The Blue booklet ( cs, Modrá knížka, officially ''Průkaz o neschopnosti k vojenské činné službě'' (Document of proof of incapacity for military service) or formerly ''Průkaz o osvobození od vojenské povinnosti'' (Document of proof of exemption from military service) was a certificate of exemption from military service in

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

and later in the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. Th ...

and

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the ...

Compulsory military service Conscription (also called the draft in the United States) is the state-mandated enlistment of people in a national service, mainly a military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it continues in some countries to the present day un ...

had existed throughout the unified nation's history and was only abolished in 2004 in the Czech Republic and one year later in Slovakia. The holder of a blue booklet could not be drafted for basic military service nor included in the reserve.

Application process

Applications for a blue booklet had to be reviewed by the military administration's conscription board, usually on the basis of opinions from specialists. The usual procedure was that the applicant filled in a detailed questionnaire about his health condition and had it confirmed by his family doctor, who sent him for the relevant examinations according to the content of the questionnaire and the applicant's medical history. The applicant then submitted all pertinent documents to the conscription board for approval.

Reasons for exemption

Some common reasons for a person of eligible age to be exempted from military service included missing a limb, paralysis or immobility, lack of eyesight, deafness, and mental illness. In practice, allergies, asthma, spinal conditions, eye defects, or high blood pressure were the most common reasons for conscripts to receive blue booklets around the year 2000. In addition, people opposed to the armed services or combat, known as

conscientious objector A conscientious objector (often shortened to conchie) is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of thought, conscience, or religion. The term has also been extended to obje ...

s, also tried to obtain blue booklets.

Cultural references

References to blue booklets can be found in various artistic media, including music, literature, and film. Karel Plíhal recorded a song titled "Modrá knížka" on his 1992 album, ''Takhle nějak to bylo...'', dealing with the despair of a young man who has obtained the coveted document. The Czech underground rock band

DG 307 DG 307 was a Czech underground rock band founded in 1973 in Prague by Milan Hlavsa and Pavel Zajíček. The group has been inactive since 2016. Overview Bass guitarist Milan Hlavsa and poet Pavel Zajíček launched DG 307 in 1973, taking the ...

was named after a psychiatric diagnosis that allowed young men to get a blue booklet, and the rock group Blue Effect's name is also inspired by the document, as most of its members were in possession of one. The 2010 comedy film ''

Identity Card An identity document (also called ID or colloquially as papers) is any document that may be used to prove a person's identity. If issued in a small, standard credit card size form, it is usually called an identity card (IC, ID card, citizen ca ...

'' also references the booklet.

References

External links

{{Commons category-inline, Blue Book (certificate of incapacity for military service), Blue booklet Military of Czechoslovakia Documents Health in the Czech Republic Health in Slovakia