Milovice, Central Bohemia, July 8 (CTK) – More than 200 soldiers from the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Ukraine and Russia in period uniforms took part in the re-enactment of the Battle of Zborov on Saturday, Milos Borovicka, spokesman for the Czechoslovak legionaries’ association, said.
The battle was re-enacted on the occasion of the celebration of its centenary in front of several hundreds of viewers.
The Battle of Zborov took place on July 1-2, 1917 in current Ukraine and it was the first major combat action in which the Czechoslovak legions took part during World War One. Though a small episode in the fighting on the Eastern Front, it played an important role in the developments resulting in the foundation of independent Czechoslovakia in 1918.
Last weekend, Czech and Slovak representatives held a big commemorative event in Kalinivka in western Ukraine to remember the battle.
In Milovice on Saturday, military tents with equipment and gear were put up for visitors to the event to see in a nearly field. A replica of the train in which the Czechoslovak Legion travelled across Russia in 1918-20 arrived at the local train station. An exhibition on the operation of the legionaries in Russia was available at the Milovice town hall.
The Czechoslovak soldiers managed to break through the defences of a stronger enemy, the Austro-Hungarian army, at Zborov. 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.
By the end of 1918, more than 60,000 men joined the Czechoslovak Legion in Russia.
