India and Czechoslovakia Between Two World Wars: A Study of Cultural Contacts and
Exchange of Ideas
Stanislava Vavroušková (Prague)
Introduction
Czechoslovakia emerged as indenpendent republic in 1918, with the fall of AustroHungarian monarchy in World War I. Its creation was largely the work of its first and second
presidents, Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk and Eduard Beneš who built on the former emancipation
effort by generations of Czech national leaders opposing the Austrian rule. Masaryk and
Beneš managed to organize the Czech units (the „legions“) which fought on the allied side
during the World War, largely contributing to the recognition of Czechoslovakia by the
Entente Powers at the war´s end.
Czechoslovakia was the most important of the successor states that arose from the
ruins of the Habsburg Empire. It was favoured by rich natural resources and well developed
industries. The post war period witnessed rapid economic and social development of
Czechoslovak republic as well as the progress in education and culture, with Czech (and
Slovak) becoming the official language of the state. Czechoslovakia also benefited from its
liberal constitution (political system) making the country the bastion (outpost) of democracy
in Central Europe. Czechoslovakia joined the League of Nations and one of the members of
Little Entente, a defensive alliance camping also Yugoslavia and Romania, and supported by
France.
After 1934, these hopeful development were jeopardized by the threat coming from
Hitler´s Germany. The rise of fascism in Germany fostered the opposition of German and
Hungarian minorities feeling their rights were neglected by the Czechoslovak government.
Hitler´s growing pressure on Czechoslovakia and appeasement of Western Powers resulted in
1938 in the Munich Pact throug which Germany obtained the Bohemian and Moravian
borderlans (Sudetenland), with Hungary and Poland sharing the spoils. The truncated state,
known as Czecho-Slovakia, came to an end in March 1939, when Germany occupied the
Czech lands, (turning them into the „protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia) while Slovakia
became nominally independent state.
Mutual Contacts in the early 20th Century
1
The early 20th century found both the Czech and the Indian societies undergoing a
transition, which in some respects displayed similar characteristics. Both the Indian and the
Czech people were striving to achieve independence and both were looking beyond the
borders of their countries to find encouragement and support for their cause. While the
struggle of the Czech nation was virtually unknown beyond Austria – Hungary, the Indian
national movement started to attract the attention of people worlwide. Even the Czech
newpapers, which began to focus more on Asia following the Ruso – Japanese War, started to
write about India in a more profound and detailed way. The news appeared about the boycott
of the goods from Britan in the context of the svadeshi movement, which, in the words of the
Narodní listy daily, “grew in the Bengali provinces into the first real struggle with the British
government”.1 The Czech newspapers also reported on the journey of Keir Hardie, British
Labour Party MP, to India in 1907 and on his report about the terrible living conditions in
East Bengal.2 The Czech nation, which was already seeking self-determination for quite a
long time, looked with sympathy on freedom struggle of the Indian people. The Czech society
also began to discover the organizational structure of the Indian national movement (through
the report on the meeting of the Indian National Congress in Calcutta in 1906) and began to
be acquainted with the names of some of the Indian national leaders and prominent freedom
fighters, for example Bipin Chandra Pal, Lala Lajpat Rai and Bal Gangadhar Tilak. The
activities of Vinayak Damodar Savarkar in London and Paris and especially his daring escape
and subsequent arrest during his deportation from Britain to India were covered by the Czech
press. During World War I. articles were published about the Indian troops, fighting on
various battlefields, and the interest in economic and political development in India was also
growing. An editorial article in one of the Czech dailies in 1915 reads: “The industrial
development of this greatest colony in the world will bring in its wake changes in all
directions. The country will finally achieve its economic and, simultaneously, political
indepedence. And a present war which will mark a new stage in the history of India, will
accelerate the process whereby India will achieve independence“.3
Prior to World War I, the information was flowing in one direction only, that is, from
India to Bohemia. The situation changed after the war, however. The newly formed Republic
of Czechoslovakia, its political establishment and the Czechoslovak society in general were
now able to create a wider and more far-reaching network of economic, cultural and social
1
Národní listy, 25. 11. 1905.
Národní listy 5. 10. 1907
3
Translated from Czech. Právo lidu, 11. 4. 1915.
2
2
contacts and relations. The fact that India still remained a colony did not stand in the way of
the development of mutual relations.
On February 26, 1921 the Czechoslovak consulate was opened in Bombay, later
consulate was opened also in Calcutta. The first Czechoslovak consul was Otakar Pertold, one
of the foremost India scholars from Prague, who obtained a good knowledge of India during
his visits there in 1909 and 1910. During the time he spent in office, he sought to promote the
mutual trade between both countries, which was a priority of the Czechoslovak government
and the business circles. The Czech Republic imported mainly cotton and jute from India,
while India mainly bought steel and glass products. Czechoslovak costumed jewelry was
another popular import article. By the end of 1920’s, the export from India has grown in value
to about 100 million Rs. while the Indian import had reached the value of about 27 million
Rs.4 India was also the destination of Czech capital investments. In the 1930’s, for example, a
wide network for the sale of the Baťa shoes, produced in Zlín, existed in India, and later there
were even shoe-making factories built in Batanagar near Calcutta and in Batapura near Lahore
(1934).
From the point of view of the interwar cultural and non-governmental relations, it is
possible to say that Prague has relatively quickly become a new, attractive destination in the
continental Europe. It was visited by the foremost Indian scholars, artists, journalists, and
politicians. In Visitor´s Book of the Oriental Institute we find the names of Suniti Kumar
Chatterjee (philologist), Beni Prasad of the University of Allahabad (historian), Benoy Kumar
Sarkar from Calcutta (sociologist) and a lot journalists and students.
A great part in this development was played by the Indian scholars in Czechoslovakia and
their growing prestige in both India and the world. The Prague India scholars, mainly Vincenc
Lesný, Otakar Pertold5 a members of the Prague German community Moritz Winternitz6 a
Otto Stein7 assumed an indispensable position in the Czechoslovak social life and fostered the
4
Jaroslav Strnad, Jan Filipský, Jaroslav Holman, and Stanislava Vavroušková, Dějiny Indie, 873.
Otakar Pertold (1884–1965), prof. of Comparative Religion at Charles Universitity specialized in South India
and Ceylon. In 1921 he became the first Czechoslovak consul in India, Bombay.
6
Moriz Winternitz, profesor of the German University in Prague, specialized in ancient Indian literature:
Geschichte der indischen Literatur (three volumes, Leipzig 1905-1922, published in English version for
Calcutta University 1927, 1933, 1959). Winternitz actively participated in the development of Indology in India
proper, where he won great respect for his scholarly work and lectures particularly in Calcutta and Tagore´s
Santiniketan. In 1929 together with Otto Stein brought out the first issue of Indologica Pragensia, stressing in a
foreword that they „attach special importance to the closest connection with our Indian colleagues and friends“.
Indologica Pragensia. Herausgegeben von Moriz Winternitz und Otto Stein, Verlag Rudolf M. Rohrer, BrünnPrag-Leipzig-Wien 1929. Vorwort/Foreword.
7
Otto Stein (1893-1942), specialized in ancient Indian history and archaeology. While in Calcutta (1931) he
contributed to the monthly Prabuddha Bharata an article evaluating Indian studies in Czechoslovakia of his
time:“Taking into account the Czechoslovak Republic as a state of some 15 million inhabitants, one must confess
5
3
growing interest in India by their translation work and by their own publications. They
presented the Indian cultural values and political aspirations and problems of the Indian
people to the Czechoslovak public. As early as 1924 the Nithi Dharma, written by Gandhi,
was translated into Czech language8, followed in 1931 by the translation of Gandhi’s
autobiography with the foreword by V. Lesný9. A book by Moriz Winternitz, entitled
“Mahátma Gándhí”, was published in 1930.10 In the newspapers and periodicals, both Czech
and German, the articles on current Indian problems and the campaigns of the Indian national
movement, written by local (Pertold, Winternitz or Lesný) and Indian (A. C. N. Nambiar,
Subhas Chandra Bose) authors, were published on regular basis.
India scholars lectured in the universities and already in the 1920’s they began to
pursue a wide variety of activites in the Oriental Institute in Prague (which was established
with help of Czechoslovak President, T.G. Masaryk). This institute became very popular in
India, as well as the international scholarly journal, Archív orientální, that the institute has
published since 1929. The India scholars also visited India, where they established contacts
with the prominent scholars, artists and politicians. Some of these contacts later developed
into life-long friendships, which transcended the purely personal level and influenced the
attitude of Lesný’s friends toward Czechoslovakia. The friendship of Professor Lesný with
Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941), Subhas Chandra Bose and Jawaharlal Nehru surely fall
into this category. The great value of these relationships was clearly manifested during the
time of the European crisis, when Czechoslovakia was on the brink of being occupied by the
Nazi Germany.
Vincenc Lesný and India
Prof. Vincenc Lesný (1882-1953) was one of the most prominent personalities of the
Czechoslovak Indian studies. He focused on classical studies (sanskrit, prakrtas and
buddhism). His visits of India, however, subsequently led him to turn his attention more to the
modern Indian languages, literature and the current Indian problems. He later summed up his
that in her universities the representation of India´s culture...can hardly be called inadequate, adding that
Indology is not fostered by some egoistic motifs or is not a special lucrative source of those who devote their
lives to it. We must rather appreciate the idealism and the economy of work by which it is able to reconstruct,
from thosands of miles away, the complex edifice of a culture that we call India“. Stein, O., India´s Culture as a
Subject in Prague, Prabuddha Bharata, Calcutta 39/5-1934, pp. 242-246. Quoted in: Miloslav Krása, Looking
Towards India, 96.
8
Mohandas Karamčand Gandhi, Ethické náboženství: Nithi Dharma. Z angličtiny přel. W. F. Waller. Praha:
Sfinx 1924.
9
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, Můj život (My Life), ed. C. F. Andrews, Transl. into Czech Pavla Moudrá.
With the Foreword by Prof. Lesný, Orbis, Praha 1931.
10
Moriz Winternitz, Mahatma Gadhi, Prag:Verlag der Deutschen Gesselschaft für sittliche Erziehung 1930.
4
impressions and experience, gained in India, in three books, published in Czech.11 In these
books, he presented India as it was, in a sober manner which reflected the Indian reality – in
other words, he wrote about things which he believed the readers wanted to know and should
know about India. The articles and short contributions, which he published in Czech and
German periodicals and dailies and which dealt with various topics (Hindu-muslim relations,
constitutional reforms), social problems, prominent personalities of Indian political (Mahatma
Gandhi) and cultural life and new publications from and/or on India12, were also very
interesting. By their number and variety alone, these contributions reflected the wide scope of
Prof. Lesný´s interests and his deep involvement in Indian affairs. It comes as no surprise than,
that in 1920’s already Prof. Lesný was considered to be the most important Czechoslovak
expert in Indian affairs and that he was sometimes called „ a true Indian patriot and
unaccredited ambassador of India in Czechoslovakia“.
It was through Lesný that more accurate news about Czechoslovakia, its culture and its
people began to appear in India. Lesný’s first stay in India (1922-1923) was funded by the
Czechoslovak Ministry of foreign affairs, mainly because Lesný, while travelling on the
Indian subcontinent, was promoting the newly established Czechoslovak Republic. He has not
suprisingly visited Shantiniketan, where he later spent four months as a visiting professor
during his second stay in India (1927-1928). While in India, Lesný wrote for various Indian
journals13 and maintained contacts with editors and journalists, for example with Marmaduke
Pickthal of The Bombay Chronicle, Ramanand Chatterjee of Modern Review and L.G. Khare,
who translated Lesný´s articles in Prager Presse in order to publish them in India. It seems
that while in Calcutta during his first visit, Lesný must have discussed with the editors the
problem of presenting accurate and objective information about Czechoslovakia in India, and
vice versa. One of the issues of these discussions was a letter, written by Ashoke Chatterjee,
the son of Ramanand, where he urges Lesný „to write to the Modern Review something on the
European situation. I would be very glad if someone could give us a monthly sketch of what
happens in Europe, but I feared the members of Great Powers for their love of interested
11
Vincec Lesný, Dnešní Indie (Today´s India; Duch Indie (The Spirit of India) Indie a Indové. Pouť staletími.
(India and Indians. Through the Ages ).
12
See e.g. Vincenc Lesný, Směry nacionalismu v indické politice (Trends in Nationalism in Indian Politics),
Naše doba 21. 3 (1923): 143–148; Vincenc Lesný, Gándhí a indický boj za osvobození (Gandhi and the Indian
Struggle for Liberation) Přítomnost 7. 13 (1930): 196–198; 7. 14 (1930): 210–213; Vincenc Lesný, Gándhí a
jeho obnovený boj za svobodu Indie (Gandhi and His Renewed Fight for Indian Freedom), Demokratický střed 7.
26 (1930): No. 26, p.1.; Vincenc Lesný, Reforma státní správy v Indii (A Reform of Public Administration in
India), Lidové noviny (Brno) 32. 465 (1924): 4; Vincenc Lesný, O sporech hindů a mohamedánů v Indii (HinduMuslims Disputes in India), Pražský ilustrovaný zpravodaj 9. 431 (1929): 2; Prager Presse, 5. 269 (1925): 6-7.
13
e.g. India and the World (Calcutta), Amrita Bazar Patrika (Calcutta).
5
propaganda“. He further expressed his view that a correspondent from a small European
country would be more fair in reporting...He clearly stated that they would be greatly obliged
if Lesný could personally do it....“unless you think it worthwhile to let us Indians know the
truth about Europe as against wonderful fabrics of imaginary stuff which come fresh to us
from spinning weaving mills of the British press“.14
Tagore and Czechoslovakia
Lesný mastered Bengali a he was the first European to translate Tagore’s poetry
directly from the original15, a fact that Tagore himself appreciated in a letter dated Aug. 5,
1936: „Dear Professor Lesný, I considered it a very happy day you have become connected
with us by bonds of friendship in Santiniketan. It is the aim of Santiniketan to mutually
connect the hearts of people from various nations though the meeting of knowledge. We
consider your assistance and friendship in realizing its aim very valuable. It is astonishing for
me to see how deeply you penetrated into the heart of Bengali language and mastered my
writings, within a short time. In no other foreigner I have ever seen such a concentration and
strength of judgement. Accept my heartiest thanks for making the readers of your country
acquainted with my writings. “16
The correspondence between Lesný and Tagore started, however, already before
World War I. The file of the correspondence between the two of them contains, among other
things, Tagore’s letter, dated Dec. 15, 1913, which is very likely an answer to the very first
letter written by Lesný to Tagore. It reads: „Dear Sir, It has greatly delighted me to receive
your letter and to learn that our language in not unknown to you...Yours truly, Rabindranath
Tagore“.17 Lesný had first met Tagore in person in October 1920 in London and invited him
to visit Prague. While in New York, Tagore also received a letter of invitation from Moritz
Winternitz.
Tagore came to Prague on June 18th, 1921. The visit of the poet, whose work was
known in the Czech lands already since the pre-war years, had left a deep impression on the
Czech public. The several days he spent in Prague were filled with lectures, recitals and
meetings. Only hours after he arrived he was introduced by Lesný in the great hall of the
Charles University, which was packed with people. The poet lectured on philosophy and
14
Central Archives of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Collection Lesný, File IIb, i.no. 128/1-2.
He published a biography about the poet . Vincenc Lesný, Rabíndranáth Thákur=(Tagore): osobnost a dílo.
Kladno: J Šnajdr 1937. The book was also later published in English: Rabindranath Tagore, His Personality and
Work. Transl. by Guy McKeever Phillips, Allen and Unwin, London 1939.
16
Letter of Aug. 5, 1936, Central Archives of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, File IIb1, i. no.
315.
17
Letter of Dec. 15, 1913, Central Archives of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, File IIb1, i. no.
315.
15
6
religion and received an overwhelming applause. His following lectures under the auspices of
the university and his public lecture in Lucerna, the biggest hall in Prague of that time, met
with similar success. Tagore’s visit of Prague received wide media coverage. Before he
arrived, Lesný introduced him and his work, including Tagore´s educational experiments and
his „Abode of Peace“18, in a student journal. The journalists also pointed out that in the wake
of the Amritsar tragedy, which happened in 1919, the poet in protest returned the British
knighthood, which was awarded to him in 1915.
Tagore came to Prague again on October 9th, 1926, this time as a guest of the
Czechoslovak writers, organized in the recently established (1925) P.E.N. Club in Prague,
whose president at that time was the world-known Czech writer Karel Čapek. Tagore was
accompanied by several friends, including Ramanand Chatterjee, the editor of the Modern
Review (published in Calcutta), who later published detailed reports about this visit. Tagore,
who came to Prague via Berlin and Dresden, was praised in Prague not only as „genius of
poetry and friend of Czechoslovakia”, but also as “an opponent of fascism and propagator of
rapprochement between races and nations, whose work had a mighty impact on European
spiritual life in the period of post-war disintengration of cultural values.“19 During his weeklong stay in Prague, he again lectured in Lucerna, appeared on the Czechoslovak radio, and
recited his poetry in the National Theather, where he attended the performance of his play The
Post Office in Czech language.
The charisma, which Rabindranath Tagore possessed, influenced also the Czech art.
Among the things which remind us of his visits is a cycle of love songs, inspired by Tagore’s
poetry (Josef Bohuslav Foerster), or a special vocal composition, written by Czech composer
Leoš Janáček and inspired by Tagore’s poem The Wandering Madman. Janáček has met
personally with Tagore in 1921, when he was present at some of his lectures and recitals.
Janáček then summed up his feelings and impressions in an article, which was published in
Lidové noviny (The People´s Daily) in Brno shortly after Tagore’s visit.20
18
Vincenc Lesný, Rabíndranáth Thákur a jeho „Dům pokoje“. U příležitosti očekávaného básníkova příjezdu do
Prahy. (Rabindranath Tagore and His Abode of Peace. On the Occasion of the Expected Arrival of the Poet to
Prague). Studentský věstník, Praha, 1. 20 (1926): 1-3.
19
Miloslav Krása, Looking Towards India, 92.
20
„The poet entered the hall silently. It seemed to me as if a white sacred flame flashed high above the heads of
the many thousands present. He said: You should to know how to read my poems – therefore I am speaking to
you. It was not a speech – it sounded like a song of a nightingale, smooth, simple, void of any harshness of the
diphthongs....And the voice was permeated by the soft sorrow of his song: It is time to go, Mother. Or by emotion:
Here she comes! And by the strong faith of his prayer: Will you, Father, let my country rise again to
freedom?..He spoke to us in his language which we could not understand but from the sound alone we were able
to recognise the bitter pain in his soul. I saw and heard the prophet of his people“. Quoted in: Miloslav Krása,
Looking Towards India, 94.
7
Tagore was the first Indian who openly declared his friendship towards
Czechoslovakia, when the country faced the hard trials of 1938. As the tension in Europe
increased and the crisis loomed, the prominent representatives of culture in Czechoslovakia
turned to their friends and collegues abroad with the appeals for support. On Christmas Eve
1937, in a very well prepared program, the unique message and appeal for peace were
presented in a direct broadcast to India. The world-known Czech writer Karel Čapek
addressed Rabindranath Tagore a Vincenc Lesný simultaneously interpreted his speech from
Czech to Bengali: „Tagore, a great master, a harmonious voice of the East, we greet you in
your Shantiniketan. We greet you from Czechoslovakia, where snow is falling, from a Europe,
in which we are feeling lonely, from the Western World, where not even the most developed
nations can shake one another´s hand in brotherly greeting. And yet despite the distance
beween our countries and cultures, we are extending a fraternal hand to you, to you poet of
sweet wisdom, to your peaceable Shantiniketan, to your great India, to your immense Asia, to
that Asia, too, which is being laid waste by weapons invented in the West. At a moment when
at both the easternmost and the westernmost fringes of our common continent guns are
thundering, a tiny voice of Western Democracy is calling to you at the close of the year: May
the World live on, but let it be a world of equal and free people.” 21 Tagore was listening in
Vishvabharati and his answer came shortly after by telegraph: “Friends in Czechoslovakia, in
the terrible storm of hatred and violence raging over humanity accept the goodwill of an old
idealist who clings to his faith in the common destiny of the East and West and all people on
the Earth. Rabindranath” 22 Moreover, Tagore, touched by the message from Prague, sent to
Lesný a poem full of emotions and anxiety which was later found among Lesný´s
documents.23 Tagore’s letters to Lesný, written in the following months, show that he was
closely watching the developments in Europe and was deeply concerned with the fate of
Czechoslovakia. In August 1938, he wrote: “We are all greatly concerned with the drift of
political conditions in Central Europe. You must be passing through days of terrible anxiety.
Be assured that the whole-hearted sympathy is with your country and the cause of
humanity.”24 In the fall of 1938 Tagore publicly condemned the Munich Agreement, which in
effect meant the occupation of the border regions of Czechoslovakia by the Nazi Germany.
21
Translated from Czech. Quoted in: Jaroslav Strnad, Jan Filipský, Jaroslav Holman, and Stanislava
Vavroušková, Dějiny Indie, 876.
22
Miloslav Krása, Looking Towards India. A Study in East-West Contacts, 104.
23
The poem is typed in English, untitled, dated on Dec. 25. 1937 in Shantiniketan, and bears Tagore signature.
Collection Lesný, Central Archives of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Collection Lesný, File
IIb1, i. no. 315
24
Letter of Aug. 20, 1938, Collection Lesný, Central Archives of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic,
File IIb1, i. no. 315
8
He was again among the first people to express sympathy and to offer encouragement to the
Czech people. In a telegram, addressed to the Czechoslovak President, Edvard Beneš, we read:
„I can only offer profound sorrow and indignation on behalf of India and of myself at the
conspiracy of betrayal that has suddenly flung your country into a tragic depth of isolation,
and I hope that this shock will kindle a new life into the heart of your nation leading her to a
moral victory and to an unobstructed opportunity of a perfect self-attainment.“25 Indignation,
caused by the Munich dictate, also influenced Tagore´s literary work and is expressed in a
bitter poem Prayashcitta (The Penance).26 Tagore also gave the covering letter, which he sent
to his friend Lesný together with the poem, to the British and Indian press.
“Uttarayan“
Santiniketan, Bengal
October 15, 1938.
„Dear Dr. Lesny,
I feel so keenly about the suffering of your people as if I was one of them. For what
has happened in your country is not a mere local misfortune which may at the best claim our
sympathy, it is a tragic revelation that the destiny of all those principles for humanity for
which the peoples of the West turned martyrs for three centuries rests in the hands of
cowardly guardians who are selling it to save their own skins. It turns one cynical to see the
democratic peoples betraying their kind when even the bullies stand by each other.
I feel so humiliated and so helpless when I contemplate all this, humiliated to see all
the values, which have given whatever worth modern civilization has, betrayed one by one
and helpless that we are powerless to prevent it. Our country is itself a victim of these wrongs.
My words have no power to stay the onslaught of the maniacs, nor even the power to arrest
the desertion of those who erstwhile pretended to be the saviours of humanity. I can only
remind those who are not yet wholly demented that when men turn beasts they sooner or later
tear each other.
As for your country, I can only hope, that though abandoned and robbed, it will
maintain its native integrity and falling back upon its own inalienable resources will recreate
a richer national life than before.
25
Quoted in: V. Lesny´s public lecture on Tagore, 1946 Collection Lesný, Central Archives of the Academy of
Sciences of the Czech Republic File IIb9, i.no. 436.
26
When, on March 15, 1939, the rump of Czechoslovakia was occupied by the Germany, Tagore wrote another
poem Ahban (A Call) which he sent to Canada.
9
I am sending you a copy of my English rendering of a recent poem of mine, yet
unpublished, in which my outraged sentiment has found its expression. You may use it as you
like, though it will also be published in the November issue of the Vishva-Bharati Quarterly.
If you like I can also send you the Bengali original.
With the best wishes and regards,
Yours sincerely,
Rabindranath Tagore“ 27
The original version of the above mentioned poem (Prayashcitta) was sent to Lesný in
February 1939. In the covering letter Tagore writes that it was sad to read ...“all the news
about the great betrayal of your magnificent country at the hands of England and France...I
met Mr. Nehru......and he gave me a graphic description of the woes of mutilation of
Czechoslovakia....Let me only hope, your brave people will not fail to rebuild once again your
own future.” 28
Bose and the Indo-Czech Societies
Subhas Chandra Bose (1897-1945), a prominent leader of the Indian National Congress, was
fully aware of the importance of overcoming the isolation of India as a colony and of making
the Indian struggle for independence widely known abroad. He himself was very active in
promoting bilateral relations (cultural and economic) with the countries of continental Europe.
In the 1930’s, he made three journeys to Europe, visiting Czechoslovakia on all three
occasions. His first visit to Czechoslovakia was in summer 1933. In 1934, Bose spent two
months in Carlsbad, using this time to finish the manuscript of his book The Indian Struggle
1920-34.29
In Czechoslovakia, Bose found a suitable partner with whom he could realize his plans
– Vincenc Lesný. Lesný was aware of the importance Bose had for the Indian national
movement. In 1933, Lesný assisted in arranging a meeting between Bose and the
Czechoslovak Minister of Foreign Affairs, Edvard Beneš. He tried to arrange for Bose to be
received by President Masaryk (in 1933 and 1935), but his request was politely turned down
27
Letter of Oct. 15, 1938. Collection Lesný, Central Archives of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic,
File IIb1, i. no. 315.
28
Letter of Febr. 14, 1939. Collection Lesný, Central Archives of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic
File IIb1, i. no. 315.
29
Bose, S. Ch. The Indian Struggle 1920-34, Wishart and Company, London 1935.
10
on both counts (probably because of the negative reaction it could cause in Great Britain).30
Edvard Beneš received Bose in 1936 on his way to Berlin and again in 1938, this time in the
capacity of the President of Czechoslovakia.31
Bose also personally attended the foundation of the Indian Association, attached to
the Oriental Institute in Prague. Indian Association, the first non-governmental organization to
promote cultural exchange between India and Czechoslovakia, was established on May 4,
1934. Its foundation was initiated mainly by Lesný, who at that time held the office of the
secretary of the Oriental Institute. The founding ceremony was held in the Lobkovic Palace,
then the seat of the Institute, and was attendend by a large group of Indian guests. Subhas
Chandra Bose delivered one of the key speeches and even later he remained true to the
Association as well as to his Czechoslovak friends.
The activities of the Indian Association with Prof. Lesný as chairman and A. C.
N. Nambiar (the Prague Indian correspondent to Modern Review) as secretary were
spectacular. In 1936 (July 18-22), the Association organized in Prague the annual conference
of the Federation of Indian and Ceylonese Students Abroad. Prague was chosen as a venue of
the conference based on Nehru request, after Italy, the original location, was rejected in
protest against the Italian aggression in Ethiopia. The week-long conference took place in the
building of the Oriental Institute and was closely followed by the press. It was at this
particular occasion that the flag of the Indian National Congress, a tricolor with the Charkha,
was hoisted for the first time in Prague.32
An ever stronger need of suitable partner of the Prague Association in India led to the
creation of a sister organization, The Indo-Czechoslovak Society in Bombay, in July 1938.
Soon after the Nazi Anschluss of Austria (May 24, 1938), „when the clouds of Nazism were
gathering over Czechoslovakia“, Ladislav Urban (Czechoslovak Consul in Bombay) and
Ahmed Kaisar (citizen of Bombay) visited Subhas Chandra Bose in his capacity of the
President of the Indian National Congress. A letter sent by the consul to the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs in Prague, we learn that “Bose warmly welcomed the idea of the IndoCzechoslovak Society and express readiness to become its president“. We are also told that the
consul was consequently informed that Bose, during a discussion with Kaisar and journalist T.
K. Menon, promised any kind of help with the full authority he had in case of a possible war
31
For more information about the activites of S.C. Bose in Czechoslovakia see Miloslav Krása, „Subhas
Chandra Bose and Indo-Czech Relatios“, In: Netaji Festival. Souvenir 1971. Edited by Sisir K. Bose, 11-13.
32
Miloslav Krása, The Indologist and His Mission: Lesný´s Work Beyond the Boundaries of Research. In:
Vincenc Lesný and Indian Studies, Edited by Jan Filipský, 33.
11
between Germany and Czechoslovakia. Bose allegedly stated that India would offer support
and help to Great Britain should Great Britain side with Czechoslovakia.33
The Indo-Czechoslovak Society in Bombay came into existence in July 1938 under the
presidentship of Subhas Chandra Bose. It was active during the time of the Munich crisis,
when it helped to spread the news about the events in Czechoslovakia, which were sent from
Europe by Nehru. The last reports of the activities of the Society in Bombay are dated from
September 1938.
The Indian Association in Prague was one of the first organizations in
continental Europe to unoficially but effectively promote the mutual cooperation and cultural
exchange with India, which at that time still was a colony, fighting for independence. This
fact was praised by many prominent Indians of that time, including Prof. Lesný’s friend,
Rabindranath Tagore. In a letter from December 29, 1935, he wrote:...“It has given me great
plesure...to know about the good work you are doing through The Indo-Czechoslovak Society.
For a proper understanding between the people of Europe and of Asia we require many more
such societies. We must realize, before it is too late, that we share a common civilisation and
culture and we have a common responsibility towards all humanity“...34 Jawaharlal Nehru
also closely followed the activities of the newly established organization and he personally
made sure that the publications and journals from the INC secretariat in Allahabad were made
available to the Association. In a letter, written on November 22, 1935, Nehru expressed his
hope “that the contacts between the Indo-Czechoslovak Society and the Indian National
Congress will grow and will prove advantageous to both the countries and their peoples”. 35
Nehru and the Munich crisis
„Even during these last eight months vast changes have come over the.interntaional
situation, the crisis deepens, the rival forces of progress and reaction closer grisp of each
other, and we go at a terrific pace towards the abyss of war. In Europe fascism has been
pursuing its triumphant course, speking ever in a more strident voice, introdicing an open
gangsterism in international affairs. Based as it is on hatred and violence and dreams of war,
it leads inevitably, unless it is checked in time, to world war....So we find British imperialism
inclining more and more towards the fascist powers, though the language it uses as it is old
33
Miloslav Krása, Indian´s Emerging Foreign Policy. Early Endeavours and Challenges, 212.
Letter of Dec. 29, 1935. Collection Lesný, Central Archives of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic
File IIb1, i.no. 315
35
Letter of Nov. 22, 1935. Collection Lesný, Central Archives of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech
Republic File IIb1, i.no. 315.
34
12
habit, is democratic in texture and pious in tone. And because of this contradiction between
words and deeds, British prestige has sunk in Europe and the world and is lower today than it
has never been for many generations“. 36 The words of Nehru, spoken during the INC session
in Faizapur (December 1936), clearly show how well Nehru understood the looming crisis in
Europe. His sympathies were always with the democratic powers, which were resolved to
oppose the expansionism of Nazism and fascism. He was resolute in his antagonistic stance
toward fascism and was never willing (unlike, for example, Bose) to have any dealings with
the Fascist and Nazi leaders. In 1936, he deliberately avoided a meeting with Benito
Mussolini37, in 1938 he firmly rejected an official invitation to visit Berlin, which was
delivered to him personally in the summer of 1938 by the German consul in Bombay, Graf
von Dönhof-Krafftshagen.38 In August 1938, when he traveled through Munich, he also
rejected the offer of hospitality, made by the German authorities. 39
In his articles and speeches, Nehru pointed out the impacts of the fascist aggression in
Abyssinia and Spain. He was firmly on the Czechoslovak side during the days before Munich.
He criticized the policies of Great Britain toward the Nazi Germany and the part it played in
the destruction of the Czechoslovak state. In the summer of 193840, he traveled across Europe
to see first hand the circumstances and perspectives of the development in Europe as
36
Jawaharlal Nehru, Presidential Address, Dec. 1936. In: Selected Works of Jawaharlal Nehru. Vol 7., Edited by
S. Gopal, 600-601.
37
In Nehru’s autobiography, we find interesting details: “I was with my wife when she has died in Lausanne on
February 28, 1936. A little while before news had reached me that I was elected president of the Indian National
Congress for the second time. I returned to India by air soon after and on my way, in Rome, I had a curious
experience. Some days before my departure a message was conveyed to me that Signor Mussolini would like to
meet me when I passed through Rome. In spite of my strong disapproval of the Fascist regime I would ordinarily
have liked to meet Signor Mussolini and find out for myself what a person who was playing such an important
part in the world´s affairs was like. But I was in no mood for interviews then. What came in my mind even more
was the continuance of the Abyssinian campaign and my apprehension that such an interview would inevitably
used for purposes of Fascist propaganda. No denial from me would go far. I remembered how Mr. Gandhiji
when he passed through Rome in 1931, had a bogus interview in the Giornale d´Italia fastened on to him. I
remembered also several other instances of Indians visiting Italy being used, against their wishes, for Fascist
propaganda. I was assured that nothong of the kind would happen to me and that our interview would ne entirely
private. Still I decided to avoid it and I conveyed my regrets to Signor Mussolini.
I could not avoid going through Rome, however, as the Dutch K.L.M. airplane I was traveling by spent
a night there. Soon after my arrival in Rome, a high official called upon me and gave me an invitation to meet
Signor Mussolini that evening. It had all been fixed up, he told me. I was surprised and pointed out that I had
already asked to be excused. We arguedf or an hour, till the time fixed for the interview itself, and then I had my
way. There was no interview.“ Jawaharlal Nehru, An Autobiography With Musing On Recent Events In India,
600.
38
Miloslav Krása, Džaváharlál Néhrú a Československo v období evropské krize r. 1938, 359.
39
On the way from Paris to Prague Nehru stopped in Munich to show Indira the German Land Museum. The
German authorities allegedly offered him allowances for the time of his stay. Zdeněk Trhlík, Jawaharlal Nehru
and the Munich Betrayal of Czechoslovakia, 44.
40
He left Bombay on June 2 on board of the Italian ship Conte Biancamano.
13
aggressivity of Berlin was increasing (especially towards Prague) 41. He also looked at the
strategic goals of the western democracies. On this occasion, while he visited London, Paris
and the Republican Spain (Barcelona), Nehru also came to Czechoslovakia. In
Czechoslovakia, Nehru looked for one of the main sources of the current crisis, but also for a
possible ally, ready to stand by the western democracies against Hitler and to offer an
effective resistance to Nazism.
Altough it was Nehru’s first visit of Czechoslovakia42, the country was not completely
unknown to him. He followed and supported the activities of the Prague Indian Association;
he maintained a regular contact with Vincenc Lesný.43 It was Lesný and his friends from the
Indian Association, who welcomed Nehru and his daughter after they arrived by train to
Prague on August 9, 1938. On August 11 Nehru visited the Oriental Institute (the dated
signature in the Visitor´s book) where he had a short discussion with Lesný and with members
of the Indian Association and then he met India scholars Pertold and Gampert at Charles
University.
In those days, the government in Prague was under strong pressure. Berlin has
threatened Czechoslovakia with military intervention to help the Sudeten Germans; the Nazi
groups in Czechoslovakia raised unrealistic demands, which the government could not meet;
and London and Paris were using the diplomatic levers against Czechoslovakia. The plight of
the country looked desperate.
During his visit, Nehru stayed at the Ambassador Hotel (Václavské náměstí). He did
not stay in the most luxurious hotel in Prague of that time, Alcron, because in that hotel stayed
Lord Runciman, who started his ill-fated mission in Czechoslovakia just a few days before
41
While Nehru was getting ready to go to Europe, Germany was increasing its pressure on Czechoslovakia. The
argument Germany used was the alleged discrimination of the German minority in the border region of
Sudetenland. Germany was lodging official complaints against the steps Czechoslovak government made in
relation to the Sudeten Germans and threatened Czechoslovakia with military intervention. The German units
started to concentrate on the Czechoslovak border. On May 20, President Beneš issued the mobilization order,
thus forcing the European powers to declare their stance towards the whole issue.
42
As we know from a letter, written by Indira Nehru to Prof. Lesný, Nehru planned to join Oxford University,
while his wife Kamala was undergoing treatment at Badenweiler in Germany. But the bad health and then the
decease of Kamala on February 28, 1936 forced Nehru to abandon his plans and return to India. Letter of Nov.
29, 1935, Collection Lesný, Central Archives of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic File File IIb, i.
no. 3.
43
In 1935 Nehru sent to Lesný a copy of his book devoted to the world history (which he was writing between
October 1930 and August 1933 in various prisons of India. Referring to the history of Central Europe he
mentioned particularly the Hussite Wars (using evidently H. G. Wells, Die Grundlinien der Weltgeschichte; eine
einfache Schilderung des Lebens unde der Menschheit. Verlag für Sozialwissenschaft, Berlin 1925 as a main
source), the revolutionary year 1848 and the inception of independent Czechoslovakia in 1918. Jawaharlal Nehru,
Glimpses of World History. L. Drummond 4th ed., London 1949; Lesný praised his book: “I was especially
impressed by your ability to grasp all the main trends of world history and your personal relation to it.” Quoted
in: Zdeněk Trhlík, Jawaharlal Nehru and the Munich Betrayal of Czechoslovakia, 14.
14
Nehru’s arrival. The coincidence of both visits was not deliberate, but it carries with it a
profound symbolic meaning, especially when we take into account the different character and
issue both of these visits had.
Runciman, whose mission was official, visited the German gentry and industrialists in
the Sudetenland, who, in a vast majority of cases, supported the party of Konrad Henlein (The
Sudetendeutsche Heimetsfront). He then pushed President Beneš and the Czechoslovak
government to make concessions, which were not acceptable for them.
When we look with the benefit of hindsight on the Nehru’s attitude toward the
political development in Europe and in the world, it is surprising to realize how fast he was
able to understand the situation, which was seemingly so complicated. As a resolute supporter
of democracy, who felt a close relation to the ideals of democracy and especially British
democracy, Nehru had hoped until the last moment that the West would not yield to Hitler
and that the democratic powers would stand united against the Nazi expansionism. He
harbored no illusions, however, about the political maneuvers of some politicians (for
example Neville Chamberlain) and about the character of Runciman’s mission to
Czechoslovakia. He soon understood the nature of the Sudeten German problem and of the
role the British mediators played. By the end of August he was clear that as a part of its
Drang nach Osten, Germany wants to occupy the entire Czechoslovakia and make it a part of
the Reich. His opinions on the whole matter were clearly demonstrated in the reports he sent
to the leadership of the Indian National Congress, which he sent to D. B. Kripalani: “The
minority question in Czechoslovakia is of course the merest pretext for the crisis which is
solely due t Hitler´s determination to dominate Europe by crushing Czechoslovakia.44 The
Central European situation is very critical and the worst is feared. Personally I think that war
will not come, but it is a doubtful issue. I have no doubt in my mind that war can be prevented
if the British government adopted a strong attitude in favour of Czechoslovakia, but that is
exactly what it is not doing. It is astonishing how the British goverment goes on encouraging
indirectly Hitler and his gang. Hitler is now concentrating troops on the frontiers and it is
expected that numerous petty incidents will be created in the German districts of
Czechoslovakia to give an excuse to Hitler to intervene....Meanwhile Runciman is here and he
is known to be partial to Hitler....If war comes, it is unlikely to be confined to two countries. It
44
Jawaharlal Nehru, Letter to D. B. Kripalani, August 30th 1938. In: Selected Works of Jawaharlal Nehru.
Edited by S. Gopal, Vol. 9, 117-118.
15
will spread and thus all manner of terrible things will happen. Personally, I think that it is
bound to end in Hitler´s defeat.” 45
Nehru could not be officially received in Prague due to the fact that India was still a
colony. When the visit of Lord Runciman, which received close media coverage, and the
attention Britain paid to Czechoslovakia at that time is taken into account, it is easy to
understand why Nehru could not be even unofficially received by the President or the
Minister of Foreign Affairs. Nehru´s stay had, nevertheless, a political character and his
attention focused on political problems46. The Czechoslovak authorities enabled Nehru to get
acquainted with the atmosphere, political situation and public opinion. The program of the ten
day visit was prepared by Lesný as chairman of the Indian Association and Dean of the
Faculty of Philosophy and by his collegues. Nehru paid several unofficial visits to various
government officals; travelled to the border lands where he tried to understand the nature of
the Sudeten issue; and he was getting familiar with the overall situation. A. C. N. Nambiar,
who assumed the role of Nehru’s personal secretary, has arranged a meeting with journalists
(including the Reuters correspondent), with the MPs of Henlein’s Party and with Czech and
Indian journalists. 47 The owner of the network of shoe factories, Jan Antonín Baťa, offered
Nehru his private airplane so that Nehru could come visit his factories in Zlín. In Prague,
Nehru met with the representatives of Czechoslovak political and cultural life, especially with
Karel Čapek. He summed up his overall impressions in an interview, published in the Czech
dailies under the title India against Dictatorship.48
Nehru was deeply impressed by the determination of the Czech people not to be
subdued by the international pressure and by the threats, and, if necessary, to defend the
republic against a much stronger enemy. On September 8, he expressed his feelings about the
case of Czechoslovakia in a letter to the editor of Manchester Guardian: “Recently I spent
45
Jawaharlal Nehru, Letter to D. B. Kripalani from August 16th 1938, 108-109. In: Selected Works of
Jawaharlal Nehru. Vol. 9, editedy by S. Gopal, 108-109.
46
Nehru’s opinions on international problems and the situation in India were published in Czech newspapers
before Nehru’s arrival. In Paris, Nehru gave an interview to the Czech correspondent, which was published in
the Czech daily Rudé Právo under the title “Rozmluva s vůdcem Indů, J. Nehru. Vůdce 350 milionů přijíždí do
Československa (A Talk With the Leader of India, J. Nehru. The Leader of 350 millions Come to
Czechoslovakia). Rudé právo, 31. 7. 1938.
47
In an interview for the correspondent of Amrita Bazar Patrika, Nehru said: “The Czechoslovak question has
today advanced to a position of international importance and is therefore of interest to India. The Czechoslovak
issue in its present form has less to do with the minority issue as generally understood. Now the problem is
linked with an expansionist course course visualised by Germany....The calmness shown by Czechoslovakia in
the face of such a serious danger is very impressive. The situation has also been allowed greatly to advance to a
critical stage by a policy of drift and hesitancy followed by Britain. All lovers of freedom will wish for successful
and healthy emergence of this peaceful and progressive democratic republic.“ Jawaharlal Nehru, „Interview
with the Prague correspondent of Amrita Bazar Patrika“, (printed on Aug. 31, 1938), In: Selected Works of
Jawaharlal Nehru. Edited by S. Gopal, Vol. 9, 109-110.
48
Lidové noviny 18. 8. 1938; shortened and reprinted in Rudé právo, 19. 8. 1938.
16
some time in Czechoslovakia.....I returned full of admiration of the Czech people and
democratic Germans who, in face of grave danger and unexampled bullying, kept calm and
cheerful, eager to do everything to preserve peace and yet fully determined to keep their
independence... All our sympathies are with Czechoslovakia.49
Nehru was convinced that it is necessary to display the same strong will and
determination to stand against the Nazi Germany on the international level: “It is true that
Herr Hitler has the last and determinig word in this matter but Herr Hitler´s decision itself
will largely depend on the British attitude. This attitude has so far done everything to
encourage him and to bully and threaten Czechoslovakia.”50
While he was still in Prague, he started to send articles to the Congress daily National
Herald, published in Lucknow. In these articles, which were also reprinted in vernacular
languages, Nehru dealt with the development in Czechoslovakia. The dramatic events
preceding Munich happened during Nehru’s stay in Western Europe (London, Geneve, Paris).
From there, he increased his efforts to save “the little country of Czechoslovakia, an island of
democracy in a sea of reaction.” His reports are full of sympathy and concern, many times
based on the broadcasts of the Czechoslovak radio. On August 22, he sent from Paris to the
National Herald a description of the situation of Czechoslovakia, which has just received
ultimatums from France and Great Britain: “We have been abandoned, betrayed, cried a vast
multitude of the Czechoslovak people in their agony. New had come that their cabinet.....had
accepted the Anglo-French ultimatum and a hundred thousands citizens of the city of Prague
poured out into its streets, sorrowful beyond words tasting the dreg of humiliation....What can
one do with a stab in the back?.....What one can say when the assassin is one whom one has
counted as a friend?.... And yet behind all their sorrow there is still determination. ‘We are
alone’ they cry, let us be strong. Czechoslovakia shall live.”51 In his reports, Nehru tried to
turn the attention of the INC to the events in Europe and use them to draw lessons for the
Indian National Movement. When he was still in Prague, Nehru emphasized in his discussions
with the local journalists that, all his sympathies for Czechoslovakia notwithstanding, his
main interest is tied with the destiny of India and its journey toward independence: “India has
great sympathies with Czechoslovakia but on the question of war she should have to consider
her own interest....India would not support Great Britain merely because she is engaged in
49
Jawaharlal Nehru, A letter to the Editor of Manchester Guardian (Sept. 8, 1938) In: Selected Works of
Jawaharlal Nehru. Vol. 9, 142–145.
50
Ibid.
51
Jawaharlal. Nehru, „The Great Betrayal“ (National Herald 1.10 1938), In: Selected Works of Jawaharlal
Nehru. Vol. 9, 153–154.
17
fighting against a fascist or Nazi power. India would decide according to the circumstanes
and would not blindly follow Great Britain, unless the Indian political problem was solved to
India´s satisfaction without further delay.”52 “Our fight for democratic independence depends
on whether it will be democratic principle that would prevail or the fascist and imperialist....
we still do not enjoy full freedom. But India has an influence upon the English foreign policy
to such an extent that the English are really worrying: what would the 350 millions do if
England entered war? Well, I have already hinted that. They will never stand up for a nondemocratic country but they will reserve the right to make decisions...and would not leave it
to London.” 53
Nehru himself closely, day by day and hour by hour, followed the critical events
preceding Munich. He was present during the debate on Czechoslovakia in the Palace of
League of Nations and after the mobilization in Prague he telegraphed (on September 24) his
encouragement to President Beneš. “In the hour of great peril may I convey to you deep
sympathy and admiration of Indian people for people of Czechoslovakia stop We earnestly
trust that Czechoslovakia will emerge triumphant citadel (of) democracy Jawaharlal
Nehru.“54 On September 28, Nehru (together with the Czechoslovak Minister of Foreign
Affairs Jan Masaryk) attended the session of the House of Commons in London, where
Chamberlain announced that he accepted Hitler’s invitation to the meeting of four great
powers in Munich. He was disturbed by the fact that Chamberlain failed to mention
Czechoslovakia at all, although this meeting was to about decide its fate. He expressed his
meaning in an article, entitled London in Suspense: “Was there going to be another betrayal
again, the final murder of that nation? This sinister gathering of four at Munich was it the
prelude to the Four-Power Pact of Fascism-cum- Imperialism....to crush all progressive
elements?”55 He called the subsequent agreement between the four powers “the act of gross
betrayal and dishonor, which did not even bring peace but has brought us to the treshold of
war.”56
52
Jawaharlal Nehru, Press Interview, August 17th 1938. In Selected Works of Jawaharlal Nehru. Vol. 9, edited
by S. Gopal, 117–118.
53
Interview published in Prager Tagblatt (Prague), 13. 8. 1938, extract of this interview was published the same
day in Rudé právo under the headline „Pandit Nehru Declares: India Will Never Help Fascism“.
54
Miloslav Krása, India´s Emerging Foreign Policy Early Endeavours and Challenges, 188. Similar telegram
was sent to President Beneš from Delhi, where, influenced by Nehru’s reports, the Working Committee of INC
on September 28 passed a resolution containing the message of deep sympathy to the people of Czechoslovakia
in their fight for the preservataion of their freedom. Miloslav Krása, Looking Towards India, 109–110.
55
Jawaharlal Nehru, The Unity of India. 289.
56
Jawaharlal Nehru, „The Choice Before Us“. In: Selected Works of Jawaharlal Nehru. Vol. 9, edited by S.
Gopal, 166–167.
18
The events, which immediately preceded the military conflict, manifested the common
basic political orientation of the peoples of India and Czechoslovakia. The Indian freedom
fighters had to take into account the international situation after the Munich Agreement and
the subsequent occupation of Czechoslovakia. These events have beyond any doubt changed
the attitude the INC leaders held toward Great Britain. Congress leaders later stressed how
important it was to learn from political experience of these crucial years and many of them
lost all the remaining faith in the promises made by the British. In an article titled “The Great
Betrayal“ published in the National Herald (1. 10. 1938) Nehru wrote: “We have long
experience of promises broken and betrayals by the British government. Yet it is well that this
new experience has come to us also, lest we forget... To rely on the friendship or protection of
these (England and France) is to invite disaster. Let India learn this lesson again well and not
be swayed away by soft words and promises meant to be broken....We must rely on ourselves
alone and on our strenghth and so achieve independence.” 57 His sister Vijayalakshmi Pandit
said immediately after the Munich dictate: “the fate of Czechoslovakia has made us more
determined than ever to achieve our aim and sever connections with a Government whose
ideals differ from ours.”58 Smilar experiences and shared dreams of freedom and
independence in this particular time of European crisis influenced not only leading
personalities but also the general public in both India and Czechoslovakia. It helped to
strengthen the mutual friendship, which survived even the time when Czechoslovakia was
occupied and all the direct contacts between both countries were interrupted. After the war,
Czechoslovakia was one of the first states to establish diplomatic relations with the newly
independent India on November 28, 1947.
57
58
Jawaharlal Nehru, „The Great Betrayal“ 153–154.
Miloslav Krása, Looking Towards India, 111.
19
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Waller. Praha: Sfinx 1924.
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the Boltley Head 1947.
20
Nehru, Jawaharlal. „The Great Betrayal“(National Herald, Oct. 1st, 1938), In: Selected
Works of Jawaharlal Nehru. Vol. 9, edited by S. Gopal. New Delhi: Orient Longman, 1976,
153–154.
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Works of Jawaharlal Nehru. Vol. 9, edited by S. Gopal. New Delhi: Orient Longman, 1976,
166–167.
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Selected Works of Jawaharlal Nehru, Vol. 9, edited by S. Gopal. New Delhi: Orient Longman,
1976, 142–145.
Nehru, Jawaharlal. Letter to D. B. Kripalani from Aug.16th, 1938. In: Selected Works of
Jawaharlal Nehru. Vol. 9, edited by S. Gopal. New Delhi: Orient Longman, 1976, 108–109.
Nehru, Jawaharlal. „Interview with the Prague correspondent of Amrita Bazar Patrika“,
(printed on Aug. 31, 1938). In: Selected Works of Jawaharlal Nehru, Vol. 9, edited by S.
Gopal. New Delhi: Orient Longman, 1976, 109–110.
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1989.
Periodicals:
Demokratický střed (Democratic center)
Lidové noviny (Peopleś Daily)
Národní listy (National Daily News
Naše doba (Our Time)
Prager Presse
Právo lidu, (People´s Justice)
Pražský ilustrovaný zpravodaj (Prague Illustrated Magazine)
Prager Tagblatt
Přítomnost (The Present Times)
Rudé právo (Red Justice)
Studentský věstník (Students´Herald)
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