Эпизод первый
As World War I broke out, ethnic Czechs and Slovaks living in the Russian Empire petitioned Emperor Nicholas II of Russia to let them set up a national force to fight against Austria-Hungary. The Tsar finally gave his assent.
A "Czech company" arose in 1915, which was attached to the Russian army. From May 1915, the force was composed of many prisoners and deserters from the army of the Austro-Hungarian Empire which were from the territories of Bohemia, Moravia and Slovakia.
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In September 1917 the brigade was turned into the First Hussite Riflemen Division and in October 1917 it was merged with Second Riflemen Division (created in July 1917) into the "Czecho-Slovak Corps in Russia", counting some 38,500 men, which was already a genuine Czechoslovak army. The corps peaked to around 61,000 men. 4,112 Czech and Slovak legion members lost their lives in Russia in World War I.
Эпизод второй
After the Russian Revolution of 1917 the Bolshevik government concluded the separate Treaty of Brest-Litovsk and it was agreed between the Bolsheviks and the corps to evacuate the Czechs and Slovaks to France to join the Czechoslovak corps and continue fighting there. Because the European front was blocked by German and Austrian armies, the evacuation was to be done by a detour via Siberia, the Pacific port of Vladivostok and the USA.
The slow evacuation by the Trans-Siberian railway was exacerbated by transportation shortages – as agreed to by the Brest-Litovsk treaty, the Bolsheviks were at the same time returning German, Austrian and Hungarian POWs from Siberia back home. In May 1918 the Czechs and Slovaks stopped a Hungarian train at Chelyabinsk and shot a soldier who had apparently thrown something at their train. The local Bolshevik government arrested the Czech and Slovak culprits and to free them their comrades had to storm the railway station and subsequently occupied the whole city.
Эпизод третий
As a result, the Legion took over a considerable area around the railway just east of Volga River, in the process capturing eight train cars of gold bullion from the Imperial reserve in Kazan. After that, the Bolsheviks had to negotiate a new deal – gold for the free passage home (1920).
Эпизод четвертый
The SR leaders in Russia denounced Kolchak and called for him to be killed. Their activities resulted in a small revolt in Omsk on December 22, 1918, which was quickly put down by Cossacks and the Czech Legion, who summarily executed almost 500 rebels.
Эпизод пятый
Only seven train cars of the Imperial gold were turned over to Moscow. The Legion kept the eighth to buy or lease ships in Vladivostok and what was left was used to set up the Legion Bank (Legionářská banka or Legiobanka) in Prague. Its headquarters on Prague's Na Poříčí street is a masterpiece of Czech Cubist architecture and its façade features scenes of the Legion's retreat through Siberia.
Не хочу тратить время на обсуждение причин того как пленные иностранцы получили контроль над территориями России и завладели вагоном золота, но мне кажется что и в 45-м и в 68-м были полные основания здание этого Банка снести к едрене фене.
