People's Militias (in Slovak ''Ľudové milície'', in Czech ''Lidové milice''), also called The Armed Fist of the Working Class (in Slovak ''Ozbrojená päsť robotníckej triedy'', in Czech ''Ozbrojená pěst dělnické třídy'') was a

militia A militia () is generally an army or some other fighting organization of non-professional soldiers, citizens of a country, or subjects of a state, who may perform military service during a time of need, as opposed to a professional force of r ...

organisation of the

Communist Party of Czechoslovakia The Communist Party of Czechoslovakia ( Czech and Slovak: ''Komunistická strana Československa'', KSČ) was a communist and Marxist–Leninist political party in Czechoslovakia that existed between 1921 and 1992. It was a member of the Comint ...

between 1948 and 1989.People's Mlitias, 21 February coup d'etat (Czech)
Moderní dějiny.cz (6 March 2012)

History

The predecessor of militias were armed groups of factory workers (''Závodní milice'', factory militias) formed in June 1945 to protect the factories during the

post-war In Western usage, the phrase post-war era (or postwar era) usually refers to the time since the end of World War II. More broadly, a post-war period (or postwar period) is the interval immediately following the end of a war. A post-war period ...

chaos. In 1946 they were renamed ''Závodní stráže'' (''factory guards'') and their equipment reduced to

pistol A pistol is a handgun, more specifically one with the chamber integral to its gun barrel, though in common usage the two terms are often used interchangeably. The English word was introduced in , when early handguns were produced in Europe, a ...

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

Tasks

The task of the militias was to protect against guerrillas 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 the Ministry of the Interior. In 1952 the official status of the militias changed to being the armed part of the

and control passed to the Communist Party (to the newly established departments at the central committee); also the organisational structure was changed. In 1959 a grey uniform was introduced. Toward the end of the 1980s, political tensions in Czechoslovakia increased and the militias, equipped with batons, were frequently deployed to disperse

demonstrations Demonstration may refer to: * Demonstration (acting), part of the Brechtian approach to acting * Demonstration (military), an attack or show of force on a front where a decision is not sought * Demonstration (political), a political rally or prote ...

against the regime. In 1989, 38,985 militiamen participated in this activity.Mlitias, called People's (Czech TV)
ceskatelevize.cz (3 February 2010) After the communist party's fall from power at the end of 1989, the militias were dissolved on 21 December 1989.

Numbers and armament

During February 1948 the militias obtained 10,000

rifle A rifle is a long-barreled firearm designed for accurate shooting, with a barrel that has a helical pattern of grooves ( rifling) cut into the bore wall. In keeping with their focus on accuracy, rifles are typically designed to be held with ...

s and 2,000

submachine gun A submachine gun (SMG) is a magazine-fed, automatic carbine designed to fire handgun cartridges. The term "submachine gun" was coined by John T. Thompson, the inventor of the Thompson submachine gun, to describe its design concept as an autom ...

s from the armament factory

Zbrojovka Brno Pre-war Československá zbrojovka, akc.spol. (or a.s.) (Czechoslovak Armory)and post-war Zbrojovka Brno, n.p.(Brno Armory) was a maker of small arms, light artillery, and motor vehicles in Brno, Czechoslovakia. It also made other products and ...

. The equipment was continually modernized with

sniper rifle A sniper rifle is a high-precision, long-range rifle. Requirements include accuracy, reliability, mobility, concealment and optics for anti-personnel, anti-materiel and surveillance uses of the military sniper. The modern sniper rifle is a port ...

machine gun A machine gun is a fully automatic, rifled autoloading firearm designed for sustained direct fire with rifle cartridges. Other automatic firearms such as automatic shotguns and automatic rifles (including assault rifles and battle rifles ...

s, mortars, anti-aircraft machine guns and transport vehicles. The ammunition was kept in army stores. During the 1970s

recoilless gun A recoilless rifle, recoilless launcher or recoilless gun, sometimes abbreviated "RR" or "RCL" (for ReCoilLess) is a type of lightweight artillery system or man-portable launcher that is designed to eject some form of countermass such as propel ...

s and

RPG-7 The RPG-7 (russian: link=no, РПГ-7, Ручной Противотанковый Гранатомёт, Ruchnoy Protivotankoviy Granatomyot) is a portable, reusable, unguided, shoulder-launched, anti-tank, rocket-propelled grenade launcher. Th ...

were added among the armament. After dissolution of the militias their equipment was handed over to the army.

Military personnel

Military equipment at 1989

20,067

s (with over 4 million rounds)
71,054

s (with over 62 million rounds)
6,890

s (with over 16 million rounds)
130 anti-aircraft machine guns (over one million rounds)
358

mortars Mortar may refer to: * Mortar (weapon), an indirect-fire infantry weapon * Mortar (masonry), a material used to fill the gaps between blocks and bind them together * Mortar and pestle, a tool pair used to crush or grind * Mortar, Bihar, a villag ...

149

s
2,177 trucks and motorcycles
2,031

hand grenade A grenade is an explosive weapon typically thrown by hand (also called hand grenade), but can also refer to a shell (explosive projectile) shot from the muzzle of a rifle (as a rifle grenade) or a grenade launcher. A modern hand grenade ...

Rank insignia 1970-1989

References

Sources

* Jiří Bílek, Vladimír Pilát: "Závodní, Dělnické a Lidové milice v Československu" in journal "Historie 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

People's Militias in Czechoslovakia in 1948 - 1989
(in Czech)
Article in journal História
(in Slovak)
Lidové Milice
(in Czech)
Uniforminsignia.com People's Militias rank insignia