Alois Rašín (18 October 1867 – 18 February 1923) was a Czech and Czechoslovak politician, economist, one of the founders of Czechoslovakia and first Ministry for Finance. He was the author of the first law of Czechoslovakia and creator of the country's currency, the Czechoslovak koruna. Rašín was a representative of conservative liberalism and was mortally wounded in assassination for being viewed as a head of the nation's capitalism.

Early years

Rašín was born on 18 October 1867 as a ninth child (of which seven were alive) into the cottage in the outskirts of a small town Nechanice near Hradec Králové. His father František Rašín was a farmer, baker and a vendor of flour and cereals. His mother worked in their household and on the field. The family later bought a house in the town and another field. Later in life, Rašín described poor social reality in the area that was focused on the sugar industry. He also criticized the so-called "harfenictví": traveling musician groups connected to prostitution that expanded after the cancellation of the corvee. at lectures and moved to the house of his sister in Krkonoše for rehabilitation. After two years he recuperated. In October Alois Rašín was taken to custody together with redactors and editorial staff of oppositional newspapers Antonín Hajn, Josef Škába, Antonín Pravoslav Veselý, Karel Stanislav Sokol, Stanislav Kostka Neumann, and others. Journals were banned and 70 people were arrested. The defendants in the process remembered as Omladina Trial were accused of the highest treason for conspiring against the state. In fact, the group called Omladina never existed. In January 1894 the trial began and Rašín was sentenced to 2 years unconditionally to prison in Bory (cell number 248). He lost his academic titles and civil rights. inspired by Sicilian Mafia. They created the so-called National Council () that financed foreign resistance led by Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk. The consequences got to them in July 1916 when Rašín was arrested, taken into custody in Vienna and charged for treason and espionage. The process with Alois Rašín, Karel Kramář, journalist and translator Vincenc Červinka, and accountant of the malt house Zdeněk Zamazal lasted from December 1915 to July 1916 with the result of the death penalty. Later in the same year, Emperor Franz Joseph I and after him, Charles I died, and punishments were changed to 10 years in Austrian Möllersdorf. Alois Rašín shared a cell with Karel Kramář. During the time in the prison, Rašín wrote text National Economy (), which was published later in 1921. His Imperial Council Member's mandate was taken away from him in June 1917. Next month, the amnesty was announced. It was supposed to be oriented on the United States of America, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Czarist Russia. The National Newspaper continued to be the party's newspapers. In the morning, Rašín met Švehla and others from the National Assembly. After they received Andrássyho nóta (recognition of nations to self-determination), they decided to take the power before surrender. Today, Alois Rašín is remembered as one of the Men of the 28th October (with Antonín Švehla, Jiří Stříbrný, Vavro Šrobár, František Soukup), who together declared an independent Czechoslovak state. Rašín was the first one who publicly announced the state in the place of National Assembly, he also was the author of the first law which established an independent state.

The second Vladimír Tusar's government was established in 1920 after the Constitution of Czechoslovakia was approved. Rašín still got a mandate for Czechoslovak National Democracy that was also part of the Committee of Five (). In the same year, Alois Rašín published his book My Finance Plan () describing Czechoslovak financial history from Austria-Hungary till present days. Two years later he followed up with publications Financial and Economic Policy until the End of 1921 (), and Inflation and Deflation (). He was appointed Ministry for Finance in the government of Antonín Švehla and introduced many measures against social benefits. He also criticized monetary compensations for the legionaries. Amidst an economic crisis, Rašín stressed the politics of deflation (in 1922 prices dropped by 42%, salaries by 32%) and a strong currency. High unemployment caused great animosity towards him, especially from the left. A fierce anti-Rašín campaign developed. when trying to get in the ministry car. He died after a long period of suffering on 18 February 1923. The assassin was young anarcho-communist who confessed and told that he was planning to kill other representatives of Czechoslovak capitalism Jaroslav Preiss and Karel Kramář. A 6.35mm Browning-design pistol was used in the assassination. Because he was younger than 21 years, he was not sentenced to death but imprisoned for 18 years in Kartouz. The assassination was condemned by the president and many anti-socialist laws were introduced.

Relations

Rašín married Karla Janská from Prague's Smíchov in 1899. His wife's brother Jan Janský was the discoverer of blood groups. Alois Rašín had three children with his wife Karla: Ladislav (1900), Miroslav (1901) and Ludmila (1904). His son Ladislav continued in his father's footsteps as a politician. He was part of the resistance against the Nazis. Gestapo arrested him in 1939. He died in a prison in Nazi Germany a few days before the American troops came.

Characteristics

According to Ferdinand Peroutka, Alois Rašín was a thrifty man and as the Minister of Finance was very cautious every time someone demanded some portion of the governmental budget. He was a workaholic and demanded the same from those around him.

Publications

  • České státní právo, Ed.: Časopis českého studenstva, Prague 1891 (this brochure was forbidden)
  • Můj finanční plán, Pražská akciová tiskárna, Prague 1920
  • Listy z vězení, Prague 1937
  • Mé vzpomínky z mládí, Prague 1928
  • Financial Policy of Czechoslovakia during the First Year of its History, Clarendon Press, Oxford 1923 (online at Archive.org)
  • Finanční a hospodářská politika do konce roku 1921, Pražská akciová tiskárna, Prague 1922
  • Národní hospodářství, Český čtenář, Prague 1922
  • Die Finanz- und Wirtschaftspolitik der Tschechoslowakei, Duncker & Humblot, Munich/Leipzig 1923

Further reading

  • Alois Rašín – Dramatický život českého politika by Čechurová Jana, Prague 1997
  • Alois Rašín – Jeho život, dílo a doba by Hoch Karel, Prague 1934
  • Říjen 1918 by Klimek Antonín, Prague 1998
  • Paměti dr. Aloise Rašína (editor Ladislav Rašín), Brno 1994
  • Dr. Alois Rašín – Úvahy a vzpomínky by Penížek Josef, Prague 1926
  • Rašínův památník (editors F. Fousek, J. Penížek, A. Pimper), Prague 1927
  • Alois Rašín by Vencovský František, Prague 1992

References

  • Short biography
  • Biography in Czech
  • Rašín as economist (in Czech)
  • Monetary politics of Rašín (in Czech)