From Siberia To Freedom: The Odyssey Of The Czechoslovak Legion
From Siberia To Freedom: The Odyssey Of The Czechoslovak Legion
How an army without a nation fought its way across Russia and on to independence.
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Emperor Franz Josef visiting Prague in 1891, when today’s Czech Republic and Slovakia were a part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
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With Czech and Slovak culture largely repressed by Austro-Hungarian authorities, a growing call for independence was taken up by Tomas Garrigue Masaryk (center).
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With a Czech mother, Slovak father, and American wife, Masaryk was well-placed to rally for an independent Czechoslovakia.
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Czechs and Slovaks wearing Russian gas masks. 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.