The Czechoslovak Review/Volume 3/Impressions of a Legionary

Impressions of a Legionary

Fully a half of the American soldiers are back from France, and it is announced that most, if not all, of the rest will be brought home by July. Of the Czechoslovak volunteers from America only a few invalids have returned; the great majority are still serving under the colors of the new republic, menaced as it is on nearly all sides by German and Magyar intrigues. At home the soldiers who fought on the side of the Allies in France, Italy and Russia, are known as legionaries, to distinguish them from men who had to serve in the Austrian army till the end.

Just like Americans, so do the returning Czechoslovaks bring back quite a few complaints. A sober and fair-minded description of conditions under which the Czechoslovak army was trained and fought is given in the “Americké Dělnické Listy” of Cleveland by J. Škaloud, a baker by trade and a socialist by conviction.

“Today, when it is all behind us and when we have reached our goal, we must say: we do not regret that we went to France and took a share in the fighting. It was necessary; without it our people could not have been liberated. But let me say emphatically: even this war of liberation, as we saw it from the inside, convinced most of us that it is necessary to do away with militarism altogether. With the exception of a few men who wanted to make a career of army life we were all strengthened in our antimilitaristic convictions.

“The German army could be smashed only by an army equally as good. But the principal army opposing it, namely the French army, is established on principles and traditions that remind us too much of the Austrian ways; especially in the matter of discipline. These French military styles were to be transferred bodily into our army, but the French succeeded only partially in imposing them on us. As to general living conditions in France, and especially social conditions, an overwhelming majority of the boys who marched to Bohemia in January said: We do not want our republic modeled after France. It must be very different, more democratic, socially more free.

“Our surprise perhaps would not have been so great, if we had become acquainted first with Paris, for we used to identify France with Paris. But we landed in the provinces, where the people are very backward compared with the country people of Bohemia: poor people, subject to clericalism, suffering from the ravages of alcohol and low morality, with deplorable living conditions. Of course one ought to remember that especially as far as low morality is concerned the war lasting for four years had exhausted the normal soundness of the French people. But it seemed to us that even before the war the general level was not much higher.

“Our army was composed of the most varied elements. The kernel was formed by brothers from Russia; they were joined by volunteers from prison camps in France. These were boys who surrendered to the Serbians in 1914 and retreated with them through Albania in the winter of 1915. Then came the volunteers from the United States, and a few dozen surviving Czechoslovak fighters from the French Foreign Legion. Toward the end we received two parties of our men from Italy. The different environments through which the various groups passed left their marks. You could tell an ‘American’ at the first glance; likewise the “Russian” and the “Serbian”. Those who had passed over the Albanian mountains in the dead of winter were a class by themselves; what they had suffered left indelible marks on their faces. Of course you could find among us all kinds and conditions of men, naturally even a few who joined from other than idealistic motives.

“Brothers who came to France at the end of 1917 and beginning of 1918 from Russia brought with them a beautiful, truly democratic spirit. It gave to our army the character of an ideal revolutionary army. Later on this democratic spirit lost much of its power. Our training for the front trenches took a long time. There were many difficulties connected with the enlistment of men who were doing forced work as prisoners of war; private employers would not release men who made good workmen for nominal wages. Often Czechs who volunteered for fighting had to wait long months, before permitted to join.

“That was one of the things that created discontent in the training camp. In spring we came under French instructors who did not like the democratic spirit prevailing among us and who tried to have everything in our army on the French style. So the French discipline was introduced, but the democratic spirit could not be wholly eradicated and always remained a sore point with the French officers. Even among our own officers, specially those that came last, were many ambitious men who liked just that which most of us disliked, namely the separate castes of officers and privates. For we were only soldiers from urgent necessity, revolutionaries in uniform, not mercenaries.

“A decided majority of the Czechoslovak volunteers in France consisted of socialists. They gave expression to their sentiments at various occasions. Our bands on special occasions, like the presentation of flag to the 23rd regiment, had to play the international hymn. We Americans with our greater freedom and openness agreed with them well. In fact the two regiments, 22nd and 23rd, where the American element was strongest, gained the reputation of kickers. No wonder. We had become accustomed to the American standard of living; though we knew it was higher than in Europe, we did not realize how much higher, until we came to France. Naturally we looked at everything from a different point of view than the boys who had suffered terrible ordeals in the Austrian army and as prisoners of war, and to whom the status of an Allied or rather French soldier meant a substantial improvement. But let me say, that we Americans did not kick merely because we came from America but because we had reasons for it.

“The principal cause of dissatisfaction were poor communications with home. In the early days we had to wait whole months without getting a single letter from the United States. Later ordinary first class mail functioned better. But then we had cause to complain about shipment of packages. We read continually in newspapers and letters, how you collect tobacco fund, knit sweaters and send us all kinds of comforts. And then months passed by and nothing came. The reason was to be sought partly in the awful confusion that came upon all France as a result of the successful German campaign in the spring and summer of 1918; partly the explanation lies in the clumsy French bureaucratic system and troubles with handling shipments. Our boys who used to work at the ports as prisoners of war told us, how the German workmen would purposely let a box smash so that they could steal its contents. Blame was also placed upon our own central offices in Paris. I may say that just as the boys worshipped Masaryk, so they disliked the officers of the Czechoslovak National Council in Paris.

“Song and music helped to make us known in France in the earlier days, when the Frenchmen knew very little about us. Not merely the common people, but even the educated men did not know who the Tcheques or Tchecoslovaques were. Even after events made our nation better known, we continualy met Frenchmen who did not know where to place us. We learned to appreciate the task of those who started to make our cause known to the different peoples of the world at the beginning of the great war.”

 

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