Kalinivka, Ukraine, July 2 (CTK) – Representatives of the Czech Republic and Slovakia, descendants of the legionaries, the Czech community in Ukraine, local authorities and general public commemorated the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Zborov at the newly reconstructed Brotherhood Mound on Sunday.
The victory of Czechoslovak legionaries helped establish independent Czechoslovakia in 1918.
The Battle of Zborov took place on July 1-2, 1917. The Czechoslovak soldiers managed to break through the defences of a stronger enemy, the Austro-Hungarian army. Nearly 200 of them were killed and 700 injured in the battle. However, they arrested 4,200 troops, seized 20 cannons and many machine guns.
The Czechoslovak legions, in which Czech and Slovak volunteers served, supported the Allies and their effort strongly contributed to the recognition of the legitimacy of the Czechoslovak resistance movement and the right to self-determination, which culminated in the establishing of the independent Czechoslovakia in October 1918.
“Each nation needs its heroes. The heroes from Zborov will never be forgotten,” chairman of the Chamber of Deputies, Jan Hamacek, said.
Hamacek said among 3,500 legionaries, later generals Jan Syrovy, Ludvik Svoboda and Rudolf Medek fought for an independent and free state of Czechs and Slovaks.
“Thousands and thousands of fighters arose from the bloody seed near Zborov,” Senate deputy chairman Miluse Horska quoted the first Czechoslovak President Tomas Masaryk as saying.
After Zborov, the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Germany had to admit the existence of a movement of Czechs and Slovaks, she added.
Deputy Defence Minister Alena Netolicka highlighted Zborov as a “symbol of bravery and determination.”
“The history of the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Ukraine, too, is a history of the fight for freedom and independence,” Tarnobil Governor Stepan Barna said.
He spoke about the current fight “for the preservation of territorial integrity and for European values” in eastern Ukraine.
Barna thanked for the Czech and Slovak support for Ukraine as well as the lifting of visas for Ukrainians travelling to the EU.
“Zborov has a tremendous importance for the Czech military,” Czech Chief of Staff Josef Becvar told CTK.
“This is the place where Czechoslovakia was born. This is a place to which we also return at present,” he added.
“These places are of a tremendous importance for members of the Czech military. We are trying to make our soldiers follow up the traditions from Zborov,” Becvar said.
The celebrations of the Battle of Zborov started in interwar Czechoslovakia. However, Zborov was located in Poland at that time.
