Exhibition on establishment of Czechoslovakia opens in Paris
Otto Mann
ČTK | 26 June 2009
Article URL: http://praguemonitor.com/2009/06/26/exhibition-establishment-czechoslovakia-opens-paris
Paris, June 25 (CTK) - An exhibition on the establishment of the first
Czechoslovak Republic in 1918 and relations between then Czechoslovak
and French politicians was opened in the Military Museum in the
Invalides palace in Paris Thursday.
The display, to be held until September 21, offers a series of period
photographs and documents lent by the Czech, French and Slovak foreign
ministries' archives.
The exhibition is mapping the period from 1914 when World War One
broke out until 1925 when the Locarno Treaties were signed to secure
the post-war territorial settlement. They recognised the German
borders with France, however not with the then Czechoslovakia.
The displayed documents prove difficulties accompanying the
establishment of the first Czechoslovak independent state and the
efforts of its founders to materialise the idea.
The exhibition also shows the correspondence between first
Czechoslovak president Tomas Garrigue Masaryk (in office 1918-35),
first Czechoslovak foreign minister and later president Edvard Benes,
Slovak-born Czechoslovak defence minister and diplomat Milan Rastislav
Stefanik, then French President Raymond Poincare and French generals
Ferdinand Foche, Joseph Joffre and Maurice Pelle who headed te French
military mission in Prague.
Visitors can see the original documents recognising the existence of
Czechoslovakia and other Central European countries established after
the split of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and the Czech French treaty
on alliance from 1924.
Apart from politicians' photographs the exhibition presents photos of
the Czechoslovak legionaries and state symbols.
The exhibition focuses not only on politics but also on then bilateral
cultural relations. It reminds of the works by famous Czech artists
Frantisek Kupka and Josef Sima, who lived in France, composer Bohuslav
Martinu as well as French sculptors August Rodin and Antoine Bourdelle.