During the subsequent session of the Reichsrat, various Czech deputies, representing all the Czech parties, made declarations, some of which we will quote in order to show the remarkable unanimity of the Czechs in their opposition to Austria and in their demand for independence. _It was chiefly this unanimity of all Czech parties and classes in Bohemia and the absolute harmony between their action and the Czecho-Slovak action abroad which formed the real strength of the movement_. _Dr. Stransky_, leader of the Moravian People's Party, delivered a long speech in the Reichsrat on June 12, 1917, from which we quote the following significant passages: "The Germans say that germanisation is not carried out except where it is in the interests of the state. We do not think that the interests of the state should go first. If the interests of a state are not identical with the liberties and interests of a nation, then _such a state has for that nation no right to exist_. "If Clam-Martinic thinks that we will enter the Reichsrat which the Polish deputies would not attend in their present strength, then he is greatly mistaken. We heartily wish the Poles to achieve their national independence, but should we be denied an equal right, then it would mean an end to this Reichsrat. We want to enjoy the same happiness as the rest, _we want to be free from all oppression, from all foreign domination. We want to decide for ourselves the form of our political existence_. We want to choose our own laws, we want to govern ourselves. _We claim the restitution of our political independence and of the supreme historic right of the Czech nation in the lands of the Bohemian Crown. The time is ripe also when the Austrian fortresses of St. Peter and St. Paul will open, and when their prisoners will change places with their persecutors. The state and dynasty have lately taken away the rights and liberties of our nation and trampled them underfoot_." On June 15, the National Socialist deputy _Stribrny_, openly demanded the creation of a Czecho-Slovak Republic: "The German annexationist plans are doomed. The Czechs greet with joy the new era of equality and fraternity, an era in which a _democratic republic_ is considered as the best form of government. The Czechs demand the creation of a Bohemia in which they will possess their own independent government. _Too long have they been oppressed by Austria, and now they are determined to achieve their national liberty_." On June 26, _Dr. Soukup_, the leader of the Czecho-Slav Social Democratic Party, made an equally remarkable statement: