The Centennial of U.S.-Czech Relations

Logo of the Centennial of U.S.-Czech Relations

The year 2018 marked the centennial of the founding of Czechoslovakia and the formal beginning of U.S.-Czech diplomatic relations, and the U.S. Embassy in Prague proudly celebrated this occasion. We marked 100 years of U.S.-Czech relations by supporting projects focused on the U.S.-Czech friendship and history, and by participating in events around the country that highlight the U.S.-Czech partnership.

There are many U.S. links to the founding of the Czechoslovakian state. The United States hosted Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk, along with other prominent Czechs and Slovaks, for the signing of the Pittsburgh Agreement on May 31, 1918 – the first step towards the establishment of the independent state of Czechoslovakia.

After Germany and Austria proposed peace negotiations in October, 1918, Masaryk issued a declaration of Czechoslovak independence while in the United States. Masaryk was then elected the first president of Czechoslovakia on November 14, 1918 and used the U.S. constitution as a model for the first Czechoslovak Constitution.

Masaryk & America book cover

Masaryk also had strong personal links with the United States through his marriage to an American citizen, Charlotte Garrigue (whose name he took as part of his own), and through his lectures at the University of Chicago in 1902 and 1907.

You can read more about President Masaryk and his relationship with the U.S. in the publication “Masaryk & America: Testimony of a Relationship” (PDF, 7.6 MB) written by George Kovtun to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Masaryk’s death and published by the Library of Congress in 1988.



  • aTRIUM — Elliot Sharp for Czechoslovakia
  • Asociace pro mezinarodni otazky (AMO) — Promotion of the pro-Western orientation of Czech Republic
  • Palacky University Olomouc — U.S. speakers at Czech -U.S. conference on Advanced Nanotechnology and Chemistry
  • Aspen Institute Central Europe — 1918-2018: What has happened to the Wilsonian Idealism
  • Zapadoceska Univerzita v Plzni — Pilsen Talks II: 100 years of U.S.-Czech Relations
  • Czech National Trust — Exhibition and presentation: Ticket to the New World
  • Narodni technicka knihovna — USA and Culture at Dejvice Campus 2018
  • Stopy pameti — The Memory Traces
  • Junak –  Stories of Czech Scouts in the USA
  • Forum 50% — Votes for Women!
  • Jazz bez hranic — The Count Basie orchestra
  • Knihovna Vaclava Havla — American Relief in Czechoslovakia
  • Ivan Dubovicky — Czechs in America
  • Metropolitni Univerzita Praha — Conference on 100 years of Czech-American Friendship
  • Ceska zenska lobby  — One Billion: Flash Mob
  • DOX Prague — Libenský/Brychtová/Chihuly Exhibition
  • Muzeum Malešov —Exhibition on Charles Jonas, Czech-US politician and Wisconsin Senator
  • Ji.hlava International Documentary Film Festival 2018 — DOC.DREAM
  • Nadace Partnerství — Trees of Liberty 1918-2018
  • Prague Writers’ Festival — “American Authors: 100 Events – 1000 Ideas”
  • CARE — Unknown history of aid provided b the U.S.A. to Czechoslovakia after the Second World War
  • Sonya Darrow — Stezky / Pathways
  • Ústav pro česko-americké vztahy — Americké jaro 2018
  • Nerudný fest — Youth Tunes Jazz
  • MELTINGPOT
  • Člověk v tísni — One World International Human Rights Documentary Film Festival 2018
  • EUROPEUM — Czech -U.S. security cooperation in NATO: history and future perspectives
  • Evropské hodnoty — LIFE IN DEMOCRACY — 100 years of Czech American friendship