The Czech Legion was a 60 000 strong armed forces composed predominantly of volunteer Czechs, and a small number of Slovaks, fighting together with the Entente powers during World War I. They fought under, and were created by, the Russian state, hoping that after the war they would be awarded with statehood.
In Russia, they took part in several battles of the war, including the Zborov and Bakhmach against the Central Powers. At Zborov, 3 500 of the Czech Legion troops stormed the Austrian trenches; a rare victory in the Kerensky Summer Offensive.
After the Bolshevik Revolution they found themselves stranded in Ukraine but intended to still fight in the war, this time at the Western Front. On the third of March 1918, the Legion ordered a fighting retreat, moving away from advancing German forces ordered to kill any Czech or Slovak on sight as they were deemed traitors, and pushing deeper into Russia, fighting revolutionary forces as they went. They managed to get to the Trans-Siberian railway and commandeered dozens of carriages in order to make their way to the Pacific.
The Bolsheviks were ordered by the German state to disarm them and, when they attempted to, fierce fighting broke out sparking an all-out war against between the isolated Czech Legion and the Bolshevik forces. The Czech Legion then moved East, capturing a number of cities as they went in order to secure the line for stranded Czechs and Slovaks in Russia. Soon their cause became internationally renowned and a army of seventy-thousand Allied soldiers landed in Siberia awaiting the arrival of the Legion.
Soon the carriages were moving fortresses; they were reinforced with iron, mounted with machine guns and small pieces of artillery. Carriages were made into barracks, store-rooms, armouries, bakeries, hospitals and even a carriage was converted into a printing-press for the Czech soldiers.
They soon made common cause with the White Armies, allying with them on several occasions when fighting key battles and liberating Prisoners of War camps. It is believed that, when they were travelling to Yekaterinburg, the Bolsheviks shot the Romanovs as they knew that the Czech Legion had the ability to reinstate the Tsar into power. The Czech Legion still passed through and, as they knew the Romanovs were dead, they robbed billions of modern day pounds worth of jewels and gold; enough to fill at least eight carriages.
By April 1918, Czech forces began to trickle into Siberia from the west on armoured carriages before being transported home and back to the Western Front. By late 1918 the First World War was over, which led to Czechs and Slovaks back home creating their own state out of the German and Austrian Empires which they labelled "The Duel Republic of Czechoslovakia. This was not good news for the Czech Legion, however, who were ordered to stay and fight with the Allied forces which meant that they could no longer slowly evacuate from Russia.
Their campaign lasted for over a year, helping the Whites and Allies fight against the Red Army and other Revolutionary Forces. By this time the Czech Legion was almost entirely centralised in the port-city of Vladivostok. However, by 1920 the Whites were almost completely crushed and the Allies were beginning to retreat which meant that the Czech Legion, if they did not act quickly, had the prospect of becoming stranded as carriages full of their men were still trying to move East.
Knowing that a large Bolshevik force was on the way and they had little time to retreat, the Czech Legion acted quickly and struck a deal with the Bolsheviks: the Tsar's gold for their safe passage home. The deal was struck and the Czech Legion evacuated the city, arresting any White leaders, that they had fought with for years, in the city and handing them to the Bolsheviks as a sign of good will.
The Czech Legion began their evacuation in March 1920 and had finally evacuated all of their forces by September that same year. The total number of people evacuated with the Czech Legion was around 60 000, including soldiers wives, Prisoners of War and refugees. Many of the soldiers that were evacuated formed the core of the new Czechoslovak Army. It is unknown how many soldiers of the Czech Legion died in the war, but it is estimated as being around 4 000, however sources also estimate a much higher casualty list. An unknown number went missing or deserted the Legion, either to make the journey home by moving west instead of east, or to join the Czechoslovak Communists.
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