The President of the new Czecho-Slovak Republic Thomas Masaryk has finally, after years in exile as a Professor in the United States, returned home to Czechoslovakia. Born the son of a humble Slovak coachman in 1850 in the Czech dominated state of Moravia, Masaryk has come to embody the joint interests of the Czechs and Slovaks. Indeed, for decades Masaryk has championed the cause of the twin nations abroad. Beyond Czechs and Slovaks however, Masaryk has also stood by justice for all representatives of first the Austrian Empire and now Czechoslovakia as well. In 1899 during the trial of Leopold Hilsner, a Jewish man accused of murdering a young Czech woman for a religious ritual, Masaryk wrote a stunning defence of Hilsner and exposed the trial for what it was: anti-semetic showmanship.

On December 20, 1918 Thomas Masaryk was finally able to receive his long awaited and much deserved welcome. After being greeted by the National Assembly at Horní Dvořiště rail station, the train made stops in several towns before finally arriving in Prague on December 21. Thousands of citizens greeted him at the station and he could finally see Edvard Beneš in person again. After another speech to a crowded square Masaryk could finally retire for the night. Today the crowds may cheer but there was still much work to be done. Hungarians were still in parts of Slovakia. Poland and Germany seemed to be teetering on the brink of Bolshevism. Closer to home, Masaryk had to somehow convince more than 5 nationalities that the Czecho-Slovak Republic could work. All of that, however, could wait until tomorrow.