Assembly at St Wenceslas Square in Prague on the day of the proclamation of the Czechoslovakian Republic on 18 October 1918, photograph

For the non-German and non-Magyar peoples the incipient disintegration of the Monarchy opened up new prospects for the future.

After consensus had been achieved in Czech national society on overcoming the heteronomy, the task now was to take concrete steps for change. But the plans of the political leaders were thwarted by the dizzying momentum of events.