CYIL vol. 9 (2018)

JAN ONDŘEJ – MAGDA UXOVÁ CYIL 9 ȍ2018Ȏ acquiring the spouse’s citizenship. Double citizenship is considered an unwanted phenomenon in some states. In the past, for example, A. Hobza, 38 in the 1930s, argued that double and multiple citizenships arising from the collision of standards on nationality in the case of dual or multiple citizenships can be resolved by the fact that the acquisition of foreign citizenship norms can be normalized by dissolving the previous citizenship upon acquiring a new one. Furthermore, it is also a requirement that an applicant for citizenship had to prove first they lost their previous citizenship , or secondly, through agreements between the States concerned. The state citizenship regulation of the First Czechoslovak Republic was based on the idea of a single citizenship. As F. Emmert points out, all Czechoslovak legislation as well as international treaties and agreements adopted in the 1920s aimed to achieve the intention of both the legislature and the government that Czechoslovak citizens, in connection to the emergence of Czechoslovakia, should acquire only one citizenship (Czechoslovak) later on during the existence of Czechoslovakia, the fundamental aim of both the legislature and the government was to prevent the creation of dual or multiple citizenship also later in the existence of Czechoslovakia to the maximum extent preceded the creation of dual or multiple citizenship. 39 According to Act No. 236/1920 Coll., a foreigner could gain citizenship on the basis of a ten-year stay in the territory of Czechoslovakia, a promise to grant the right of domicile in a certain municipality, and the application lodged. However, naturalization has always been linked to the loss of the previous citizenship. Between 1918–1992, the Czechoslovak Republic was among the states whose legal regulations in principle rejected double or multiple citizenship and considered it an undesirable phenomenon . 40 With the emergence of dual citizenship, Czechoslovakia sought to prevent the inclusion of these provisions not only in national legislation but also international treaties, as stated by A. Hobza (see above). A total of eight international treaties have been concluded. The first one of these was the Convention on the Naturalization between the Czechoslovak Republic and the United States of 16 July 1928. 41 The reason for the conclusion of the treaty was the urgent need to contractually treat the civilian relations of the many thousands of former inhabitants who came from the territory of the newly established Czechoslovak Republic. From the mid-19th century to the end of the 20th century, hundreds of thousands of people moved from the Czech lands to the U.S. The Convention was also reciprocal and was extended to U.S. citizens residing in Czechoslovakia. Czechoslovak citizenship was acquired under Act No. 236/1920 Coll. Among others, the wife of T. G. Masaryk, Charlotte, originally American, received Czechoslovak citizenship under Act No. 236/1920 Coll. Under Article I of the Treaty of Naturalization nationals of the United States, who have been or shall be naturalized in Czechoslovak territories shall be held by the United States to have lost their former nationality and to be nationals of Czechoslovakia. Reciprocally, nationals of Czechoslovakia who have been or shall be naturalized in the territories of the United States shall be held by Czechoslovakia to have lost their former nationality and to be nationals of the United States. However, despite the precise formulation of all the provisions and the clear implementing regulation, the Convention became subject to erroneous interpretations during the interwar 38 HOBZA, A.: Introduction to International Law of Peace. Part II. Prague: Published by Author himself, 1935, p. 355. 39 EMMERT, F.: Citizenship in the Czech Republic in the past and present. First issue. Prague: Leges, 2016. pp. 39-40. 40 Ibid., p. 63. 41 Convention on the Naturalisation between Czechoslovakia and the United States, No. 169/1929 Coll.

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