Editing Czechoslovakia (section)

===Origins===
{{main|Origins of Czechoslovakia}}
[[File:Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk 1925.PNG|thumb|[[Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk]], founder and first president]]
[[File:Czech Troops.jpg|thumb|[[Czechoslovak Army|Czechoslovak troops in Vladivostok]] (1918)]]
[[File:28. říjen 1918.jpg|thumb|[[Czechoslovak declaration of independence]] rally in Prague on Wenceslas Square, 28 October 1918]]

The area was part of the [[Austria-Hungary|Austro-Hungarian Empire]] until it collapsed at the end of [[World War I]]. The new state was founded by [[Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk]],<ref>{{cite AV media|year=1933|title=Czechs Celebrate Republic's Birth, 1933/11/06 (1933)|url=https://archive.org/details/1933-11-06_Czechs_Celebrate_Republics_Birth|publisher=[[Universal Newsreel]]|access-date=22 February 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140407122843/https://archive.org/details/1933-11-06_Czechs_Celebrate_Republics_Birth|archive-date=7 April 2014}}</ref> who served as its first president from 14&nbsp;November 1918 to 14&nbsp;December 1935. He was succeeded by his close ally [[Edvard Beneš]] (1884–1948).

The roots of Czech nationalism go back to the 19th century, when philologists and educators, influenced by [[Romanticism]], promoted the [[Czech language]] and pride in the [[Czech people]]. Nationalism became a mass movement in the second half of the 19th century. Taking advantage of the limited opportunities for participation in political life under Austrian rule, Czech leaders such as historian [[František Palacký]] (1798–1876) founded various patriotic self-help organizations which provided a chance for many of their compatriots to participate in communal life before independence. Palacký supported [[Austro-Slavism]] and worked for a reorganized federal [[Austrian Empire]], which would protect the Slavic speaking peoples of Central Europe against Russian and German threats.

An advocate of democratic reform and Czech autonomy within Austria-Hungary, Masaryk was elected twice to the ''[[Reichsrat (Austria)|Reichsrat]]'' (Austrian Parliament), from 1891 to 1893 for the [[Young Czech Party]], and from 1907 to 1914 for the [[Czech Realist Party]], which he had founded in 1889 with [[Karel Kramář]] and [[Josef Kaizl]].

During [[World War I]] a number of Czechs and Slovaks, the [[Czechoslovak Legions]], fought with the [[Allies of World War I|Allies]] in France and Italy, while large numbers deserted to Russia in exchange for its support for the independence of Czechoslovakia from the Austrian Empire.<ref>PRECLÍK, Vratislav. Masaryk a legie (Masaryk and legions), váz. kniha, 219 str., vydalo nakladatelství Paris Karviná, Žižkova 2379 (734 01 Karviná) ve spolupráci s Masarykovým demokratickým hnutím (Masaryk Democratic Movement, Prague), 2019, {{ISBN|978-80-87173-47-3}}, pp. 8 – 52, 57 – 120, 124 – 128, 140 – 148, 184 – 190</ref> With the outbreak of World War I, Masaryk began working for Czech independence in a union with Slovakia. With Edvard Beneš and [[Milan Rastislav Štefánik]], Masaryk visited several Western countries and won support from influential publicists.<ref>Z. A. B. Zeman, ''The Masaryks: The Making of Czechoslovakia'' (1976)</ref> The [[Czechoslovak National Council]] was the main organization that advanced the claims for a Czechoslovak state.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Fenwick|first=Charles G.|date=1918|title=Recognition of the Czechoslovak Nation|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1945847|journal=The American Political Science Review|volume=12|issue=4|pages=715–718|doi=10.2307/1945847|jstor=1945847|s2cid=146969818 |issn=0003-0554}}</ref>