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I just watched a really good movie titled ''Admiral'' about Russia's last military dictator Admiral Kolchak whose Russian ''White'' forces from 1917-1920 fought the communist ''Reds'' and he had fighting along side his armies were the Czeck Legion army under General Janin that peaked at around 60,000 troops and so what was their purpose for fighting in the Russian civil war against the communists?
Were they worried that if Lenin won that he would had possibly looked west to expand communism in Poland and Czechoslovakia during the 1920's?
Were they worried that if Lenin won that he would had possibly looked west to expand communism in Poland and Czechoslovakia during the 1920's?
I don't know whether they thought like that or not, but if they did believe that communists will eventually want to expand to the West, then they were obviously right.
Admiral Kolchak - it the supporter of the old power. With it there were "the higher class". They did not wish to take "the lowest class". I would tell. They are imperial supporters.
I think those Czechs were fighting because they stuck in a situation that was fight or die. As I recall they were Hapsburg prisoners that had been captured by the Russians during the Great War and were stuck in Russia when all Hell broke loose.
I should refer to Lincoln but I'm too lazy to dig his book out so I'm just winging it.
The story of the “Czech Legion” is a very interesting one. A large number of Czechs had emigrated to the Ukraine in the late 19th Century, seeking to escape Austro-Hungarian rule. When war broke out, many volunteered to serve in the Czar’s army. Most did so in hopes that with an Allied victory, an independent Czech nation would emerge. Czechs that had been conscripted into the Austro-Hungarian armies also deserted in droves to the Russian side. Sensing an opportunity, a Czech nationalist named Thomas Masaryk petitioned the Czar to permit the formation of a Czech army. The Czar was not particularly keen on the idea, so it went nowhere. When the Czar abdicated, the Provisional Government led by Alexander Kerensky was committed to continuing the fight against Austria and Germany. Needing all the help they could get, Kerensky approved the idea to raise a Czech army.
The Legion originally started out totaling 4,000 men. They fought alongside the Russians from roughly April to November of 1917. By then, the Legion had grown to a force of 40,000; the increase due to intensive recruitment from among Czechs sitting in Russian POW camps. As the Provisional Government tottered, an attempt was made to evacuate the Czech Legion out of Russia via Archangel. Unfortunately, the Provisional Government collapsed too fast for this to take place, leaving the Legion stranded. Still wanting to join with the Allies, the entire force, now numbering 60,000 men, began to gather in the city of Kiev. They decided the best way to get out of Russia was to travel along the Trans-Siberian Railway to the port of Vladivostok. As German forces drove deep into Russia in their attempt to seize as much land as possible before hostilities ceased between the two countries, they came face to face with the Czech Legion. For two days, the Czechs held off the German troops, allowing the Legion to escape Kiev and begin the journey eastward. By April of 1918, over 20,000 Czech troops had reached Vladivostok. The remainder of the Legion was on trains strung along the nearly 7,000 mile section of the Trans-Siberian Railway that ran between Kiev and Vladivostok.
When they began their initial trip, the Legion declared themselves to be neutral parties and did not get involved in the brewing Russian Civil War. However, as time went on, they found it increasingly difficult to get past the Bolshevik armies they encountered along the way. This was largely due to the terms of the newly signed “Treaty of Brest-Litovsk” between Germany and the Bolshevik government. The Germans had demanded, and the Bolsheviks had agreed, that the Czech Legion was to be stopped, disarmed, and returned to Moscow for evacuation out of Russia via Archangel. As the Czechs had committed to leaving Russia through Vladivostok, and not wishing to surrender their weapons, they chose to fight against any Bolshevik attempts to interfere with their plans. As small engagements turned into full out battles between the two sides, the Czechs proved to be a formidable adversary. July of 1918 found the Czech Legion in possession of the whole of the Trans-Siberian Railway from the Volga River to Vladivostok and considerable territory around the rail line. Their defeat of the Red Army forces effectively ended Bolshevik rule in Siberia and allowed for the formation of an independent Siberian republic by the White Russians.
It was because of the Czech Legion that the “American Expeditionary Force-Siberia” was organized and sent to Vladivostok. President Wilson was determined that the Czechs would be extricated from Russia and sent to the Western Front where they could be better utilized. The only way to do that was to intervene militarily and take up positions that would facilitate the Czechs ability to withdraw. American troops landed in Vladivostok in August 1918, and their commander, General William Graves, arrived in September to set the operation in motion.
While all of this was taking place, the Czechs were becoming more deeply involved in support of the White Russian movement, providing the strongest and most effective fighting force the Whites and Admiral Kolchak had at their disposal. When the Armistice was signed in November 1918, the Allied mission turned from one of rescuing the Czechs, to supporting the Whites in their attempt to overthrow the Bolsheviks. The British, French, and Japanese all had forces in Siberia and employed them in various roles from guarding sections of the Trans-Siberian Railway to battling the Red Army either independently or in conjunction with the White Russians. Though “officially” out of the fight, the Czech Legion was incorporated into the French Expeditionary Force led by General Maurice Janin, and continued to do battle with Bolshevik forces until October of 1919.
A combination of personal distaste for Admiral Kolchak and the tactics he employed against the civilian populations under his control, as well as orders received from the new Czech homeland, led the Czech Legion to cease operations against the Bolsheviks and resume the long delayed trip to Vladivostok. As the Czechs turned more and more of their positions over to White troops, it became increasingly difficult for Admiral Kolchak to hold the territory. Loss of support from the Allies caused further deterioration of the White Russian position, allowing the Red Army to advance and seize many of the areas originally held by the Czechs. By January 1920, the White Army was in a state of almost complete collapsed and Admiral Kolchak was forced to flee to Irkutsk and seek protection from the British military stationed there. Though promised protection by the Czechs, the Czechs instead turned Kolchak over to the Bolsheviks, apparently ordered to do so by General Janin. With the execution of Kolchak by the Reds, the White Russian cause was effectively over. In February of 1920, a truce was signed between the Czechs and the Bolsheviks which allowed the Czechs to travel on to Vladivostok unmolested. The evacuation from Russian territory continued until the last Czech Legion members finally departed Vladivostok in September of 1920.
Thanks Tony T and others as that was great as i now understand why they were there and for what purpose .
I did get the feeling that Kolchak could have won the civil war if he would have treated the civilian population he encountered better as many despised the Bolsheviks and were willing to support the ''whites'' and besides he was a national hero from his WWI Baltic Sea campaigns against the Germans however from my understanding is that the civilians he encountered he treated as brutal as the Bolsheviks did and squandered his opportunity to rally the entire nation behind him.
A large number of Czechs had emigrated to the Ukraine in the late 19th Century, seeking to escape Austro-Hungarian rule.
Seeking freedom by going to czarist Russia is a bit like going to the Khmer Rouge run Cambodia because you were opposed to Vietnamese politics. By any definition the Czar ran a more authoritarian regime than Austria-Hungaria.
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