Pittsburgh Agreement

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The Pittsburgh Agreement paved the way for the creation of the state of Czechoslovakia and was signed by a group of 20 Czechs, Slovaks, and Rusyns on May 31, 1918. The agreement, signed in the Moose Hall^[1] in downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, declared the intent of the American representatives of Bohemia, Moravia, Slovakia, and Upper Silesia, to create an independent nation to be known as Czecho-Slovakia, as spelled in the document,^[2] and is often compared to the United States' Declaration of Independence.^{[citation needed]}

On October 18, 1918, the primary author of the agreement, T. G. Masaryk, declared the independence of Czechoslovakia on the steps of Independence Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was elected the first President of an independent Czechoslovakia in 1920.

Because the biggest group of politically-active Slovaks was in the United States, when the Czechs and Slovaks decided to come together in a nation state, the agreement was signed in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.^{[citation needed]}

The Pittsburgh Agreement proclaimed that the groups would work for mutual independence to form one country: “Czecho-Slovakia.” The document guaranteed autonomy for Slovaks under one state including the right to create an assembly.^[3] The Martin Declaration created by the Slovak National Council provided for Slovak assent in joining a united Czecho-Slovak Republic.^[4] In 1920, the Constitution of the Czechoslovak Republic was adopted by the National Assembly without provision for an autonomous Slovak entity.

A subsequently signed calligraphic version^[1] was donated on September 9, 2007 to the John Heinz History Center in Pittsburgh, at a public ceremony attended by Representatives of many Slovak and Czech cultural organizations and Sokols, as well as government officials from Slovakia, The Czech Republic, and The United States of America. This copy remains in the History Center's collection, but many copies of the calligraphic version are present in various places worldwide.

Signatories

• Albert Mamatey (Slovak)
• Ivan Bielek (Slovak)
• Ján Janček, Jr. (Slovak)
• Matúš Gazdík (Slovak)
• Milan Getting (Slovak)
• Ján Pankúch (Slovak)
• Gejza H. Mika (Slovak)
• Michal Bosák (Slovak)
• Ignác Gessay (Slovak)
• Rev. Jozef Murgaš (Slovak)
• Jozef Hušek (Slovak)
• Rev. Ján Kubašek (Slovak)
• Andrej Schustek (Slovak)
• Rev. L. Jozef Karlovský (Slovak)
• Rev. Pavel Šiška (Slovak)
• J. A. Ferienčík (Slovak)
• Ivan Daxner (Slovak)
• Tomáš G. Masaryk (Czech mother, Slovak father)
• Karel Pergler (Czech)
• Ludvík Fisher (Czech)
• B. Simek (Czech)
• J. J. Zmrhal (Czech)
• Josef Martínek (Czech)
• Hynek Dostál (Czech)
• Rev. Oldřich Zlámal (Czech)
• Vojta Beneš (Czech)
• Rev. Innocent Kestl (Czech)
• Jan Straka (Czech)
• Dr. Joseph P. Pecivál (Czech)

References

External links

• Original Pittsburgh agreement on Czechoslovakia to return to Pittsburgh February 27, 2007 PopCityMedia.com website.
• Important dates from the life of T.G. Masaryk, the first president of the ČSR, Consulate General of Czech Republic in Montreal
• History of Slovakia Embassy of the Slovak Republic in the United States of America
• Pittsburgh Agreement, University of Pittsburgh