2.7. 1917 Battle of Zborov

As part of the planned offensive, the Czechoslovak brigade commanded by Russian colonel Vyacheslav Platonovich Trojanov was deployed 2. On July 2, at the village of Cecova (today Kalynivka) east of Zborov, where they successfully broke the front about five kilometres deep, captured about 20 guns and a lot of military material and captured 4,000 Austro-Hungarian soldiers. The Battle of Zborov became the first independent appearance of the Czechoslovak legions, and 2 July was celebrated as Czechoslovak Army Day in the first Czechoslovak Republic.

"It is something of a paradox of history that the Czechoslovak Rifle Brigade was opposed on the Austrian side by the 35th Infantry Regiment from Pilsen and the 75th Infantry Regiment from Jindřichův Hradec. At Zborov, the Czechs fought against the Czechs," Jan Rychlík notes in his book 1918 - The Dissolution of Austria-Hungary and the Establishment of Czechoslovakia.

The victory of the Czechoslovak brigade at Zborov was immediately nullified by Russian troops who refused to fight further and fled the front. The Tarnopol offensive collapsed. German and Austrian troops went on the counter-offensive. The Austrian troops reached the pre-war Austrian-Russian border where they halted, but the German troops went deep into pre-war Russian territory.

In the Baltic, they advanced as far as Riga. "In this situation, the deployment of the Czechoslovak Rifle Brigade would have meant its complete destruction, so it was withdrawn from the front. The success of the Czechoslovak volunteers, however, positively influenced the Russian command, which gave its approval to build another rifle brigade. The Russian army authorized mass recruitment, which was carried out in prison camps by emissaries of the CSNR branch. By the beginning of October, an independent Czechoslovak corps had already been established," Rychlík writes.

The Battle of Zborov was already celebrated by legionary units in Russia, where several memorials were built. After the war, 2 July was celebrated annually throughout the Czechoslovak Republic, and the celebrations received extraordinary publicity. The dominance of the battle was also reflected in the establishment of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, which was exhumedn from the mass grave of the fallen from the Battle of Zborov, located near the then already mentioned Polish village of Cechová 22. June 1922.

"In Prague, the remains of the Unknown Soldier were first exhibited in the pantheon of the National Museum and on the eve of the 5th anniversary they were placed in the chapel at the Old Town Hall. In 1927, during the celebration of the first round anniversary of the battle, not only was there a massive military parade in Prague, but also the so-called National Pilgrimage to Zborov, which veterans of the battle itself, representatives of the Czechoslovak government and army, and hundreds of pilgrims took part," recall the authors of Zborov 1917-2017.

Sources:
Mojžíš, Rak and Co.: Zborov 1917-2017
Jan Rychlík: 1918 - The Dissolution of Austria-Hungary and the Establishment of Czechoslovakia
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