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As World War I broke out, ethnic Czechs 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 (as late as in the summer of 1916). Besides Czech Russians, the force was composed of many prisoners and deserters from the army of the Austro-Hungarian Empire which were from the provinces of Bohemia and Slovakia. The leader of Czech nationalist movement Tomas Masaryk helped to expand the Legion. The Legion peaked to around 65,000 men.
After the Russian revolution the Bolshevik government concluded the separate Treaty of Brest-Litovsk and it was agreed between the Bolsheviks and the Legion to evacuate the Czechs to France to continue fighting. Because the European front was blocked by German and Austrian armies, the evacuation was to be done by a detour via SiberiaSiberia ( Russian: , common English transliterations: Sibir Sibir' is a vast region of Russia and northern Kazakhstan, constituting all of northern Asia, and extending eastward from the Ural Mountains to the Pacific Ocean, and southward from the Arctic Oc, the Pacific port of VladivostokVladivostok ( Russian: ) is a city in Russia. It is the home port of the Russian Navy's Pacific Fleet and the administrative center of Primorsky Krai. The city's name means "controlling the East" in the Russian language. In the Chinese language, the city and the USA.
The slow evacuation by the Trans-Siberian railwayThe Trans-Siberian Railway or Trans-Siberian Railroad in Russian, or Transsibirskaya magistral', Transsib), built 1891- 1916, is a network of railways connecting European Russia with Russian Far East provinces. 2 kilometres (5,787 miles) and spanning 8 ti 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 1918Events January January 8 President Woodrow Wilson announces his " Fourteen Points" for the aftermath of World War I. February February 3 The Twin Peaks Tunnel begins service in San Francisco as the longest streetcar tunnel in the world (11,920 feet long). Czechs stopped a Hungarian train at ChelyabinskChelyabinsk ( Russian also transliterated as "Cheljabinsk", "Celjabinsk", and "Celyabinsk") is a Russian city just to the east of the Ural Mountains. It is the adminitrative center of Chelyabinsk Oblast. As of 2002, its population was 1,078,300. Chelyabin and shot a soldier who had apparently thrown something at their train. The local Bolshevik government arrested the Czech culprits and to free them, their comrades had to storm the railway station - and subsequently occupied the whole city.
Some time later Leon Trotsky, the then People's Commissar of War, ordered to disarm the Legion. As a result, the Legion took over a considerable area around the railway just east of Volga River, in the process capturing 8 train cars of gold bullions from the Imperial reserve in Kazan. After that, the Bolsheviks had to negotiate a new deal - gold for the free passage home ( 1920). Eventually, most of the Legion was evacuated via Vladivostok, but some part joined the anti-Bolshevik army of Admiral Kolchak.