The effect of these persecutions was that all the Czecho-Slovaks became unanimous in their desire to obtain full independence of Austria-Hungary. Old party differences were forgotten and some of the Czech deputies who had formerly been opportunist in tendency, such as Dr. Kramar and the Agrarian ex-minister Prasek, now at last became convinced that all hopes of an anti-German Austria were futile, that Austria was doomed, as she was a blind tool in the hands of Germany, and that the only way to prevent the ten million Czecho-Slovaks from being again exploited in the interests of German imperialism was to secure their complete independence. On entering the Reichsrat on May 30, 1917, all the Czech deputies, united in a single "Bohemian Union," made a unanimous declaration that it was their aim to work for the union of all Czechs and Slovaks in an independent, democratic state. To-day Dr. Kramar is in complete agreement with the Radicals who formerly were his most bitter opponents. In fact four Czech nationalist parties (the Young Czech, Realist, State Right and Moravian People's Parties) united in February, 1918, as a single body under the name of "The Czech State-Right Democracy." The president of its executive is the former Young Czech leader Dr. Kramar, who was sentenced to death in 1916, but released in July, 1917. The executive committee of the new party included all the leaders of the four former parties, namely, Dr. Stransky, Dr. Herben, M. Dyk, Professor Drtina, and others. In their proclamation published in the _Narodni Listy_ of February 10, 1918, the executive declared that: "The chief aim of the new party will be to engage in a common national effort for the creation of an independent Bohemian State, the fundamental territory of which will be composed of the historical and indivisible crown-lands of Bohemia and of Slovakia. The Bohemian State will be a democratic state. All its power will come from the people. And as it will come from the Czech people, it will be just towards all nationalities, towards all citizens and classes." In a speech to the Young Czech Party before its dissolution, Dr. Kramar openly declared that "at the moment of the outbreak of the war it became quite clear that, despite all tactics of opportunism, our party remained true to the programme of Czech independence. It became at once evident to all of us that _the chapter of our former policy was forever closed for us_. We felt with our whole soul that the Czech nation would not go through the sufferings of the world war only to renew the pre-war tactics of a slow progress towards that position to which we have full historical rights as well as the natural rights of a living and strong nation...." And again, in an article in the _Narodni Listy_ of December 25, 1917, Kramar wrote under the heading "By Order of the Nation":