Suite of Four Czech Legion Propaganda Postcards

Edité par Tiskem Vojenske Litografie, Ekaterinburg, 1919

A propos de cet article

The four postcards were clearly part of a series, with their similar heroic graphics. The Czech Legion was formed during the First World War by Czechoslavakian patriots hoping to gain independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire by fighting along with the Entente allies, including significantly, Russia. The Tsarist government was initially lukewarm in its handling of Czech warriors but after the Czech nationals proved themselves an effective fighting unit, Russia allowed for the formation of the Legion and permitted the Legion to recruit Czech and Slovak prisoners-of-war. (Remember that as part of the Austrian territory, Czech conscripts would have been part of the Austrian army which was fighting Russia.) Not long after, however, came the Bolshevik Revolution, and things became dicey for the Legion. The Bolsheviks first priority was suing for peace with Germany, which had in fact done what it could to stir up the Revolution, and the Central Powers, led by Germany, had a strong interest in shutting down the Czech Legion. The Czechs managed to defeat the German army though and negotiated passage through Siberia. This did not occur as planned, though, as mutual suspicions between the Czechs and the Bolsheviks grew. The upshot was that the Czech Legion not only remained intact, but it also made common cause with the White Russians fighting the Bolsheviks. With a force approximately 60,000 men strong, the Legion proved again a very potent fighting machine, winning many battles against the struggling Soviet forces, and by mid-1919 it actually controlled the entire Trans-Siberian Railroad line. But their fortunes turned during the Summer, as the Soviet troops gathered strength, both in numbers and fighting ability, and started to eat away at the territory a short time earlier controlled by the Whites. As the Legion had to give up one piece of the railroad line after another, its final efforts were dedicated to a complete evacuation in Vladivostok, which it achieved with many a cliffhanger. The returning Legionnaires would come to form the nucleus of the Czechoslavak army. In any case, these cartoons appeared at a time that the Legion was flush with success, and Ekaterinburg, the city where the tsar's family were murdered, was a stronghold of the Czech Legion for a time and a center for their printing enterprise(s). The virulent anti-Sovietism may have been an outgrowth of its war against the Bolsheviks, but one can see that in many ways these cartoons anticipated much later ridicule and some of the fears expressed about the Soviets were indeed prophetic.

N° de réf. du vendeur 005675

Détails bibliographiques

• Titre: Suite of Four Czech Legion Propaganda Postcards
• Éditeur: Tiskem Vojenske Litografie, Ekaterinburg
• Date de parution: 1919
• Reliure: NA
• Édition: First edition.
• État de l'article: Fine
• Catalogues du vendeur:
  • World War One