People's Militias (Czechoslovakia)

People's Militias (in Czech "Lidové milice", in Slovak "Ľudové milície") was a paramilitary organisation of Communist Party of Czechoslovakia during 1948 - 1989.

History

The predecessor of militias were armed groups of factory workers ("Závodní milice", "Factory Militias") formed in June 1945 to protect the factories during post-war chaos. In 1946 they were renamed to "Závodní stráže" ("Factory Guards") and their equipment reduced to pistols.

In the middle of February 1948 the central committee of communist party decided to form armed units from communist party members and supporters. In February 21 1948 these units were renamed to "Dělnické milice" ("Worker's Militias"). The militias were hastily equipped and set on alert during communist takeover of power at the end of February. The name was soon changed to "People's Militias".

Tasks

The task of the militas was to protect against guerillas expected to appear after the takeover, against undercover agents sent to Czechoslovakia and to cooperate with the police and the army. About 3,000 militiamen joined police forces. Non-communists were slowly removed from the militias. The control over the militias went to Ministry of Interior.

In 1952 the official status of the militias changed to be the armed part of Communist Party of Czechoslovakia and the control was moved to communist party (to the newly established departments at the central committee); also the organisational structure was changed. In 1959 grey uniform was introduced.

Toward the end of 1980s political tensions in Czechoslovakia grew up and the militias, equipped with batons, were frequently deployed to disperse demonstrations against the regime. In 1989 38,985 militiamen participated in this activity.

After the communist party fell from power (end of 1989) the militias were dissolved on December 21 1989.

Numbers and armament

During February 1948 the militias obtained 10,000 rifles and 2,000 submachine guns from the armament factory Zbrojovka Brno. The equipment was continually modernized with sniper rifles, machine guns, mortars, anti-aircraft machine guns and transport vehicles. The ammunition was kept in army stores. During 1970s recoilless guns and RPG-7 were added among the armament. After dissolution of the militias their equipment was handed over to the army.

Literature

* Jiří Bílek, Vladimír Pilát: "Závodní, Dělnické a Lidové milice v Československu" in journal "Histore a vojenství", 1995, vol. 3, p. 79 - 106.
* Jan Štaigl: ""Ľudové milície na Slovensku - ich vznik a organizačný vývoj do polovice šesťdesiatych rokov" in journal "Vojenská história", 1999, vol 2., p. 41 - 70.

External links

* [http://www.vojenstvi.cz/armada/povalecna/studie/7.htm People's Militias in Czechoslovakia in 1948 - 1989] (in Czech)
* [http://www.historiarevue.sk/index.php?id=2005pesek2 Article in journal História] (in Slovak)