The Legion Bridge (Most Legii) is a beatifull bridge in the center of Prague. It has an illustrious history, strongly tied up with the history of the country, and you can read a short description here.
The Marksmen Island is situated in the Vltava, just south of Charles Bridge. It’s named after the noblemen who practised their shooting skills on the island. In 1841 a chain bridge was built between the old town and Ujezd to relieve Charles Bridge, the only bridge in Prague until then, from the increasing traffic. For the price of one penny people could cross the “Emperor Francis I Bridge”; not just to reach the opposite side of the river but also to have a walk on the island.
Every building and structure eventually makes way for a more contemporary successor, but for the cable bridge the end came much sooner. The wooden surface of the bridge deck could not cope with heavy transports and horse-cars, it was merely suitable for pedestrians. In 1898 it was torn down to make place for a stone bridge. The new bridge, made with granite, also featured tram tracks. It was adorned with stylish lantern posts and two booths at each end, capped by a copper roof and manned by a toll collector. In 1901 the stone bridge was inaugurated by the Hapsburg emperor of Austria-Hungary: Franz Joseph I. Although the bridge was new the name stayed, in memory of the old emperor.
At that time the lands of Bohemia and Moravia, which today form the Czech Republic, were part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Anti-Hapsburg sentiments were very common among Czechs, and many preferred to live in the Russian empire. When the war broke out in 1914 these emigrants didn’t want to be part of the Hapsburg army. Instead they formed a separate battalion within the Russian forces, joined by Czech prisoners-of-war who fled the Hapsburg army. Together they fought in the Brusilov offensive, one of the deadliest battles in history. In spring 1917 the Tsar was abducted and a provisional government installed. Tomas Masaryk, philosopher, patriot and founding father of the first Czechoslovak Republic, travelled to Russia with very firm and ambitious goals: expand the Czech units and make them a separate army, not under Russian but Czech command. He succeeded and the Czech Legion grew quickly; before autumn there were 38.000 Legionnaires. One of them was Jaroslav Hašek, who later wrote The good soldier Svejk.
After the revolution of October 1917, in which the provisional government was overthrown by Lenin and the Bolsheviks, the Czech Legion was needed in France to fight the Germans. Because the Germans were moving in and the Russian ports were not considered safe enough it was decided to evacuate the Legion by the trans-Siberian railway. From Vladivostok they would take a ship to the US and from there to Europe. Even by today’s standards that’s quite a journey!
The Legion tried to stay away from the Russian civil war but the civil war didn’t stay away from them. On their way home the Czech Legion met with a lot of resistance. They were confronted with Hapsburg POW’s on their journey to the West over the same railway. To further complicate the matter, the Germans put pressure on Trotsky to capture the Legion.
The Legion fought back and took control of large sections of the trans-Siberian railway, captured military equipment, set up communication networks and formed a small navy around the Baikal Lake. One unit managed to capture eight train wagons full of gold bars.
The Czech presence inspired many Russians to start anti-Bolshevik action-groups, and for a little while Siberia became an independent state thanks to the Legion. Thomas Masaryk used the situation to negotiate independence for the Czech nation after the war. That is to say; without the Legion holding the Trans-Siberian railway the negotiations for an independent Czech nation could have turned out very differently.
When the allies arrived in Vladivostok to repatriate the Legion they found an unexpected scene: Czechs, Bolsheviks, Japanese and white Russians were up to their necks in warfare. Because the war was almost over there was no need for the Czech Legion in France. The Legionnaires made their way to a country that didn’t even exist when the Legion was formed. From Vladivostok they travelled to America, crossed it by train, and then continued by ship to Europe. Some of them travelled south, via the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. Tomas Masaryk became president of the new Czechoslovak Republic and the bridge was named after the heroes who formed an army without a country: Most Legii.
The bridge was renamed to Smetana Bridge during the German occupation, after which the communists called it “Bridge of the 1st of May”. In 1990 the bridge was once again named in honour of the Czech Legion, a name that has stayed until this day.