Radola Gajda
Encyclopedia
Radola Gajda, born as Rudolf Geidl, (February 14, 1892 Kotor
, Austria-Hungary
– April 15, 1948 Prague
, Czechoslovakia
) was a Czech
/Montenegrin military commander and politician
.
based in Kotor. His mother was a poor Montenegrin
noblewoman. Later, the family moved to Kyjov
, Moravia
, where Geidl 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 likely took part in the Balkan Wars
(1912–3). At the start of World War I
he rejoined the Austro-Hungarian Army and served in Dalmatia
and Sarajevo
. In September 1915 he was taken prisoner in Višegrad
, Bosnia
.
. Having some experience as an apothecary, he pretended to be a physician
. Following the collapse of the Montenegrin Army in 1916, Gajda escaped into Russia
where he joined a Serbian battalion as a physician.
At the end of 1916 the battalion was destroyed and Gajda joined the Czechoslovak Legions
(January 30, 1917) as a staff captain. Gajda proved himself as an able commander in the Battle of Zborov
and quickly rose through the military hierarchy.
During the evacuation of the Legion in 1918 via the Trans-Siberian railway
violence erupted between the Legion and the Bolsheviks. Czechoslovak soldiers quickly occupied large tracts of the railway east of the Volga. Gajda commanded the area from Novonikolayevsk (Novosibirsk) north to Irkutsk
. Aggressive tactics, sometimes against the orders of his superiors, helped to defeat the Bolshevik forces and connect all units of the Legion. This contributed to his conflict with Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk, who wanted the Legions to stay neutral
in the Russian civil war
.
The most successful operation was the capture of Perm
(December 24, 1918) where the Legion took 20,000 prisoners and seized 5,000 railway cars, 60 cannon, 1,000 machine guns and the fleet frozen in the Kama River
. Gajda's enjoyed widespread popularity amongst his troops and throughout the White movement
. He was promoted to Major-General and nicknamed "the Siberian Ataman" and "the Siberian Tiger." He later accepted an invitation from Aleksandr Kolchak
to become a commander in his army.
His career with Kolchak was less successful—the Red Army
had begun to take the initiative while Kolchak's forces dwindled away. Gajda, out of Kolchak's favor, was dismissed on July 5, 1919. After involving himself in the unsuccessful mutiny of Esers
against Kolchak (17 November 1919) he escaped from Siberia
and took ship to Europe.
in early 1920, Gajda was given a pension and the rank of General, but was not assigned a command. In November 1920 he was sent to study military theory at the École supérieure de guerre in France
. He also studied agriculture at the Institute technique de practique agricole.
Gajda returned two years later and on October 9, 1922 was given command of the 11th Division in Košice
, Slovakia
. His involvement in the cultural life of the region soon endeared him to the locals. On December 1, 1924 he was named Deputy Chief of the General Staff in Prague under General Eugéne Mittelhauser, head of French military mission in Czechoslovakia.http://www.army.cz/scripts/detail.php?id=3849 Gajda became a rival of Mittelhauser and Mittelhauser's predecessor Maurice Pellé. In this capacity, Gajda worked successfully to limit the influence of the mission, which was brought to an end in 1926. On March 20, 1926 he became Acting Chief of the General Staff. In his position he backed up former legionars against former loyalist Austrian officers.
Under pressure from president Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk Gajda was forced to retire, because he had publicly shown himself sympathetic to Italian fascism
. Combined with envy, political intrigue and fear of a military coup (similar to the contemporary May Coup in Poland
) this led to the dismissal of the ambitious general.
, modeled on Benito Mussolini
's National Fascist Party
and became its leader on January 2, 1927. In 1929 the party took several seats in parliament. In 1931 Gajda was briefly imprisoned and stripped of military rank due to a prior scandal.
During the night of 21/22 1933, the Židenice Mutiny broke out in Brno
. This was an attempt on the part of 70 to 80 local fascists to overthrow the government by means of a military coup. The mutiny was immediately suppressed. Gajda was arrested the next day and charged with inciting the coup. Initially he was absolved of wrongdoing but after political pressure the verdict was revised. Gajda was sentenced to six months in prison and the forfeiture of his military pension.
The NOF was somewhat successful in the 1935 elections and Gajda obtained a seat in parliament, which he was to hold until 1939. At this time, the NOF had a strong anti-German
orientation, supported a military buildup and favored war with Nazi Germany
over the Sudetenland
. (After the Munich Agreement
Gajda, as a gesture of defiance, returned all French and British honors and medals.) In 1939 he was rehabilitated and restored to the rank of General. He also became active in the newly established Party of National Unity
.
During March 1939, the Czechoslovakian political scene was in state of turmoil. Several coups were attempted, one in anticipation of making Gajda the new head of state. These amateurish coups ended in fiasco and several days later the remaining Czech lands were occupied by Nazi Germany.
Gajda was marginalized during the occupation and abandoned politics. He occasionally assisted the Czech resistance
by helping army officers to flee into Poland and by hiding the resistance activities of his son. He was investigated by the Gestapo
but avoided imprisonment.
When World War II
ended Gajda was imprisoned by the NKVD
(May 12, 1945) and interrogated under harsh conditions (he lost his eyesight while jailed). In April 1947 he was brought to trial for "propagation of Fascism and Nazism," for which the prosecutor requested a life sentence. Gajda's guilt was far from clear and the resulting sentence of two years allowed him to leave prison shortly thereafter. Penniless and forgotten, he died several months later.
Kotor
Kotor is a coastal city in Montenegro. It is located in a secluded part of the Gulf of Kotor. The city has a population of 13,510 and is the administrative center of the municipality....
, Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary , more formally known as the Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen, was a constitutional monarchic union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary in...
– April 15, 1948 Prague
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
, Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
) was a Czech
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
/Montenegrin military commander and politician
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
.
Early years
Geidl's father was an officer in the Austro-Hungarian ArmyAustro-Hungarian Army
The Austro-Hungarian Army was the ground force of the Austro-Hungarian Dual Monarchy from 1867 to 1918. It was composed of three parts: the joint army , the Austrian Landwehr , and the Hungarian Honvédség .In the wake of fighting between the...
based in Kotor. His mother was a poor Montenegrin
Montenegro
Montenegro Montenegrin: Crna Gora Црна Гора , meaning "Black Mountain") is a country located in Southeastern Europe. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea to the south-west and is bordered by Croatia to the west, Bosnia and Herzegovina to the northwest, Serbia to the northeast and Albania to the...
noblewoman. Later, the family moved to Kyjov
Kyjov
Kyjov is name of several locations:Czech Republic* Kyjov, a town in South Moravian Region ** Kyjov Hills, part of Carpathians** Kyjov Airport* Kyjov, a village in Vysočina Region...
, Moravia
Moravia
Moravia is a historical region in Central Europe in the east of the Czech Republic, and one of the former Czech lands, together with Bohemia and Silesia. It takes its name from the Morava River which rises in the northwest of the region...
, where Geidl studied at a secondary grammar school. In 1910 he went through one year of compulsory military service in Mostar
Mostar
Mostar is a city and municipality in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the largest and one of the most important cities in the Herzegovina region and the center of the Herzegovina-Neretva Canton of the Federation. Mostar is situated on the Neretva river and is the fifth-largest city in the country...
. Afterwards Geidl left for the Balkans and likely took part in the Balkan Wars
Balkan Wars
The Balkan Wars were two conflicts that took place in the Balkans in south-eastern Europe in 1912 and 1913.By the early 20th century, Montenegro, Bulgaria, Greece and Serbia, the countries of the Balkan League, had achieved their independence from the Ottoman Empire, but large parts of their ethnic...
(1912–3). At the start of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
he rejoined the Austro-Hungarian Army and served in Dalmatia
Dalmatia
Dalmatia is a historical region on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea. It stretches from the island of Rab in the northwest to the Bay of Kotor in the southeast. The hinterland, the Dalmatian Zagora, ranges from fifty kilometers in width in the north to just a few kilometers in the south....
and Sarajevo
Sarajevo
Sarajevo |Bosnia]], surrounded by the Dinaric Alps and situated along the Miljacka River in the heart of Southeastern Europe and the Balkans....
. In September 1915 he was taken prisoner in Višegrad
Višegrad
Višegrad is a town and municipality in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is part of the Republika Srpska entity. It is on the river Drina, located on the road from Goražde and Ustiprača towards Užice, Serbia.-History:...
, Bosnia
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina , sometimes called Bosnia-Herzegovina or simply Bosnia, is a country in Southern Europe, on the Balkan Peninsula. Bordered by Croatia to the north, west and south, Serbia to the east, and Montenegro to the southeast, Bosnia and Herzegovina is almost landlocked, except for the...
.
Legions
Immediately after his capture, Geidl switched sides and was commissioned as a captain in the Montenegrin ArmyMontenegro
Montenegro Montenegrin: Crna Gora Црна Гора , meaning "Black Mountain") is a country located in Southeastern Europe. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea to the south-west and is bordered by Croatia to the west, Bosnia and Herzegovina to the northwest, Serbia to the northeast and Albania to the...
. Having some experience as an apothecary, he pretended to be a physician
Physician
A physician is a health care provider who practices the profession of medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments...
. Following the collapse of the Montenegrin Army in 1916, Gajda escaped into Russia
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
where he joined a Serbian battalion as a physician.
At the end of 1916 the battalion was destroyed and Gajda joined the Czechoslovak Legions
Czechoslovak Legions
The Czechoslovak Legions were volunteer armed forces composed predominantly of Czechs and Slovaks fighting together with the Entente powers during World War I...
(January 30, 1917) as a staff captain. Gajda proved himself as an able commander in the Battle of Zborov
Battle of Zborov (1917)
Battle of Zborov was a small part of the Kerensky Offensive...
and quickly rose through the military hierarchy.
During the evacuation of the Legion in 1918 via the Trans-Siberian railway
Trans-Siberian Railway
The Trans-Siberian Railway is a network of railways connecting Moscow with the Russian Far East and the Sea of Japan. It is the longest railway in the world...
violence erupted between the Legion and the Bolsheviks. Czechoslovak soldiers quickly occupied large tracts of the railway east of the Volga. Gajda commanded the area from Novonikolayevsk (Novosibirsk) north to Irkutsk
Irkutsk
Irkutsk is a city and the administrative center of Irkutsk Oblast, Russia, one of the largest cities in Siberia. Population: .-History:In 1652, Ivan Pokhabov built a zimovye near the site of Irkutsk for gold trading and for the collection of fur taxes from the Buryats. In 1661, Yakov Pokhabov...
. Aggressive tactics, sometimes against the orders of his superiors, helped to defeat the Bolshevik forces and connect all units of the Legion. This contributed to his conflict with Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk, who wanted the Legions to stay neutral
Neutrality (international relations)
A neutral power in a particular war is a sovereign state which declares itself to be neutral towards the belligerents. A non-belligerent state does not need to be neutral. The rights and duties of a neutral power are defined in Sections 5 and 13 of the Hague Convention of 1907...
in the Russian civil war
Russian Civil War
The Russian Civil War was a multi-party war that occurred within the former Russian Empire after the Russian provisional government collapsed to the Soviets, under the domination of the Bolshevik party. Soviet forces first assumed power in Petrograd The Russian Civil War (1917–1923) was a...
.
The most successful operation was the capture of Perm
Perm
Perm is a city and the administrative center of Perm Krai, Russia, located on the banks of the Kama River, in the European part of Russia near the Ural Mountains. From 1940 to 1957 it was named Molotov ....
(December 24, 1918) where the Legion took 20,000 prisoners and seized 5,000 railway cars, 60 cannon, 1,000 machine guns and the fleet frozen in the Kama River
Kama River
Kama is a major river in Russia, the longest left tributary of the Volga and the largest one in discharge; in fact, it is larger than the Volga before junction....
. Gajda's enjoyed widespread popularity amongst his troops and throughout the White movement
White movement
The White movement and its military arm the White Army - known as the White Guard or the Whites - was a loose confederation of Anti-Communist forces.The movement comprised one of the politico-military Russian forces who fought...
. He was promoted to Major-General and nicknamed "the Siberian Ataman" and "the Siberian Tiger." He later accepted an invitation from Aleksandr Kolchak
Aleksandr Kolchak
Aleksandr Vasiliyevich Kolchak was a Russian naval commander, polar explorer and later - Supreme ruler . Supreme ruler of Russia , was recognized in this position by all the heads of the White movement, "De jure" - Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, "De facto" - Entente States...
to become a commander in his army.
His career with Kolchak was less successful—the Red Army
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...
had begun to take the initiative while Kolchak's forces dwindled away. Gajda, out of Kolchak's favor, was dismissed on July 5, 1919. After involving himself in the unsuccessful mutiny of Esers
Socialist-Revolutionary Party
thumb|right|200px|Socialist-Revolutionary election poster, 1917. The caption in red reads "партия соц-рев" , short for Party of the Socialist Revolutionaries...
against Kolchak (17 November 1919) he escaped from Siberia
Siberia
Siberia is an extensive region constituting almost all of Northern Asia. Comprising the central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, it was part of the Soviet Union from its beginning, as its predecessor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, conquered it during the 16th...
and took ship to Europe.
Military career in Czechoslovakia
After arriving in CzechoslovakiaCzechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
in early 1920, Gajda was given a pension and the rank of General, but was not assigned a command. In November 1920 he was sent to study military theory at the École supérieure de guerre in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. He also studied agriculture at the Institute technique de practique agricole.
Gajda returned two years later and on October 9, 1922 was given command of the 11th Division in Košice
Košice
Košice is a city in eastern Slovakia. It is situated on the river Hornád at the eastern reaches of the Slovak Ore Mountains, near the border with Hungary...
, Slovakia
Slovakia
The Slovak Republic is a landlocked state in Central Europe. It has a population of over five million and an area of about . Slovakia is bordered by the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east and Hungary to the south...
. His involvement in the cultural life of the region soon endeared him to the locals. On December 1, 1924 he was named Deputy Chief of the General Staff in Prague under General Eugéne Mittelhauser, head of French military mission in Czechoslovakia.http://www.army.cz/scripts/detail.php?id=3849 Gajda became a rival of Mittelhauser and Mittelhauser's predecessor Maurice Pellé. In this capacity, Gajda worked successfully to limit the influence of the mission, which was brought to an end in 1926. On March 20, 1926 he became Acting Chief of the General Staff. In his position he backed up former legionars against former loyalist Austrian officers.
Under pressure from president Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk Gajda was forced to retire, because he had publicly shown himself sympathetic to Italian fascism
Fascism
Fascism is a radical authoritarian nationalist political ideology. Fascists seek to rejuvenate their nation based on commitment to the national community as an organic entity, in which individuals are bound together in national identity by suprapersonal connections of ancestry, culture, and blood...
. Combined with envy, political intrigue and fear of a military coup (similar to the contemporary May Coup in Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
) this led to the dismissal of the ambitious general.
Politician
Still a young man of 34, Gajda decided to turn to politics. At the end of 1926 he took part in the founding of the National Fascist CommunityNational Fascist Community
The National Fascist Community was a Czechoslovakian Fascist movement led by Radola Gajda, and based on the Fascism of Benito Mussolini.-Formation and ideology:...
, modeled on Benito Mussolini
Benito Mussolini
Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini was an Italian politician who led the National Fascist Party and is credited with being one of the key figures in the creation of Fascism....
's National Fascist Party
National Fascist Party
The National Fascist Party was an Italian political party, created by Benito Mussolini as the political expression of fascism...
and became its leader on January 2, 1927. In 1929 the party took several seats in parliament. In 1931 Gajda was briefly imprisoned and stripped of military rank due to a prior scandal.
During the night of 21/22 1933, the Židenice Mutiny broke out in Brno
Brno
Brno by population and area is the second largest city in the Czech Republic, the largest Moravian city, and the historical capital city of the Margraviate of Moravia. Brno is the administrative centre of the South Moravian Region where it forms a separate district Brno-City District...
. This was an attempt on the part of 70 to 80 local fascists to overthrow the government by means of a military coup. The mutiny was immediately suppressed. Gajda was arrested the next day and charged with inciting the coup. Initially he was absolved of wrongdoing but after political pressure the verdict was revised. Gajda was sentenced to six months in prison and the forfeiture of his military pension.
The NOF was somewhat successful in the 1935 elections and Gajda obtained a seat in parliament, which he was to hold until 1939. At this time, the NOF had a strong anti-German
Ethnic German
Ethnic Germans historically also ), also collectively referred to as the German diaspora, refers to people who are of German ethnicity. Many are not born in Europe or in the modern-day state of Germany or hold German citizenship...
orientation, supported a military buildup and favored war with Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
over the Sudetenland
Sudetenland
Sudetenland is the German name used in English in the first half of the 20th century for the northern, southwest and western regions of Czechoslovakia inhabited mostly by ethnic Germans, specifically the border areas of Bohemia, Moravia, and those parts of Silesia being within Czechoslovakia.The...
. (After the Munich Agreement
Munich Agreement
The Munich Pact was an agreement permitting the Nazi German annexation of Czechoslovakia's Sudetenland. The Sudetenland were areas along Czech borders, mainly inhabited by ethnic Germans. The agreement was negotiated at a conference held in Munich, Germany, among the major powers of Europe without...
Gajda, as a gesture of defiance, returned all French and British honors and medals.) In 1939 he was rehabilitated and restored to the rank of General. He also became active in the newly established Party of National Unity
Party of National Unity (Czechoslovakia)
The Party of National Unity was a party created on 21 November 1938 in the Czech part of Czechoslovakia after the occupation of large parts of the country by Germany and Hungary as a kind of last attempt to unify forces to save Czechoslovakia from disappearing...
.
During March 1939, the Czechoslovakian political scene was in state of turmoil. Several coups were attempted, one in anticipation of making Gajda the new head of state. These amateurish coups ended in fiasco and several days later the remaining Czech lands were occupied by Nazi Germany.
Gajda was marginalized during the occupation and abandoned politics. He occasionally assisted the Czech resistance
Czech resistance to Nazi occupation
Czech resistance to German Nazi occupation during World War II is a scarcely documented subject, by and large a result of little formal resistance and an effective German policy that deterred acts of resistance or annihilated organizations of resistance...
by helping army officers to flee into Poland and by hiding the resistance activities of his son. He was investigated by the Gestapo
Gestapo
The Gestapo was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. Beginning on 20 April 1934, it was under the administration of the SS leader Heinrich Himmler in his position as Chief of German Police...
but avoided imprisonment.
When World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
ended Gajda was imprisoned by the NKVD
NKVD
The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs was the public and secret police organization of the Soviet Union that directly executed the rule of power of the Soviets, including political repression, during the era of Joseph Stalin....
(May 12, 1945) and interrogated under harsh conditions (he lost his eyesight while jailed). In April 1947 he was brought to trial for "propagation of Fascism and Nazism," for which the prosecutor requested a life sentence. Gajda's guilt was far from clear and the resulting sentence of two years allowed him to leave prison shortly thereafter. Penniless and forgotten, he died several months later.
External links
- the biggest database—photos, articles, informations
- Detailed biography, photos (two pages)
- Biography
- Tomáš Pasák: short biography