 The Legion fought against Bolshevik forces in Siberia and Manchuria, and was instrumental in protecting the Transiberian Railway necessary for the Allied support to the White forces.With the Russian withdrawal from the war in 1918, German and Austro-Hungarian prisoners were allowed to return home as a result of the Brest-Litovsk treaty.Many of the Austro-Hungarian prisoners were of various nationalities reflecting the multi-ethnic composition of the empire.