The Second Corps of Romanian volunteers in Russia

The situation of Romanian POWs has aggravated with the Bolshevik assuming of power. Following the Kiew occupation by Bolsheviks, the First Romanian Volunteers Corps has been disbanded and a great number of POWs remained on Russian territory with little possibilities to return to their native land. In these circumstances, the Romanians volunteers decided to depart for Moscow from where they hoped to leave for their country with the Romanian consul’s support. However, the German authorities refused to allow their crossing through Ukraine and the volunteers had to cope with their staying in Russia. They set up a body of all officers in order to represent the Romanian cause both in Russia and in France: the Second Corps of Romanian Volunteers in Russia. This occasioned them to encounter other political-military forces acting in the Russian chaotic situation, a Lithuanian army corps included. The Romanians will continue their odyssey in their attempt to be evacuated through Vladivostok, they successfully fighting the Bolsheviks and finally returning to Romania. This paper elaborates over the fate of the Second Corps of Romanian Volunteers in Russia and their encounters with their Lithuanian, other Baltic and Czechoslovak fellows.