Revolt of Czechoslovak Legion
Encyclopedia
Revolt of Czechoslovak Legion - armed actions of Czechoslovak Legions
in Russian Civil War
against Bolshevik
authorities during May - August, 1918 in Volga
, Siberia
and Ural
regions. This event made possible the anti-Bolshevik activity of Committee of Members of the Constituent Assembly.
Czechoslovakia was a part of Austria-Hungary
, and soldiers of Czech and Slovak nationality had to fight on the Eastern front
. Many of them did not like Austrian emperor and did not want to fight against Russia, therefore many Czech and Slovak soldiers preferred to be captured by the Russian troops. In 1916 Russian military authorities began to form a Czechoslovak legion.
After the October Revolution
of 1917 the Czechoslovak Legion was in a very complicated situation. The Bolsheviks did not want to use it on the Eastern Front, and it was very hard to remove Czechoslovak troops on the Western front. In March 1918, the Soviet government (under pressure from Germany) stopped the transfer of Czechoslovak troops to France
through Arkhangelsk
and sent them through Siberia to Vladivostok
. 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 repatriating German, Austrian and Hungarian POWs from Siberia. Around the same time Leon Trotsky
, then People's Commissar of War, under intense pressure from the Germans, ordered the disarming and arrest of the Legion, thus betraying his promise of safe passage.
train at Chelyabinsk
in the Urals and shot a soldier who had apparently thrown something at their train. Then the local Bolshevik government arrested some of the Czechoslovaks. Members of the Legion stormed the railway station, and subsequently occupied the city of Chelyabinsk. This incident triggered further hostilities between the Legion and the Bolsheviks.
Czechoslovaks began to occupy the cities on their way: Chelyabinsk
, Petropavl
ovsk, Kurgan
, Novonikolaevsk
, Mariinsk
, Nizhneudinsk
, Kansk
. At the same time as the Czechs moved in, Russian officers' organizations overthrew the Bolsheviks in Petropavl
ovsk and Omsk
. Within a month the Whites controlled most of the Trans-Siberian Railroad from Lake Baikal
to the Ural Mountains
regions. During the summer, the Bolshevik power in Siberia was totally wiped out.
At the beginning of June legionnaries defeated Red Guards near Samara
and captured the city. On 8 June 8 1918 a Komuch was formed there - the first anti-Bolshevik government in Russia. On 13 June the Provisional Siberian Government
was formed in Omsk
. The Commander of the 1st Legionnarie Division Stanislav Čeček
gave an order:
In July Russian troops commanded by Vladimir Kappel
took Syzran
, and Czechoslovak troops took Čeček - Kuznetsk
, and they began to advance to Saratov
and Kazan
. In Western Siberia Jan Syrový
took Tyumen
, in Eastern Siberia Radola Gajda
took Irkutsk
and later Chita.
In the autumn the Red Army began its counteroffensive and defeated the Whites on the Eastern front. Hearing about the creation of an independent Czechoslovakia
, legionnaries began to ask why they had to fight in the Russian civil war. At the beginning of 1919 all Czechoslovak troops began to retreat to the Trans-Siberian railway
. on 27 January 27 1919, Jan Syrový (at that time commander-in-chief of all Czechoslovak troops in Russia) claimed the Trans-Siberian railway between Novonikolaevsk and Irkutsk as a "Czechoslovak zone of operation". This made it impossible for the White Army to use the railway for retreating at the end of 1919.
In Irkutsk, to provide safe transit for Czechoslovak trains, Jan Syrový at the beginning of 1920 agreed to hand over Aleksandr Kolchak
, who had been stopped by Czechoslovaks, to the representatives of Political Centre
. Kolchak was killed by the Political Centre. Because of this, and also an attempted rebellion against the Whites, organized by Radola Gajda
in Vladivostok
on 17 November 1919, the Whites accused Czechoslovaks of being traitors.
From December 1919, the Czechoslovak Legion started to leave Russia through Vladivostok, and the evacuation was completed in 1920.
Czechoslovak Legions
The Czechoslovak Legions were volunteer armed forces composed predominantly of Czechs and Slovaks fighting together with the Entente powers during World War I...
in Russian Civil War
Russian Civil War
The Russian Civil War was a multi-party war that occurred within the former Russian Empire after the Russian provisional government collapsed to the Soviets, under the domination of the Bolshevik party. Soviet forces first assumed power in Petrograd The Russian Civil War (1917–1923) was a...
against Bolshevik
Bolshevik
The Bolsheviks, originally also Bolshevists , derived from bol'shinstvo, "majority") were a faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party which split apart from the Menshevik faction at the Second Party Congress in 1903....
authorities during May - August, 1918 in Volga
Volga Region
Volga Region is a historical region of Russia that encompasses the territories adjacent to the flow of Volga River. According to the flow of the river, it is usually classified into the Middle Volga Region and Lower Volga Region...
, Siberia
Siberia
Siberia is an extensive region constituting almost all of Northern Asia. Comprising the central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, it was part of the Soviet Union from its beginning, as its predecessor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, conquered it during the 16th...
and Ural
Ural (region)
Ural is a geographical region located around the Ural Mountains, between the East European and West Siberian plains. It extends approximately from north to south, from the Arctic Ocean to the bend of Ural River near Orsk city. The boundary between Europe and Asia runs along the eastern side of...
regions. This event made possible the anti-Bolshevik activity of Committee of Members of the Constituent Assembly.
Prehistory
During World War IWorld War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
Czechoslovakia was a part of Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary , more formally known as the Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen, was a constitutional monarchic union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary in...
, and soldiers of Czech and Slovak nationality had to fight on the Eastern front
Eastern Front (World War I)
The Eastern Front was a theatre of war during World War I in Central and, primarily, Eastern Europe. The term is in contrast to the Western Front. Despite the geographical separation, the events in the two theatres strongly influenced each other...
. Many of them did not like Austrian emperor and did not want to fight against Russia, therefore many Czech and Slovak soldiers preferred to be captured by the Russian troops. In 1916 Russian military authorities began to form a Czechoslovak legion.
After the October Revolution
October Revolution
The October Revolution , also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution , Red October, the October Uprising or the Bolshevik Revolution, was a political revolution and a part of the Russian Revolution of 1917...
of 1917 the Czechoslovak Legion was in a very complicated situation. The Bolsheviks did not want to use it on the Eastern Front, and it was very hard to remove Czechoslovak troops on the Western front. In March 1918, the Soviet government (under pressure from Germany) stopped the transfer of Czechoslovak troops to France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
through Arkhangelsk
Arkhangelsk
Arkhangelsk , formerly known as Archangel in English, is a city and the administrative center of Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia. It lies on both banks of the Northern Dvina River near its exit into the White Sea in the north of European Russia. The city spreads for over along the banks of the river...
and sent them through Siberia to Vladivostok
Vladivostok
The city is located in the southern extremity of Muravyov-Amursky Peninsula, which is about 30 km long and approximately 12 km wide.The highest point is Mount Kholodilnik, the height of which is 257 m...
. The slow evacuation by the Trans-Siberian railway
Trans-Siberian Railway
The Trans-Siberian Railway is a network of railways connecting Moscow with the Russian Far East and the Sea of Japan. It is the longest railway in the world...
was exacerbated by transportation shortages – as agreed in the Brest-Litovsk treaty, the Bolsheviks were at the same time repatriating German, Austrian and Hungarian POWs from Siberia. Around the same time Leon Trotsky
Leon Trotsky
Leon Trotsky , born Lev Davidovich Bronshtein, was a Russian Marxist revolutionary and theorist, Soviet politician, and the founder and first leader of the Red Army....
, then People's Commissar of War, under intense pressure from the Germans, ordered the disarming and arrest of the Legion, thus betraying his promise of safe passage.
Chronology
In May 1918, tensions with the Bolsheviks provoked what is generally referred to as the Revolt of the Legions. Conflict already existed between trains of Legionnaires going east to fight on the Allied side and German and Austro-Hungarian prisoners (including some Czechs and Slovaks) going west to fight for "the other" side. On 14 May 1918, the legionnaires stopped a HungarianHungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
train at Chelyabinsk
Chelyabinsk
Chelyabinsk is a city and the administrative center of Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia, located in the northwestern side of the oblast, south of Yekaterinburg, just to the east of the Ural Mountains, on the Miass River. Population: -History:...
in the Urals and shot a soldier who had apparently thrown something at their train. Then the local Bolshevik government arrested some of the Czechoslovaks. Members of the Legion stormed the railway station, and subsequently occupied the city of Chelyabinsk. This incident triggered further hostilities between the Legion and the Bolsheviks.
Czechoslovaks began to occupy the cities on their way: Chelyabinsk
Chelyabinsk
Chelyabinsk is a city and the administrative center of Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia, located in the northwestern side of the oblast, south of Yekaterinburg, just to the east of the Ural Mountains, on the Miass River. Population: -History:...
, Petropavl
Petropavl
Petropavl is a city on the Ishim River in North Kazakhstan Province of Kazakhstan close to the border with Russia, about 261 km west of Omsk along the Trans-Siberian Railway. It is capital of the North Kazakhstan Province...
ovsk, Kurgan
Kurgan
Kurgan is the Turkic term for a tumulus; mound of earth and stones raised over a grave or graves, originating with its use in Soviet archaeology, now widely used for tumuli in the context of Eastern European and Central Asian archaeology....
, Novonikolaevsk
Novosibirsk
Novosibirsk is the third-largest city in Russia, after Moscow and Saint Petersburg, and the largest city of Siberia, with a population of 1,473,737 . It is the administrative center of Novosibirsk Oblast as well as of the Siberian Federal District...
, Mariinsk
Mariinsk
Mariinsk is a town in Kemerovo Oblast, Russia, located on the Kiya River northeast of Kemerovo. Population: 39,700 .It was founded in the 18th century as the village of Kiyskoye . In 1856, it was granted town status and renamed Mariinsk after Empress Maria, consort of Alexander II, one...
, Nizhneudinsk
Nizhneudinsk
Nizhneudinsk is a town in Irkutsk Oblast, Russia, located on the Uda River , northwest of Irkutsk. It stands on the Trans-Siberian Railway, and is served by a small airport, ICAO code UINN. Population: 39,700 ....
, Kansk
Kansk
Kansk is a town on the left bank of the Kan River in Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia. Population: It is home to the Kansk air base and is crossed by the Trans-Siberian railroad....
. At the same time as the Czechs moved in, Russian officers' organizations overthrew the Bolsheviks in Petropavl
Petropavl
Petropavl is a city on the Ishim River in North Kazakhstan Province of Kazakhstan close to the border with Russia, about 261 km west of Omsk along the Trans-Siberian Railway. It is capital of the North Kazakhstan Province...
ovsk and Omsk
Omsk
-History:The wooden fort of Omsk was erected in 1716 to protect the expanding Russian frontier along the Ishim and the Irtysh rivers against the Kyrgyz nomads of the Steppes...
. Within a month the Whites controlled most of the Trans-Siberian Railroad from Lake Baikal
Lake Baikal
Lake Baikal is the world's oldest at 30 million years old and deepest lake with an average depth of 744.4 metres.Located in the south of the Russian region of Siberia, between Irkutsk Oblast to the northwest and the Buryat Republic to the southeast, it is the most voluminous freshwater lake in the...
to the Ural Mountains
Ural Mountains
The Ural Mountains , or simply the Urals, are a mountain range that runs approximately from north to south through western Russia, from the coast of the Arctic Ocean to the Ural River and northwestern Kazakhstan. Their eastern side is usually considered the natural boundary between Europe and Asia...
regions. During the summer, the Bolshevik power in Siberia was totally wiped out.
At the beginning of June legionnaries defeated Red Guards near Samara
Samara, Russia
Samara , is the sixth largest city in Russia. It is situated in the southeastern part of European Russia at the confluence of the Volga and Samara Rivers. Samara is the administrative center of Samara Oblast. Population: . The metropolitan area of Samara-Tolyatti-Syzran within Samara Oblast...
and captured the city. On 8 June 8 1918 a Komuch was formed there - the first anti-Bolshevik government in Russia. On 13 June the Provisional Siberian Government
Provisional Government of Autonomous Siberia
The Provisional Government of Autonomous Siberia , was an ephemeral government for Siberia created by the White movement.After the Bolsheviks' seizure of power in Petrograd, All-Siberian Extraordinary Congress of Delegates from Public Organizations, was convened in Tomsk on December 7, 1917...
was formed in Omsk
Omsk
-History:The wooden fort of Omsk was erected in 1716 to protect the expanding Russian frontier along the Ishim and the Irtysh rivers against the Kyrgyz nomads of the Steppes...
. The Commander of the 1st Legionnarie Division Stanislav Čeček
Stanislav Čeček
Stanislav Čeček was a Czechoslovakian general.Stanislav Čeček was born in Austria-Hungary in the family of a forester, studied in a trading school at Praha. Since 1911 he worked at the Moscow office of "Laurin a Klement" company.When the First World War began, Čeček joined the "Czech team" of...
gave an order:
...Our detachment - a vanguard of Allied Forces, our only goal - to rebuild anty-Germany front in Russia in collaboration with russians and our allies...
In July Russian troops commanded by Vladimir Kappel
Vladimir Kappel
Vladimir Oskarovich Kappel was a White Russian military leader.During the First World War he was a Chief of the 347th Infantry Regiment's Staff and an officer in the 1st Army's Staff...
took Syzran
Syzran
Syzran is the third largest city in Samara Oblast, Russia, located on the right bank of Saratov Reservoir of the Volga River. Population: It was founded in 1683 as a fortress, and was granted town status in 1796. One tower from the 17th-century fortress still stands...
, and Czechoslovak troops took Čeček - Kuznetsk
Kuznetsk
Kuznetsk is a town in Penza Oblast, Russia, located east of Penza and west of Samara and the Volga River. Population: -External links:*...
, and they began to advance to Saratov
Saratov
-Modern Saratov:The Saratov region is highly industrialized, due in part to the rich in natural and industrial resources of the area. The region is also one of the more important and largest cultural and scientific centres in Russia...
and Kazan
Kazan
Kazan is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Tatarstan, Russia. With a population of 1,143,546 , it is the eighth most populous city in Russia. Kazan lies at the confluence of the Volga and Kazanka Rivers in European Russia. In April 2009, the Russian Patent Office granted Kazan the...
. In Western Siberia Jan Syrový
Jan Syrový
Jan Syrový was a Czechoslovak Army four star general and the prime minister during the Munich Crisis.-Early life and military career:...
took Tyumen
Tyumen
Tyumen is the largest city and the administrative center of Tyumen Oblast, Russia, located on the Tura River east of Moscow. Population: Tyumen is the oldest Russian settlement in Siberia. Founded in 16th century to support Russia's eastward expansion, the city has remained one of the most...
, in Eastern Siberia Radola Gajda
Radola Gajda
Radola Gajda, born as Rudolf Geidl, was a Czech/Montenegrin military commander and politician.- Early years :...
took Irkutsk
Irkutsk
Irkutsk is a city and the administrative center of Irkutsk Oblast, Russia, one of the largest cities in Siberia. Population: .-History:In 1652, Ivan Pokhabov built a zimovye near the site of Irkutsk for gold trading and for the collection of fur taxes from the Buryats. In 1661, Yakov Pokhabov...
and later Chita.
Retreating
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
, legionnaries began to ask why they had to fight in the Russian civil war. At the beginning of 1919 all Czechoslovak troops began to retreat to the Trans-Siberian railway
Trans-Siberian Railway
The Trans-Siberian Railway is a network of railways connecting Moscow with the Russian Far East and the Sea of Japan. It is the longest railway in the world...
. on 27 January 27 1919, Jan Syrový (at that time commander-in-chief of all Czechoslovak troops in Russia) claimed the Trans-Siberian railway between Novonikolaevsk and Irkutsk as a "Czechoslovak zone of operation". This made it impossible for the White Army to use the railway for retreating at the end of 1919.
In Irkutsk, to provide safe transit for Czechoslovak trains, Jan Syrový at the beginning of 1920 agreed to hand over Aleksandr Kolchak
Aleksandr Kolchak
Aleksandr Vasiliyevich Kolchak was a Russian naval commander, polar explorer and later - Supreme ruler . Supreme ruler of Russia , was recognized in this position by all the heads of the White movement, "De jure" - Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, "De facto" - Entente States...
, who had been stopped by Czechoslovaks, to the representatives of Political Centre
Political Centre (Russia)
Political Centre was an independent political group in Irkutsk during the Russian Civil War .Being established in November 1919, its leaning was leftist: SR and Menshevik. The target was to remove Aleksandr Kolchak from power. That's why the Political Centre members joined local Bolsheviks and on...
. Kolchak was killed by the Political Centre. Because of this, and also an attempted rebellion against the Whites, organized by Radola Gajda
Radola Gajda
Radola Gajda, born as Rudolf Geidl, was a Czech/Montenegrin military commander and politician.- Early years :...
in Vladivostok
Vladivostok
The city is located in the southern extremity of Muravyov-Amursky Peninsula, which is about 30 km long and approximately 12 km wide.The highest point is Mount Kholodilnik, the height of which is 257 m...
on 17 November 1919, the Whites accused Czechoslovaks of being traitors.
From December 1919, the Czechoslovak Legion started to leave Russia through Vladivostok, and the evacuation was completed in 1920.