People's Militia (Czechoslovakia)

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Sign of the People's Militia

The Czechoslovak People's Militias ( Czech Lidové milice , LM ; Slovak Ľudové milície , ĽM ) were de jure illegal, well-equipped paramilitary combat units of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (CPC), which between 1948 and 1989 also had to enforce the party's monopoly of power by force. This institution, also known as the “private army of the Communist Party”, was not approved by any law, nor was there any subsequent explicit legislative approval. Their existence was only subject to the decisions of the party.

Emergence

The forerunners of the people's militia were the "factory militias" ( Závodní milice ), which were formed from June 1945 in some large industrial companies to protect them and consisted of volunteers. They were subordinate to the management or the unions; In 1946 they were taken over by the Ministry of the Interior and renamed the " Company Guard " ( Závodní stráž ). In mid-February 1948, the Central Committee (ZK) of the CPC decided to set up “guard battalions” ( strážní oddíl ) in other factories; on February 20, 1948 they were renamed "standby battalions " ( pohotovostní oddíl ), whereby their task should not only extend to companies, and on February 21, 1948 so-called "workers militias " ( Dělnické milice , DM) were formed from them . This date is generally considered to be the creation of the (later so called) People's Militias. Since that day, they have been equipped on a large scale with simple and automatic assault rifles, while previously they could only use prey weapons. The governing body consisted of the later actors of the Prague Spring Josef Pavel (commander of the main staff ), František Kriegel (deputy) and Josef Smrkovský (political commissioner).

The establishment of such militias in Czechoslovakia at the time was to a certain extent unique in the countries of the later Eastern Bloc . Only in Poland were similar troops called ORMO built in 1946 , which were subordinate to various government agencies and only gained importance in 1956. It was only later, especially after the 1953 uprising , that working-class combat groups were set up in the GDR , although they were subordinate to the National People's Army . After 1956 similar associations were formed in Hungary.

legality

In March 1948, management was temporarily taken over by the Ministry of the Interior (at that time already completely under the control of the KPTsch), whereby community militias were set up (especially in the border area), which were increasingly called people's militias. This organizational structure was still followed in 1949, with the people's militias still being intended as an auxiliary force for the units of the SNB police force . This should be done through the legislative route. The draft law was adopted in the CPC Central Committee and handed over to the government, which was to submit it to parliament. However, this did not happen. The party leadership was of the opinion that the general formulations of Section 15 of Law 286/1948, in which only the help of citizens for defense purposes was talked about. In April 1952 a new organizational statute for the militia was passed by the CPC. Thereafter, the People's Militia were referred to as the armed detachments of the CPC; the commander in chief was the party's first secretary. The existence and operation of the people's militias was therefore not clearly regulated by any law from its inception to its dissolution in 1989.

Role of the People's Militias in the February Revolution of 1948

People's Militia armband

In the February days of 1948, the people's militias took on an essential role in the CCP's seizure of power and the elimination of the democratic opposition. As early as February 22nd, the people's militias took part in the occupations of the party headquarters of non-communist, democratic parties and in the arrests of members, which was done under the pretext of a threatened counter-revolution. Together with the general strike of February 24, 1948, President Beneš was supposed to be forced to accept the resignation of the old Gottwald government and to give the prime minister and Communist Party chairman a free hand in shaping the next government without new elections. During the general strike the people's militias made a massive appearance; they also flanked Gottwald's appearance on February 25, 1948 at Wenceslas Square with 6,000 men, where Gottwald announced the coup.

Further operations by the people's militias

In the following years there were numerous assignments of various sizes. In Slovakia in 1949 the militias, together with the army and police, were deployed in a broad-based action against the Catholic Church and the faithful, which resulted in the use of physical violence. In 1950, the so-called Actions K against monastery inmates followed similarly in Slovakia a strong intimidating effect. After 1950, especially after the experience with the resistance against the controversial currency reform of 1953 and later unrest, special units and rapid reaction groups emerged, which should be able to intervene against "subversive elements" and groups everywhere.

The People's Militias were involved in the suppression of protests and demonstrations against the occupation of the country by Warsaw Pact troops after August 21, 1968 . On August 21, 1969, on the 1st anniversary of the intervention, there was also a major deployment of the people's militias. For fear of demonstrations, 3,100 militiamen were gathered in Prague, a further 3,250 were on standby, and around 2,100 more were mobilized in the regions to be transported by air to Prague or other cities if necessary. Some people died in the clashes, two in Prague and one in Brno. The perpetrators were never identified.

After the federal parliament decided in its extraordinary session on November 29, 1989 to delete Article 4 of the Constitution on the leading role of the Communist Party in the state, the leadership of the CPC gave up its claim to the supreme command of the people's militias. They were disbanded and their weapons immediately collected.

Manpower and equipment

From 43,550 people in 1948, the number of people's militias rose rapidly to 150,000 by 1950, and then fell continuously to around 105,000 by 1954; between 1955 and 1973 the strength averaged over 70,000 men, then it increased and from 1976 to 1989 averaged 85,000 men.

When the People's Militias were disbanded in 1989, the following weapons were registered:

swell

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Nasazení Lidových milicí v srpnu 1969, online at: www.csla.cz/armada / ,,, (Czech)
  2. ↑ Ozbrojené složky v CSSR. Lidové milice, online at: www.csla.cz/armada / ... (Czech)
  3. ↑ Pavel Minařík, Lidové Milice [People's Militias], online at: armada.vojenstvi.cz / ... (Czech)