People's Militias (Czechoslovakia)

People's Militias
Ľudové milície (Slovak); Lidové milice (Czech)
	Insignia of the People's Militias
Organization overview
Formed	21 February 1948
Dissolved	21 December 1989
Type	Paramilitary
Jurisdiction	Czechoslovak Socialist Republic
Organization executive	General Secretary of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia;
Parent organization	Communist Party of Czechoslovakia

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 organisation of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia between 1948 and 1989.^[1]

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

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 Communist Party of Czechoslovakia 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 against the regime. In 1989, 38,985 militiamen participated in this activity.^[2]

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 rifles and 2,000 submachine guns from the armament factory Zbrojovka Brno. The equipment was continually modernized with sniper rifles, machine guns, mortars, anti-aircraft machine guns and transport vehicles. The ammunition was kept in army stores. During the 1970s recoilless guns and RPG-7 were added among the armament. After dissolution of the militias their equipment was handed over to the army.

Military personnel

Date	Number
1948	almost 2,000 (Slovakia)
1949	around 10,000 (Slovakia), 6,000 - 7,000 in Prague
1954	18,290 (Slovakia, planned)
1955	13,050 (Slovakia, planned)
1959	14,978 (Slovakia, planned)
1967	16,580 (Slovakia, planned)
1988	86,494 (actual number in the whole Czechoslovakia) planned 63,200 in ČSR and 18,600 in SSR

Military equipment at 1989

20,067 pistols (with over 4 million rounds)
71,054 submachine guns (with over 62 million rounds)
6,890 machine guns (with over 16 million rounds)
130 anti-aircraft machine guns (over one million rounds)
358 mortars
149 recoilless guns
2,177 trucks and motorcycles
2,031 hand grenades

Rank insignia 1970-1989

Level	Main										National						Regional
People's Militias
People's Militias					Hlavní velitel Lidových milicí ČSSR Commander-in-Chief of the People's Militia of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic		Náčelník hlavního štábu LM Chief of the Main Staff		Příslušník hlavního štábu LM Member of the Main Staff		Národní velitel LM National Commander		Náčelník národního štábu Chief of the National Staff		Příslušník národního štábu Member of the National Staff		Krajský velitel Regional commander		Náčelník krajského štábu Chief of the Regional Staff		Příslušník krajského štábu Member of the Regional Staff

Level	District										Battalion						Company
People's Militias
People's Militias					Okresní velitel District commander		Náčelník okresního štábu Chief of the District Staff		Příslušník okresního štábu Member of the District Staff		Velitel praporu Battalion Commander		Zástupce velitele praporu Deputy Battalion Commander		Příslušník štábu praporu Member of the Battalion Staff		Velitel roty Company Commander		Zástupce velitele roty Deputy Company Commander		Staršina roty Company Starshina

Level	Platoon				Squad
People's Militias
People's Militias	Velitel čety Platoon Commander		Zástupce velitele čety Deputy Platoon Commander		Velitel družstva Squad Commander		Milicionář Militiman

References

^ People's Mlitias, 21 February coup d'etat (Czech), Moderní dějiny.cz (6 March 2012)
^ Mlitias, called People's (Czech TV), ceskatelevize.cz (3 February 2010)

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 Archived 2009-06-10 at the Wayback Machine (in Slovak)
Lidové Milice (in Czech)
Uniforminsignia.com People's Militias rank insignia