Germany in the lead up to World War II (1939 - 1945). This was problematic not only for violating the sovereignty of the Czechoslovak Republic but also because the most effective border fortifications were in the Sudetenland, leaving the rest of the country nearly helpless, allowing Hitler to invade and dissolve the Czechoslovak state in March 1939.

Publication History and Census

This sheet was prepared by Rudolf Jaromír Pšenka, with additional research by the Czech geographer František Machát (1876 - 1935), and published by the 'Bohemian Daily' Svornost, a Czech-language daily in Chicago. The map at the top is a modification of an earlier map by George Cram. The present work is undated, but must date to the Interwar Period. It is only noted in the OCLC among the holdings of the University of Chicago (which dates it to c. 1928, perhaps just taking the median date of the First Czechoslovak Republic). Additional examples are held by the Library of the Knihovna Národního Musea Praha and the Univerzita Karlova.