Vysoká škola válečná

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Building of the Na Valech school, today the Ministry of the Interior of the Czech Republic

Vysoká škola válečná (VŠV) in Prague , Czechoslovakia , also Vysoká válečná škola or Válečná škola , German War College, was the most important training facility for officers of the General Staff of the Czechoslovak Army in the interwar period ; France played a decisive role in setting up the training facilities for the new Czechoslovak army .

Headquarters of the school

The school was based in Prague, in a building built in 1899/1900 on the rubble of the demolished Bastion XV (part of the older fortifications of the city of Prague) on Na Valech Street . From 1900 to 1918 a cadet school was housed in the building. Today it is the seat and building of the Ministry of Defense of the Czech Republic .

history

This training center for staff officers was created with the direct support of the French military mission , which worked in Czechoslovakia from February 1919 and also provided decisive assistance in the establishment and development of the Czechoslovak army; the commander of the French mission was also the chief of staff of the general staff of the Czechoslovak army in the first post-war years.

The development of the war school took place in the following phases:

  • a course for staff officers was established at the Ministry of Defense on September 1, 1919, where 126 officers were trained in a total of three courses in the years 1919–1921; it was a forerunner of the war school, which was closed on November 1, 1921; this institution is also known as Škola generálního štábu (School of the General Staff), founded in 1918; it is seen as the forerunner of the war school
  • On November 1, 1921, the actual Válečná škola (War School) was founded under the patronage of the French military mission. The structure and objectives of the Prague War School were mainly based on the French École supérieure de guerre in Paris
  • on October 1, 1934 it was renamed Vysoká škola válečná (also Vysoká válečná škola ) and existed until September 1938 (according to other sources until 1939)

In the 17 years of the university between 1921 and 1938 a total of 519 officers were trained (according to other sources 577 officers), including over 20 officers from Latvia and Lithuania. The war college was also connected to the pro vyšší velitele course (course for higher commanders), in which 269 generals and higher officers were trained in shorter courses.

After the end of the war, the educational facility was put back into operation at short notice from October 1945 to October 1948. From October 1948 to August 1951 the follow-up organization Vysoká vojenská akademie (Military University) settled in the building of the Kreigschoschule , whereby more and more rooms were used by the Ministry of the Interior.

Other army educational institutions

In the training system of the Czechoslovak Army, in addition to the war college, which was highly regarded, other institutions also played a role, which were mostly also set up on the initiative and with the help of the French military mission: in the first post-war years, an instruction school for the infantry and one for the artillery, respectively for lower officer ranks, both founded in 1919; from 1920 a central aviation school in Eger , in Pardubice the central cavalry institute (from 1920 in Hranice na Moravě ), from January 3, 1920 then the Vojenská akademie (military academy) in Hranice na Moravě, where officers of all classes were trained (up to Several thousand graduates in 1938); After 1921, two other higher education institutions were added: Vysoká intendatská škola (VIŠ, director's college) and Vojenská inženýrská kolej (VIK, military engineering college), both in Prague.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Budova Ministerstva obrany v Praze - Na Valech , short report on the website of the Ministry of Interior of the Czech Republic, online at: mocr.army.cz / ...
  2. ↑ Výročí - 110 let ck pražské kadetky Na Valech , in: Břevnovan, local newspaper for Prague 6, No. 9-10 / 2010 (September 2010), page 10, online at: brevnovan.net / ...
  3. ↑ Karel Straka: Francouzská vojenská mise v Československu 1919–1938 , publication of the Vojenský historický ústav VHÚ (Military History Institute) of the Ministry of Defense of the Czech Republic, online at: vhu.cz ...
  4. ↑ a b c d e f Karel Straka: Vojenské školství meziválečného Československa , publication of the Vojenský historický ústav VHÚ (Military History Institute) of the Ministry of Defense of the Czech Republic, online at: vhu.cz / ...
  5. ↑ a b Vojenský historický archiv - Vysoká škola válečná (short entry of the Military Historical Archive in the Portal of Archives and Collections of the Czech Republic), online at: badatelna.eu / ...
  6. ↑ a b c Vysoká škola válečná v Praze , in: Eduard Stehlík: Srdce armády (Generální štáb 1919-2009) , publication by the Ministry of the Interior of the Czech Republic, AVIS, Prague 2009 (2nd edition), ISBN 978-80-7278-515 -5 , p. 22f., Online at: mocr.army.cz / ...
  7. ↑ Vysoká škola válečná [1945-1948] Military University , tabular overview, online at: forum.valka.cz / ...

See also