Embassy Events
International Conference Examines U.S. Mission of General Štefánik during World War I
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| Logo of 2009 Štefánik international conference. Ministry of Foreign Affairs. |
Scholars, government representatives and military personnel gathered May 4-5 at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Bratislava for an international conference, “M.R. Štefánik in the light of sources and the most recent historiographic discoveries.” This year represents the 90th anniversary of the plane crash May 4, 1919, that ended the life and multi-dimensional career of Milan Rastislav Štefánik -- scientist, aviator, man of adventure, friend of artists and Slovak diplomat. In opening the conference , Foreign Minister Milan Lajčák said that Štefánik was the chief driving force behind the formation of a Slovak democratic nation in contemporary history. The conference hosted historians and diplomats from France, Italy, Russia, Serbia, Romania, the US, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The head of Slovakia’s Military Historical Institute, Miloslav Čaplovič, said that these discussions would initiate a search for new documents in archives around the world. In his brief remarks introducing the American segment of the conference, the Embassy’s Public Affairs Officer Ed Kemp said: “I am personally inspired by the vision of Štefánik and those Slovaks who worked with him in 1917-18 to gain international support for the creation of Czechoslovakia. This was a diplomat who understood, in a modern way, the power of public diplomacy – the creation of a public image of Czechoslovak statehood in the American public. And also how to mobilize men and resources to make that vision a reality.”
