The Odyssey of the Czechoslovak Legion — Meet the Forgotten Army that Fought Its Way Across Siberia

Men of the Czechoslovak Legion.
Men of the Czechoslovak Legion.

“While the exploits of this travelling army are legendary in both the Czech Republic and Slovakia to this day, elsewhere, its deeds have become little more than a footnote to the larger First World War and Russian Revolution.”

RUSSIA’S CZECHOSLOVAK LEGION of World War One was an army without a country.

The 60,000-man unit, raised between 1915 and 1917, was made up of Czech and Slovak patriots keen to free their ancestral homeland from Austrian rule. By taking up arms in the name of the Russian Tsar, the volunteers hoped that after the war the great powers would reward them with statehood.

But when in 1917, the Bolsheviks rose to power following the collapse of Russia’s Romanov dynasty and then made a separate peace with the Central Powers, the Czechoslovak Legion suddenly found itself trapped deep inside an unwelcoming country. With nowhere to run, the small army fought its way across 9,000 kilometres of Siberian wilderness towards the Pacific port city of Vladivostok… and hopefully freedom.

Along the way, the legion would challenge the authority of Russia’s communist regime, take control of a land corridor thousands of miles long, come within mere hours of rescuing the Czar and the royal family from murder at the hands of the Bolsheviks, and literally make off with a king’s ransom. The determination of the Czechoslovak Legion captured the imagination of the world. The Allies even landed a massive multinational force in the Far East to help cover their escape.

While the exploits of this travelling army are legendary to this day in both the Czech Republic and Slovakia, elsewhere, its deeds have become little more than a footnote to the larger story of the First World War and Russian Revolution. Despite this, theirs is one of the most remarkable stories of the 20th Century.

Czechoslovakian soldiers man the guns atop of a troop train in Siberia.
Czechoslovakian soldiers man the guns atop of a troop train in Siberia.

In the Tsar’s Army

Originally founded in 1915 as four foreign volunteer rifle regiments in the Imperial Russian Army, the Czechoslovak Legion saw action for the first time on July 2, 1917. That’s when a detachment of 3,500 from the unit stormed the Austrian trenches at Zborov in present-day Ukraine.

The victory was one of Russia’s few successes of the otherwise disastrous Kerensky summer offensive  – a debacle that ultimately cost the empire more than 60,000 casualties and ultimately helped speed the collapse of the Tsar.

Following their baptism of fire, the troops of the Czechoslovak Legion eagerly anticipated their next chance to strike at the enemy. It turned out they would have to wait.

Russian and German delegates meet to negotiate peace. (Image source: Wikimedia Commons)

Germany and Russia Make Peace

In the autumn of 1917, the Bolsheviks seized power in St. Petersburg and Moscow and almost immediately entered into talks with Germany and Austria aimed at concluding hostilities.

Still spoiling for a fight, the Legion planned to evacuate Ukraine and join the Allies on the Western Front. But with the German navy prowling European waters, steaming for France from Russian ports on the Barents Sea was far too risky. Instead, the legion opted for a safer (although much longer) route to reach Flanders by heading east, across Russia to the Pacific port of Vladivostok, then to North America beyond, the Atlantic and finally Western Europe. Yet, by early 1918, even these plans were in doubt.

On March 3, Russia and Germany signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, which among other things, ceded much of the Ukraine to Kaiser Wilhelm. With German forces pouring into the area, the Legion was in real danger of being surrounded and captured. Considered traitors by the Central Powers, any Czechs or Slovaks taken prisoner were likely to be shot. With two German armies closing in on their Ukraine strongholds, the Czechs and Slovaks were forced into a five day fighting retreat. Once safe, the Legion boarded trains and headed east across Siberia.

The voyage was tediously slow. Rolling stock was scarce and had to be scrounged practically one car at a time. Worse, the rail lines were choked with traffic travelling in the opposite direction — mostly German and Austrian prisoners freed as part of the treaty between Berlin and Moscow.

Slowly but surely throughout the spring, hundreds of engines pulling thousands of cars took to the rails, each packed with Czech and Slovak troops. The convoy stretched across thousands of kilometres of tracks. As the days and weeks passed, the Legion inched ever closer to the Pacific.

The legion turned themselves into a massive railroad army that steamrolled through Russia crushing all resistance in its path.
The legion turned themselves into a massive railroad army that steamrolled through Russia crushing all resistance in its path.

The Rolling Republic

When Berlin learned that 60,000 Czechs and Slovaks were planning to depart Russia and rejoin the war in France, it demanded Moscow derail the fugitives. Fearing a renewal of fighting with Germany if they refused, the communists obliged.

On May 14, a force of Bolsheviks attempted to close the rail line and disarm a trainload of Legion troops 1,700 km east of Moscow at Chelyabinsk. The Czechs and Slovaks resisted and a fierce battle ensued. The incident, which became known as the Revolt of the Legion, inaugurated all out war between the two sides.

Soon, Legion battalions were seizing cities all along the Trans Siberian Railway. By the summer, they were in near total control of a vast corridor stretching from the Volga River all the way to the Pacific.

A train of the Czech Legion.
A train of the Czech Legion.

As they travelled, Czechoslovak troops, along with their dependents, converted their rail cars into barracks, bakeries, workshops and hospitals. They even published their own newspaper on board the trains. Rail cars were armed with artillery and heavily fortified. Some were adorned with patriotic slogans and even paintings of national heroes. Commands were passed up and down the column via a chain of telegraph stations captured along the route.

In one astonishing coup, the Legion even managed to secure a deposit of Czarist gold at Kazan – which they packed onto eight railroad cars and took with them.

As Russia descended into Civil War, the Czechoslovak Legion became one of the strongest factions in the country. It soon arranged an alliance with the counter revolutionary White Russian forces.

So powerful had the Legion become, on July 17, 1918, when the Bolsheviks learned that a contingent would soon be rolling through Yekaterinburg, the commissars ordered the entire Russian royal family, which had been in custody there since the 1917, shot — lest the Legion liberate them.

The legion arrived in Vladivostok where it linked up with White Russian forces and an allied intervention Army made up of British, Canadian, American, French, Italian and Japanese troops.
The Legion arrived in Vladivostok where it linked up with White Russian forces and an Allied Intervention Army made up of British, Canadian, American, French, Italian and Japanese troops.

The Rescue of the Legion

Allied governments, troubled by the rise of communism in Russia, used the Legion’s plight as justification for the 1918 intervention in the civil war. Although, the Americans and British were hoping that foreign participation in the conflict would bring about the downfall of the Bolsheviks allowing Russia to rejoin the war against Germany, they openly cited the evacuation of the Legion as one of the reasons for their intervention.

In August 1918, the first of a 90,000-strong multinational force made up of American, Canadian, British, French, Italian and Japanese troops landed in Vladivostok to capture the city and hold it long enough for the Legion to embark for the Western Front. Trains loaded with Czech and Slovak troops had been trickling into the city as early as April. By the autumn of 1918, with more and more locomotives arriving daily, the Czechs and Slovaks prepared for the next leg of their journey – the sea voyage to France and the Western Front. However, events a half a world away would upset those plans.

Czech soldiers pose with the bodies of Bolsheviks during the Russian Civil War. (Image source: WikiMedia Commons)

The Siberian War

By November, word reached Vladivostok that the war in Europe was finally over. And with the collapse of Germany and the Austrian Empire, Czech and Slovak nationalists back home had finally declared independence forming the duel republic of Czechoslovakia.

Unfortunately, one of the new government’s first decisions was to command its far-flung legion to remain in Siberia to help the Allies fight Red Army. The campaign continued for more than a year.

By 1920, White Russian forces had almost totally collapsed and the Western powers and Japan were finally withdrawing forces. Once again the legion was facing the prospect of being stranded.

With the Red Army threatening the city, it was time for the unit to finally abandon Russia once and for all.

The Legion called a truce with the Bolsheviks and and struck a deal  – in exchange for the Tsar’s gold, the communists would give the Czechoslovaks time to evacuate Vladivostok. To seal the bargain, the Legion even arrested some of their White Russian allies and handed them over to the Reds.

The "Legion Bank" in Prague. Was it founded with gold from the Czar?
The “Legion Bank” in Prague. Was it founded with gold from the Czar?

The troops dispersed aboard a series of ships that carried them back to Europe via the Indian Ocean, others sailed across the Pacific and through the Panama Canal. Eventually, all were repatriated. But while their long journey was over, the story didn’t end there. In fact, what happened next became something of a mystery.

Some historians speculate that the Czechoslovak Legion didn’t hand over all of the Tsar’s gold to the Bolsheviks. Some evidence suggests that as much as one boxcar’s worth of bullion (totalling $100 million) accompanied the army back to its homeland. It’s widely believed that these funds helped establish the Legiobanka in Prague. In fact, the bank headquarters in the Czech capital features murals and facades depicting the army’s 9,000-mile, three-year odyssey across Russia. So widely held was the belief that the Legion escaped with a haul of the late Tsar’s treasure that when the Soviets liberated Eastern Europe at the end of World War Two, Red Army troops raided its vaults, sending much of the gold reserves there to Moscow.

37 thoughts on “The Odyssey of the Czechoslovak Legion — Meet the Forgotten Army that Fought Its Way Across Siberia

  1. Beautiful article! The Czecho-Slovak Legions were also formed in France but the best known Legion is the one from Russia. Really proud to be Slovak!

    1. Yes.. I had found that French Connection in some of my research. Did they not also recruit some American Czechs and Slovaks as well? Thanks for your remarks.

      1. Czechoslovak standing armies, yet without a country, were formed in three states – France, Italy and Russia. Patriots and volunteers from across the ocean were coming mainly to France as it was closest and political representation was operating from here. Numbers of legionaries by country were:

        France – 9600, 630 dead
        Italy – 20000, 410 dead
        Russia – 61000, 4112 dead

        The Russian ones were most battle hardened as they fought the longest. Italian legions were sent to front lines at June 1918 and France ones at middle of October 1918 (with the exception of company “Nazdar” that formed as a part of France Foreign Legion in 1914 and fought till May of 1915). Though these were quickly sent to fight border wars with Poland and Hungary.

    2. Boris – do you know of someone who can help me locate information regarding the names/members of the CS Legion in Russia. I believe that my Grandfather was a member as he told me that he fought in the Bolshevik Rev in 1917 and then later returned to CS in 1921. He eventually immigrated to Mexico and then the US in 1924-26.
      He died in 1985. Appreciate any help you can give me. Thank you!

  2. Yes, they did. But for us, more famous were their political activities than recruitment. In that time, there were about 0,5 million of Czecho-Slovaks in the US. They signed 2 declarations about post-war arrangement for Czechs and Slovaks- which led to creating Czechoslovakia in 1918. After more than 1000 years we finally had our own country and government.

    1. There is a Czech movie named Legie in the works now (2017) (legiefilm.cz), and you can also check out (no pun intended) http://www.czechlegion.com, which has an English DVD about the Czech Legion, made by some Czech historians in Chicago.

      1. On the same subject I write a story in 2014 called “What Were Slovak Troops doing in Cochrane Ontario in 1920.” which detailed the formation of the Czech-Slovak Legion and its evacuation from Vladivostok. 9,000 came through Canada. I read Kevin McNamara’s book, Dreams of a Great Small Nation and enjoyed it very much. Its a must read.

  3. I am researching an article about the Czech Legion crossing Canada on their way home in 1920, Does anyone have any details, photos, news clips about this trip.

    Also Bruce Benniger made a DVD about the Czech Legion a couple of years ago and it is available on his site czechlegionproject.com I believe

      1. Thanks Jeff. I found that paper at the Ottawa U Library here in Ottawa. I also managed to find dozens of newspaper clippings about the Legion in Canada and even bought some photos from eBay. I also bought a book in Slovak printed in 1921 from a bookseller in the Czech Republic. Also found some files at Archives Canada about the ships they came on and the trains they took across Canada, Even found a Diary of one of the soldiers. I wrote a 20 page article that was published in some newspapers in Northern Ontario,. not sure how I can post it here. Presently a friend of mine is updating it to add more of the railway content for a Railway Magazine.

        1. Hello! my grandfather was one of those soldiers who had to come home to Prague from Russia through Canada in 1920… could you be so kind to give some details about the files at the Archives in Canada? I´d love to read your article as well.

  4. The Bolsheviks didn’t overthrow the Romanovs. The Bolsheviks overthrew the democratic provincial government of which Kerensky was the leader. I keep finding these basic errors of fact on this site which is unfortunate as it is otherwise so interesting.

    1. Granted… The communists eventually replaced the Tsar. Thanks. I’m always happy when readers take an interest in the accuracy of the content, but to be fair, of the dozen or so messages you’ve sent in the past 24 hrs, many were not corrections, just your opinions.

  5. The story about the stolen gold is according to my history nut friends just that – a story. One that probably formed from the hate of Bolsheviks towards the legionaries. All of it was exchanged for a passage through Irkutsk towards Vladivostok after a month of negotiations.

  6. Many of the issues and queries here are addressed in my history of the Czecho-Slovak Legion in Russia, “Dreams of a Great Small Nation” (New York: Public Affairs, 2016), which has been reviewed very favorably in “The Wall Street Journal” and excerpted in “Russian Life” and (coming in the summer of 1917) “Military History Quarterly.” Available through Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other venues.

  7. Pretty good article working to raise awareness of the Legion(s). I’m working on the Sokol connection to the Legion(s) and am looking for sources to that end. Please feel free to reply if you have something of note. Thanks!

  8. You mention a 90,000 strong international force to arrive August 1918 but didn’t this include just 7000-8000 US Army troops {27th and 31st infantry regiments and thousands of support troops}, and some 70,000-80,000 Japanese troops?
    Japan had long range intentions to take over the eastern part of Siberia for good. That was a major reason for USA military leaders not to want to send troops to Siberia.

    25,000 Japanese troops were mentioned but they had no intention of keeping to this number. USA military leaders warned Wilson of this But the British, French, and USA State Department wanted USA troops to eventually fight the Bolsheviks. Military men especially General Graves, CO, of the USA Siberian Expeditionary Force, wanted no part of sending troops.

    I know llittle about this period in history or what if the Allies did decide to fight the Bolsheviks?

    Communists always lie as the world would find out. The Red Scare became a fact but Graves and cooler heads in the USA knew that 7000 US troops were a mere blip on the radar and could do nothing much if forced into battle by massive Soviet forces.

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