Milan Rastislav Štefánik
 | This article may require copy editing for grammar, style, cohesion, tone, or spelling. (March 2008) |
Milan Rastislav Štefánik | |
|---|---|
 | |
| 1 Minister of War of the Czechoslovakia | |
| In office October 28, 1918 – May 4, 1919 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | July 21, 1880 Košariská |
| Died | May 4, 1919 (aged 38) Ivanka pri Dunaji |
| Resting place | Brezová pod Bradlom/Bradlo |
| Occupation | Military, Astronomer, Mathematician, Pilot, Meteorologist |
| Awards | Légion d'honneur |
Milan Rastislav Štefánik (; born July 21, 1880 in Košariská - died May 4, 1919 in Ivanka pri Dunaji) was a Slovak politician, diplomat, and astronomer. During World War I, he was General of the French army, at the same time the Czechoslovak Minister of War, one of the leading members of the Czechoslovak National Council (i.e. resistance government), and he contributed decisively to the cause of Czechoslovak sovereignty. (The status of Czech- and Slovak-populated territories, among others, was in question until shortly before the disintegration of Austria-Hungary in 1918.)
Štefánik's personal motto was: To Believe, To Love and To Work (Veriť, milovať, pracovať).
Studies
He was born in Košariská, Austria-Hungary on July 21, 1880. He had 12 brothers and sisters (2 of which died early). His father was a local Lutheran priest called Pavol Štefánik and his mother name was Albertína Jurenková. As a strong Slovak patriot, he had troubles at Hungarian schools (Slovak ones were prohibited[citation needed]) and had to change the high school several times (Pressburg, Sopron, Szarvas).
In 1898, he started to study construction engineering in Prague. In 1900 he switched to the Charles University where he was going to lectures of astronomy, physics, optics, mathematics and philosophy. He was also in Zürich for a short time within his studies. The Prague years had a great impact on Štefánik, because he met many important personalities there: the lectures of philosophy were taught by Tomáš Masaryk (the future first president of Czechoslovakia), who inspired Štefánik with the idea of cooperation of the Czechs and the Slovaks. Furthermore, Štefánik very actively participated in the work of the Slovak student association Detvan (and within Detvan of the so-called Hlasists group) where He made acquainted with Vavro Šrobár. His studies were largely financed by the Czech associations Českoslovanská jednota (Czechoslavic Unity), Radhošť etc. - he himself could not afford them. In Prague, he wrote political and artistic texts, in which he tried to inform the Czechs on the disastrous situation of the Slovaks at that time. He graduated in 1904 with a doctor’s degree in philosophy and with thorough knowledge of astronomy (he finished his studies with a thesis in astronomy).He wrote his thesis about a star like It was discovered in the Cassiopeia constellation in 1572.
France, Tahiti and other countries
In 1904, he went to Paris to find a job in astronomy with on a so Czech prosessor's recommendation who was known in Paris. Initially, he had no money and no command of French, but then he got a job at the famous Observatoire de Paris-Meudon, whose director, Pierre Janssen (one of the co-founders of astrophysics), saw Štefánik’s talent. Štefánik thanked to Pierre Janssen and Camille Flammarion his social, political and scientific career. This Observatoire de Paris-Meudon was the most important central in the astronomy in this time which it means huge prestige in his job.
Between 20 June and 4 July 1905, Štefánik climbed the Mont Blanc (later He climbed it several times) that He can observe the Moon and Mars from it. Then He took part in an official French expedition which observed and recorded a whole eclipse of the Sun in Alcossebre in Spain. Thereby he established his own recognition in the French scientific society. He worked Gaston Millochau who was a member of the Académie Française so some of them from his work were read at the Académie Française also. Then he was invented by an international astronomer conference which interested in research on the Sun in Oxford. Between 1906 and 1908 he was co-director of Mont Blanc observatories Plc (joint-stock company).
At the end of 1907, however, Pierre Janssen died and Štefánik had to change his job. Since 1908, he has been charged by French authorities with astronomic and meteorological observations (mainly observations of sun eclipses) and political tasks in various countries all over the world (Algeria, Turkestan, Russia, USA, Panama, South America, Australia, Tasmania, New Zealand, Tahiti, Tonga and others). In Tahiti, he also built an observatory and a meteorological stations network. Between these voyages he regularly returned home to Košariská (last time in 1913 for his father’s funeral). When he was in South America (especially in Ecuador), he got an opportunity to show his diplomatic skills for the first time.
Štefánik dealt with astrophysics, solar physics and became well-known for his spectral analysis of the sun's corona. He was involved in perfecting spectrography and has been considered a predecessor of Bernard Lyot. He also attempted to construct a machine for color photography and cinematography and had his design patented in 1911.
His studies and the results of his observations were published in reports to the Académie Française and he received several awards for them.
In addition to his scientific missions overseas, he also performed diplomatic tasks. He established contacts and friendship with leading scientific, artistic, political, diplomatic and business personalities. He participated in the establishment of business enterprises in France and other countries. His friend were Henri Poincaré physicist, count Eugéne Aymar de la Baume, Joseph Vallot (who was the richest man in France), Gustave Eiffel architect, prince Roland Bonaparte, Camille Chautemps Prime-Minister,a French large-undertaking called Devousoud from Chamonix, Simon Newcomb American astronomer and admiral, David Jayne Hill American diplomat. In 1912, he received French citizenship, recognition and access to the French elite. In 1914, he was made Grand Officier of the Legion of Honour. At the same time, however, he had some personal problems and a serious stomach illness (which did not get better even after a medical operation). Moreover, the World War I started in Europe.
World War I and struggle for independence
Štefánik understood that a defeat of Austria-Hungary (and Germany) in this war meant a chance for the Slovaks and Czechs to gain independence from Austria-Hungary. Therefore, he insisted on participating in the war as an aviator (of the French army) although He suffered from a gastric disease. After a short training, he was sent as a pilot to Serbia in May 1915. He flew 30 missions to enemy territories in sum. His excessive effort almost caused his death. Finally he survived, but could not fight anymore, so that he returned to Paris at the end of 1915.
Back in Paris, he became acquainted with Edvard Beneš and got into contact with his former professor Tomáš Masaryk. In 1916, these three men founded the Czechoslovak National Council (the supreme body – government - of Czecho-Slovak resistance abroad leading to the creation of Czechoslovakia in 1918). Since 1917, he was the vice-president of the council. Thanks to his diplomatic skills, Štefánik helped Masaryk and Beneš to meet and obtain the support of some of the most important personalities of the Entente. He for example organized Masaryk’s meeting with the French prime minister Aristide Briand.
In 1916, Štefánik and the Czecho-Slovak resistance started to create Czechoslovak troops (legions) that would fight against Austria-Hungary and Germany. For this purpose, Štefánik (as the Czechoslovak Minister of War and as a French General) went to Russia and then (in February 1917) to the USA. He also organized legions in France and Italy. It was largely due to his personal diplomatic skills and contacts that the Allies (Entente) recognized the Czechoslovak National Council as a government-de-facto and the Czechoslovak troops as allied forces in the summer and autumn 1918. In May 1918, Štefánik went to Siberia in Russia, where he was supposed to make the Czechoslovak legions there renew the second, i. e. Eastern, front (because Russia had switched the sides and signed peace with Germany and Austria-Hungary in March 1918, and Czechoslovak legions very successfully rebelled against a subsequent Russian order to disarm, thus showing their abilities to the Allies). But in Russia, Štefánik saw that this was not possible anymore.
In January 1919, when the war ended, Štefánik went from Russia to France and Italy, where he organized the retreat of Czechoslovak troops from Siberia in March in Paris. In addition, his diplomatic skills were needed in order to solve quarrels between the French and Italian missions in Czechoslovakia. In April, he went from Paris to Rome to negotiate at the Italian Ministry of War, where he also met his fiancée Juliana Benzoni for the last time. Then he went to the main Italian military base in Padua, where he agreed with General Armando Diaz on the dissolution of the Italian military mission in Czechoslovakia. At the same time, severe quarrels arose between Štefánik and Beneš (but also Masaryk), mainly around the position of Slovakia within Czechoslovakia. In April, for example, Beneš wrote to a county president in Slovakia: "I had a conflict with Štefánik. . . Everything is over between us. I mean absolutely (over). But keep it totally secret...".
Death
Finally, Štefánik wanted to return home to see his family. He decided to fly from Italy and to use an Italian military plane. On May 4 1919 around 11 AM, his plane tried to land near Pozsony (which was threatened by Hungarian troops of Béla Kun at that time), but crashed near Ivanka pri Dunaji. Štefánik died along with two Italian officers. The reason for the plane crash is disputed until today. The official explanation at that time was that the plane was shot down ”accidentally“, because its Italian tricolor was mistaken for the Hungarian tricolor. Štefánik’s sudden death in combination with his preceding quarrels with Beneš contributed to Slovak suspicion towards the Czechs during the First Republic of Czechoslovakia. Národnie noviny (National news) wrote his funeral:" Pozsony city's descent of Hungarian and German inhabitants were interested in about Štefánik's airplane crash also. It is prove much funeral flags on the streets and the local news's leading articles. The people understood that's possible to be heroes for the poor Slovaks finally. Although the city's population boycotted the celebrations which were in Pozsony when the Slovak government formed. But more 1000 people are there with people from the countryside from over the solders's protective cordon in a 3 km's area now. The members of the city council put a wreath with a epitaph in 3 language: it is a signs about Pozsony city's deep sorrow at his catafalaque which was a barrack in Pozsony. At his catafalaque Samuel Zoch Pozsony county's Slovak governor made a speech in Slovak language and Richárd Kánya the last Hungarian mayor of the city made a speech in German language." Štefánik's tomb was built in 1927-28 on the Bradlo hill in Brezová pod Bradlom. The monumental yet austere memorial was designed by Dušan Jurkovič.
See also
Other references
- Richard McKim: "Milan Štefánik and the rotation period of Venus", Journal of the British Astronomical Association vol. 117, p.7-8, 2007.
- Kautský, Emil Karol: Kauza Štefánik - Legendy, fakty a otázniky okolo vzniku Česko - Slovenskej republiky. Matica Slovenská. Martin, 2004
- Štvrtého mája - atentát na slovenského kráľa
- http://www.stefanik.net/ Milan Rastislav Štefánik museum
- http://tfsimon.com/stefanik-note.htm