Editing Tomáš Masaryk (section)

==Politician==
Masaryk served in the [[Imperial Council (Austria)|Reichsrat]] from 1891 to 1893 with the [[Young Czech Party]] and from 1907 to 1914 in the [[Czech Progressive Party]], which he had founded in 1900. At that time, he was not yet campaigning for Czech and Slovak independence from Austria-Hungary. Masaryk helped [[Hinko Hinković]] defend the [[Croat-Serb Coalition]] during their 1909 Vienna [[political trial]]; its members were sentenced to a total of over 150 years in prison, with a number of death sentences.

When [[World War I]] broke out in 1914, Masaryk concluded that the best course was to seek independence for Czechs and Slovaks from Austria-Hungary. He went into exile in December 1914 with his daughter, Olga, staying in several places in Western Europe, the [[Russian Empire]], the [[United States]] and [[Japan]]. Masaryk began organizing Czechs and Slovaks outside Austria-Hungary during his exile, establishing contacts which would be crucial to Czechoslovak independence. He delivered lectures and wrote several articles and memoranda supporting the Czechoslovak cause. Masaryk was pivotal in establishing the [[Czechoslovak Legion]] in Russia as an effective fighting force on the Allied side during World War I, when he held a Serbian passport.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.novosti.rs/%D0%B2%D0%B5%D1%81%D1%82%D0%B8/%D0%BD%D0%B0%D1%81%D0%BB%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%BD%D0%B0/%D1%80%D0%B5%D0%BF%D0%BE%D1%80%D1%82%D0%B0%D0%B6%D0%B5.409.html:494171-Srbija-nekada-mamila-kao-Amerika|title=Србија некада мамила као Америка|website=www.novosti.rs}}</ref> In 1915 he was one of the first staff members of the [[School of Slavonic and East European Studies]] (now part of [[University College London]]), where the student society and senior common room are named after him. Masaryk became professor of Slavic Research at [[King's College London]], lecturing on the problem of small nations. In January 1917, supported by [[Norman Hapgood]], T. G. Masaryk wrote the first memorandum to president [[Woodrow Wilson|Wilson]], concerning the need for the creation of an independent Czechoslovak state.<ref>{{cite book |last=Preclík|first=Vratislav|title=Masaryk a legie|pages=12–70, 101–102, 124–125, 128–129, 132, 140–148, 184–190|publisher=Paris Karviná in association with the Masaryk Democratic Movement, Prague|year=2019|language=cs|isbn=978-80-87173-47-3}}</ref>

During World War I and afterwards, Masaryk supported the unification of the [[Kingdom of Serbia]] with the [[Kingdom of Montenegro]].<ref>{{Cite web|last=Sistek|first=Frantisek|title=Czech-Montenegrin Relations, In: Ladislav Hladký et al., Czech Relations with the Nations and Countries of Southeastern Europe, Zagreb: Srednja Evropa 2019|date=January 2019|url=https://www.academia.edu/41731034|language=en}}</ref>

Masaryk championed [[Feminism|feminist]] causes, being influenced by his wife [[Charlotte Garrigue]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.mujrozhlas.cz/their-own-words/feminist-legacy-charlotte-and-tomas-garrigue-masaryk | title=The feminist legacy of Charlotte and Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk • mujRozhlas | date=30 August 2021 }}</ref> Masaryk's progressive ideas strongly influenced the  [[Czechoslovak Declaration of Independence|Washington Declaration]] of Czechoslovak Independence.