Expulsion, a common occurrence in the 20th century, is the forced migration of a person or group from their home country, often on a mass scale. Czechoslovakia –now the Czech and Slovak Republics– has experienced both the pain of exile and the impact of hosting refugees. A safe haven for many expatriates over the last century, from the Bolshevik Revolution to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Czech people have opened their borders and their homes to the people devastated by war and occupation.
Russian Refugees of the 1920s
Source: The British Library
Bolshevik Revolution (1917-1923)
Also known as the October Revolution, the Bolshevik Revolution was a Civil War that followed the near bloodless coup against the Duma Government, led by Vladimir Lenin. Lenin was the leader of the Bolshevik Party, a Social-Democratic Workers’ Party that would eventually become the Russian Communist Party. This war was between Lenin’s Red Army and the White Army, made up of allied monarchists, capitalists, and democratic socialists.
The Bolshevik Revolution began with a revolt on November 7, 1917, that led to a bloody and gruesome war and ended in mass executions and imprisonment. The revolution would last almost six years, during which humanity saw atrocities such as the execution of the Romanovs in 1918, imprisonment in Russian Gulags, and other mass executions. This period was known as the Red Terror, becoming particularly bloody after an attempted assassination of Lenin.
First of Ukraine Refugees in Prague
Source: Prague Morning
Thus began the Russian Refugee Crisis of the 1920s. During this time, between two and three million people left Russia. Czechoslovakia became a sanctuary for exiled refugees from Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus, receiving an estimated 15,000 refugees.
Invasion of Ukraine (2022 - present)
Today history repeats itself. The most recent example of mass expatriation began with the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 led by Russian President Vladimir Putin. Bombings and persistent brutality stain the land of the people of this area, driving citizens from their homes and livelihoods.
By February 2023, more than 8 million refugees had flooded Europe, comprising a whopping 18% of Ukraine's total population. It is recorded that in March 2023 the Czech Republic alone accepted over one-half of a million refugees, making it the 4th largest number of refugees in Europe and Asia. This is the largest influx of refugees in Czech history.
The Czech government used funds earmarked for integration to pay teachers to teach the Czech language to refugees unable to return to their homes in Ukraine. These lessons are taught in the hope that they will lead to better job opportunities for refugees, allowing more than 100,000 refugees to find gainful employment. However, many Ukrainian refugee degrees remain unrecognized. Several child refugees have integrated well with Czech society and 90% of refugee children are enrolled in Czech schools.
The displacement of refugees has major effects, not only on the countries granting sanctuary but on the refugees themselves. Displacement can often lead to an increase in mental illnesses such as PTSD and depression. The Russian war on Ukraine will have lasting effects on the demographics of Central Europe that ripple beyond the borders of a territorial dispute.
Written by Kelsey McDade
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McElvanney, Katie. ‘The Russian Refugee Crisis of the 1920s’, British Library, 2015, https://blogs.bl.uk/european/2015/12/the-russian-refugee-crisis-of-the-1920s.html, (Accessed 6 Apr. 2023).
Palata, Lubos. ‘Well integrated: Ukrainian refugees in the Czech Republic’, Deutsche Welle, 2023, https://www.dw.com/en/ukrainian-refugees-in-the-czech-republic-the-integration-miracle/a-65002494, (Accessed 7 Apr. 2023).