petent information, he is only an average compiler of German authors. What is remarkable is the fact I have wanted to point out several times, that Austria provided Masaryk with a higher salary than his colleagues. The Austrian government hoped that, with his socialistic ideas and positivist philosophy, he would dampen their nationalist desires. That also explains why Prague Archbishops were unsuccessful in attempting to draw him away from young students before he could poison their young souls. . . . The President has in reality never abandoned his hatred of the Catholic Church and has never ceased to show kindness towards everything anti-Roman... Masaryk has never acted kindly towards the Holy See, although the Holy Father kept reassuring him of his interest. He proved this when he planned to travel to Rome absolutely incognito to avoid visiting the Vatican.339
Marmaggi, the new Apostolic Nuncio, provided information about President Masaryk in a far more conciliatory spirit than his predecessor, Micara. When he spoke with him in March 1924, he had the impression that the President’s attitude towards the Catholic Church was still the same, although “he is not so warlike as he used to be recently, and he is not anymore a rebel in opposition to Rome. In my opinion, he acts correctly and in a friendly way.“340 However, the President did not abandon his anti-Catholic attitude—his critical reproaches against the Catholic block, which Masaryk openly presented during the meeting with Catholic journalists in Topoľčianky in October 1926, were aimed mainly at the superficial Catholic press, inactive bishops (F. Kordač), and the personages of the Catholic block (J. Šrámek, A. Hlinka, F. Juriga, A. Arata).341 The Vatican was informed about Masaryk’s third journey to Italy in 1924, when the President headed for Sicily, by Nuncio Marmaggi and the Roman La Tribuna, to which Masaryk had granted an interview on the way to his vacation.342 The Nuncio said that Masaryk would not stop in Rome, like the previous time, to avoid meeting with the Pope. However, the President, or rather the President’s Office, had considered visiting the Holy Father and was aware of the consequences of not 339 ASV, Archivio Nunziatura Cecoslovacchia, busta 5, fascicolo 19, fols. 59–60, concluding report. 340 AA. EE. SS., Cecoslovacchia, IV periodo, fascicolo 52, fol. 23, Marmaggi to Gasparri June 16, 1924. 341 Ibid., fascicolo 72, fols. 23–25. 342 AMFA, PR Vatican, 1924, Pallier June 18, 1924; Masaryk, Cesta demokracie, 2:389–391; Národní listy, May 3, 1924.
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doing so.343 Such snubbing of the Holy Father was, however, common among politicians of other states, too; Yugoslavian Foreign Minister Momčil Ninčić’s journey in 1926 can serve as an example.344 The fact that Masaryk was named by the Holy See as an honorary member of the Pontifical Academy Tiberina was an honor for him.345 During the 1920s, E. Beneš had apparently gained the sympathies of the Vatican with his diplomatic and moderate attitude towards the Catholic Church,346 the personages of local and Catholic politicians, and the Holy See. Although he sometimes lapsed into the cheap Catholic antagonism of Czechoslovakian politicians—for example in 1925 during the Hus celebrations—his interest was foreign politics and his aim was not to provoke foreign countries, including the Holy See, and to maintain friendly relations between Czechoslovakia and European and nonEuropean countries.347 Unlike President Masaryk, who wanted to break with Rome, 348 Beneš regarded the Holy See as an important agent of international politics, towards which the country had to act positively.349 After Marmaggi’s departure from Prague in the summer of 1925, Beneš said: “I regret His Excellency Monsignor Marmaggi has left. Personally, I greatly appreciated his devotion to Church duties. Our cooperation was always loyal and friendly, always accompanied by a sincere wish to develop and, if possible, improve our relations. I regret that the incident caused a diplomatic action which I cannot approve of and which, in the current situation in our country, will make it impossible for him to return.“350 Before the second parliamentary elections, the Holy See issued a regulation that introduced numerous clauses for clergymen who wanted to stand for election. It established that the number of deputies-clergymen must not rise above the current level, which it called numerous clausus. Furthermore, the Holy See stated that the current deputies and senators were
343 AMFA, PR Vatican, 1924, Pallier June 18, 1924. 344 AMFA, PR Vatican, 1926, Jelen April 12, 1926. 345 Ibid., Jelen July 14, 1927; AMFA, RP Vatican, 1920–1939, box file 16, Jelen May 18, 1927, or February 8, 1928; APO, fund PO, n. 5119, Accademia Tiberina, n. D3228/27, illegible signature June 10, 1927. 346 Zlámal, Příručka českých církevních dějin, 7:136. 347 Ibid., 37. 348 In more detail: AA. EE. SS., Cecoslovacchia, IV periodo, fascicolo 71, fols. 1–97. 349 ANM, fund Eduard Jelen, box 2B, the concept of Jelen’s unpublished typescript “Československo a Vatikán za první republiky,” 66. 350 AMFA, II. section MFA political—1. Ordinary Redcord Office (1918–1939), box file 27, Beneš August 5, 1925.
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not to be re-elected in the upcoming elections. To stand as a candidate in parliamentary elections, a priest needed to obtain the permission of his local Ordinary, who usually was not keen on political engagements.351 Parliamentary elections for the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate of the National Assembly took place in a peaceful atmosphere on November 15, 1925.352 The Czechoslovak Republican Party of Smallholders and Farmers achieved the best results in Czechoslovakia with a gain of 13.66 percent of votes (970,940 votes, 45 mandates), followed closely behind by the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia with 13.14 percent of votes (943,243 votes, 41 mandates). The Czechoslovak People’s Party took third place with 9.72 percent of vote (691,095 votes, 31 mandates).353 Already on November 18, 1925, A. Arata telegraphed the results of the elections to Gasparri.354 A day later, Arata sent to the Vatican Church representatives a 12-page analysis of the election results, in which he provided detailed information on the individual mandates gained by Czech, Slovakian and German political parties, and spoke of the future political course of the country. When summarizing that “the Catholics in the country—regardless of nationality—can be proud of the election results, he once again touched on the topic that had been irritating the Vatican, yet this time there was a feeling of satisfaction: While the soci alist parties have lost their Hus struggle against Rome and Catholicism, Catholics have taught their opponents an unexpected lesson.“355 In his report, Arata analyzed newspaper commentaries and reflected on a possible future coalition with the opposition. He was pleased that the People’s Party had won the second highest number of votes in the possible future coalition, and thus it would have a significant influence on establishing a government coalition. He also appreciated the success of Hlinka’s People Party (6.9 percent of votes).356 He calcu-
351 Jonová, “Problematika poslušnosti,” 73; Kouřil, “Katoličtí kněží v politice Československa,” 323. 352 The assessment of the 1925 parliamentary elections from the perspective of the Holy See in more detail: Šmíd, “Obtížné zakotvení lidovců,” 559–581. 353 Kárník, České země v éře První republiky, 1:377. 354 ASV, Archivio Nunziatura Cecoslovacchia, busta 50, fascicolo 401, fol. 103, Arata to Gasparri November 18, 1925. 355 AA. EE. SS., Cecoslovacchia, IV periodo, fascicolo 64, fols. 11–16, Arata to Gasparri November 19, 1925; ASV, Archivio Nunziatura Cecoslovacchia, busta 50, fascicolo 401, fols. 104–115. 356 In the Slovakian context, it was 34.3 percent of votes, which made Hlinka’s Slovak People Party the most successful party in these elections. The Czechoslovak People’s Party had never obtained such election results in the Czech Lands in proportion to the population.
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