- One or more subjects within this article are under rework, and may no longer be accurate.
Radola Gajda, born Rudolf Geidl, is a Czech nationalist ex-military commander who rose to prominence in the later stages of the Weltkrieg and during the Russian Civil War as one of the most prominent commanders of the Czechoslovak Legion, a volunteer anti-Habsburg military formation composed predominantly of Czech and Slovak prisoners of war. After the collapse of the Russian war efforts in 1917 and the subsequent German-Bolshevik peace agreement at Brest-Litovsk in early 1918, the Czechoslovaks found themselves trapped in officially neutral territory, and had no way to return to the Western Front to continue their struggle.
In the following two years, Gajda and the Legion played an important role in the anti-Bolshevik struggle of Admiral Alexander Kolchak's white forces in Siberia, with their most important achievement being the capture of most of the Trans-Siberian Railway. After the end of the civil war, Rajda and many other high-ranking legionaries were not allowed to return to Austria-Hungary due to their status as high traitors and defectors; since then, Gajda has remained in his Russian exile, commiting himself to the Czechoslovak cause abroad.
History[]
Early Life[]
Gajda was born in Kotor, Kingdom of Dalmatia, and was the son of the Czech officer of the Austro-Hungarian army. Later, the family moved to Kyjov, Moravia, where Gajda studied at a secondary grammar school. In 1910 he went through one year of compulsory military service in Mostar. Afterwards Geidl left for the Balkans and took part in the Balkan Wars. At the start of Weltkrieg he got conscripted into the Austro-Hungarian Army and served in Dalmatia and Sarajevo. In September 1915 in Višegrad, Bosnia he defected to the Montenegrin Army.
Weltkrieg[]
In Montenegro, Geidl changed his name to Radola Gajda and worked as a doctor in the Montenegrian army. He managed to flee to Russia as a part of Russian medical missions, when he arrived, he served as a doctor in the 3rd Serbian regiment, when his unit got destroyed in the battle with Austrians, Gajda volunteered into the Czechoslovak Legion where he got assigned to the 2nd rifle regiment as a staff captain. He gained his first practical experience with command on battlefield during the Battle of Zborov where he took controll over the 2nd rifle regiment because Russian commander got drunk. Battle ended in decisive Czechoslovak victory over the Austrians and was beggining of Gajda's admirable military career.
Russian Civil War[]
WIP
Later Life[]
WIP