It’s the First World War, and the Czechoslovaks got to get their soldiers from Ukraine to France, but without going through a Central Powers country or a sea without enemy ships. What do they do? Naturally, they go East: fight through the Bolsheviks, take over the Russian railway network, capture most of Siberia, and reach Vladivostok before the ships arrive to get you home. All this while losing less than 10% of your men over three years of fighting. It might sound crazy, but this is just the 2nd part to the story of the Czechoslovak Legion.

Background

When the Great War broke out in 1914, ethnic Czechs and Slovaks living in Russia petitioned the Tsar to be allowed their own Czechoslovak unit in the Russian army. The Czechs had been historically mistreated by the Austrians and held a grudge. The Slovaks resented Hungarian domination of their homeland. The Russian government immediately recognized that an entire unit angry with the Austro-Hungarians would make a great fighting force. The unit was named “Druzhina,” which meant “companions,” and sent to the front line along with the Imperial Russian Army. The Czechoslovak soldiers were playing the long game, not just fighting because they hated the Austro-Hungarians, but because they planned to use the Legion as a bargaining chip after the war. They knew that when Austria-Hungary fell, there’d be land up for grabs, and the Czechoslovaks wanted a chunk of it. The Druzhina was founded with 720 soldiers and 21 officers, in September 1914. With such limited numbers, the Czechoslovaks were turned into a reconnaissance force and served with the Imperial Russian Army on the Eastern front.

The Czech leaders knew that to preserve the unit’s independence from the Russians, they would have to expand rapidly. To accomplish this, they ramped up recruiting efforts in areas of Russia with high Czech populations. Most of the soldiers were bilingual and used their language abilities to convince fellow Czechs and Slovaks in the Austro-Hungarian trenches to defect. This was remarkably successful, as Czechs and Slovaks were treated well by the Russians. Fresh recruits swelled the ranks, and by April 1916, the Druzhina had become the 2,436 strong Czechoslovak Rifle Brigade. In the Spring, this fledgling force took part in the infamous Brusilov Offensive. This massive operation was Russia’s greatest feat of the war but lost them over half a million men. Launched in Western Ukraine on June 4th, 1916, Russian and Czechoslovak forces attacked several weak points in the Austro-Hungarian line, causing it to break. The 1,732,000-strong force smashed through the broken lines and forced the Axis onto the defensive. The Czechoslovaks became famous for their fighting spirit and discipline during the attack. General Brusilov, the overall commander, commented,

“They fought magnificently at the front … and always displayed great bravery.”

In early 1917, another Czech regiment was added to the brigade. In stark contrast to the rest of the Russian forces, their morale was high. The Tsar abdicated in March and Bolsheviks were gaining ground across Russia with their fierce anti-war stance. Russian soldiers, many of whom were swayed by the Bolshevik rhetoric, were becoming increasingly unreliable. The Kerensky Offensive was launched in July 1917. It was the last Russian offensive of the war and squashed what remained of their shattered morale. The only victory in the entire offensive was the Battle of Zborov, where Czechoslovak soldiers overran the Austrian lines. The offensive was a failure, but the Czechoslovaks earned an enormous reputational victory. Stories of their fighting prowess became internationally known. The Russian Provisional Government released them from their reconnaissance role, and the unit quickly grew. With the addition of artillery batteries and thousands of volunteers, the newly named Czechoslovak Legion was 40,000-strong by 1918. In February 1916, Tomáš Masaryk founded the Czechoslovak National Council in Paris: an organization dedicated to building a Czechoslovak homeland.

The Odyssey Begins

Less than two years later, Imperial Russia gave way to the Bolsheviks in the October Revolution. Masaryk was in de facto command of the Legion and managed to have it incorporated into the French Army. The French were paying the bills, but only because Masaryk had promised to get the Legion to France so they could fight the Germans in the west. With Russia out of the war and German reinforcements coming from the East, France’s position was starting to look shaky. The problem was, while Soviet Russia had thrown in the towel, the rest of the Axis powers were still fighting. They were excellent soldiers, but the Czechoslovak Legionnaires didn’t fancy fighting all the way across the Austro-Hungarian Empire. So, they took the obvious choice and decided to travel to the Pacific port of Vladivostok, which was 9,700 kilometers from their recruiting base in Kiev, then get a ship to France

In March 1918, the Soviet leadership and Czechs signed the “Penza agreement” — a document guaranteeing the Czechoslovaks safe passage so long as they gave up most of their weapons. There was distrust on all sides. The Soviets expected the Legion to join White Russian rebels in Siberia, and the Legionnaires were already dealing with Bolshevik subversion in their ranks. Additionally, the Legionnaires had been fighting off a German attack for the previous month and a half — giving them even less reason to lay down arms. The Legion gave up some weapons but concealed most of them in the trains which carried them into Siberia. Their progress was infuriatingly slow, as the railways were in a terrible state and local Soviet administrators continually demanded bribes. By May 1918, the Legion was strung out along thousands of kilometers of the Trans-Siberian Railway.

Hungarian Incident

While the Legion was travelling east to Vladivostok, Hungarian POWs were travelling west from Siberian prison camps. They crossed paths in Chelyabinsk on May 14th. Some of the Hungarians had been complicit in a massacre of wounded Czechs, and the Legionnaires decided to get revenge. News of the resulting “incident” reached the Soviet Commissar for War, Leon Trotsky, who demanded the Legion be completely disarmed and arrested. The Legionnaires were sick of Soviet meddling and refused to cooperate, taking over the city of Chelyabinsk. This sparked the Revolt of the Legions. News of the revolt spread quickly along the Trans-Siberian railway, and the strung-out Legion moved to secure its tenuous position.

Legionnaires captured the key cities along the railway, including Vladivostok, to prevent the Bolsheviks from halting their trains. Their primary objective was to leave Russia and get to France, so they stayed on the defensive. It was unintended, but the near-total capture of the Trans-Siberian Railway by what was now a hostile army had serious knock-on effects for the Russian Civil War. The Legion had decisively pushed the Bolsheviks from Siberia, making it a haven for White Russian Rebels. It also had dire consequences for the Romanovs, as the Bolsheviks had moved Tsar Nicholas II and his family to the Siberian city of Yekaterinburg. It was only 230 kilometers from Yekaterinburg to Chelyabinsk, and the Bolsheviks couldn’t risk losing the Romanovs to the Czechoslovaks, who could safely move them to Europe. On Lenin’s personal command, the last Tsar and his family were executed by firing squad and buried in the Siberian wilderness. The Legion arrived 5 days later. By mid-July, the Czechoslovak Legion controlled the Trans-Siberian Railway from Samara to Irkutsk.

Finally, An Army with a Country

White Russian administrators and Cossack warlords were setting up governments in the regions controlled by the Legion, but the Red Army was gaining strength by the day. In September, the Bolsheviks pushed back, taking Samara, and forcing the Legion east. They fought hard, but Czechoslovak morale fell sharply. Czechoslovak statehood was declared in Prague on October 28th, and the war was coming to an end. Fledgling Czechoslovakia was already fighting border wars, and the Legionnaires were desperate to get home and protect their new country. Their willpower to fight the Soviet Army finally dissipated when Admiral Kolchak overthrew the White Russian government, establishing a dictatorship over White Russian Siberia. Uprisings and bloodshed splattered across Kolchak’s dominion. The White Army became disorganized and suffered heavy losses to the Bolsheviks. With his forces in disarray, Kolchak boarded a train on the Legion-controlled Trans-Siberian railway.

Homeward Bound

The Legionnaires were sick of fighting in Siberia and called a truce, handing their ally Kolchak over to the Reds in return for safe passage to Vladivostok. This time, the Soviets didn’t try to take their guns, and let the Legion go home. With over 50,000 soldiers spread across the Trans-Siberian Railway, it was over a year before the last of the Legionnaires made it to Vladivostok. Their journey wasn’t eased by the Allies, who deliberately hampered their progress in an attempt to inflame hostilities with the Red Army. The Legionnaires didn’t take the bait, and by March 1920, the last Czechoslovak train entered Vladivostok. Around 60,000 Legion soldiers and officers evacuated Vladivostok with around 10,000 more civilian refugees. There were two main routes that the legion took to get back home. First, was across the Pacific ocean, through the Panama Canal, and over the Atlantic. Second, was over the Indian ocean, through the Suez Canal, and across the Mediterranean. They returned to Europe and were received in their new country with a hero’s welcome. Many of these battle-hardened veterans formed the core of the new Czechoslovak Army. Their journey from the battlefields of the Eastern front, across Siberia, and, finally, to a new home in Europe had been truly epic.

That was the grueling and EPIC journey of the Czechoslovak Legion

Written by: Erick Johnson