Postcard celebrating the independence of Czechoslovakia from Austria-Hungary, proclaimed in its capital Prague on October 28, 1918. The lion, a symbol of Bohemia dating to the 12th or 13th century, became part of the coat of arms of, and a symbol for, Czechoslovakia. The lion holds in its mouth remnants of a Habsburg banner, while looking at part of the Prague skyline.
Ať ŽijeČeskoslovenska Republika!28. Rijna 1918Long liveThe Republic of Czechoslovakia!October 28, 1918
". . . the mutinies spread, and within a few weeks both a Ruthenian battalion, and a Serbian unit in the Austrian army, had mutinied, though both revolts were quickly crushed. On May 17, in Prague, a provocatively named Conference of the Suppressed Nations of Austria-Hungary was held in Prague. A fourth mutiny, by Czech troops, broke out in Rumburg four days later. They refused to go to the front unless they were paid the money due to them when they were prisoners-of-war in Russia. They occupied the town, received some support from the local Czech citizens, and threatened to march on Prague."
The predecessor to the spreading mutinies described was one that began on May 12, 1918 when the largely Slovenian 40th Battalion of the 17th Infantry Regiment, with parts of 41st and 42nd Battalions, mutinied in Judenburg. (Thanks to @IndijancTecumse for clarification.) Czechs and representatives of other Slavic national groups staged anti-Hapsburg demonstrations in Prague. Ukraine and Finland had already declared independence from Russia. The ethnic groups of Austria-Hungary were eager for their own nations.
The First World War, a Complete History by Martin Gilbert, page 422, copyright © 1994 by Martin Gilbert, publisher: Henry Holt and Company, publication date: 1994
1918-05-17, 1918, May, Prague, mutiny, Czech
