The Life in Legions, Czechoslovak Volunteers in Russia 1914-1918

The aim of the thesis was to analyze the everyday life of Czechoslovak soldiers in Russia in 1914-1918. The thesis is based on a throughout studying of various sources which have not been used so far. The key sources are represented by a number of diaries, memoirs and books of so-called legionnaires´ literature. Using legionnaires´ novels, short stories, poetry and even theater plays is a complicated process. These sources should be approached in a thoughtful way, as well as diaries or memoirs; they create a specific and unique picture of the "legionnaires´ experience". From the methodological point of view, the thesis was inspired by methods used by English and American military historians, although the methods were more used as an inspiration than a blindly followed structures. The creative work with all scientific methods is the only possibility as the sources and circumstances are always different. The first chapter deals with the beginning of the Czech volunteer unit (Česká družina, the size of an infantry battalion) in Kiev in the summer of 1914. The chapter also outlines the volunteers´ everyday life and tries to analyze the first stages of creating social networks within the unit. The second chapter focuses on Czech and Slovak Prisoners of War in Russia and their attitudes toward the Czechoslovak freedom movement or even toward creating own armed forces within the frame of Russian Tsarist Army. The next chapter discusses the "war experience" from the first missions (usually reconnaissance missions) by Česká družina to the battle of Zborov in which the whole Czechoslovak Rifle Brigade participated. The last chapter examines the building of the Czechoslovak Army corps near Kiev in Ukraine. Several important factors are analyzed: everyday life (including free time activities, boarding etc.) and building the esprit de corps of the Czechoslovak army in Russia. The thesis is concluded by the Czechoslovaks´ departure from Ukraine, at the beginning of their road to the war with the Soviets