The Czech Legion: An Army Stranded Across Siberia

In this episode of The Russian Revolution, Lucas and Luna explore the extraordinary story of the Czechoslovak Legions – 50,000 former prisoners of war who became a formidable fighting force in Siberia. After the Bolsheviks signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, the Legion found itself stranded along the Trans-Siberian Railway. Their attempted evacuation turned into a bitter conflict that sparked the full-scale Russian Civil War. Lucas explains how the Legion seized control of the railway, captured the Bolsheviks' gold reserve, and even declared an independent republic in Siberia. He traces their epic journey from the Battle of Zborov to the mutiny at Chelyabinsk, the capture of Kazan, and their eventual evacuation from Vladivostok in 1920. The episode also examines the Legion's role in the execution of the Romanov family and the contentious legacy they left behind. Discover how a group of foreign soldiers, fighting for a nation that didn't yet exist, inadvertently shaped the course of Russian history.

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