The Meaning of The Czech Question Today

Abstract

Assesses the historical & contemporary utility of Tomas G. Masaryk's interpretations of the Czech political & cultural crisis in the late nineteenth century. In Ceska otazka (The Czech Question [1895]), Masaryk argued that the social dualism of rationality & nonsecular humanism forms the very core of the modern European spirit; he also insisted on the inseparability & complementarity of different forms of rationality. Of lasting value is Masaryk's ability to disaggregate the great issues of his time, specifically the need to choose among Austro-Slavism, pan-Slavism, or attachment to Germany. Masaryk's approach to geopolitics remains useful to contemporary Czechs, who are now faced with deciding whether to join the European Union, to form a looser political union within Central Europe, or to try the 'Norwegian' way.