- National
- Czech & Slovak
- Museum & Library
- Cedar Rapids, Iowa
- Past Exhibits
- Liberation: World War I and the Formation of Czechoslovakia
- October 31, 2003 through March 7, 2004
The Czechoslovak independence movement is an epic of grand proportions set against the dramatic backdrop of World War I. As Europe suffered under the ravages of war, three men (Tomáš Masaryk, Edvard Beneš, and Milan Štefánik) worked in exile to promote the formation of a free Czech and Slovak country. Meanwhile, Czech and Slovak soldiers were forced to fight for their oppressors, the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Liberation! World War I and the Formation of Czechoslovakia tells the story of the men who worked for the creation of Czechoslovakia and the soldiers who risked their lives crossing enemy lines to fight against their oppressors. Their efforts were rewarded with the formation of a free Czechoslovak Nation at the end of the war. Their challenges continued for months after the war when 70,000 Czechoslovak soldiers remained in Siberia to guard the Trans-Siberian Railroad on behalf of the Allies. Liberation! also explored American support for the independence movement.
Liberation! included objects and archival material from the NCSML's own collection as well as loans from the National Museum in Prague, the Liberary of Congress, The Wolfsonian, The Herbert Hoover Museum and Library, the Oshkosh Public Museum, and many private collections. The exhibit also included original motion footage of the Czechoslovaks and other Allied troops in Siberia in 1918 and 1919.
Exhibit-related programs were offered throughout the four months of the exhibition. These included lectures, films, and a forum titled, Nation Building: The Question of U.S. Intervention from Czechoslovakia to Iraq, moderated by U.S. Congressman Jim Leach.
Liberation! World War I and the Formation of Czechoslovakia and related programs was supported in part by a grant from Humanities Iowa.
- Image Gallery - Liberation! World War I and the Formation of Czechoslovakia
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- Special exhibits are funded by gifts used to support the NCSML's exhibits. Go to the Exhibit Support page for more information.
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- The National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library
- 30 - 16th Avenue SW, Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52404-5904
- Phone: 319-362-8500 · Fax: 319-363-2209
- This page was updated February 28, 2006