Rumburk rebellion

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The Rumburk rebellion was a mutiny by Czech soldiers in the Austro-Hungarian Army during World War I. It happened on 21 May 1918 in the town of Rumburk in North Bohemia. The Czech soldiers were former prisoners of the Imperial Russian Army. The uprising began around 6 a.m. when 65 men led by František Noha refused orders and grabbed rifles. More soldiers joined, bringing their number to about 700. Although the revolt started spontaneously, its leaders soon connected with Czech troops from the 18th Infantry Regiment of Hradec Králové in Česká Lipa, which helped spread the revolt and prevent it from turning into a wider revolution in the Czech lands. The rebels captured Rumburk and then moved toward Nový Bor, but they were surrounded by Austro-Hungarian forces, including the same regiment. About 1,000–1,200 mutineers were defeated and most were captured. Ten mutineers were executed: František Noha, Stanko Vodička and Vojtěch Kovář on the morning of 29 May 1918, and Jakub Bernard, Jiří Kovářík, Jakub Nejdl, František Pour, Jan Pelnář, Antonín Šťastný and Jindřich Švehla that evening. Fourteen others received long prison sentences. The prisoners were sent to the Small Fortress at Terezín, a prison used by the Austro-Hungarian authorities for political prisoners. There is a street named after Vojtěch Kovář in Rumburk.