Grant-funded Project Nr. 478/2004/A-HN/FF
Final Report

Project title:T. G. Masaryk and Karel Masaryk in mutual correspondence
Research leader:PhDr. Ivana Ebelová, CSc.
Co-researcher: Lucie Swierczeková; Vlasta Quagliatová; Radka Nováková
Period of project:2004-2004
Overall grant:95 000 CZK

Project Results

Who wants to learn something about the origines of the czech political thinking necessarily has to study te life, opinions and heritage of two personalities: Tomáš G. Masaryk and Karel Kramář. These two men made up a new political conception revaluating principles of the czech policy within the Austrian Monarchy (that means they refused a strict nationalism and radicalism and on the contrary focused on asserting czech national rights). So they created a real czech policy, such a policy struggling for real and possible aims. The result of these efforts based on political realism was Masaryk´s and Kramář´s role during the rising of the czech state.
To be able to estimate their contribution for past and present is not enough to study their writings - first of all Masaryk´s filosofical and political works. Their mutual correspondence makes everything more clear, expains or even sometimes negates well-known facts bringing often new ones. Correspondence as a special historical source with a rich informative value taps not only personal facts but also public events. It has a rich informative value and we can gather even such pieces of information not spoken (e. g. a writer´s character, his way of thinking etc.). However, it is necessary to treat the pieces of correspondence in a critical way as all the personal documents and that is why we have to iterpretate it using the footnotes. A historical source elaborated like this can be better used by research workers.
Masaryk´s and Kramář´s letters were collected thanks to the collaboration of The Masaryk Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences, The Archives of The National Museum and The Archives of The Office of the President of the Republic. We have found about 260 original pieces of correspondence: 116 sent by Kramář to Masaryk preserved in The Archives of The Masaryk Institute, 108 sent by Masaryk to Kramář in The Archives of The National Museum and 36 sent by Kramář to Masaryk in The Archives of The Office of the President of the Republic. This edition of the letters from Masaryk to Kramář should became a part of a broader project, which has been started yet by The Masaryk Institute - the Masaryk´s correspondence published paralelly with the Writtings of TGM. The volumes are to bring Masaryk´s private and professional correspondence adressed to individuals or groups. The sense of these works is to study - based on the correspondence of the main personalities of the realistic stream - the development of this course of the czech policy. Publishing and scientifical activity are duty and even mission of The Masaryk Institute, and what is more, this edition will help to complete a modern bibliography of TGM as an essential part of the czechoslovak or czech history.
The edited correspondence by Masaryk to Kramář was written between 1889 and 1936; many different themes have been treated during this period, however the main topic is the contemporarry politics which was in the centre of Masaryk´s and Kramář´s attention.