Few people are aware that, implausibly, Czechoslovak independence was declared from Philadelphia 100 years ago.  That’s because Tomas Masaryk, the father of the new state, was in the U.S. seeking support from President Woodrow Wilson as world war one was winding down Masaryk was born in 1850 to a Czech mother and a Slovak father who was a coachman on a Hapsburg estate in Moravia. … Continue reading Tomas Masaryk and Czechoslovakian Independence 100 Years Ago