THE CZECHOSLOVAK CORPS AND WORLD WAR I PRISONERS OF WAR DURING THE CIVIL WAR IN SIBERIA (1918-1920)

Russia's withdrawal from the World War I after the signing of the Brest peace was a catalyzing factor for the onset of the Civil War in the country. The war involved prisoners of war, delayed their repatriation until the end of hostilities between the warring parties and the establishment of legitimate authority in Russia that would be capable of carrying out its international obligations with respect to matters concerning the rights of prisoners of war. Revolutions in Germany and Austria- Hungary, fighting in the western regions of Russia also interrupted the negotiating process and the evacuation of prisoners of war. A lot was done by the Bolsheviks in forming groups of internationalists from prisoners of war, mostly from the Hungarians, Austrians, Germans, as well as by the White Army generals in bringing Legionnaires of the Czech Corps to military operations against the Bolsheviks. The stake in the use of international force was placed on the national dislike between the Hungarians, Austrians, Germans, on the one hand, and the Czechoslovaks, on the other. The war against the Bolsheviks did not become the war against the Russians for the Czechs. Legionnaires fought with particular ferocity with international teams which consisted of former German, Austrian and Hungarian prisoners. At the rear, the Czechs and the Whites fought against the guerrillas of Siberia, Transbaikalia and Far East, protected the Trans- Siberian railroad and performed the functions of administrative and military power. The ideological opposition in Russia ended with the victory of the Bolsheviks. "The proletarian government", fighting for economic and political rights of Russian workers, treated the prisoners of war equivalently. Prisoners of war longing for a prompt return to their homeland saw the only possible way out of this situation - to participate in the events occurring in the territory of their captivity. Siberia became a bright example of the struggling front where not only the interests of various political forces on the polity of the country collided, but also the national interests of prisoners of war were involved. The confrontation between the Germans, Hungarians and the Czechs was based on the legally unsettled state- territorial claims. The Czechoslovaks were granted a real opportunity to defend their right and they quickly used the chance. However, it is obvious that they were a convenient professional military force the French government used in the fight against the Soviets.