Czechoslovak Legions

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Monument to the Czechoslovak Legions, Palacky square, Prague.
Monument to the Czechoslovak Legions, Palacky square, Prague.

The Czechoslovak Legions (Československé legie in Czech and Slovak) were Czech and Slovak volunteer armed forces fighting together with the Entente powers during World War I.

Contents

[edit] Overview

Small armed units were organized from 1914 onwards by volunteer Czechs and Slovaks. Their purpose was to help the Entente and thus to enable the creation of an independent country of Czechoslovakia, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Later, many Czech and Slovaks captured during the war joined these units; with help of émigré intellectuals and politicians (Tomáš Masaryk, Milan Rastislav Štefánik and others) the Legions grew into force of tens of thousands. The independence of Czechoslovakia was finally obtained in 1918.

Czechoslovak Legions in Russia were created in 1917 (see below), in France in December 1917 (including volunteers from America), and in Italy in April 1918. Their membership consisted of Czech and Slovak war prisoners in Russia, Serbia and Italy, and Czech and Slovak emigrants in France and Russia who had already created the "Czech company" in Russia and a unit named "Nazdar" in France in 1914.

The Legions were actively involved in many battles of World War I, including Vouziers, Arras, Zborov, Doss Alto, Bakhmach, and others.

The term "Legions" was not widely used during the war but was adopted shortly afterwards.

[edit] Czechoslovak Legions in Russia

As World War I broke out, the ethnic Czechs living in the Russian Empire petitioned Emperor Nicholas to let them set up a national force to fight against Austria-Hungary and he gave his assent.

A "Czech company" (Czech sotnya or Czech Druzhina, Česká družina) arose in 1915 and was attached to the Russian army. From May 1915, the force was composed of many prisoners and deserters from the army of Austria-Hungary which were from the territories of Bohemia, Moravia and Slovakia. In February 1915 it was turned into the Czechoslovak Riflemen Regiment (Československý střelecký sbor) and in May 1916 into the Czechoslovak Riflemen Brigade (Československá střelecká brigáda, 7,300 persons). Masaryk and Štefánik came to Russia (spring and summer 1917) to negotiate expansion of the units, to bring them under their control and to turn them into an independent Czechoslovak army, which they succeeded in.

The brigade consisted of three regiments:

In September 1917 the brigade was turned into the First Hussite Riflemen Division and in October 1917 it was merged with Second Riflemen Division (created in July 1917) into the "Czechoslovak Corps in Russia", numbering some 38,500 men, which was already a genuine Czechoslovak army. The corps peaked at around 61,000 men.

4,112 Czech and Slovak legion members lost their lives in Russia in World War I.

[edit] The transit through Siberia

After the Russian Revolution of 1917 the Bolshevik government concluded the separate Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, and it was agreed between the Bolsheviks and the corps to evacuate the Legion to France to join the Czechoslovak corps and continue fighting there. Because the ports in European parts of Russia were not safe enough, the evacuation was to be done by a long detour via Siberia, the Pacific port of Vladivostok and the USA. Although there was need to increase their fighting power and mobilization was officially anounced (as officially as non-existing country can), no Czech or Slovak prisoner of war was forced to serve in the Legion - joining the Legion was voluntary and numerous Czechs and Slovaks declined this risky decision and returned home.

Masaryk advised the Legion to stay out of Russian affairs but, as it turned out, this was not possible.

The slow evacuation by the Trans-Siberian railway was exacerbated by transportation shortages – as agreed in the Brest-Litovsk treaty, the Bolsheviks were at the same time returning German, Austrian and Hungarian POWs from Siberia back home. Around this same time Leon Trotsky, the then People's Commissar of War, under intense pressure from the Germans, ordered the disarming of the Legion - going back on his initial promise of safe passage.

It was a confusing time. Various governments along the way, requested that the Czechs give up increasing numbers of their guns. It all came to a head in May 1918 with what is generally referred to as The Revolt of the Legions. There are a number of versions of how it all started. Clearly, there was a bit of conflict between trains of Legionnaires going to fight on the Allied side and German and Austro-Hungarian prisoners (including some Czechs and Slovaks) going back to fight for their side. As one version goes, the legionnaires stopped a Hungarian train at Chelyabinsk and shot a soldier who had apparently thrown something at their train. Then, the local Bolshevik government arrested some of the Czechs. To free them their comrades had to storm the railway station, and subsequently occupied the whole city. This incident triggered hostilities between the Legion and the Bolsheviks. All up and down the line, the Legion - clearly being denied their safe passage - fought back.

In the beginning, the various parts of the Legion were strung out and separated on the railway. A complicated series of battles took place with the primary objective of re-connecting the various groups and getting to Vladivostok - for their exit to the Western front. As it became clear that this was the only organized fighting force in Russia (the Red Army under Trotsky was still small and disorganized), various Allied groups thought that the Czechs might be useful re-opening an Eastern Front. Other Allied groups, concerned about the Bolsheviks, had a different agenda. And the Czechs, of course, had their agenda - do what the Allies said (they were technically reporting to the French and General Janin) so that they would be on the winning side.

At its peak, the Legion took over a considerable area around the railway from just east of Volga River all the way to Vladivostok. In the process, they captured large amount of military and civilian equipment and material and tried to provide a fair and orderly presence in the middle of the chaos of Russia and revolution. Their existence played a role in the rise of other anti-Bolshevik groups and Siberia-based independence movements. The Allies instructed the Czechs to push back up the line, which they did - reaching Yekaterinburg. The fact the Czech Legion was just a day away appears to have been one of the motivating forces behind the hasty execution of the Czar and his family.

Meanwhile, Masaryk and others were working to achieve Allied recognition. This was achieved, capped by the Pittsburgh Accord and the Oppressed Nations Treaty.

With the need to fight the Czech Legion as a clear motivation, Trotsky got his act together and the Red Army grew - with a number of German and Austro-Hungarian POWs as troops. Eventually, there were 3 million men under arms, and the Czech Legion was pushed back.

Meanwhile, with World War One now over, the Allies began the Siberian Intervention, with troops from the US, France, Great Britain, and Japan landing in Vladivostok, where the Czechs had been in charge for some time. The chaos in Siberia included the arrival of eight train cars of gold bullion from the Imperial reserve in Kazan. The chaos also included atrocities by both Red Army and White Russian forces - particularly Ataman Semenov and his Wild Cossacks, now in the pay of the Japanese.

Exhausted by their trek across Siberia, disgusted by the brutality around them, and eager to return to their brand new nation, the Czechs cut a deal with the Bolsheviks – gold and the then leader of the anti-Bolshevik army Admiral Kolchak for the free passage home (1920). Eventually, with the help of the American Red Cross, and their own funds, most of the Legion - altogether 67,739 soldiers - were evacuated via Vladivostok and returned to become the core of the army of the First Republic.

A small number of Czech and Slovak communists stayed behind. (One early Legionnaire to join the Bolsheviks was Jaroslav Hašek, later the author of The Good Soldier Švejk. He returned to Czechoslovakia a more comfortable way, with a Russian bride to boot - which surprised his Czech wife, but not others who knew him.) A few others stayed with the White Russian forces for a while, and, as an interesting sidebar, General Radola Gajda provided significant arms to the Korean independence movement. These arms helped the Koreans win the Battle of Chingshanli in 1920.

[1]

The retreat through Siberia became an element of the heroic military cult around the legions.

[edit] Czechoslovak Legions in France

Enrollment of Czechoslovak volunteers in the French Foreign Legion started in Paris on August 21, 1914. August 31 marked the creation of the 1st Company, Battalion C of the 2nd Infantry Regiment of the Foreign Legion in Bayonne (In some sources this company is noted as "compagnie C1, 2e Régiment de Marche Étranger"). Meeting in the city the soldiers greeted each other with „Na zdar!“ (a greeting used by members of the Sokol movement) and hence arose the name „Nazdar!“ Company ("rota Nazdar" in Czech). The company was part of the French army's Moroccan division, and took part in heavy combat during assaults near Arras on May 9 and June 16, 1915, where it suffered heavy casualties. Because of these, Battalion C, as well as "Nazdar!" Company, was disbanded, and volunteers continued to fight in various French army and Foreign Legion units.

An autonomous Czechoslovak army was established from December 19, 1917 by decree of the French government. On January 12, 1918 the 21st Czechoslovak Rifle Regiment was formed in the town of Cognac. It fought as part of the French 53rd Infantry Division. On May 20, 1918 the 22nd Czechoslovak Rifle Regiment was created, initially fighting as part of the French 134th Infantry Division. On June 29 the government of France officially acknowledged the right of Czech and Slovaks to independence, and the next day both regiments took an oath of allegiance in presence of the French president Poincaré as well as Czechoslovak independence movement officials, including Edvard Beneš. Today, June 30 is celebrated as the "Day of Czech Armed Forces".

In 1918 a Czechoslovak brigade, under command of the French general Philippe, consisting of the 21st and 22nd Rifle regiments, was formed in France, and saw combat near Vouziers. The brigade returned home in the autumn of 1918. It had about 9,600 soldiers.

650 Czech and Slovak legionnaires died in France during WW I.

Sources

[edit] Czechoslovak Legions in Italy

[edit] Czechoslovak Legions in Serbian forces

[edit] After the war

Members of the Legions formed a significant part of the new Czechoslovak Army. Many of them fought in the 1919 war with Hungary over Slovakia.

[edit] Miscellaneous

Only seven train cars of the seized Imperial gold were returned to Moscow. The Legion kept the eighth to buy or lease ships in Vladivostok, and what was left was used to set up the Legion Bank (Legionářská banka or Legiobanka) in Prague. Its headquarters on Prague's "Na Poříčí" street is a masterpiece of Czech Cubist architecture and its façade features scenes of the Legion's retreat through Siberia. (Update: the building is actually more art deco than cubist, but a truly terrific building. It has been restored by the current tenant, the Czech Export Bank.)

The Legion Bridge (Most legionářů) in Prague is named after the Czechoslovak Legions.

The last legionnaire died in 2001.

Some Legion-related pictures and text can be found in the street display-windows of the 'Hotel Legie' (near the Prague Metro station of I.P. Pavlova).

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Bradley, John F.N., The Czechoslovak Legion in Russia, 1914-1920,East European Monographs, Boulder, 1991, p. 156.

[edit] External links

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