The Constitution of the Czechoslovak Republic of 1920: to the issues of democracy of post-war state formation

Abstract

The article describes how the features of the First Czechoslovak Republic state formation corresponded to democratic principles; it is examined the influence of external factors and tendencies to the constitutional process; it is investigated the implementation of the fundamental principles of democracy in the norms of the Czechoslovak Constitution of 1920. It should be stressed that the foundation of Czechoslovakia was influenced by democratic values, but also it was directly influenced by the interests of the Entente Powers, especially Great Britain and France. It manifested itself in the fact that representatives of the Czechoslovak national movement sought the support of the Entente states in the process of creating an independent state of Czechs and Slovaks in territories over which the pre-war sovereignty of the Austro-Hungarian Empire was recognized. Members of the Czechoslovak national missions were negotiating with representatives of foregin politics at this period. Czechoslovak national corps were created, fought on the side of the Entente states and formed the basis of the future army of the state, whose project was actively promoted. However, total control and dependence on Entente’s strategic interests which sometimes went against the established principles of democracy was the other side of the Entente’s support for the Czechoslovak national movement. For this reason, the democratic principles of state formation violated, and this especially concerned the solution of the national question. Features of the Czechoslovak state formation were of direct importance for the constitutional process. As a result, the democratic nature of the norms that regulated the status of national minorities, the legal meaning of the concept of “the Czechoslovak people”, the authority of the President of Czechoslovakia, can be questioned. Nevertheless, the author comes to the conclusion that the Constitution consistently contained norms on human rights and freedoms, and it regulated the mechanism of legal restriction of state power. Therefore, conclusions are drawn that the constitution of the Czechoslovak Republic was democratic.