Army of the Czech Republic: history, features and interesting facts

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:42

The Army of the Czech Republic (Czech: Armáda České republiky, AČR) is the military organization responsible for the defense of this country in accordance with international obligations and collective defense treaties. The army is called upon to support peacekeeping, rescue and humanitarian operations both on the territory of the country and abroad. The armed forces consist of the General Staff, Ground Forces, Air Force and support units.

Army of the Czech Republic: History

From the end of 1940 to 1989, the Czechoslovak People's Army (about 200,000 men) was one of the pillars of the Warsaw Pact's military alliance. After the dissolution of Czechoslovakia, the Czech Republic undertook a major reorganization and reduction of the armed forces, which continued after the entry of the Czech Republic into NATO on March 12, 1999.

In accordance with the Czech Law No. 219/1999, the Czech army is the officialarmed forces of the state.

Kingdom of Bohemia

The military history of the Czech people dates back to the Middle Ages and the creation of the Bohemian Principality, and later - the Bohemian Kingdom. During the Hussite Wars, Jan Žižka became a military leader, and became famous for such skill and excellence that the Hussite heritage became an important and enduring part of Czech military tradition. The European Wars of Religion again destroyed the Czech lands, and in the Battle of the White Mountain in 1620, Czech independence was surrendered to the Habsburg monarchy. During the centuries of foreign rule, the Czechs were subjected to intense Germanization. However, they retained their ethnic identity and seized the opportunity for independence during the First World War. Czechs and Slovaks deserted in large numbers from the army of Austria-Hungary and by the end of the war formed the Czechoslovak Legion, which fought on the side of the Entente for the independence of Czechoslovakia.

The era of the first Czechoslovakia

The Czechoslovak Armed Forces were formed on June 30, 1918, when 6,000 members of the Czechoslovak Legion, which was created in 1914, took the oath of allegiance to France and received their own battle flag from the French, which preceded the official declaration of independence of Czechoslovakia four months later. The military achievements of the Czechoslovak legions on the French, Italian and especially Russian fronts became one of the main arguments that Czech leaders turned to in order to enlist support for the country's independence from the Allies. World War I.

The Czechoslovak army was officially founded in 1918 after Czechoslovakia gained independence from Austria-Hungary.

Ambiguous fame

Modeled after the Austro-Hungarian armed forces, the army included former members of the Czechoslovak Legion who fought alongside the Entente during the First World War. She took part in a short Polish-Czechoslovak war, in which this young country annexed Zaozie, an area that had previously belonged to Poland. The army was fairly modern by its standards, with extensive frontier fortifications, good rifles, and even its own tanks. Mobilized during the Munich Conference, the armed forces of the young Republic did not participate in any organized defense of the country from the German invasion due to the international isolation of Czechoslovakia.

End of the Republic

The army was disbanded after the German takeover of Czechoslovakia in 1939. During the Second World War, it was recreated in exile, first in the form of a new Czechoslovak legion that fought alongside Poland during the invasion of that country, and then in the form of troops loyal to the government of Czechoslovakia in exile, based in London.

In 1938, members of the Czechoslovak army and guards took part in an undeclared border war against German-backed Sudetenland forces and Polish and Hungarian paramilitaries. As a result of the Munich Agreement, the areasdensely populated by an ethnic German-speaking population, were included in the Third Reich, and the military personnel living there were subject to conscription into the Wehrmacht.

As part of the Third Reich: Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia

After the complete annexation of Czechoslovakia in 1939 and the creation of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, the protectorate government had its own armed force - the government army (6500 people), which was entrusted with the tasks of ensuring public security. On the other side of the conflict, a number of Czechoslovak units and formations served in the Polish Army (Czechoslovak Legion), the French Army, the Royal Air Force, the British Army (1st Czechoslovak Armored Brigade) and the Red Army. Four Czech and Slovak squadrons serving under the Allies were transferred to the control of the re-established Czechoslovakia at the end of 1945.

The era of the second Czechoslovakia

After the war, Czech and Slovak units that fought alongside the Allies returned to Czechoslovakia and formed the core of a new, recreated Czechoslovak army. However, this new republic, led by a pro-Soviet government, became increasingly Sovietised, and in 1954 its army was officially renamed the Czechoslovak People's Army. The army of Czechoslovakia returned to its former name in 1990, after the Velvet Revolution, but in 1993, after the Velvet Divorce, it was disbanded and divided into the modern army of the Czech Republic and the Slovak armed forces.

From 1954 to 1990 this army wasknown as the Czechoslovak People's Army (ČSA). Although the CSA, formed in 1945, included both expatriates and volunteers trained by the Soviet and British troops, "Western" soldiers were expelled from the CSA after 1948, when the communists came to power. The CSA did not resist the 1968 invasion by the Soviets in response to the Prague Spring and was reorganized by the Soviets after the restoration of communist rule in Prague.

Number and characteristics

What can be said about the ground forces of the Czech Republic and Slovakia at that time? Of the approximately 201,000 people on active duty in the CSA in 1987, about 145,000 (approximately 72%) served in the ground forces, commonly referred to as the army. About 100,000 of them were conscripts. There were two military districts - Western and Eastern. The 1989 list of troops shows two Czechoslovak armies in the west: the 1st Army in Příbram with one armored division and three motor rifle divisions, the 4th Army in Pisek with two armored divisions and two motor rifle divisions. There were two tank divisions in the Eastern Military District, the 13th and 14th, with a supervisory headquarters in Trencin, the Slovak part of the country.

During the Cold War, the CSA was equipped mainly with Soviet weapons, although some weapons such as the OT-64 SKOT armored personnel carrier, L-29 Delfín and L-39 Albatros aircraft, the P-27 Pancéřovka anti-tank rocket launcher were local production.

Czech Armed Forces: 21st Century

The Army of the Czech Republic was formed after the split of the Czechoslovak Armed Forces, which occurred after the collapse of Czechoslovakia on January 1, 1993. The strength of the Czech armed forces in 1993 was 90,000. This number was soon reduced to 65,000 and then to 63,601 in 1999 and 35,000 in 2005. At the same time, the forces were modernized and reoriented towards defensive warfare tactics. In 2004, the army became a fully professional organization and compulsory military service was abolished. She maintains an active reserve.

International context

The Czech Republic is a member of the United Nations and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. At the Washington Summit in 1999, the Czech Republic joined NATO. Since 1990, the Czech army has participated in numerous peacekeeping and humanitarian operations, including in Yugoslavia, Afghanistan, Kosovo, Albania, Turkey, Pakistan and, together with coalition forces, in Iraq. It continues to participate in all NATO operations, even aggressive and offensive ones.

Rearmament

What is left of the Soviet army in the Czech Republic? First of all, a lot of Soviet weapons remained in this country. The Czech Army still largely uses weapons from the Warsaw Pact era. During the Cold War, Czechoslovakia was the main supplier of tanks, armored personnel carriers, military trucks andtraining aircraft - the bulk of military exports went to partners in the air traffic. At the moment, it urgently needs to replace obsolete equipment and ensure that it meets NATO standards. Modernization plans include the acquisition of new multi-role helicopters, transport aircraft, infantry fighting vehicles, and air defense radars and missiles. At the same time, the Czech government focuses on domestic products. In addition, the army of the republic is equipped with approximately 3,000 T810 and T815 vehicles of various modifications, produced by the Czech company Tatra Trucks. The Tatra Defense Vehicle plant provides licensed production of Pandur II and Titus armored vehicles.