Russian Civil War
120-919: (Redirected from White Czech ) The Czechoslovak legions may refer to: Czechoslovak Legion , a unit in Russia during the Russian Civil War Czechoslovak Legion in France , part of French Foreign Legion during World War I Czechoslovak Legion in Italy , formations of the Czechoslovak legions on the Italian front Czechoslovak Legion (1939) , volunteer Czechoslovak units formed in Poland after German occupation of Czechoslovakia in 1939. 1st Czechoslovak Army Corps in
240-625: A 46- hectare concession from China in Tianjin (see Italian concession in Tianjin ). These foreign colonies and lands came under Italian control at different times and remained so over different periods. The Kingdom of Italy was a constitutional monarchy . Executive power belonged to the monarch , who governed through appointed ministers . The legislative branch was a bicameral Parliament comprising an appointive Senate and an elective Chamber of Deputies . The kingdom maintained as its constitution
360-412: A burden on finances or a change in territory required the approval of the chambers to be effective. The king appointed to all state offices, sanctioned and promulgated the laws, which as well as the government acts had to be countersigned by the responsible ministers, and issued the decrees and regulations necessary for the execution of the laws. Justice was administered in his name, and he alone had
480-487: A crop failure caused by insects, and Italy became the largest wine exporter in Europe. After France's recovery in 1888, Italian wine exports collapsed, causing a wave of unemployment and bankruptcies. From the 1860s, Italy invested heavily in the development of railways , with its rail network more than tripling between 1861 and 1872, then doubling again by 1890. Gio. Ansaldo & C. from the former Kingdom of Sardinia provided
600-884: A leading member of the Axis Powers in 1940 and despite initial success, was defeated in North Africa and the Soviet Union . Allied landings in Sicily led to the fall of the Fascist regime and the new government surrendered to the Allies in September 1943. German forces occupied northern and central Italy, established the Italian Social Republic , and reappointed Mussolini as dictator. Consequentially, Italy descended into civil war , with
720-416: A major cholera epidemic killed at least 55,000 people. Government action was blocked by strong political and economic opposition from the large landowners. Another commission of inquiry in 1910 found similar problems. Around 1890 there was also an overproduction crisis in the Italian wine industry , almost the only successful sector in agriculture. In the 1870s and 1880s, viticulture in France suffered from
840-610: A result, Italy accepted the British invitation to join the Allied Powers during World War I , as the western powers promised territorial compensation (at the expense of Austria-Hungary) for participation that was more generous than Vienna's offer in exchange for Italian neutrality. Victory in the war gave Italy a permanent seat in the Council of the League of Nations , but it did not receive all
960-572: A shortage of locomotives and the recurring need to negotiate with local soviets along the route. On 14 May, a dispute at the Chelyabinsk station between legionaries heading east and Magyar POWs heading west to be repatriated caused the People's Commissar for War, Leon Trotsky , to order the complete disarmament and arrest of the legionaries. At an army congress that convened in Chelyabinsk a few days later,
1080-636: A week before the arrival of the Legion. News of the Czechoslovak Legion's campaign in Siberia during the summer of 1918 was welcomed by Allied statesmen in Great Britain and France, who saw the operation as a means to reconstitute an eastern front against Germany. U.S. President Woodrow Wilson , who had resisted earlier Allied proposals to intervene in Russia, gave in to domestic and foreign pressure to support
1200-617: Is a 1936 Czechoslovak movie and drama about a skirmish of the Czechoslovak Legion with bolsheviks in Siberia. Last Train Home is a real-time tactics video game developed by Ashborne Games, in which the player controls a train carrying Czechoslovak Legion troops along the Trans-Siberian Railway during their withdrawal. The game was released on 28 November 2023. Kingdom of Italy The Kingdom of Italy ( Italian : Regno d'Italia , Italian: [ˈreɲɲo diˈtaːlja] )
1320-614: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Czechoslovak Legion The Czechoslovak Legion ( Czech : Československé legie ; Slovak : Československé légie ) were volunteer armed forces consisting predominantly of Czechs and Slovaks fighting on the side of the Entente powers during World War I and the White Army during the Russian Civil War until November 1919. Their goal
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#17330934042511440-502: The Risorgimento . That process was influenced by the Savoy -led Kingdom of Sardinia , which was one of Italy's legal predecessor states . In 1866, Italy declared war on Austria in alliance with Prussia and, upon its victory, received the region of Veneto . Italian troops entered Rome in 1870, ending more than one thousand years of Papal temporal power . In the last two decades of
1560-622: The Hrad ("The [Prague] Castle") for their support of the President of Czechoslovakia . The 2005 novel The People's Act of Love , by the British writer James Meek , describes the occupation of a small Siberian town by a company of the Czechoslovak Legion in 1919. The original inhabitants of the town are members of the Christian sect of Skoptsy , or castrates. A memoir Přál jsem si míti křídla by Jozef Dufka
1680-814: The Battle of Zborov . Following the soldiers' stellar performance at Zborov, the Russian Provisional Government finally granted their émigré leaders on the Czechoslovak National Council permission to mobilize Czech, Moravian and Slovak volunteers from the POW camps. Later that summer, a fourth regiment was added to the brigade, which was renamed the First Division of the Czechoslovak Corps in Russia ( Československý sbor na Rusi ), also known as
1800-656: The Central Powers at Brest-Litovsk . The chairman of the Czechoslovak National Council, Tomáš Masaryk , who had arrived in Russia earlier that year, began planning for the Legion's departure from Russia and transfer to France so the Czechoslovaks could continue to fight against the Central Powers. Since most of Russia's main ports were blockaded, Masaryk decided that the Legion should travel from Ukraine to
1920-658: The Družina soldiers served in scattered patrols performing a number of specialized duties, including reconnaissance, prisoner interrogation and subversion of enemy troops in the opposite trenches. From its start, Czech and Slovak political émigrés in Russia and Western Europe desired to expand the Družina from a battalion into a formidable military formation. To achieve this goal, they recognized that they would need to recruit from Czech and Slovak prisoners of war (POWs) in Russian camps. In late 1914, Russian military authorities permitted
2040-672: The Družina to enlist Czech and Slovak POWs from the Austro-Hungarian Army, but this order was rescinded after only a few weeks due to opposition from other branches of the Russian government. Despite continuous efforts of émigré leaders to persuade the Russian authorities to change their mind, the Czechs and Slovaks were officially barred from recruiting POWs until the summer of 1917. Still, some Czechs and Slovaks were able to sidestep this ban by enlisting POWs through local agreements with Russian military authorities. Under these conditions,
2160-634: The Entente cause, these groups advocated the establishment of a unit of Czech and Slovak volunteers to fight alongside the Russian Army. On 5 August 1914, the Russian Stavka authorized the formation of a battalion recruited from Czechs and Slovaks in Russia. This unit, called the "Companions" ( Družina ), went to the front in October 1914, where it was attached to the Russian Third Army. There
2280-650: The Franco-Prussian War . To keep the large Prussian Army at bay, France abandoned its positions in Rome – which protected the remnants of the Papal States and Pius IX – to fight the Prussians. Italy benefited from Prussia's victory against France by taking over the Papal States from French authority. The Kingdom of Italy captured Rome after several battles and guerrilla-like warfare by Papal Zouaves and official troops of
2400-578: The Italian Co-belligerent Army and resistance movement contending with the Social Republic's forces and its German allies. Shortly after the surrender of all fascist forces in Italy , civil discontent prompted an institutional referendum , which established a republic and abolished the monarchy in 1946. The Kingdom of Italy covered and at times exceeded the land area of present-day Italy. The Kingdom gradually extended its area through
2520-578: The Italian unification until 1870. In 1919 it annexed Trieste and Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol . The Triple Entente promised to grant to Italy – if the state joined the Allies in World War I – several regions, including former Austrian Littoral , western parts of former Duchy of Carniola , Northern Dalmatia and notably Zara , Šibenik and most of the Dalmatian islands (except Krk and Rab ), according to
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#17330934042512640-648: The Kingdom of Prussia in the Austro-Prussian War . In exchange, Prussia would allow Italy to annex Austria-controlled Veneto . King Emmanuel agreed to the alliance, and the Third Italian War of Independence began. Italy fared poorly in the war with a badly-organized military against Austria, but Prussia's victory allowed Italy to annex Veneto . At this point, one major obstacle to Italian unity remained: Rome. In July 1870, Prussia went to war with France, igniting
2760-584: The Lateran Treaties , which granted independence to the Vatican City . The following decade presided over an aggressive foreign policy , with Italy launching successful military operations against Ethiopia in 1935, Spain in 1937, and Albania in 1939. This led to economic sanctions, departure from the League of Nations , growing economic autarky , and the signing of military alliances with Germany and Japan . Fascist Italy entered World War II as
2880-564: The Statuto Albertino , the governing document of the Kingdom of Sardinia. In theory, ministers were responsible solely to the king. However, by this time, a king couldn't appoint a government of his choosing or keep it in office against the express will of Parliament. Members of the Chamber of Deputies were elected through a plurality voting system in single-member districts. A candidate needed
3000-554: The pardon and mitigation of punishment. The first state coat of arms of the kingdom was adopted from Sardinia-Piedmont. It included the coat of arms of the House of Savoy in the middle and four Italian flags dating from 1848. On 4 May 1870, by royal decree, two lions in gold , which now carried the shield , a crowned knight's helmet, which bore the Military Order of Savoy , the Order of
3120-572: The state budget , though proceeding with great caution. The government secured the support of large companies and banks. Most criticism the project came from conservatives, with a majority of the public supporting the soundness of public finances. The state budget, which from 1900 had an annual income of around 50 million lire, was to be additionally strengthened by the nationalization of the railways. In March 1905, after serious labor unrest among railroad workers, Giolitti resigned due to illness, and suggested his fellow party member Alessandro Fortis to
3240-405: The telephone system was nationalized. The Fortis government remained in office until the beginning of 1906. It was followed from 8 February to 29 May by a brief government under Sidney Sonnino . Finally, Giolitti entered his third term. In this he dealt mainly with the economic situation in southern Italy, due both to long-term demographic and economic factors, as well as natural disasters such as
3360-552: The 1904 law for the development of Naples , prepared by economist and later prime minister Nitti. In 1898, in order to make the steel-industry completely independent from foreign coal imports, the Neapolitan engineer Ernesto Stassano invented the Stassano furnace , the first indirect-arc electric furnace . By 1917, Italian iron and steel plants operated 88 indirect-arc furnaces, manufactured by Stassano, Bassanese and Angelini. In 1899
3480-572: The 19th century, Italy developed into a colonial power , and in 1882 it entered into a Triple Alliance with the German Empire and the Austro-Hungarian Empire , following strong disagreements with France about their respective colonial expansions. Although relations with Berlin became very friendly, the alliance with Vienna remained purely formal, due in part to Italy's desire to acquire Trentino and Trieste from Austria-Hungary. As
3600-552: The 1st Company of the 2nd Infantry Regiment of the Foreign Legion in Bayonne was created mostly of the Czechs and was nicknamed " rota Nazdar " ("Nazdar!" Company). The company distinguished itself in heavy combat during assaults near Arras on May 9 and June 16, 1915. Because of heavy casualties, the company was disbanded, and volunteers continued to fight in various French units. New autonomous Czechoslovak units were established by
3720-670: The Austrian army. In September 1918 the first fighting unit, the 39th Regiment of the Czechoslovak Italian Legion, was formed from those volunteer reconnaissance squadrons. Czechoslovak legionaries in Italy were the first to return to newly created Czechoslovakia in 1918 and were immediately drafted into fights for new state borders, most notably in the war against the Hungarian Soviet Republic . Flags of legions’ regiments were white and red with embroidered symbols of
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3840-506: The Chamber of Deputies. The highest state administration was divided into the following ministries, with their headquarters in Rome: Due to the war, a number of other short-lived ministries were created during the First and Second World War . The Court of Auditors of the Kingdom had an independent status. The King of Italy was formally the holder of state power, but he could only exercise
3960-538: The Crown of Italy , the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus and the Order of the Annunciation around its collar, were added. The motto FERT was deleted. The lions carried lances that held the national flag. From the helmet fell a royal cloak, which was supposed to protect the nation. Above the coat of arms was the star of Italy (Italian Stella d’Italia ). The newly adopted national coat of arms of 1 January 1890 removed
4080-449: The Czech countries and Slovakia, linden twigs, St. Wenceslas’ crown, letters “ S”, and Hussite themes. The reverse side of the Russian legion's flag showed national colors for the Russian command, and Czech and Slovak colors for the Czechs and Slovaks. The National Council of Czechoslovakia in exile, which led the anti-Austrian resistance, became the interim government on 26 September 1918 with
4200-522: The Czechoslovak Legion ( Československá legie ) in Russia. A second division, consisting of four regiments, was added to the Legion in October 1917, raising its strength to about 40,000 troops by 1918. In France, the Czechs and the Slovaks who wanted to fight Austria-Hungary were allowed to join the Foreign Legion , hence originated the term Legion for units of Czechoslovak volunteers. On 31 August 1914,
4320-661: The Czechoslovak unit in Russia grew very slowly from 1914 to 1917. In early 1916, the Družina was reorganized as the 1st Czecho-Slovak Rifle Regiment. During that year, two more infantry regiments were added, creating the Czechoslovak Rifle Brigade ( Československá střelecká brigáda ). This unit distinguished itself during the Kerensky Offensive in July 1917, when the Czecho-Slovak troops overran Austrian trenches during
4440-739: The Czechoslovaks defended the Kolchak government's only supply route for the duration of 1919. During the summer and autumn of 1919, Kolchak's armies were in a steady retreat from the Red Eastern Army Group. On 14 November, the Reds took Omsk, Kolchak's capital, initiating a desperate eastward flight by the White army and refugees along the Trans-Siberian Railway. In the following weeks, the Whites' rear
4560-441: The Czechoslovaks – against the wishes of the National Council – refused to disarm and began issuing ultimatums for their passage to Vladivostok. This incident sparked the Revolt of the Legions . Fighting between the Czechoslovak Legion and the Bolsheviks erupted at several points along the Trans-Siberian Railway in the last days of May 1918. By June, the two sides were fighting along the railway route from Penza to Krasnoyarsk . By
4680-425: The Czechoslovaks' lines. The most important of these governments were the Komuch , led by the Social Revolutionaries , in Samara and the Provisional Siberian Government in Omsk . With substantial Czechoslovak help, the People's Army of Komuch won several important victories, including the capture of Kazan and an Imperial state gold reserve on 6-7 August 1918. Czechoslovak pressure was also crucial in convincing
4800-417: The Eastern Front to force the Soviet government to accept its terms for peace. From 5 to 13 March, the Czechoslovak legionaries successfully fought off German attempts to prevent their evacuation in the Battle of Bakhmach . After leaving Ukraine and entering Soviet Russia , representatives of the Czechoslovak National Council continued to negotiate with Bolshevik authorities in Moscow and Penza to iron out
4920-422: The Fascist Party an absolute majority of the Chamber seats. Between 1925 and 1943, Italy was a quasi- de jure Fascist dictatorship, as the constitution formally remained in effect without alteration while the monarchy formally accepted Fascist policies and institutions. In 1928 the Grand Council of Fascism took control of government administration, and in 1939 the Chamber of Fasces and Corporations replaced
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5040-400: The Gotthard tunnel 90% of miners came from northern Italy, while at the Lötschberg tunnel 97% were Italian, chiefly from the south. In addition to the now completed nationalization of the railways, the planned nationalization of insurance was tackled and thetrade war with France, which had lasted since 1887, ended. Giolitti thereby interrupted Crispi's pro-German foreign policy and thus enabled
5160-411: The Holy See against the Italian invaders. Italy's unification was completed and its capital moved to Rome. Victor Emmanuel, Garibaldi, Cavour, and Mazzini are remembered as Italy's Four Fathers of the Fatherland . Garibaldi was elected in 1871 in his home city of Nice to the French National Assembly , where he tried to promote the cession of the city from France to the newborn Italian unitary state. He
5280-604: The Italian connection to the Legion. The French military mission's role was to integrate the existing Czechoslovak Foreign Legions with the home units of the Army and develop a professional command structure. On October 15, 1919, the main staff of the Czechoslovak Army was officially formed. French officers were installed as territorial commanders and commanders of some divisions. Over the course of time, there were 200 French non-commissioned officers, over 100 commissioned officers and 19 Generals. General Pellé and his immediate replacement, General Eugène Mittelhauser (also French), were
5400-444: The Italian republican drive for unification in Southern Italy. However, the Northern Italy monarchy of the House of Savoy in the Kingdom of Sardinia , whose government was led by Camillo Benso, Count of Cavour , also had ambitions of establishing a united Italian state. In the context of the 1848 liberal revolutions that swept through Europe, an unsuccessful First Italian War of Independence , led by King Charles Albert of Sardinia ,
5520-576: The Japanese Expeditionary Force and the troops of Ataman Grigori Semenov , who stalled the Czechoslovak trains to delay the arrival of the Red Army in Eastern Siberia. By then the evacuation of Czechoslovak troops from Vladivostok was well underway, and the last legionaries left the port in September 1920. The total number of people evacuated with the Czechoslovak Legion in Russia was 67,739; including 56,455 soldiers, 3,004 officers, 6,714 civilians, 1,716 wives, 717 children, 1,935 foreigners and 198 others. After their return to Czechoslovakia, many formed
5640-455: The Kingdom of Italy was the result of efforts by Italian nationalists and monarchists loyal to the House of Savoy to establish a united kingdom encompassing the entire Italian Peninsula . Following the Congress of Vienna in 1815, the political and social Italian unification movement, or Risorgimento , emerged to unite Italy consolidating the different states of the peninsula and liberate it from foreign control. A prominent radical figure
5760-428: The Kingdom of Sardinia ceded Savoy and Nice to France, an event that caused the Niçard exodus , that was the emigration of a quarter of the Niçard Italians to Italy. In 1860–1861, Garibaldi led the drive for unification in Naples and Sicily (the Expedition of the Thousand ), while the House of Savoy troops occupied the central territories of the Italian peninsula, except Rome and part of Papal States . Teano
5880-506: The Napoleonic precedent, so their harmonization was relatively straightforward. The next challenge was to develop a parliamentary legislative system. Cavour and most liberals up and down the peninsula highly admired the British system , which became the model for Italy. Harmonizing the Navy ( Regia Marina ) and the Royal Italian Army was much more complex, chiefly because the systems of recruiting soldiers and selecting and promoting officers were so different and grandfathered exceptions to
6000-414: The Pacific port of Vladivostok , where the men would embark on transport vessels that would carry them to Western Europe. In February 1918, Bolshevik authorities in Ukraine granted Masaryk and his troops permission to begin the 9,700-kilometre (6,000 mi) journey to Vladivostok. On 18 February, before the Czechoslovaks had left Ukraine, the German Army launched Operation Faustschlag (fist strike) on
6120-464: The Royal Decree of 17 July 1861 which specified the exchange of pre-unification coins into lire and the fact that local coins continued to be legal tender in their respective provinces of origin. In the entire period from 1861 to 1940, Italy experienced considerable economic growth despite several economic crises and the First World War. Unlike most modern nations, where industrialization was undertaken by large corporations , industrial growth in Italy
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#17330934042516240-410: The Sardinian government to declare a united Italian kingdom on 17 March 1861. Victor Emmanuel II , since March 1849 King of Sardinia, then became the first king of a united Italy, and the capital was moved from Turin to Florence. The title of "King of Italy" had been out of use since the abdication of Napoleon I of France on 6 April 1814. Following the unification of most of Italy, tensions between
6360-513: The USSR Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Czechoslovak Legion . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Czechoslovak_Legion_(disambiguation)&oldid=1170666153 " Categories : Disambiguation pages Czechoslovak Legion Hidden categories: Short description
6480-407: The Whites, organized by Radola Gajda in Vladivostok on 17 November 1919, the Whites accused the Czechoslovaks of treason, but were too weak to act against them. When the armistice with the Bolsheviks was concluded, dozens of Czechoslovak trains were still west of Irkutsk. On 1 March 1920, the last Czechoslovak train passed through that city. The legionaries' progress was still hampered at times by
6600-499: The aim of establishing a base of heavy industry. In the 1880s industrialisation moved into high gear, which lasted until 1912/13 and reached its peak under Giolitti . Industrial plants soon clustered around areas of hydropower energy. Between 1887 and 1911 hydroelectricity became the main source of energy, with over sixty plants constructed. From 1881 to 1887, Italy's textile, mechanical, steel, iron, and chemical industries grew by an average 4.6 percent annually. The backbone of
6720-428: The anti-Bolshevik forces in Siberia to nominally unify behind the All-Russian Provisional Government , formed at a conference in Ufa during September 1918. During the autumn of 1918, the legionaries' enthusiasm for the fighting in Russia, then mostly confined along the Volga and Urals , dropped precipitously. The professor T. G. Masaryk supported them from the United States of America. The rapidly growing Red Army
6840-427: The automobile industry commenced when Giovanni Agnelli bought the designs and patents of the Ceirano brothers and founded the Fiat automobile works. In 1906 another automobile factory was built in the Portello district of Milan for the French entrepreneur Alexandre Darracq and the headquarters of his Italian branch Società Anonima Italiana Darracq . In 1910, the company brought the first successful model onto
6960-452: The beginning of the war as the "Nazdar" company, and similar units later emerging in Italy and Serbia . Originally an all-volunteer force, these formations were later strengthened by Czech and Slovak prisoners of war or deserters from the Austro-Hungarian Army . The majority of the legionaries were Czechs, with Slovaks making up 7% of the force in Russia, 3% in Italy and 16% in France. The name Czechoslovak Legion preceded and anticipated
7080-459: The borderlands. Meanwhile, the legionaries were wary of Czechoslovak Communists who were trying to subvert the corps. They also suspected that the Bolsheviks were being pressured by the Central Powers to stall their movement towards Vladivostok. By May 1918, the Czechoslovak Legion was strung out along the Trans-Siberian Railway from Penza to Vladivostok. Their evacuation was proving much slower than expected due to dilapidated railway conditions,
7200-481: The capture of Rome in 1870 from French forces of Napoleon III , Papal troops, and Zouaves , relations between Italy and the Vatican remained sour for the next sixty years, with the Popes declaring themselves to be prisoners in the Vatican . The Catholic Church in Italy frequently protested the anti-clerical actions of the secular Italian governments, refused to meet with envoys from the King, and urged Roman Catholics not to vote in Italian elections. Not until 1929
7320-415: The challenges of bureaucratic coordination. Italy has a long history of different coinage types . Italian unification highlighted the confusion of the pre-unification Italian monetary system which was mostly based on silver monometallism and therefore in contrast with the gold monometallism in force in the Kingdom of Sardinia and in the major European nations. To reconcile the various monetary systems it
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#17330934042517440-537: The completion of the Simplon Tunnel in 1906. Shortly after the railway began its triumphal march through Switzerland , each region wanted its own north-south connection and with the construction of the railway tunnels on the Gotthard 14,998 km (1872–1880), Simplon 19,803 km (1898–1906) and Lötschberg 14,612 km (1907–1913), three major Alpine crossings were realized that were important for Switzerland and neighboring European countries. The workforce of these monumental projects were largely Italians: at
7560-463: The consent of France, Great Britain, and the US. The first ceremonial hoisting of the Czechoslovak flag on the house inhabited by T. G. Masaryk, the head of the interim government, took place on 18 October 1918. Based on the historical flag of Bohemia, the Czechoslovak flag was defined as the connection of two stripes, i.e. a white one above a red one. In November 1917, the Bolsheviks seized power throughout Russia and soon began peace negotiations with
7680-418: The construction of the new Italian ocean liner SS Rex , which set a transatlantic sea voyage record of four days in 1933, and the development of the seaplane Macchi-Castoldi M.C.72 , which was the world's fastest seaplane in 1933. In 1933, Italo Balbo completed a flight across the Atlantic in a seaplane to the World's Fair in Chicago . The flight symbolized the power of the Fascist leadership and
7800-629: The core of the new Czechoslovak Army . The number of legionaries killed in Russia during World War I and the Russian Civil War was 4,112. An unknown number went missing or deserted the legion, either to make an arduous journey to return home or to join the Czechoslovak Communists. Among the latter was Jaroslav Hašek , later the author of the satirical novel The Good Soldier Švejk . A total of 36 transports were dispatched from Vladivostok. The rank insignia of commissioned officers . The rank insignia of non-commissioned officers and enlisted personnel . Czechoslovakia declared its independence from
7920-449: The creation of Czechoslovakia . In the first months of World War I, the response of the Czech soldiers and civilians to the war and mobilization efforts were highly enthusiastic; however, it turned into apathy later. As World War I broke out, national societies representing ethnic Czechs and Slovaks residing in the Russian Empire petitioned the Russian government to support the independence of their homelands. To prove their loyalty to
8040-591: The decree of the French government on 19 December 1917. In January 1918, the 21st Czechoslovak Rifle Regiment was formed in the town of Cognac ; it mixed prisoners of war with volunteers living in America. The 22nd Czechoslovak Rifle Regiment was created later in May. The creation of Czechoslovak units in Italy took place much later than in France or Russia. In January 1918, the commander of 6th Italian Army decided to form small reconnaissance groups from Czech, Moravian Slovak and Southern Slav volunteers from prisoner-of-war camps. They also served in propaganda actions against
8160-453: The details of the corps' evacuation. On 25 March, the two sides signed the Penza Agreement, in which the legionaries were to surrender most of their weapons in exchange for unmolested passage to Vladivostok. Tensions continued to mount, as each side distrusted the other. The Bolsheviks, despite Masaryk's order for the legionaries to remain neutral in Russia's affairs, suspected that the Czechoslovaks might join their counterrevolutionary enemies in
8280-421: The disadvantaged regions of the south followed. However, their implementation mostly failed due to the resistance of the large landowners. Nevertheless, there was a significant improvement in the economic situation of smallholders . In 1911, 55.4% of the Italian population worked in agriculture and 26.9% in industry . Strong social tensions came to light, Italy's social legislation took last place in Europe,
8400-477: The disintegrating Austria-Hungary, on 28 October 1918 with now President Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk of the Czechoslovak Republic. Members of the Legions formed a significant part of the new Czechoslovak Army. A French military mission began in Czech territories after January 1919, led by General Maurice Pellé . After some disagreements with the Italian-led Czechs in Slovakia, President Masaryk eventually replaced Piccione with Pellé on July 4, 1919, and essentially ended
8520-487: The end of World War II colonies, protectorates, military occupations and puppet states beyond its borders. These included Eritrea , Italian Somaliland , Libya , Ethiopia (annexed by Italy from 1936 to 1941), Albania (an italian protectorate since 1939), British Somaliland , part of Greece , Corsica, southern France with Monaco , Tunisia , Kosovo and Montenegro (all territories occupied in World War II) Croatia (Italian and German client state in World War II), and
8640-419: The end of the month, legionaries under General Mikhail Diterikhs had taken control of Vladivostok, overthrowing the local Bolshevik administration. On July 6, the Legion declared the city to be an Allied protectorate, and legionnaires began returning across the Trans-Siberian Railway to support their comrades fighting to their west. Generally, the Czechoslovaks were the victors in their early engagements against
8760-478: The eruption of Vesuvius in 1906 and the earthquake in Messina , Calabria , and Palmi in 1908. Entire villages were depopulated and centuries-old regional cultures disappeared. Nevertheless, there was a slight economic upswing in the south afterwards. The government, which had initially discouraged emigration to avoid labor shortages , now gave its approval to the emigration of hundreds of thousands of Italians from
8880-512: The export of fruit, vegetables and wine to France. He also boosted the cultivation of sugar beets and their processing in the Po Valley and encouraged heavy industry to gain a foothold in the south as well. However, the latter was not very successful. In 1908, some laws limiting working hours for women and children up to 12 hours were passed with the support of the Socialist MPs. Special laws for
9000-630: The first Italian built locomotives with the FS Class 113 and the later FS Class 650 . The first railway section on the island of Sicily was inaugurated on 28 April 1863 with the Palermo – Bagheria line. By 1914 the Italian railway had around 17,000 km of railways. During the Fascist dictatorship, enormous sums were invested in new technological achievements, especially in military technology. But large sums of money were also spent on prestige projects such as
9120-549: The first chiefs staff of the Czechoslovak Army. The Legion took part in the Hungarian–Czechoslovak War . On January 1, 1919, Legion troops took control of the city of Bratislava and Italian Colonel Riccardo Barreca was appointed military commander of the city. Several clashes (which killed at least nine Hungarian demonstrators) took place and Barreca himself was injured. The Italian officers continued to assist in
9240-430: The fledgling Red Army . By mid-July, the legionaries had seized control of the railway from Samara to Irkutsk , and by the beginning of September they had cleared Bolshevik forces from the entire length of the Trans-Siberian Railway. Legionnaires conquered all the large cities of Siberia, including Yekaterinburg , but Tsar Nicholas II and his family were executed on the direct orders of Yakov Sverdlov less than
9360-556: The fur coat and the lances and the crown on the helmet was replaced by the Iron Crown of the Lombards . The whole group stood under a canopy , crowned with the Italian royal crown, above which was the banner of Italy. The flagpole was carried by a golden crowned eagle . On 11 April 1929, Mussolini replaced the two Savoy lions with lictor's bundles . Only after his dismissal in 1944 was the old coat of arms from 1890 restored. The birth of
9480-518: The general system persisted for decades. The disorganization helps explain the dismal performance of the Italian navy in the 1866 war . Uniformizing the diverse education systems also proved complicated. Shortly before his death, Cavour appointed Francesco De Sanctis as minister of education, an eminent scholar from the University of Naples who proved an able and patient administrator. The addition of Veneto in 1866 and Rome in 1870 further complicated
9600-474: The idea of an independent Czechoslovak state. As the legionaries cruised from one victory to another that summer, the Czechoslovak National Council began receiving official statements of recognition from various Allied governments. Shortly after they entered into hostilities against the Bolsheviks, the legionaries began making common cause with anti-Bolshevik Russians who began forming their own governments behind
9720-527: The industrial and technological progress the state had made under the Fascists. During the 1860s and 1870s, Italian manufacturing was backward and small-scale, while the oversized agrarian sector was the backbone of the national economy. The country lacked large coal and iron deposits. In the 1880s, a severe farm crisis led to the introduction of more modern farming techniques in the Po Valley , while from 1878 to 1887 protectionist policies were introduced with
9840-805: The industrial boom was, next to the labor force, institutions of higher learning such as the Politecnico founded in Milan in 1863 by Francesco Brioschi and the Technical School for Engineers in Turin established four years earlier. Steelworks were established with state and private capital, notably from the Credito Mobiliare : in 1884 in Terni and in 1897 in Piombino using iron-ore from Elba . The relative backwardness of
9960-506: The king as his successor. On 28 March Victor Emmanuel III appointed Fortis as the new prime minister, making him the first Jewish head of government worldwide. With Law 137 of 22 April 1905 he sanctioned the nationalization of the railways through a public recruitment process under the control of the Court of Audit and the supervision of the Ministries of Public Works and Finance. At the same time,
10080-521: The legionaries had signed an armistice with the Fifth Red Army at Kutin, whereby the latter allowed the Czechoslovaks unmolested passage to Vladivostok. In exchange, the legionaries agreed not to try to rescue Kolchak, and to leave the remaining gold bullion with the authorities in Irkutsk. Earlier that day, Kolchak had been executed by a Cheka firing squad to prevent his rescue by a small White army then on
10200-519: The legionaries were ordered by Allied representatives in Siberia to convey him to the British military mission in Irkutsk. This plan was resisted by insurgents along the Czechoslovaks' route, and as a result the legionaries, after consulting their commanders, Generals Janin and Jan Syrový , made the controversial decision to turn Kolchak over to the Political Center, a government formed by Socialists-Revolutionaries in Irkutsk. On 7 February 1920,
10320-587: The legionaries' evacuation from Siberia. In early July 1918, he published an aide-mémoire calling for a limited intervention in Siberia by the U.S. and Japan to rescue the Czechoslovak troops, who were then blocked by Bolshevik forces in Transbaikal . But by the time most American and Japanese units landed in Vladivostok, the Czechoslovaks were already there to welcome them. The Czechoslovak Legion's campaign in Siberia impressed Allied statesmen and attracted them to
10440-464: The major party, but were unable to form a government in a parliament split among the three factions of Socialists, Christian populists , and classical liberals . Elections took place in 1919, 1921 and 1924: on this last occasion, Mussolini abolished proportional representation, replacing it with the Acerbo Law , by which the party that won the largest share of votes got two-thirds of the seats, which gave
10560-489: The market with the 24 HP and the brand name ALFA on the radiator grille. While automobiles were only affordable by few its popularity and fascination rose rapidly, and one of the first sports car racing events in the world, the Targa Florio , held annually in the mountains of Sicily was established in 1906. In the financial sector, Prime Minister Giolitti was mainly concerned with increasing pensions and restructuring
10680-459: The neglect of agriculture, which declined after 1873. The Italian parliament initiated an investigation in 1877, which lasted eight years and blamed the lack of mechanization and modern farming techniques, and the failure of landowners to develop their lands. In addition, most farm laborers were temporary inexperienced short-term workers ( braccianti ). Farmers without a steady income were forced to subsist on meager food. Disease spread rapidly and
10800-588: The operations against the Hungarians during the war. Many veterans of the legion also fought in the Polish–Czechoslovak War . Legion veterans formed organizations such as the Association of Czechoslovak Legionnaires ( Československá obec legionářská ) and Legiobanka ( Legionářská banka , a bank formed with the capital they had gathered during their long service). These and other organizations were known as
10920-501: The outskirts of the city. His body was dumped under the ice of the frozen Angara River and never recovered. When the White Army learned about the execution, its remaining leadership decided to withdraw farther east. The Great Siberian Ice March followed. The Red Army did not enter Irkutsk until 7 March, and only then was the news of Kolchak's death officially released. Because of this, and also because of an attempted rebellion against
11040-494: The political and administrative systems of the seven different major components under a unified set of policies. The different regions were proud of their traditions and could not easily be fitted into the Sardinian model. Cavour started planning for integration, but died (on 6 June 1861) before it was fully developed – indeed, the challenge is thought to have hastened his early death . The regional administrative bureaucracies followed
11160-494: The presence of both chambers. According to the law of 17 March 1861, his title was: " By the grace of God and by the will of the nation, King of Italy and King of Albania (only from 1939 to 1943) and Emperor of Ethiopia (only from 1936 to 1943)". He awarded the five Orders of Knighthood of Savoy and exercised constitutional sovereign rights. He commanded the land, sea and air power; he declared wars, concluded peace, alliance, trade and other treaties, of which only those that entailed
11280-457: The proportion employed in agriculture fell below 50% around the turn of the century. However, not everyone benefited from these developments, as southern agriculture in particular suffered from the hot arid climate , while in the north malaria hampered cultivation of low-lying areas on the Adriatic coast. The government's focus on foreign and military policy in the early years of the state led to
11400-519: The right of legislation in conjunction with the national parliament, and the government was de facto responsible to parliament. According to the Salic Law , the throne was inherited in the male line of the royal House of Savoy . The king and his house professed allegiance to the Roman Catholic Church . He came of age at the age of 18 and, upon assuming power, took an oath to the constitution in
11520-683: The royalists and republicans erupted. In April 1861, Garibaldi entered the Italian parliament and challenged Cavour's leadership, accusing him of dividing Italy, and threatened a civil war between the Kingdom in the North and his forces in the South. On 6 June 1861, the Kingdom's strongman Cavour died. During the ensuing political instability, Garibaldi and the republicans became increasingly revolutionary in tone. Garibaldi's arrest in 1862 set off worldwide controversy. In 1866, Otto von Bismarck , Minister President of Prussia , offered Victor Emmanuel II an alliance with
11640-645: The secret London Pact of 1915. After the refusal by President Woodrow Wilson to acknowledge the London Pact and the signing of the Treaty of Versailles in 1919, with the Treaty of Rapallo in 1920 Italian claims on Northern Dalmatia were abandoned. During World War II, the Kingdom gained additional territory in Slovenia ( province of Lubiana ) and Dalmatia ( Governatorate of Dalmatia ) from Yugoslavia after its breakup in 1941. The Kingdom established and maintained until
11760-504: The socialists were opposed not only to social policy but also to colonial expansion. Prime Minister Francesco Crispi financed the colonial policy with tax increases and austerity measures. The internal political differences culminated in the Bava Beccaris massacre in Milan. There, on 7 May 1898, there were mass demonstrations against rising bread prices. General Fiorenzo Bava-Beccaris , after
11880-458: The south continued to be a central problem for the state. Various solutions were proposed for the so-called " Southern question " by Francesco Saverio Nitti , Gaetano Salvemini and Sidney Sonnino, but the government only acted in special problem areas such as Naples . The ILVA group of Genoa , with the political and financial backing of the Italian state, built the Bagnoli steel plant as part of
12000-466: The south. This was motivated by fear of increasing social tensions and monetary instability. In 1906 the government lowered the national interest tax rate from 5% to 3.75%. This move eased the burden on the state's required finances, reduced the fears of state bondholders , and encouraged the growth of heavy industry . The subsequent budget surplus made it possible to finance major government work projects which massively reduced unemployment , such as
12120-430: The state and its creditors. It consisted of a president, three section presidents, 24 councilors of state and the service staff, and was appointed by the king on the proposal of the Council of Ministers. There was brief experimentation in 1882 with multi-member districts, and after World War I proportional representation was introduced with large, regional, multi-seat electoral constituencies. The Socialists became
12240-415: The support of 50% of votes and 25% of all enrolled voters to be elected in the first round of ballots. Seats not adjudicated on the first ballot, were filled through a runoff held shortly after the first ballots. In addition to this, there was a Council of State , which had consultative powers and decided on conflicts of jurisdiction between administrative authorities and courts, as well as on disputes between
12360-483: The territories it was promised . In 1922, Benito Mussolini became prime minister of Italy, ushering in an era of National Fascist Party government known as " Fascist Italy ". Authoritarian rule was enforced, crushing all political opposition while promoting economic modernization, traditional values, and territorial expansion . In 1929, the Italian government reconciled with the Roman Catholic Church through
12480-696: The troops with a desire to return to their homeland. The final blow to Czechoslovak morale arrived on 18 November 1918, when a coup in Omsk overthrew the All-Russian Provisional Government and installed a dictatorship under Admiral Aleksandr Kolchak in control of White Siberia. During the winter of 1918–1919, the Czechoslovak troops were redeployed from the front to guard the route of the Trans-Siberian Railway between Novonikolaevsk and Irkutsk from partisan attacks. Alongside other legions formed from Polish , Romanian and Yugoslav POWs in Siberia,
12600-633: The unification period as continuing past 1871, including activities during the late 19th century and the First World War (1915–1918), and reaching completion only with the Armistice of Villa Giusti on 4 November 1918. This more expansive view of the unification is presented at the Central Museum of the Risorgimento . A major challenge for the prime ministers of the new Kingdom of Italy was integrating
12720-628: The war, including the Zborov and Bakhmach against the Central Powers , and were heavily involved in the Russian Civil War fighting Bolsheviks , at times controlling the entire Trans-Siberian railway and several major cities in Siberia . After three years of existence as a small unit in the Imperial Russian Army , the Legion in Russia was established in 1917, with other troops fighting in France since
12840-406: Was a state that existed from 17 March 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Sardinia was proclaimed King of Italy , until 10 June 1946, when the monarchy was abolished, following civil discontent that led to an institutional referendum on 2 June 1946 . This resulted in a modern Italian Republic . The kingdom was established through the unification of several states over a decades-long process, called
12960-401: Was decided to mint coins that nominally had 900‰ fine silver, but which in fact they contained 835‰ so as to approach the real exchange rate between gold and silver which was approximately 1 to 14.38. Exactly four months after the proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy , the government introduced the new national currency, the Italian lira . The legal tender of the new currency was established by
13080-556: Was decided to opt for bimetallism , taking inspiration from the French franc model, from which the dimensions of the coins and the exchange rate of 1 to 15.50 between gold and silver were taken. The Italian monetary system, however, differed from the French one in two aspects: silver coins could be exchanged in unlimited quantities with the State, but limited quantities between private individuals and it
13200-601: Was declared on Austria . In 1855, the Kingdom of Sardinia became an ally of Britain and France in the Crimean War , giving Cavour's diplomacy legitimacy in the eyes of the great powers. The Kingdom of Sardinia again attacked the Austrian Empire in the Second Italian War of Independence of 1859, with the aid of France , resulting in liberating Lombardy . On the basis of the secret Plombières Agreement (21 July 1858),
13320-463: Was further disorganized by widespread outbreaks of uprisings and partisan activity. The homesick legionaries, who simply wanted to leave Siberia without incurring any more casualties than necessary, declared their neutrality amid the unrest and did nothing to suppress the rebellions. Meanwhile, Kolchak's trains, which included the gold bullion captured from Kazan, were stranded along the railway near Nizhneudinsk . After his bodyguard deserted him there,
13440-467: Was getting stronger by the day, retaking Kazan on 10 September, followed by Samara a month later. The legionaries, whose strength had peaked at around 61,000 earlier that year, were lacking reliable reinforcements from POW camps and were disappointed by the failure of Allied soldiers from other countries to join them on the front lines. On 28 October, Czechoslovak statehood was declared in Prague , arousing
13560-466: Was mostly due to small and medium-sized family businesses. Political unification did not automatically bring about economic integration , because of the sharp contrasts in culture, politics, and economic practices among the various regions. Italy managed to industrialize in several steps, although the country remained the most backward economy among the great powers (except for the Russian Empire ) and
13680-680: Was prevented from speaking, which led the Garibaldini to riots called the " Niçard Vespers ". Fifteen of the Nice rebels were tried and sentenced. Economic conditions in united Italy were poor. The country lacked transportation facilities (see here ) and industry, and suffered from extreme poverty (especially in the Mezzogiorno ) and high illiteracy. Only a small wealthy elite had the right to vote. The unification movement relied largely on foreign powers' support and continued to do so afterwards. Following
13800-578: Was published in magazine Zvuk during 1996-1999 and as a book in 2002 ( ISBN 80-86528-08-1 ). Gustav Becvar (August Wenzel Engelbert (Gustav) Bečvář ) published his memoir The Lost Legion in English in 1939. Two postage stamps, issued in 1919, were printed for use by Czechoslovak Legion in Siberia. The flag of the Czechoslovak Legion can be seen in the Allies in the monumental painting Pantheon de la Guerre . The Mounted Patrol (Jízdní hlídka in Czech)
13920-665: Was the Roman question resolved and positive relations restored between the Kingdom of Italy and the Vatican, after the signing of the Lateran Pacts . Some of the states that had been targeted for unification ( terre irredente ), Trentino-Alto Adige and the Julian March , did not join the Kingdom of Italy until 1918 after Italy had defeated Austria-Hungary at the end of the First World War . For this reason, historians sometimes describe
14040-501: Was the patriotic journalist Giuseppe Mazzini , member of the secret revolutionary society of Carbonari and founder of the influential political movement Young Italy in the early 1830s. Mazzini favoured a unitary republic and advocated a broad nationalist movement. His prolific output of propaganda helped to spread the unification movement. The most famous member of Young Italy was the revolutionary and general Giuseppe Garibaldi , renowned for his extremely loyal followers, who led
14160-438: Was the site of the famous meeting of 26 October 1860 between Giuseppe Garibaldi and Victor Emmanuel II , last King of Sardinia, in which Garibaldi shook Victor Emanuel's hand and hailed him as King of Italy ; thus, Garibaldi sacrificed republican hopes for the sake of Italian unity under a monarchy. Cavour agreed to include Garibaldi's Southern Italy allowing it to join the union with the Kingdom of Sardinia in 1860. This allowed
14280-791: Was to win the support of the Allied Powers for the independence of Lands of the Bohemian Crown from the Austrian Empire and of Slovak territories from the Kingdom of Hungary , which were then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire . With the help of émigré intellectuals and politicians such as the Czech Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk and the Slovak Milan Rastislav Štefánik , they grew into a force over 100,000 strong. In Russia , they took part in several victorious battles of
14400-411: Was very dependent on foreign trade , especially the international markets through which it imported coal and exported grain . After unification, Italy had a predominantly agricultural society, with 60 percent of the labor force employed in agriculture. Advances in technology increased export opportunities for Italian agricultural produce after a period of crisis in the 1880s. With industrialization,
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