Tag: Romanovs

Content below is episode #172 of Who’d a Thunk It? Podcast

RECOMMENDATION SEGMENT

• This week I recommend the book Empire of the Summer Moon by S. C. Gwynne
  • Joe Rogan talks about this book a lot so I thought I would give it a shot.
  • I was pleasantly surprised to find a historically accurate book that is told from a narrative perspective.
  • the American West has more to tell than you think. give this one a listen.

NOW FOR THE MAIN EVENT

• World War 1 (The Great War) started in 1914.
  • Austro-Hungarian Empire at the start of the war was vast, ruling over many different lands.
    • The Czech and Slovak cultures were heavily repressed by the empire and the grumbles of independence had already started before WW1
  • When it did break out, there were ethnic Czechs and Slovaks living in Russia.

• The Czechs and Slovaks requested of the Russian Tsar to have their own Czechoslovak unit within the Russian army.
  • The Russian Tsar understood the benefits of having a Czechoslovakian unit motivated against Russia’s Austro-Hungarian enemy. He dubbed his Czechoslovakian force “Druzhina” translating to Companions.
    • The unit was created by 720 soldiers and 21 officers in September of 1914. He sent them to the front lines to fight alongside the Imperial Russian Army.

• What Tsar Nicholas the II didn’t anticipate was the long-term intentions of his Druzhina Czechoslovakian unit.
  • Druzhina didn’t just want their own unit to fight their hated repressor the Austro-Hungarians… They predicted this Great War would be the downfall of the teetering Austro-Hungarian empire and wanted a backup plan when that happened.
  • When their Austro-Hungarian imperial overlords fell, there would be land for the taking.
• With only those 720 soldiers and 21 officers making up the Druzhina unit, they were designated for recon duty on the Eastern front.
  • The Czech and Slovak volunteers (pictured on a patrol on the Eastern Front) saw themselves as freedom fighters against an oppressive regime. But the Austro-Hungarian authorities considered them traitors to the empire. Afterall, the Austro-Hungarian empire did rule over their homeland.

• The 21 officers realized their numbers were so low that if they wanted to keep from being absorbed by Russian forces they would need to grow their ranks and fast.
• They made many recruiting efforts in Russian areas with high Czech populations while also convincing a large number of enemy troops in the Austro-Hungarian army to defect.
  • This sounds astonishing, but consider the Czechoslovakian people were torn apart by two different empires that cared little for their cultures. It wasn’t hard to convince men to stop fighting a horrific war between empires they hated and secretly takes up arms with their own brethren.
  • Not to mention, the Czechs and Slovaks were treated well by the Russian empire.
• This recruiting lead to an ethnically and culturally cohesive unit, that also benefited from being well-versed in the language and tactics of both the Russian and Austro-Hungarian sides.
• Recruitement efforts were successful. Where they only numbered 741 in September of 1914, by April of 1916 they were 2,436 strong. They were no longer reconnaissance, but the Czechoslovak Rifle Brigade

• The Czechoslovak unit was part of the famous Brusilov Offensive, the greatest battle for Russia up until this time. They lost 500K men.
  • They attacked weak points in the Austro-Hungarian line and caused it to break in 1916.
  • This Russian offensive saw 1.7 million men smash through the broken Axis lines.
  • The Czechoslovak unit displayed great bravery and discipline during this offensive. Both the Russian and Axis sides saw how cohesive a unit they were.

• In 1917 another Czech regiment was added to the Czechoslovakian brigade swelling the units numbers even more.
  • By this time the rest of the Russian forces were beaten, tired, and not too happy with their Tsar… but the Czechoslovakian morale was higher than ever.
  • By March 15th of 1917, Tsar Nicholas II abdicated the throne. The Bolsheviks were starting to gain traction with the Russian people
    • Crack a history book if you want to know how this one played out LOL. The Russian Revolution is fascinating. The very first episode of this podcast was about one of the minor players in the Russian Revolution.

• The Bolsheviks wanted to get out of wars and they were getting more of Russia’s troops to see their side. The result, Russian troops were becoming unreliable.
  • In July of 1917, the Kerensky Offensive was launched. It would be the last Russian offensive of the war as it destroyed Russian morale.
    • But the Czechoslovakian unit gained a key opportunity here. They were incharge of a particular offensive task during the Kerensky Offensive. They failed, but their bravery spurred propaganda that made the units already badass reputation soar even higher.
• The Provincial Government of Russia had enough on their hands and decided to unshackle the Czechoslovakian unit that had been placed on it by the Tsar.
  • With their new popularity and now unrestricted from the government, the unit grew faster than it had ever grown before.
  • They added artillery batteries and gained thousands of volunteers eager to join the unit they heard fostered a tight-knit brotherhood of badassery.
  • By 1918 they were known as the Czechoslovak Legion with 40,000 strong.
• It was around this time that a guy named Tomas Masaryk founded the Czechoslovak National Council based out of Paris.
  • Masaryk wanted to build a homeland for his people the Czechoslovakians
  • With a Czech mother, Slovak father, and American wife, Masaryk was well-placed to rally for an independent Czechoslovakia.
    • After World War I broke out in 1914, thousands of Czechs and Slovaks living inside Russia heeded Masaryk’s call to fight alongside Russians against the Central Powers, which included Austria-Hungary.
  • By October 1917, the Imperial Russian Government had lost command of the country to the Bolsheviks… a party that most did not see rising to power.
  • With Russia falling apart and the Austro-Hungarian empire seeing the Czechoslovakians as traitors, the Legion was trapped and being hunted

• Masaryk was the Czechoslovakian leader. He knew he had to get his ultra-badass fighting force (the only fighting force the currently nationless Czechoslovakian people had) out of tumultuous Russia

• Where else to send his men other than France, the country that supported an independent Czechoslovakian nation and allowed Masaryk to start his Czechoslovak National Council
  • The French provided financial support to the Czechoslovakians, but only if they would help them fight the Germans.
    • I know, lots of different countries in this story here. Its Europe, what can I say LOL
  • Russia had pulled out of the war due to the whole Russian Revolution thingy, and they were France’s ally helping to keep Germany occupied on 2 fronts. So yeah, France needed any backup they could get.

• So now France was like “you want a country of your own? We’ll help make that happen, but you’ve got to get your asses to France to help us fight these Axis guys
  • Now, the Czechoslovak Legionnaires were badasses, and they were 40,000 strong with artillery and all, but they didn’t think they could fight all the way across the Austro-Hungarian territory to make it to France (about 2,400 kilometers of enemy territory). So what did they do?
    • Well they decided they would try to travel to the Russian Pacific port of Vladivostok… about 9,700 kilometers from their base in Kiev, then get a ship and sail it from the Pacific coast of Russia, all the way over to France…
  • In order to travel across all of Russia, they made an agreement with the Soviet Government called the Penza Agreement. Basically it said the Czechoslovakian Legion would have safe passage through The Russian motherland, as long as they gave up their weapons.
    • Seeing Russia devolve into a bloody backstabbing nation, the Czechoslovakian Legion didn’t trust the agreement. They expected the Soviets to not keep their word… plus they were still fighting the Germans
    • And the Soviets thought the Czechoslovaks would join the White Russian Rebels in Siberia (these White Russians were loyal to the now-dead Tsar)
      • Again, go back to episode #1 to hear about the craziest SOB from the Russian Revolution fighting for the white Russians.
    • So the Legion didn’t want to give up their weapons, but did anyway… or at least they gave up SOME of their weapons to appease the Soviets into letting them travel to the Pacific port of Vladivostok
  • The majority of their weapons they hid on the trains they used to travel to Siberia

• Along the way they encountered way too many Soviet officials demanding bribes and a railway that was in horrible disrepair (sounds about right for Soviet Russia LOL)
  • by May of 1918 the Legion was scattered across thousands of miles of the TransSiberian Railway
  • While the legion travelled East to the Pacific, Hungarian POWs were travelling West from Russian siberian prison camps (not nice places). On May 14th, the Legion met the POWs of their former imperial overlords.
  • The Legionnairs recognized some of the POWs as men who were directly responsible for massacres of Czech wounded during the war… the Legion took revenge.
  • The bloodbath was gruesome and the news of it reach Leon Trotsky, the Soviet Commissar of War.
    • Trotsky immediately revoked the Penza Agreement and ordered the Czechoslovakian Legion be arrested.
  • The Legion said F**K THAT!
    • They invaded the town of Chelyabinsk where they had encountered the Hungarian POWs. they took control. The Legion was in full-on revolt.
    • Leggionaires strung out along the Transsiberian Railway heard about their fellow Legionnaires take-over of Chelyabinsk and immediately started seizing towns and cities along the railway. One of the towns was the port of Vladivostok.
  • A lot had happened since the Legion left their base of Kiev, but the mission remained the same: get the hell out of Russia and join their Czechoslovakian people.

• This nationless legion, deep in enemy territory and needing to navigate around the world to reach their few allies had managed to seize majority control of the longest single rail system in the world, stretching 5,771 miles (9,288 km) across Russia between Moscow and Vladivostok
  • needless to say, it had a major impact on the Russian Civil War.
  • The Legion was just trying to get the hell out of the blood bath that was Russia during its civil war, but in doing so, had run the Reds (the soviet Bolsheviks) out of Siberia… which made Siberia a safe haven for the Tsarist Loyal White Russians.
  • Oh and after Trotsky ordered the Legion be “shot on the spot” they decided to arm themselves as much as possible… they stole an armered train from the Bolsheviks LOL

• With their newly acquired war Train and now numbering 61,000 strong, they were on the road to Vladivostok port.

• Thats when the Romanovs story comes into play.
  • A small, but historically impactful detour from the Legion’s story.

• The Tsar Nicholas II and his family the royal Romanovs had been kicked out of Moscow to make room for the Soviets. They had been moved to a town called Yekaterinburg, just 230 kilometers from the Czechoslovak held town of Chelyabinsk.
  • The Romanovs and their allies (including England and France) hoped the Czechoslovaks would be able to launch a rescue mission to save the Royal family… The Czechoslovaks were allies with France and England and the Romanovs had family in England that would have welcomed them. The Czechoslovaks were already heading to France… there was lots of hope they would make it out…
  • but the Soviets knew this was the plan and took action.
  • Under Vladimir Lenin’s personal command the last Tsar of Russia and his entire bloodline was executed by firing squad in a dark and dank basement in July 17th of 1918. Their remains were buried in the Siberian wilderness with no gravestones… the Soviets convinced them they were being rescued… and just shot them instead

• The Czechoslovak Legion arrived just 5 days later to find the room where they had been killed and no remains… just a torn up wall where they had been shot.
  • It wasn’t until in 1991, after the Soviet Union’s collapse, that the Romanov bodies were recovered. The state’s investigative team found thousands of bones and other relics from the imperial family, and DNA analysis soon confirmed they were in fact the Romanovs.
  • This scene was recounted on Netflix’s hit show The Crown where Queen Elisabeth learns about the fate of her distant family.

• With the Romanovs dead and the Soviets gaining more power by the day, the Red Army fought back.
  • They defeated the Legion at Samara and forced them eastward. The Legion held on as long as they could, fighting bravely, but their morale was badly bruised.
  • Then on October 28th 1918, Czechoslovakia was granted statehood. The Great War was coming to an end.
  • The Legion was now deep in Russian territory, far away from the Homeland they had wanted for so long.
  • While the Legion had been allies to the white Russians during their time in Siberia, they were tired of fighting Russians with Russians and being caught up in politics that had nothing to do with their own people.

• The Mission remained the same: GET THE HELL OUT OF RUSSIA AND JOIN THEIR PEOPLE.
  • So when Admiral Kolchak, who had overthrown the White Russian Government in Siberia, established a bloody dictatorship in its place, and was losing the Russian Civil War against the Soviet Red Army asked if he could get on the Czechoslovakian controlled TransSiberian Railway… they said sure, why not old Kolchak, our power hungry ally who doesn’t seem to know how to run a government and hasn’t done much of anything to help us get to our newly created and undefended homeland… Come aboard!
  • The Legion called a truce with the Red army and handed Kolchak over at the first opportunity. Kolchak was promptly executed.
  • in Return, the Red army gave the Legion safe passage to the Pacific port of Vladivostok, the same port they had set out for years ago… but kept getting caught up in the Russian Civil War… again, a conflict that had nothign to do with them.
  • Wisely the Soviets didn’t try to take the Czechoslovak’s gun. They let the Legion go armed to the teeth this time.

• The Legion had about 50,000 soldiers at this point and they weren’t all together. They were spread out defending their one bargaining chip they had in hostile Russia, the TransSiberian Railway.
  • So it took over a year until the las to the Legionnaires made it to Vladivostok.
  • Along the way, the Allies kept pestering the Red Army which slowed the LEgions evacuation. The Allies tried to get the Legion to fight the Red Army, but the Legion was done fighting other people’s wars. They didn’t take the bait. THE MISSION STAYED THE SAME: GET THE HELL OUT OF RUSSIA AND GET TO THEIR PEOPLE
  • By March 1920, the last Czechoslovak train made it to Vladivostok.

• The Czechoslovakian Legion was formed in September of 1914 under Imperial Russia because it had no country of its own.
  • The next 3 years it spent fighting in some of the most bloody battles of the Great War.
  • In 1917 the Imperial Russian Army was no more, overthrown by the Soviet Red Army. So the Legion set their sights on France to link up with Marasyk and Czechoslovak National Council… their people.
  • Literally caught in the middle of the Russian Civil War the Legion seized control of the Great TransSiberian Railway so to not get swallowed up by the Russian White and Russian Red war.
  • They spent 3 years deep behind enemy lines until they were able to get their last man out of Russia.
  • In the end 60,000 Legionnaires made it out of Vladivostok with another 10,000 refugees.
  • they made it to Europe and received a hero’s wwelcome as they strode into their new Homeland.
  • These 60,000 Legionnaires, these battle-hardened veterans, these badasses, formed the new Czechoslovak Army.
  • Their Journey from the Eastern front of the Great War across Siberia and finally to a new nation in Europe is astonishing.
    • Churchill wrote about these ultra-tough men: “The pages of history recall scarcely any parallel episode at once so romantic in character and so extensive in scale.”
    • Roosevelt wrote: “The extraordinary nature of whose great and heroic feat is literally unparalleled, so far as I know, in ancietn or modern warfare.”

• From the safety of Czechoslovakia, and after the Communists had seized full control of Russia, one legionnaire recalled, “The brotherhood of the Czechoslovak Legion was a thing at which to marvel. Nothing could shake the confidence of the legionnaire in himself and in his brothers. And so we were able to stand firm in the heart of the Bolshevik ruin, and for all practical purposes, remain untouched by its doctrines.”

CREDIT:

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revolt_of_the_Czechoslovak_Legion#:~:text=The%20Revolt%20of%20the%20Czechoslovak,Siberia%20to%20Europe%20in%201920.
• https://www.rferl.org/a/the-odyssey-of-the-czechoslovak-legions-through-siberia-to-independence/29759515.html
  • https://www.rferl.org/a/the-odyssey-of-the-czechoslovak-legions-through-siberia-to-independence/29759515/p1.html
• https://www.britannica.com/place/Austria/World-War-I

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