American Czechs in World War I

July 28, 1914 – November 11, 1918

On July 28, 1914, after the assassination, Kaiser Franz Joseph I declared war on Serbia, marking the start of the First World War. The Czechs, also under the rule of the Kaiser, were drafted to fight for the Austro-Hungarian Empire. On the other side of the Atlantic, however, American Czechs joined the US Army to fight for freedom against the Austrian and German monarchies. 

In fact, the first Texan who gave his life in the war was a Czech Houstonian by the name of Dominik Naplava. In his letters to his brother, he passionately talks about the war as an opportunity to free the Czech people from the oppression of the Habsburg Dynasty. 

Hundreds of Czechs, both in America and Europe, followed his example. Many who were fighting under Austria-Hungary deserted the imperial military and volunteered to serve the Allied Army, forming the Czechoslovak Legion. With the help of Czech and Slovak diplomats and politicians living abroad, namely in the US, this Legion quickly grew in power, and by the end of the war its members were welcomed as heroes in the United States. This new allyship, forged during the war, successfully won American support for the independence of Czechs and Slovaks from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and directly led to the creation of a free and sovereign Czechoslovakia.