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The world changed on June 28, 1914. A 19-year-old Serbian
nationalist, Gavrillo Princip, assassinated the heir to the
Austrian throne, Archduke Francis Ferdinand, in Sarajevo.
Ferdinand's wife, Sophie, also was killed. Within a month,
over a dozen declarations of war were exchanged.President Woodrow Wilson relieved fears in America and proclaimed the country neutral. Ironically, within the war, many saw opportunity. Thomas Masaryk and Hynek Dostal worked independently, but with the common cause of liberating the Czech and Slovak lands. "HLAS" had been one of the first papers to protest the expansionist policies of the central powers. Now, Czech communities in Cleveland, New York, St. Louis, Baltimore and particularly Chicago -- the largest Czech city outside of Prague -- sensed an opportunity to liberate their homeland from the 300-year-old rule of the Hapsburgs. On Sept 2, 1914, the Czech National Alliance was formed. This became the center of activities and finances during the first years of the struggle to liberate the homeland. During the course of the war, close to 3,000 American Czechs and Slovaks had joined the Czechoslovakian Legions in France, Russia and Italy. They constituted the official military presence of the evolving country of Czechoslovakia. 
In February 1916, the Czechoslovak National Council was
established in Paris. The council was headed by Thomas
Masaryk, Eduard Benes, who was a Czech lawyer, and Milan
Stefanik, who was a renown Slovak astronomer. Benes
established contacts in London and Paris while Stefanik
dealt with the French and Italian governments. Masaryk
concentrated his efforts on the United States.Hynek stayed busy lecturing and promoting the Czech cause in the Midwestern United States but found time to visit the family farm in Little Turkey in August 1916. One day, Hynek called for his father to come inside, but Ignatius had one more row to plow. Ignatius never came inside. He had fallen and been dragged to death by a team of horses. The local papers announced the death but gave few details. 
Ignatius is buried in St. Mary's cemetery in Little
Turkey. Hynek attended his father's funeral. For a brief
moment, the horror of the war in Europe and the desire to
liberate the homeland was overshadowed by personal tragedy
in Little Turkey.
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