Proč UChicago? Chicago, the University, and the Making of Czechoslovakia

This thesis investigates the role of the University of Chicago in the movement for Czechoslovak independence in the early twentieth century, arguing that Chicago’s influence on the national project can be more fully explained through the interaction between the city’s Czech diaspora and the institutional networks of the University. Existing scholarship tends to emphasize either the leadership of figures such as Tom.š Garrigue Masaryk, American politicians and philanthropists aligned with the Czech cause, or the grassroots activism of Czech Chicagoans, often treating these spheres separately. By situating the University of Chicago within the expansive political and social world of “Czech Chicago,” this thesis shows how the institution amplified diasporic nationalist efforts by providing intellectual legitimacy, public platforms for promoting Czech affairs, and facilitating connections to American political elites. Drawing on University archives, Czech American newspapers, transatlantic scholarship, and other sources, it traces how the University functioned as an intermediary linking local mobilization in Chicago to broader diplomatic and political developments leading up to and during the First World War. Furthermore, in the decades following independence, the University also played a role in shaping how this relationship has been remembered through commemorations, archives, visiting professorships, and institutional narratives. Taken together, this paper argues that the collaboration between Chicago’s Czech community and the University of Chicago both supported the Czechoslovak national project and influenced how its history has been understood to date.