Pohraniční stráž

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The border guard of Czechoslovakia Pohraniční stráž ( PS ) was founded in 1951 based on the model of the Soviet border troops . On July 11 of the same year, the National Assembly approved Law No. [69/1951] stipulating the protection of state borders and placed the protection of national borders within the competence of the border guards. The Czechoslovak state border was heavily fortified during the Cold War, in particular towards the western states of the Federal Republic of Germany and Austria .

history

Before that, the corps emerged from the Financial Guard of the First Czechoslovak Republic. This was used in 1945 to prevent smuggling and illegal border crossing as well as the return of the expelled Germans and the removal of their confiscated property. At the instigation of the communists , who had been setting the tone in the security area of ​​Czechoslovakia since 1945 , the Bohemian-Bavarian border was gradually closed in 1947, i.e. before Gottwald came to power in the February putsch in 1948 . At the beginning of 1949, the border customs guard was united with the standby regiment of the National Security SNB ( Sbor národní bezpečnosti ) and an ideological purge of the troops was carried out.

As border guards, conscripts were obliged to serve for 27 months - around eight percent extended their service time and became professional soldiers. Conscripts were recruited from pro-regime families or, whenever possible, members of the Communist Party. After the first three months of basic training , they were transferred to monitor state borders. Selected soldiers were sent to the military academy for seven months and trained as lieutenants in the border guard.

The symbol of the border troops was a dog's head, the symbol of the Chods , a Slavic tribe that had already performed security services on the Bohemian western border in earlier times on behalf of the state. Their motto was: “Neprojdou” (German: “You won't get through”, corresponds to the Spanish “ No pasarán ”).

organization

From 1964 the border guard on the Bavarian-Bohemian border was divided into three brigades: the 5th ( Cheb ), 9th ( Domažlice ) and 7th brigade ( Sušice ). In addition, the 4th ( Znojmo ), 11th ( Bratislava ) and 15th Brigade ( České Budějovice ) stood on the Czechoslovak- Austrian border. Training brigade was the 12th ( Planá u Mariánských Lázní ). In total, the seven brigades had a total strength of around 11,000 men in the 1980s.
Each brigade in turn consisted of an average of ten companies, comprised between 60 and 100 men. These companies were barracked directly at the border fortifications and performed the actual border service.

There was a two-row barbed wire fence along the border, areas that were difficult to see were initially still mined. These minefields were partially removed in the mid-1960s during a certain relaxation phase at the beginning of the Prague Spring , which attempts were made to compensate for this by using service dogs. The extensive equipment consisted of all-terrain cars and trucks as well as boats, some pioneer equipment and later also helicopters. The armament consisted of infantry weapons, including the local submachine gun Samopal vz. 58 .

The population in the sparsely populated border area was won over by propaganda and perks for spy services and provided valuable help. The volunteers reported movements of unknown persons to the border guard or provided support with observation tours. The border service was presented in the ČSR / ČSSR as heroic, patriotic and adventurous.

There was also a shooting order in the border regime of Czechoslovakia:

On the basis of the law on border protection of July 11, 1951, members of the border guards had the right to use weapons against "persons who enter the state territory without authorization or who attempt to cross the state border without authorization and do not stop after being warned." From 1948 to 1949 alone, it is known that 143 people died from the use of firearms on the border with Germany and Austria.

Succession

Today the border security of the Czech Republic is carried out by the Aliens Police , a division of the state police.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. http://isap.vlada.cz/Lexdata/lex_sb.nsf/61b06bad0fc763bec12566af007f1a09/409687920ec0c4dcc12566d40071aeab?OpenDocument - Web link not available and not in the Internet Archive; May 28, 2012
  2. http://www.onlinemodule.eu/site/index.php?menu=51 - Web link defective and not in the Internet Archive; May 28, 2012
  3. Armed Forces 1985/86. The "Military Balance" of the International Institute for Strategic Studies, London , Koblenz 1986, p. 91
  4. http://www.onlinemodule.eu/site/index.php?menu=51 - Web link defective and not in the Internet Archive; May 28, 2012