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Event · First World War · Shared · R0116

Battle of Zborov (1917)

Битва під Зборовом 1917 року (Зборівська битва) · Bitva u Zborova (1917) · 1917–1917

Essence

The Battle of Zborov took place on 1–2 July 1917 (the main fighting was on 2 July) near the town of Zboriv in Galicia, now in Ternopil Oblast, Ukraine. The Czechoslovak Riflemen Brigade, serving in the Russian army during the Kerensky Offensive, fought there for the first time as a single formation. It broke through the Austro-Hungarian defences and took several thousand prisoners. The battle mattered more to the Czechoslovak resistance than to the course of the offensive. Sources disagree on the number of prisoners and wounded.

Timeline

  1. 19.5.1917The Czechoslovak Riflemen Brigade is formed at Ivani from three regiments; it assembles as a whole for the first time. [ZBR01]
  2. night of 21–22 June 1917On the night of 21–22 June the brigade takes over a 6.5 km sector south-west of Zborov. The Ukrainian portal gives the Old Style date of the battle as 17–18 June. [ZBR01; ZBR04]
  3. 2.7.1917After artillery preparation (from 5:15) the brigade breaks the Austro-Hungarian defences at Zborov; prisoners number 3,300 or 4,000 depending on the source; 167 killed. [ZBR01; ZBR02; ZBR03]
  4. 3.–6.7.1917The offensive as a whole collapses by 3 July; on 6 July the Austro-German counter-offensive begins (Tarnopol retreat). [ZBR01; ZBR03]
  5. 19.9.1917The brigade is enlarged into the 1st Czechoslovak Rifle Division; the Czechoslovak Corps is formed on 9 October 1917. [ZBR01]
  6. 22.6.–1.7.1922Exhumation of a volunteer's remains for the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier (22 June); on 1 July 1922 they are placed in the Old Town Hall in Prague. [ZBR01]
  7. 1926–1927A brotherly mound monument is built near Zborov (design by J. Rössler); National Pilgrimage on 1–4 July 1927 (1,500 participants). The Ukrainian portal links the monument with Kalynivka, VHÚ with the village of Cecová. [ZBR01; ZBR05]
  8. 30.6.1928The anniversary of the battle becomes Czechoslovakia's most important army holiday. [ZBR01]
  9. 1939–1950Accounts differ: VHÚ says Zborov was officially commemorated until 1950, when communist ideologues removed it; English Wikipedia says the subject was suppressed under occupation and after 1948. [ZBR01; ZBR02]
  10. 1997–2017According to the Ukrainian portal: President Havel's visit to Kalynivka (1997), a Czech delegation's visit (2004), reconstruction of the monument at Czech expense for the centenary of the battle (238 names on the plates). [ZBR05]

Full research text

Significance

Zborov was the first significant action of the Czechoslovak Legions on the Eastern Front. It formed part of the June (Kerensky) Offensive, the last Russian offensive of the First World War [ZBR02; ZBR03]. For the Czechoslovak resistance it was political capital: its representatives used it in talks with the Entente powers as proof of Czech and Slovak war activity, and Masaryk's phrase about a nation that fights is tied to Zborov [ZBR01]. After the battle the Russian Provisional Government lifted the restrictions on forming Czechoslovak units [ZBR01; ZBR02]. It had little effect on the course of the offensive as a whole [ZBR02]. The offensive failed: it had collapsed by 3 July, and on 6 July the Austrians and Germans launched a successful counter-offensive [ZBR03].

History

Before the battle. The Czechoslovak Riflemen Brigade was formed on 19 May 1917 at Ivani and consisted of three regiments: the 1st (Master Jan Hus), the 2nd (Jiří of Poděbrady) and the 3rd (Jan Žižka of Trocnov). For the first time it assembled as a whole. According to the Military History Institute in Prague (VHÚ) it numbered about 3,500 men in seven under-strength battalions and lacked heavy machine guns, mortars and its own artillery [ZBR01]. English Wikipedia and Radio Prague give 3,530 men [ZBR02; ZBR03]. The brigade was commanded by a Russian colonel, V. P. Troyanov, but Czechoslovak officers drew up the attack plan [ZBR01; ZBR02]. On the night of 21–22 June it took over a 6.5 km sector south-west of Zborov, between the hamlets of Pohrebce and Jozefówka [ZBR01]. According to VHÚ it faced the 35th (Plzeň) and 75th (Jindřichův Hradec) infantry regiments and part of the 86th, about 5,500 men with reinforcements [ZBR01]. According to Radio Prague, Czechs made up more than half of the soldiers of the 19th Division, who served in the Austro-Hungarian army unwillingly [ZBR03].

The fighting on 2 July. The artillery preparation began at 5:15 [ZBR01; ZBR02]. VHÚ says the infantry went in a few minutes after nine o'clock, led by the shock group of the 1st Battalion of the 1st Regiment. Around 10:00 the first defensive position fell, then the second. By about 15:00 the attackers had consolidated [ZBR01]. Radio Prague stresses that the brigade was supposed only to cover two Russian formations, but they did not break through, so the legionaries went ahead. They advanced in small groups, which surprised the Austro-Hungarian command [ZBR03]. According to VHÚ the brigade advanced more than 4 km, took 4,000 prisoners and captured 20 guns [ZBR01].

Losses. VHÚ: 167 killed, a further 17 died of wounds, 11 missing; the wounded numbered from just under 900 to over 1,000. Another 320 men fell repelling counter-attacks during the Tarnopol retreat [ZBR01]. For the differing figures see below.

Aftermath. The brigade was enlarged into the 1st Rifle Division by 19 September 1917, and the Czechoslovak Corps was formed on 9 October 1917 [ZBR01]. At the end of 1917 the Corps numbered 38,500 volunteers [ZBR01].

Ukrainian/Czech link

The battle took place in Galicia, on Ukrainian land. At the time it was Austro-Hungarian territory, today it lies in Ternopil Oblast [ZBR02]. In 1922, according to VHÚ, Zborov was in Poland [ZBR01]. The Czechoslovak side turned Zborov into a state tradition. In June 1922 the remains of one volunteer were exhumed for the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, and on 1 July 1922 they were placed in a chapel in the Old Town Hall in Prague. From 1 to 4 July 1927 a National Pilgrimage to Zborov took place with 1,500 citizens of Czechoslovakia. In 1926–1927 a monument, the brotherly mound, was built to a design by the architect Jaroslav Rössler [ZBR01]. From 30 June 1928 the anniversary was the most important army holiday. In 1937 a large ceremony was held at Strahov stadium. Zborov was officially commemorated until 1950, when communist ideology removed it [ZBR01]. English Wikipedia says the subject was suppressed under Nazi occupation and after 1948 [ZBR02]. The sources differ in detail here: VHÚ speaks of open commemoration during the Second World War, Wikipedia of suppression in the same period [ZBR01; ZBR02].

The Ukrainian regional portal "Ternopilshchyna" links the memorial to the Czech soldiers with the village of Kalynivka near Zboriv. According to it, a mound and a stone monument were built there in 1927. In 1997 President V. Havel visited the site, and for the centenary of the battle the monument was reconstructed at the Czech Republic's expense; 17 stone plates carry the names of 238 fallen [ZBR05]. The participation of Ukrainian units in this battle is not confirmed by the pages read.

Discrepancies in the sources

  • Prisoners: VHÚ, Radio Prague and the "Ternopilshchyna" portal (article on Kalynivka) give about 4,000 [ZBR01; ZBR03; ZBR05]. English Wikipedia and another article on the same portal give 3,300 including 62 officers [ZBR02; ZBR04]. The latter appears to derive from Wikipedia, so it is not independent confirmation.
  • Wounded: about 700 (Wikipedia) [ZBR02]; from just under 900 to over 1,000 (VHÚ) [ZBR01]; over 1,000 (Radio Prague) [ZBR03].
  • Depth of the breakthrough: over 4 km (VHÚ) [ZBR01]; up to 5 km ("Ternopilshchyna") [ZBR04]; 6.5 km (the Kalynivka article, which may have confused it with the sector width given by VHÚ) [ZBR05].
  • Dead: 167 (+17 died of wounds) according to VHÚ [ZBR01]; 184 according to "Ternopilshchyna", which attributes these losses to the "Russian side" [ZBR04]; 190 dead near Kalynivka and 238 names on the memorial plates [ZBR05]. The figures cover different periods and areas, so they do not necessarily contradict each other.
  • Name of the burial place: VHÚ gives the village of Cecová [ZBR01], the Ukrainian portal Kalynivka [ZBR05]. The pages read do not state directly whether this is the same place.
  • Interpretation of the result: "Ternopilshchyna" describes a victory of Russian troops [ZBR04], while Wikipedia and Radio Prague describe a victory of Czechoslovak and Russian forces, or of the Czechoslovak legionaries, with the offensive as a whole failing [ZBR02; ZBR03].
  • "Ternopilshchyna" states that Klement Gottwald (in the Austro-Hungarian army) and Ludvík Svoboda took part [ZBR04; ZBR05]. The Wikipedia, VHÚ and Radio Prague texts read do not mention Gottwald, so this is unconfirmed. Radio Prague mentions Svoboda among the Czechoslovak commanders [ZBR03].

Sources

  1. ZBR01 Article by Karel Straka (Military History Institute Prague, 1 July 2022). Confirms the brigade's composition and strength, the sector, the enemy, the course of 2 July, losses, consequences and commemoration 1922–1950. Gives no references and does not address the Ukrainian side. vhu.cz
  2. ZBR02 English Wikipedia. Confirms date, place, forces, casualty figures (3,300 prisoners, ~700 wounded), political consequences and suppression of the tradition after 1939 and 1948. A secondary source; it relies partly on bellum.cz. en.wikipedia.org
  3. ZBR03 Radio Prague, centenary article with comments by historian Tomáš Jakl. Confirms strength (3,530), the role of small groups, 4,000 prisoners, over 1,000 wounded, the collapse of the offensive on 3 July and the counter-offensive on 6 July. Journalistic text without archival references. english.radio.cz
  4. ZBR04 Ternopil local-history portal "Ternopilshchyna"; the text largely repeats Wikipedia. Gives the Old Style date (17–18 June), the opposing units and a Ukrainian viewpoint; it is not independent confirmation of the figures. Its claims about Gottwald and a "Russian victory" are not confirmed by the other sources read. irp.te.ua
  5. ZBR05 The same portal, article on the military memorial to Czech soldiers in the village of Kalynivka. Confirms the 1927 monument, the visits in 1997 and 2004, the reconstruction for the centenary and 238 names on the plates; gives its own figures (190 dead, 4,000 prisoners). No author is named and there are no references. irp.te.ua

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