1. 1
Gerald
G.
Huesken
Jr.
HIST
507-­‐01
Readings
in
Modern
Europe,
1914
to
the
Present
Dr.
Victoria
Khiterer
April
19,
2011
“An
Army
Without
A
County”:
The
Story
of
the
Czechoslovak
Legion
and
its
Effects
on
the
Treatment
of
the
Czech
State
During
the
Eras
of
World
War
II
and
the
Cold
War
Introduction:
The
Desire
for
Czech
Independence
On
January
8,
1919,
American
President
Woodrow
Wilson
stood
before
a
joint-­‐session
of
the
United
States
Congress
to
assure
the
country
that
American
involvement
in
the
First
World
War
was
being
fought
for
a
just
and
moral
cause.
Speaking
before
a
skeptical
Congress
with
a
growing
concern
among
voters
about
the
reasoning
behind
America’s
entry
into
the
war
(Americans
had
elected
Wilson
in
1916
on
a
platform
of
American
neutrality),
Wilson
attempted
to
lay
out
his
vision
for
the
post-­‐war
order
–
one
that
would
be
free
of
all
the
issues
that
had
caused
the
“Great
War”
and
would
encourage
a
sense
of
global
interdependence
and
cooperation.
The
speech
he
gave
that
day
would
come
to
be
known
as
Wilson’s
“Fourteen
Points”
speech.
“We
entered
this
war
because
violations
of
right
had
occurred
which
touched
us
to
the
quick
and
made
the
life
of
our
own
people
impossible
unless
they
were
corrected
and
the
world
secured
once
for
all
against
their
recurrence,”
said
Wilson.
“What
we
demand
in
this
war,
therefore,
is
nothing
peculiar
to
ourselves.
It
is
that
the
world
be
made
fit
and
safe
to
live
in;
and
particularly
that
it
be
made
safe
for
every
peace-­‐loving
nation
which,
like
our
own,
wishes
to
live
its
own
life,
determine
its
own
institutions,
be
assured
of
justice
and
fair
dealing
by
the
other
peoples
of
the
world
as
against
force
and
selfish
aggression.”i
Paramount
to
Wilson’s
speech
was
the
ideal
of
“self-­‐determination”,
the
idea
that
all
peoples
have
the
right
to
freely

2. 2
choose
their
sovereignty
and
international
political
status
with
no
external
compulsion
or
external
interferences.
Among
his
statements,
Wilson
spoke
of
the
beleaguered
people
of
the
Austro-­‐Hungarian
Empire,
one
of
the
main
members
of
the
Central
European
powers,
whom
American
and
other
Allied
nations
had
been
fighting
against
in
the
trenches
of
the
Western
Front.
“The
peoples
of
Austria-­‐Hungary,
whose
place
among
the
nations
we
wish
to
see
safeguarded
and
assured,
should
be
accorded
the
freest
opportunity
of
autonomous
development,”
states
Wilson.
“…For
such
arrangements
and
covenants
we
are
willing
to
fight
and
to
continue
to
fight
until
they
are
achieved;
but
only
because
we
wish
the
right
to
prevail
and
desire
a
just
and
stable
peace
such
as
can
be
secured
only
by
removing
the
chief
provocations
to
war...”ii
Wilson’s
words
struck
a
nerve
among
the
people
of
central
and
eastern
Europe
who
had
long
lived
under
the
dominance
of
the
major
European
powers.
With
renewed
feelings
of
nationalism
and
the
justification
of
Wilson’s
“self-­‐determination”,
these
groups
began
looking
for
way
to
assert
their
independence.
Once
such
population
that
would
occupy
a
central
place
in
the
coming
chapters
of
European
history
would
be
the
country
of
Czechoslovakia.
Born
out
of
the
remnants
of
the
Austro-­‐Hungarian
Empire,
Czechoslovakia
strived
to
fulfill
the
vision
of
President
Wilson
and
its
founding
fathers
with
the
creation
of
a
military
legion
that
would
become
the
basis
for
the
Czech
military.
Known
as
the
Czechoslovak
Legion,
this
unit
would
help
to
establish
acknowledgement
for
an
independent
Czech
state,
while
at
the
same
time
cursing
its
homeland
to
the
prospect
of
being
a
target
of
political
revenge
during
the
ensuing
years.
With
the
help
of
modern
secondary
sources,
existing
primary
accounts,
and
the
latest
research
on
the
topic,
this
paper
will
try
to
delineate
the
decisions
of
the
Czechoslovak
Legion,

3. 3
its
men,
and
leadership
during
World
War
I,
the
Russian
Civil
War,
and
the
early
years
of
Czech
statehood
influenced
the
treatment
of
the
Czech
nation
during
the
ensuing
decades
of
European
history
by
the
Soviet
Union,
most
notably
the
eras
of
World
War
II
and
the
Cold
War.
Pre-­‐War:
Tomas
Masaryk
and
the
Growing
Demand
for
a
Czechoslovak
State
Prior
to
the
First
World
War,
the
people
that
that
would
become
to
be
known
to
the
world
as
the
“Czechs”
were
part
of
a
multi-­‐ethnic,
multi-­‐linguistic
empire,
lived
primarily
in
Bohemia
in
central
Europe.
During
the
rule
of
Habsburg
dynasty
in
the
Eighteenth
and
Nineteenth
Centuries,
there
was
a
great
revival
in
Bohemia
of
Czech
culture,
language,
and
history
that
would
culminate
in
a
number
of
religious,
ethnic,
and
political
issues
that
were
inherited
by
the
Austro-­‐Hungarian
Empire
in
the
Twentieth
Century.iii
Subject
peoples
(like
the
Czechs
and
Slovaks)
from
all
over
the
empire
wanted
to
be
free
from
the
rule
of
the
old
imperial
model
of
things
in
Europe.
This
problem
was
partially
addressed
by
the
introduction
of
local
ethnic
representation
in
government
and
language
rights
and
acknowledgments
among
other
limited
reforms
by
the
Austro-­‐Hungarian
rulers,
but
with
the
outbreak
of
the
First
World
War,
all
other
minority
reforms
would
be
put
on
hold.iv
It
was
during
this
time
of
uncertainly
and
limited
reform
that
Tomas
Masaryk
arrived
on
the
scene.
Masaryk
was
the
son
of
a
poor-­‐working
class
family
from
the
Moravian
region
of
the
Austro-­‐Hungarian
Empire.
Gifted
with
a
thirst
for
knowledge
and
a
keen
intellect,
Masaryk
soon
rose
to
the
post
of
professor
of
philosophy
at
the
University
of
Prague
and
served
as
a
member
of
the
Austro-­‐Hungarian
parliament,
speaking
out
against
national
misconceptions
about
Czechs
and
Slovaks
both
on
the
campaign
trail
and
in
the
classroom.v
When
World
War
I
broke
out
in
1914,
Masaryk
saw
the
preoccupied
state
of
the
Austro-­‐Hungarians
as
an
opportunity
for

4. 4
his
fellow
Czechs
and
Slavs
to
make
a
grab
for
independence.vi
In
1916,
Masaryk
and
his
supporters
formed
the
Czechoslovak
National
Council
(CNC)
as
a
way
to
coordinate
independence
efforts
both
in
Europe
and
in
the
United
States.
Though
the
main
goal
of
the
Council
was
to
gain
Allied
recognition
for
a
Czech-­‐Slovak
state,
Masaryk’s
contacts
of
local
informers
also
provided
valuable
intelligence
to
Allied
generals
on
the
state
of
the
Austro-­‐
Hungarian
war
effort
and
conducted
counter-­‐espionage
missions
on
behalf
of
the
Allies.
It
was
due
to
this
covert
alliance,
that
Masaryk
was
exiled
from
the
Autro-­‐Hungarian
Empire
in
1915,
first
to
Italy
and
than
later
to
Switzerland
and
Great
Britain.vii
As
a
political
dissident,
Masaryk
traveled
the
world
speaking
on
behalf
of
the
Czech-­‐Slovak
cause,
meeting
with
great
popularity
by
the
general
public,
especially
among
the
million
and
a
half-­‐strong
Czech
and
Slovak
immigrant
communities
of
the
United
States.viii
In
1918,
Masaryk
would
make
a
triumphant
visit
to
the
United
States,
drawling
more
than
150,000
well-­‐wishers
during
his
visit
to
Slovak-­‐heavy
Chicago
and
speaking
passionately
of
his
cause
for
independence
in
front
of
Independence
Hall
in
Philadelphia.
Masaryk
even
received
a
private
meeting
with
President
Woodrow
Wilson,
who
right
then
was
struggling
to
maintain
his
1916
re-­‐election
promise
of
“he
kept
our
boys
out
of
war”.ix
“No
lapse
of
time,
[nor]
deference
of
hope,”
wrote
Wilson
after
the
meetings,
“seems
sufficient
to
reconcile
the
Czechs…to
incorporation
with
Austria
[Hungary]…they
deserve
at
least
some
degree
of
autonomy…”x
Masaryk
would
leave
Washington
DC
with
Wilson’s
personal
support,
but
not
the
might
of
the
American
government
or
military
to
back
him
up.
The
Conflict:
The
Forming
of
the
Czechoslovakian
Legion
While
Masaryk
was
traveling
the
world
as
a
kind
of
international
spokesman
for
the
cause
of
Czech
independence,
there
were
over
70,000
peoples
of
Czech
or
Slovak
origin
living

5. 5
within
the
eastern
sections
of
the
Russian
Empire.xi
Though
distrustful
of
outside
minorities,
the
Russian
government
had
allowed
these
people
to
immigrate
and
established
communities
in
the
areas
of
Petrograd
(St.
Petersburg),
Moscow,
Kiev
(in
what
is
today
the
Ukraine),
and
Odessa.
Many
of
these
new
naturalized
citizens
had
fled
the
Austro-­‐Hungarian
Empire
due
to
ethnic
discrimination
during
the
late
Nineteenth
Century
and
looked
to
the
Russians
as
a
kind
of
“big
brother”,
who
would
protect
and
look
out
for
them
when
the
Austro-­‐Hungarians
would
not.xii
With
Russia’s
entry
into
the
war
in
1914,
many
of
these
Czech
and
Slovak
immigrants
began
to
petition
Czar
Nicholas
II
to
allow
them
to
form
their
own
regiments,
so
that
they
too
could
serve
in
the
defense
of
their
adopted
homeland.
Though
the
Czar
at
first
dismissed
their
petitions
as
damaging
to
Russian
morale
and
detrimental
to
the
war
effort,
Nicholas
II
eventually
caved
under
the
astronomical
loss
of
life
suffered
by
the
Russian
army
on
the
Eastern
Front.xiii
The
first
purely
Czech-­‐Slovak
unit
in
the
Russian
army
was
known
as
the
Ceska
Druzina
(the
so-­‐called
“Czech
Comrades”).xiv
Drawling
on
the
desire
of
the
Czechs
and
Slovak
peoples
to
fight
and
their
hope
that
an
Allied
victory
would
leave
to
eventually
recognition
of
Czech-­‐Slovak
independence,
nationalized
Czechs
and
Slovaks
living
in
Russia
were
enlisted
as
well
as
ethnic
Czech-­‐Slovaks
from
the
Austro-­‐Hungarian
army
captured
in
battle
as
prisoners-­‐of-­‐war
(POWs).xv
In
all,
about
one-­‐tenth
the
entire
Czech-­‐Slovak
population
of
the
Russian
Empire
enlisted
in
the
Ceska
Druzina
creating
two
standing
army
divisions
with
a
grand
total
of
forty
thousand
men.xvi
By
the
time
of
Russia’s
exit
from
the
conflict,
the
Ceska
Druzina
had
preformed
well
in
combat
situations
for
the
Czar’s
(and
later
the
Provisional
government’s)
military
though
many
important
Russian
generals
were
still
weary
of
using
them
as
the
main
thrust
in
any
major

6. 6
offensive.xvii
The
Ceska
Druzina
would
get
another
major
boost
in
1917
when
Masaryk
himself
would
travel
to
Russia
to
personally
review
the
unit
and
officially
offer
them
the
support
of
the
CNC.
All
told,
the
Ceska
Druzina
would
suffer
some
four
thousand
casualties
at
the
hands
of
the
Central
Powers
during
the
course
of
Russia’s
part
in
the
First
World
War.xviii
Post-­‐War:
The
Trek
of
the
Czechoslovak
Legion
Across
Russia
The
Treaty
of
Brest-­‐Litovsk
in
March
of
1918
effectively
ended
Russia’s
part
in
the
First
World
War.
Even
more
climactic,
the
treaty
was
signed
under
the
clouds
of
chaos,
revolution,
and
civil
war
in
the
former
Russian
Empire.
The
February
Revolution
of
1917
had
turned
Russian
cities
into
battlegrounds
as
striking
workers
and
dissatisfied
soldiers
had
turned
against
Czar
Nicholas
II
and
his
government.
In
March
of
1917,
the
Czar
abdicated
his
throne
and
a
new
provisional
government
was
formed
under
the
leadership
of
Alexander Kerensky. Though it
was weak, Kerensky continued on in the conflict until the government was again overthrown;
this time by the Bolsheviks lead by former lawyer-turned-revolutionary, Vladimir Lenin in the
so-called October Revolution of 1917.xix
Under the direction of Lenin, the Bolsheviks new
foreign minister, Leon Trotsky, negotiated a treaty that would get the divided and bleeding
Russian state out of World War I while also surrendering massive resources in land and
population. The losses, in the Bolshevik mind, were acceptable. Civil war was brewing and
Lenin needed relief from the Germans on the Eastern Front so that he could turn the full might of
his so-called “Red” Army (those Russian citizens loyal to the Bolsheviks) loose on his opponents
– the so-called “Whites”.xx
Buried within the pages of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was a section
that dealt with fate of the Ceska
Druzina
–
the
now
popularly
known
as
the
“Czechoslovakian
Legion”.
Lenin
and
Trotsky
were
acutely
aware
that
the
men
of
the
Ceska
Druzina
still
felt
a
strong
sense
of
loyalty
to
both
the
Czar
(who
had
given
them
the
opportunity
to
fight)
and

7. 7
Lenin
feared
that
should
the
Ceska
Druzina
be
de-­‐mobilized
like
the
rest
of
the
Eastern
Front,
their
members
would
go
to
the
aid
of
the
royalist
“Whites”.
Austro-­‐Hungry,
who
was
represented
at
Brest-­‐Litovsk
by
Foreign
Minister
Ottokar
Czernin,
demanded
the
movement
of
the
Ceska
Druzina
back
to
his
territory
so
that
deserted
Austrian
soldiers
could
be
tried
for
treasons,
having
fired
on
their
comrades
in
anger.xxi
When
attempts
to
bribe
the
Ceska
Druzina
into
Bolshevik
service
failed,
Trotsky
worked
out
a
compromise.xxii
The
Ceska
Druzina
would
be
evacuated
completely
from
Russia
and
would
sail
for
the
Western
Front,
where
Allied
forces
could
reunite
these
Czech
and
Slavic
fighters
with
other
foreign
nationals
already
fighting
in
France.
Already,
the
British
and
French
had
expressed
great
interest
in
using
the
Ceska
Druzina
to
help
jumpstart
operations
on
the
Western
Front.xxiii
Transportation
from
Russia’s
eastern
European
ports
was
out
of
the
question,
so
the
Ceska
Druzina
would
be
moved
by
train
to
the
Siberia
port
of
Vladivostok,
where
they
would
board
ships
and
set
sail
for
Europe.
Trotsky
promised
the
leaders
of
the
Ceska
Druzina
safe
passage
across
Russia
via
the
famed
Trans-­‐Siberian
Railroad
and
was
assured
by
the
Ceska
Druzina’s
officers
that
once
they
reached
Vladivostok,
they
would
board
their
ships
and
leave
Russian
territory
forever.xxiv
Trotsky’s
promise
of
a
safe
passage
was
good
enough
for
many
of
the
men
of
the
Czechoslovakian
Legion
who,
after
serving
in
some
of
the
most
hellish
conditions
on
the
Eastern
Front,
believed
that
they
could
continue
to
further
their
goal
of
an
independent
Czech-­‐
Slovakian
homeland
by
serving
with
the
western
Allies
in
continental
Europe.xxv
In
April
of
1918,
with
good
weather
upon
them,
trains
along
the
Trans-­‐Siberian
Railroad
began
to
move.
On
one
side
was
the
Czechoslovakian
Legion
making
their
way
with
guns
and
supplies
west
to
Siberia

8. 8
and,
on
the
other,
were
hundreds
of
recently
released
German
and
Austro-­‐Hungarian
prisoners
of
war,
trying
to
make
their
way
east
and
back
home
to
their
farms
and
families.
The
passing
of
these
two
ideologically
opposed
groups
of
similar
cultural
and
national
heritage
intensified
long
standing
tensions
as
current
and
former
citizens
of
the
Austro-­‐Hungarian
government
started
to
argue
and
questions
each
other.
Scuffles
between
Czechs-­‐Slovaks
soldiers
(some
loyal
to
the
Legion,
others
to
the
Austro-­‐Hungarian
throne)
added
to
the
already
apprehensive
atmosphere
of
the
rail
lines,
causing
some
Bolshevik
observers
to
question
Trotsky’s
compromise.xxvi
Adding
to
the
mix
was
the
Austro-­‐Hungarian
diplomat
and
his
German
counterpart
(Count
Wilhelm
von
Mirbach)
who
began
to
put
intense
pressure
on
Trotsky
to
disarm
and
turn
the
Legion
over
to
Central
Powers.
Trotsky
even
feeling
pressure
from
the
head
of
the
Bolshevik’s
secret
police
and
his
main
political
rival,
Josef
Stalin,
who
believed
the
Czech-­‐Slovaks
could
incite
a
“counter-­‐
revolution”
or
“imperialistic
attack”
on
the
weakened
Russian
state.xxvii
Eventually,
it
became
too
much
and
Trotsky
was
forced
to
go
back
on
his
promise
to
allow
the
Czechoslovakian
Legion
safe
passage
through
Russian
territory.
Under
Stalin’s
insistence,
the
Czech-­‐Slovaks
were
to
be
disarmed
and
continue
to
Siberia
under
the
watchful
eyes
of
Red
troops.xxviii
All
Stalin
needed
was
a
spark.
In
mid-­‐May,
1918,
he
would
get
it.
For
much
of
the
month,
the
Czechoslovakian
Legion
had
begun
to
gather
in
the
Russian
town
of
Celyabinsk,
located
just
to
the
east
of
the
Ural
Mountains
on
the
Miass
River.
Celyabinsk
was
a
major
railhead
and
“congestion”
spot
on
the
Trans-­‐Siberian
Railroad
as
legionaries
and
POWs
argued
over
who
should
stand
aside
and
whose
train
should
pass
first.
On
May
14th
,
the
atmosphere
turned
violent
when
an
Austro-­‐Hungarian
POW
threw
a
rock
at
one
of
the
Czechoslovakian
Legion’s
cars.
The
legionaries
opened
fire,
killing
the
rock-­‐thrower
forcing
local

9. 9
Bolshevik
authorities
to
act,
quickly
arrested
some
of
the
legionaries.
In
response,
the
Czechoslovak
Legion
marched
on
the
local
jail,
took
over
the
local
rail
station,
and
eventually
took
over
the
whole
town.
Known
as
“the
Revolt
of
the
Legions”,
the
incident
and
violence
at
Celyabinsk
gave
Stalin
the
opportunity
to
turn
the
full
weight
of
the
Red
Army
against
the
Czechoslovakian
Legion.xxix
Angered
by
Trotsky’s
betrayal
and
far
from
home,
the
leaders
of
the
Legion
decided
that
their
only
recourse
was
to
fight
their
way
across
Russia
to
Vladivostok
and
continue
with
the
original
plan
of
sailing
for
Europe.xxx
For
the
next
four
months,
the
Czechoslovakian
Legion
would
fight
a
strung
out
and
pitched
battle
against
Bolshevik
forces
as
they
slowly
made
their
difficult
trek
across
the
Russian
state.
Sometimes
operating
on
their
own
and
sometimes
with
help
from
local
elements
of
the
White
army,
at
their
peak,
the
Legion
controlled
a
considerable
area
along
the
Trans-­‐Siberian
Railway
from
just
east
of
the
Volga
River
all
the
way
to
Vladivostok in Siberia.xxxi
They captured supplies, disrupted communications, confiscated
valuables (including $613 million in gold from a Bolshevik train)xxxii
and even attempted a
rescue mission for their original benefactor Czar Nicholas II (sadly, when the Legion reached the
town of Yekaterinburg where Nicholas II and his family were being held, they discovered
evidence of their execution by the retreating Bolsheviks).xxxiii
But, most importantly of all, the
Czechoslovakian Legion offered encouragement not only to anti-Bolshevik forces in the Russian
Civil War, but also to Western Allied powers like Britain and the United States, who saw the
Legion as a possible key to restarting the Eastern Front and became more willing to support the
creation of the Czech-Slovak state. On May 31, 1918, Masaryk and other in the pro-Czech-
Slovak signed the Pittsburg Agreement, paving the way for greater Allied recognition under the
Oppressed Nations Treaty. Both of these acts would pave the way for recognition of a Czech-

10. 10
Slovakian state at the end of the war.xxxiv
British War Secretary Winston Churchill even went so
far as to negotiate the dispatching of Allied troops (mainly British and American) to northern
Russian and Siberia to assist the Whites and the Legion in their fight against the Bolsheviks.
Allied troops (particularly soldiers from the neighboring power of Japan, who saw their
involvement in the Russian intervention as a conquest opportunity) even openly fought on the
side of the Legion and Whites, much to the resentment of Bolshevik leaders.xxxv
Angered by the foreign interventions, the disruptions, and the sheer audacity of the
Legion, Lenin ordered Trotsky (now the supreme commander of Red Army forces in the field) to
crush the Legion once and for all. “[The] suppression of the Kazan Czechs,” wrote Lenin to
Trotsky in 1918. “[Should be a] model of mercilessness…”xxxvi
Gather as many men as he could
(including former anti-Legion Austro-Hungarian POWs – a direct violation of the Treaty of
Brest-Litovsk); Trotsky began to push the Legion back, mile by mile.xxxvii
Exhausted and
wanting desperately to get out of Russia, the Legion finally started to concentrate in Vladivostok
in November of 1918, only to learn that the Armistice had been signed and that the war was over.
Unwilling to rejoin the fighting with their former White allies or with occupying Allied soldiers,
the Legion set up defensive entrenchments around Vladivostok during the spring and summer of
1919 and sent peace offering to the Bolsheviks. Surprising, Trotsky was willing to listen once
again.xxxviii
In exchange for safe passage by sea out of Vladivostok, the Legion was willing to
turn over much of the Bolshevik wealth they had stolen as well as prominent leaders in the anti-
Bolshevik movement to Lenin. Seeing this as a way to get rid of the troublesome Legion, deal a
crippling blow to the Whites, and gain needed capital for the state, Trotsky agreed to the deal
(though $332 million of the captured gold was listed as “lost” by the Legion’s
representatives).xxxix
By March of 1920, the transfer of wealth and personal was complete and the

11. 11
Legion finally began to disembark from Russian soil once and for all, bound for Europe and their
new home of Czechoslovakia.xl
Conclusion: The Legacy of the Czechoslovakian Legion
Once back in their homeland, the legionaries were hailed as heroes by the newly formed
country of Czechoslovakia. Masaryk,
now
President
of
the
new
Czech-­‐Slovak
state,
quickly
incorporated
the
hardened
veterans
of
the
Legion
into
the
foundation
of
the
new
Czechoslovakian
army.
Many
of
the
legionaries
would
continue
on
in military life well into the
mid-1920’s, participating in brief conflicts with Poland and Hungary in 1919.xli
Due mainly in
part to the embarrassments and frustrations suffered at the hands of the Legion, diplomatic
relations between Russia and Czechoslovakia would remained strained for much of the decades
before World War II, punctuated by the burglary of the Czech embassy in Moscow by “unknown
parties” and the casual insulting of Czech ambassadors at official state functions.xlii
It was
probably due to these strained relations that little objection was made from Russia in 1938 when
German Chancellor Adolf Hitler demanded the return of the Sudetenland to Germany. The
Sudetenland had been a Czech region long dominated by ethnic Germans, who were unhappy
with their place in the Czechoslovakian state. There is also evidence that Hitler used the Czech
government’s handling of the German-Czechs in the Sudetenland to his advantage at the Munich
Conference, claiming the Czech military (with the help of old members of the Czechoslovakian
Legion) had used violence to suppress pro-fascist feelings.xliii
When World War II officially broke out in 1939, Czechoslovakia became an annexed
territory of Nazi Germany. When the war turned in favor of the Allies in 1942, Czechoslovakia
became a prime “liberation” target for Stalin’s Soviet Union, many of whose officers
remembered the Czechoslovakian Legion and the Russian Civil War. Soviet troops would enter

12. 12
Czechoslovakia in May of 1945 and quickly start to exact their revenge, rounding up old
members of the Legion who were still alive. Many were never heard from again.xliv
The Legion
Bank
Building of the Bank of Czechoslovakia (supposedly built with help from the missing
Bolshevik gold from Vladivostok) was looted and all economically useful materials were
shipped back to Russia as Soviet “war reparations”.xlv
Though no evidence specifically links the
Legion to the treatment of Czechoslovakia during the immediate post-war era, Stalin was known
to have a long memory for his enemies. The actions of the Czechoslovakian Legion during the
Russian Civil War painted the young Czech state into a dark corner with Soviet Union that
proved suppressive for much of its history during World War II and the Cold War period, but the
actions of these brave men were a necessary part of establishment of a truly Czech-Slovak
independent state. Call it a double-edged sword; that no nation is birthed without pain especially
when dealing with Russia and the history of Eastern Europe.
i
Beschloss,
Michael.
Our
Documents:
100
Milestone
Documents
from
the
National
Archives.
New
York
City:
Oxford
University
Press,
2003.
150.
Print
ii
Ibid
153
iii
Wasserstein,
Bernard.
Barbarism
and
Civilization:
A
History
of
Europe
in
Our
Time.
Oxford:
Oxford
University
Press,
2007.
102-­‐03.
Print.
iv
Ibid
103.
v
Skilling,
Harold
G.
T.G.
Masaryk:
Against
The
Current,
1882-­‐1914.
Penn
State:
Pennsylvania
State
University
Press,
1994.
45-­‐70.
Print.
vi
Ibid
55
vii
Ibid
57
viii
Unterberger,
Betty
M.
The
United
States,
Revolutionary
Russia,
and
The
Rise
of
Czechoslovakia.
New
York
City:
TAMU
Press,
2000.
24.
Print.
ix
Skilling
66
x
Unterberger
16
xi
Ibid
11
xii
Ibid
xiii
Ibid
11-­‐12
xiv
Ibid
xv
Ibid
12

13. 13
xvi
Tucker,
Spencer,
and
Priscilla
M.
Roberts.
The
Encyclopedia
of
World
War
I.
First
ed.
Vol.
1.
New
York
City:
ABC-­‐
CLIO,
2005.
326.
5
vols.
Print.
xvii
Ibid
326
xviii
Unterberger
17
xix
Wasserstein
82-­‐83
xx
Ibid
90-­‐92
xxi
Unterberger
134
xxii
Ibid
133
xxiii
Ibid
xxiv
Lincoln,
W.
Bruce.
The
Conquest
of
a
Continent:
Siberia
and
the
Russians.
New
York
City:
Cornell
University
Press,
2007.
297-­‐311.
Print.
xxv
Unterberger
133
xxvi
Ibid
xxvii
Ibid
134
xxviii
Ibid
xxix
Tucker
327
xxx
Lincoln
311
xxxi
Tucker
327
xxxii
Clarke,
William.
Romanoff
Gold:
The
Lost
Fortunes
of
the
Tsars.
Charleston:
The
History
Press,
2008.
183-­‐85.
Print.
xxxiii
Steinberg,
Mark
D.,
and
Vladimir
M.
Khrustalëv.
The
Fall
of
the
Romanovs:
Political
Dreams
and
Personal
Struggles
in
a
Time
of
Revolution.
New
York
City:
Yale
University
Press,
1997.
293-­‐95.
Print.
xxxiv
Votruba,
Martin.
The
Pittsburgh
Agreement.
Ed.
Martin
Votruba.
University
of
Pittsburgh,
29
Mar.
2003.
Web.
14
Mar.
2011.
xxxv
Lincoln
312
xxxvi
Tucker
327
xxxvii
Bradley,
John
F.
The
Czechoslovak
Legion
in
Russia.
New
York
City:
East
European
Monographs,
1991.
156-­‐160.
Print.
xxxviii
Ibid
156
xxxix
Clarke
183
xl
Bradley
157
xli
Ibid
160
xlii
Lukes,
Igor.
Czechoslovakia
between
Stalin
and
Hitler:
the
diplomacy
of
Edvard
Beneš
in
the
1930's.
New
York
City:
Oxford
University
Press,
1996.
22-­‐30.
Print.
xliii
Ibid
xliv
Ibid
30
xlv
Clarke
183