Czechoslovak Legions

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The Czecho-Slovak Legions, also called Czechoslovak Legions (Česko(-)slovenské legie in Czech and Slovak, or sometimes improperly called only České legie in Czech) were Czech and Slovak volunteer armed forces fighting together with the Entente powers during World War I.

Contents

1 Origins
2 Czechoslovak legions in Russia

2.1 The Siberian anabasis

3 Czechoslovak legions in France
4 Czechoslovak legions in Italy
5 After the war
6 Miscellaneous
7 See also

Origins

They were organized since 1915 by Czech and Slovak emigrant intellectuals and politicians (Tomáš Masaryk, Milan Rastislav Štefánik and others). The purpose of their existence was to help the Entente and thus to enable the creation of an independent country of Czechoslovakia from the country Austria-Hungary (which finally happened in October 1918).

Czecho-Slovak legions in Russia were created in 1917 (see below), in France in December 1917 (including volunteers from America), and in Italy in April 1918. The basis for the troops was formed by 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 the "Nazdar" troop in France in 1914.

The legions were actively involved in many battles of World War I. (Vouziers, Arras, Zborov, Doss Alto, Bachmach etc. )

Czechoslovak legions in Russia

They played a prominent role in the Russian Civil War.

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

A "Czech company" arose in 1915, which was attached to the Russian army. From May 1915, the force was composed of many prisoners and deserters from the army of the Austro-Hungarian Empire which were from the territories of Bohemia, Moravia and Slovakia. In February 1915 it was turned into the Czecho-Slovak Riflemen Regiment and in May 1916 into the Czecho-Slovak Riflemen Brigade (7300 persons). Leaders of the Czech and Slovak movements for independence Masaryk and Štefánik came to Russia to help to expand the troops and to turn them into an independent Czechoslovak army (spring and summer 1917) and they succeeded in that. 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 "Czecho-Slovak Corps in Russia", counting some 38,500 men, which was already a genuine Czechoslovak army. The corps peaked to around 61,000 men. 4,112 Czech and Slovak legion members lost their lives in Russia in World War I.

The Siberian anabasis

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 Czechs and Slovaks to France to join the Czechoslovak corps and continue fighting there. Because the European front was blocked by German and Austrian armies, the evacuation was to be done by a detour via Siberia, the Pacific port of Vladivostok and the USA.

The slow evacuation by the Trans-Siberian railway was exacerbated by transportation shortages – as agreed to by the Brest-Litovsk treaty, the Bolsheviks were at the same time returning German, Austrian and Hungarian POWs from Siberia back home. In May 1918 the Czechs and Slovaks stopped a Hungarian train at Chelyabinsk and shot a soldier who had apparently thrown something at their train. The local Bolshevik government arrested the Czech and Slovak culprits and to free them their comrades had to storm the railway station and subsequently occupied the whole city.

Some time later Leon Trotsky, the then People's Commissar of War, ordered the disarming of the Legion. As a result, the Legion took over a considerable area around the railway just east of Volga River, in the process capturing eight train cars of gold bullion from the Imperial reserve in Kazan. After that, the Bolsheviks had to negotiate a new deal – gold for the free passage home (1920). Eventually, most of the Legion was evacuated via Vladivostok, but some part joined the anti-Bolshevik army of Admiral Kolchak.

Czechoslovak legions in France

Enrollment of Czechoslovak volunteers for the French Foreign Legion started in Paris on August 21, 1914. August 31st marks the creation of 1st Company, Battalion C of the 2nd Infantry Regiment in Bayonne. Meeting in the city the soldiers greeted each other with „Na zdar!“ and from there came the name „Nazdar!“ Company. In 1918 a Czechoslovak brigade was formed in France, which returns home in the autumn of 1919. It had about 9,600 soldiers.

650 Czech legionaires died in France during WW I.

Sources: [link], [Czech inter-wiki]

Czechoslovak legions in Italy

After the war

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

Miscellaneous

Only seven train cars of the Imperial gold were turned over 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.

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

The last legionnaire died in 2001.

Some pictures and text can be found in the street-side windows of the Hotel Legie - just near the Metro staion of I.P.Pavlova