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Czech school history independent Czechoslovakia schools
Czech Schools: Independence (1918)
Figure 1.--Here we see a Czech school class within months of indepenbdence. The photograph was taken in June 1919 and looks to be a first year class, oerhaos a secind year class as it labeled 'II GL' After the dissolution of the Habsburg Empire in 1918, the new Czechoslovak State renewed the 1874 Habsburg law on state control of religion into the Republic's legal code. While the state had control, notice the priest with the class. We are not entirely sure what his role was. This was quite a large class for an early-primary group--some 50 boys. The photo was taken in Litoměřice northeast of Prague in the Sudetenland. (The children may be ethnic Germans.) The NAZIs opened a concentration camp near the village. In the final years of the war, the inmates worked in building undeground facilities. The boys wear different types of clothing. The clothing and look like they belong to families of different classes. German children attend undiferentiated primary school for 4 years and then are sepated by ability. The Czech system appears to follow this same pattern. Several boys wear sailor suits. Some children are barefoot, but what looks more unusual for the times are the two boys wearing open toe sandals with socks.
Czechoslovakia had been part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. At the end of World War I, Czechoslovakia declared its indepndence (1918). Bohemia had beem indepedent before, but had been under Hapsbueg rule for about 400 years. Austrian Germnization policies had become a major issue by the 19th century became a major issue resulting in the National Renaissance. As far as we can tell, however, Czech children for the most part attended Czech-language schools. The Allies after the War were intent on creating a viable new Czech srate. They addeded on bits of territory to create a viable nation. This included the Transcarpatian area in the far east, Slovakia, and the German-majority Sudetenland. Thus the new nation had a core Czech majority in Bohemia, but many importnt minoity groups almost equaling the Czech majority. Thus the Czech Republic was one of the most ethically diverse states in Europe. The Allies, in part because of Presudent Wilson's Fourteen Points were committed to creating nation states. A thirds of the Fourteen Poinys deal with the natioanlitioes issue. . The Allies did not, however, want to create micro states to accomodate each of the differebt ethnicities involved. Or to expand Gernman territoy. Thus Czech education authorities faced te same language issues tthat the Austrians had faced. The Czech school system had been essentially the same as the Austrian system. After indepence and split with Austria, the Czech system was was joined with the Slovak system. The Czechgs in Bohenia already has a well developoed school system. As a result, there were no immediate changes. Further east there were huge changes that were needed to expand the school system.
