Today is the 100th anniversary of the signing the Cleveland Agreement in Cleveland, Ohio, in the United States of America. October 22, 1915 saw the agreement facilitated by a two-day joint conference of American Slovaks and Czechs. Representatives of the Czech National Association and the Slovak League of America agreed to support the liberation of Czechs and Slovaks from under the dominion of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy. At the same time, they demanded the creation of common federative state of Czechs and Slovaks to be established after WWI.
The Cleveland Agreement consisted of five essential points. First was the request of autonomy and independence for Czechs and Slovaks. Secondly, the creation of common federative state of Czechs and Slovaks with complete, national autonomy of both nations. They were each supposed to have a congress/assembly, state administrations, and cultural freedom (their own national languages). Slovakia also had its own financial and political administration. Thirdly, the agreement called for the introduction of the universal right to vote. According to the fourth point, the common state should've been established as a democratic personal union. Creating the basis of preliminary mutual agreement with supplementation and extension to be made only upon the agreement of both sides was the fifth point.
The Cleveland Agreement was one of the greatest turning points in the history of both nations. It facilitated the creation of a common state on October 28, 1918. The federation element was, however, created only in 1968. Slovakia is also commemorating the anniversary by an exhibition of prominent Slovak photographer and traveller Filip Kulišev at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History. "The Cleveland Agreement represents an important milestone on the road that changed Slovaks into a modern nation with a strong identity and our own state. I'm glad that our country has proved that it's a cradle of dexterous and capable people", said Foreign and European Affairs Minister Miroslav Lajčák in Cleveland on the occasion of the Day of Slovak Heritage in September.
