This high denomination stamp is for relief of orphans of Czech veterans of World War I. At least the ones that fought on the winning side. The orphans of veterans of the losing side may be equally in need of relief, but naturally the winners have inspiration and glory on their side. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your adult beverage, and sit back in your most comfortable chair. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.
In 1919, Czechoslovakia had just been formed on territory broken off from Austria Hungary. This reflects in the style of this stamp that owes more to Poland and Ukraine than Austria or Hungary. If the new country was going to work it would have to pull together and find new ways to move forward. The baby on the stamp would grow up in a different place than it’s parents.
Todays stamp is issue SP2, a 100 Haleru semi postal stamp issued by the newly independent Czech and Slovak Republic in 1919. It was a six stamp issue in various denominations that celebrated one year of independence and supported orphans of those that served in the Czechoslovak Legion. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 25 cents. This is an awfully low value for a stamp displaying so much interesting now 100+ year old history from an area where stamp collecting is so prominent. Perhaps subconsciously, it is history that offends the many philatelists of Vienna and Budapest.
In 1914 the first world war broke out and Czarist Russia found itself fighting Germany and Austria Hungary with much of the fighting going on in modern day Ukraine. The Russian Stavka authorized the formation of a battalion of troops that would fight on their side and be recruited from Czechs And Slovaks. Recruiting both peoples turned out to be very important later though in reality the force was over 90% Czech. The bulk of Czechs and Slovaks were fighting for Austria Hungary with various degrees of enthusiasm. The Battalion gave a good accounting of itself in battle and was expanded to brigade size. Independence leaders at home who imagined and independent Czechoslovakia took notice and began promoting the force as a Legion. To continue the expansion of the force recruits were sought from Austria Hungary POWs held by Russia.
The 1917 Revolutions in Russia turned the tables somewhat. The Soviets made peace with Austria Hungary leaving the not communist legion somewhat lost in the Ukraine. Czech leadership decided to evacuate the force to France to continue to fight and get out the idea that the Czechs and Slovaks could form a new nation. The hard part was going to be to get to France. A deal was struck where the Soviets were paid to allow the Legion to board the Trans Siberian Railroad for the long journey to Vladivostok to there board ships to France. This would not be easy. there was a civil war between White and Red Russians and trains were not really running. The tracks more provided a path to march east. They often had to fight their way past Soviet forces along the tracks. There was even a strange battle with Hungarian POWs they met just east of the Ural mountains. The Hungarians were marching west back toward Hungary after the end of their war with the Czechs marching east.
The bravery of the force marching and fighting their way through Siberia was heavily promoted in the West with some justification. Keeping the force together with no home country in a strange land was quite a military feat. The West lapped it up, World War I was still going on and if the Reds fell in Russia it might rejoin the war. American, French, and mainly Japanese troops landed in Vladivostok in 1918 with the goal of saving the Czechoslovak Legion. Instead they found the Czechs already there. Luckily for the Legion, the war in France was over before they could arrive. They had fought enough. Czechoslovakia was awarded a large territory at the end of the war at the expense of Hungary and Germany and the leadership was overwhelmingly Czech as the legion had been. If the Russian high command Stavka had only recruited Czechs for the legion, would there have been a united Czechoslovakia post war?
Well my drink is empty and though my sympathies might be more toward a united Austria Hungary who can not rout for these fellows marching East to go West through Siberia. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.