Disbanded 1992 Headquarters Prague Service branch Czechoslovak Air Force | Chief of Defense General of the Army Founded 1918 | |
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Service branches Czechoslovak Armed Forces (ČSPV)
Czechoslovak Air Force (ČSVL)
Czechoslovak Navy (ČSL) Commander-in-Chief President of Czechoslovakia Minister Minister of National Defence Similar Army of the Czech Republic, Austro‑Hungarian Army, Czechoslovak Air Force, Soviet Army, Freikorps | ||
Czechoslovak Army (Czech and Slovak: Československá armáda) was the name of the armed forces of Czechoslovakia. It was established in 1918 following Czechoslovakia's independence from Austria-Hungary.
Although modelled after Austro-Hungarian Army patterns, the army of the newly established state also incorporated former members of the Czechoslovak Legion fighting alongside the Entente during World War I. Czechoslovak Army took part in the brief Polish-Czechoslovak War in which Czechoslovakia annexed the Zaolzie region from Poland. In the interbellum the force was fairly modern by contemporary standards, with the core of the force formed by LT vz. 38 and LT vz. 35 tanks, as well as an extensive system of border fortifications. Mobilised during the Munich Conference, the force did not take part in any organised defence of the country against invading Germans due to international isolation of Czechoslovakia.
The army was disbanded following the German takeover of Czechoslovakia in 1939. During World War II the Czechoslovak Army was recreated in exile, first in the form of the new Czechoslovak Legion fighting alongside of Poland during the Invasion of Poland and then in the form of forces loyal to the London-based Czechoslovak government-in-exile.
After the war Czechoslovak units fighting alongside the Allies returned to Czechoslovakia and formed the core of the new, recreated Czechoslovak Army. However, with the Communist takeover of Czechoslovakia, it was being increasingly Sovietised and in 1954 was formally renamed to Czechoslovak People's Army. The army of Czechoslovakia returned to the former name in 1990, following the Velvet Revolution, but in 1993, following the Dissolution of Czechoslovakia, it was disbanded and split into modern Army of the Czech Republic and the Slovak Armed Forces.