110 years since the start of the First World War. Czech soldiers in the Great War

On June 28, 1914, the heir to the Austro-Hungarian crown, Franz Ferdinand d’Este, was assassinated. After that Austria-Hungary gave Serbia an ultimatum. The ten demands were deliberately designed so that Serbia would not accept them and their refusal would allow the war to begin. On the evening of July 25, 1914, Serbian Prime Minister Nikola Pašić himself gave a more conciliatory response to the ultimatum to Austro-Hungarian Ambassador Giesl. Only one point of the ultimatum was rejected in particular, namely that the Austrian investigative authorities should work freely on the territory of​​​​​​Serbia.

This created a reason for the start of the war, which was first called the Great War, and later the Great War. On July 26, Austria-Hungary announced a move, and immediately the Serbs also moved. On July 28, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia. After that, other states also join the war. Russia, France, and later Britain take the side of the Serbian attack. Germany sided with Austria-Hungary, followed by the Ottoman Empire and then Bulgaria. During the war, other countries join one side or the other. In 1917, the United States entered the war, creating a truly global conflict.

The fight for the homeland and for the idea

Most men from the Czech lands joined the Austro-Hungarian army. It is understandable because the monarchy was their homeland. But already at that time the idea of ​​an independent state was beginning to spread. And when some of the men realized that if the Central Powers won, the Germans would rise up and oppress the Slavic people in the monarchy, many of them began to defect to the other side or submit to his ‘ first chance. The soldiers in the POW camps could experience that the treatment of the Slavs was very unfavorable, where the Germans, Austrians and Hungarians treated the Slavic soldiers, and especially the victims, quite indiscriminately. And when an emissary from the Czechoslovak army arrived at the prison camp, those people who were affected by this bullying enthusiastically responded.

Every prisoner who wanted to join the army, known today as a legion, had to go through a kind of internal revolution when he decided on one or two options. Not all Czechs in captivity in Russia, Serbia, Italy or France signed up for the forces. Many were tired of war, they were afraid of fighting or possible capture and later execution for treason, fear of the family, etc. In Russia it was 60,000 men, in Italy 20,000 men and in France 10,000 men. Although I support the legions and respect their legacy, we should not forget our ancestors who fought in the uniform of the Austro-Hungarian army. Especially since, in most cases, they are the ones on the monuments to the fallen from the First World War. 300,000 men in the uniform of the monarchy and 5,000 men in the uniform of our legion fell from the Czech lands.

Most people who lost a family member in the First World War say that he fell on the Piave. However, when a person searches for information about these people, they come across that that person fell, for example, in the Carpathians, near Přemyšl, in Serbia or on the Soča River or in the Dolomites. The Piave River was only fought in the last year of the war. In addition to the places above, our ancestors also fought on the front in Romania, Albania, Montenegro or on the Thessaloniki front in Greece. Another interesting thing is the action of our ancestors in the uniform of the monarchy on the western front of France in 1918. When I record the fronts, I cannot leave out the battlefields of Russia. Our ancestors fought, bled and died everywhere. The Czechs had distinguished themselves as the greatest on the Italian front, where, paradoxically, they defended the Slovenian territory, inhabited by Slavs, against the attacks of the Italian army .

The battles in Siberia are a separate chapter of our ancestors who fought in the Great War. First, the legionnaires from Russia were supposed to move through Siberia to France, where they were supposed to strengthen our regiments being raised. However, under the influence of the Bolsheviks, they were drawn into the Russian Civil War. You can read the article about the beginning of the battles of our legionnaires against the Bolsheviks here.

The Russian Civil War had many fronts. Kungur, Volga, Ussuri, etc. Soviet Union. As a result of the control of the Trans-Siberian highway, the return of up to one million prisoners of war of the German and Austro-Hungarian armies was prevented. These soldiers were then absent during the last offensives on the Western and Italian fronts. Thanks to this, the Entente States recognized our independence. The battles of the legionnaires in Siberia were finally the most important for our independence.

After the soldiers returned to Czechoslovakia, however, the fighting did not end for some of them. It was necessary to live in the border areas of Bohemia and Moravia, where separatist ideas began to grow between the Germans and the Austrians there. The separatists also began to form their own armed forces. And so the work of the border brought more victims. Between November 1918 and July 1919, there was a war for Slovakia, which Hungary refused to give up. And to make matters worse, in January 1919, a war broke out with Poland against Chisinau. The two legionnaires who returned from France and Italy, as well as soldiers who had been loyal to the lord of the emperor during the war, took part in these battles. After the establishment of the republic, they joined its service, and they were the ones who lived on the borders of Bohemia and Moravia, and they also took part in wars with the Hungarians and the Poles. In some small towns or villages, the year 1919 is also on a memorial to some of those who fell. borders of the new republic.

Pecka, Radomír. 1. world. Giant vs. Dwarf

Moses, Milan. Czechoslovak Legion 1914-1920 Catalog of exhibits of the Czechoslovak legionary community