Czechoslovak Legion
체코슬로바키아 군단
Volunteer armed forces of Czechs and Slovaks, formed during World War I to fight for independence from Austria-Hungary. Starting as a unit within the Imperial Russian Army, the Legion grew to over 60,000 troops by late 1917. After the Bolshevik Revolution, the Legion sought to evacuate via the Trans-Siberian Railway to Vladivostok and continue fighting on the Western Front, but a clash with Bolshevik authorities at Chelyabinsk in May 1918 turned into an armed revolt. The Legion's uprising transformed scattered anti-Bolshevik resistance across the Volga, Urals, and Siberia into full-scale civil war.
Related historical events
Sources
- Wikipedia (EN) comprehensive article on the Legion's formation, structure, WWI service, and role through the Russian Civil War
- Wikipedia (RU) Russian Wikipedia: formation timeline, Penza Agreement, Chelyabinsk incident, and troop numbers by group in spring 1918
- Wikipedia (EN) dedicated article on the May 1918 revolt: Chelyabinsk clash, Trotsky's disarmament order, rapid seizure of the Trans-Siberian Railway, and the revolt's effect in triggering full-scale civil war
- thecollector.com TheCollector (Ilyas Benabdeljalil, Dec 2021): narrative of the Legion's origin, evacuation plan, the Chelyabinsk confrontation with Hungarian POWs, and the ensuing revolt