World War I not only changed the political map of Europe, but also unsettled or totally shattered many of the structures of prewar societies. As noted by Ferdinand Peroutka, an influential Czech journalist, the atmosphere was nervous and baffled. In his description of the literary situation, the literary critic and historian Jaroslav Med has observed that “the ethos of the struggle for national existence remained present in the post-war cultural atmosphere”. One characteristic feature of this was the sense of socio-political discontinuity, including personal differences between for instance such men as Masaryk or F. X. Šalda and the protagonists of the new generation. Due to tradition, according to Med, the dominant branch of culture was undoubtedly literature, which influenced the entire social atmosphere, often including politics and science (Med, 2012, 7). Czech society saw the passing away of President Masaryk and F. X. Šalda in 1937 as a critical loss of living authority in the fields of morality, politics and science.