Sixteen Months of Indecision: Slovak American Viewpoints Toward Compatriots and the Homeland from 1914 to 1915 as Viewed by the Slovak Language Press in Pennsylvania by Gregory Curtis Ference

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This study, based primarily on material found in the Pennsylvania Slovak language press, follows the activities of Slovaks in the United States just prior to and during the early months of World War I until October 1915. Sixteen Months of Indecision begins with an overview of Slovak attempts in the Habsburg Empire to gain equal rights with the other nationalities, reasons for mass Slovak emigration, Slovak national life in America, and the formation of Czechoslovakia. The next section focuses on the Panslavic and Anti-German/Austro-Hungarian attitudes of American Slovaks. This form of ethnic nationalism manifested itself in a support of the Allies, especially Russia, and the belief that one could not be a "good" Slovak by sympathizing with Germany and the Habsburg Monarchy. At the outbreak of war, American Slovaks at first advocated Panslavic cooperative efforts to aid those Slavic populations ravaged by the conflict. As the war continued, emphasis changed to focus on assisting the Slovaks only. Collections of goods and money were taken, and a representative was sent to Canada to help gain the release of Slovaks imprisoned as enemy aliens. Citing the Canadian example, Slovak American leaders urged their compatriots to become American citizens. Last, the war caught the Slovaks in the United States by surprise. Their political program centered on gaining equal rights in Hungary through legal means, but a small group advocated instead a Czecho-Slovak solution. Although the Czecho-Slovak concept gained momentum, many Slovaks feared that they would lose their ethnic identity. Cooperation initially did not occur in the United States. When a Parisian organization of Czechs and Slovaks expressed its willingness to recognize the individuality of the Slovak people, the American Slovaks quickly supported it. An icy reception, however, by American Czechs destroyed any common ground. American Slovaks eventually decided to cooperate with American Czechs when Czech Americans

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