Editing Army of the Czech Republic (section)

==History==

=== Czech lands ===
[[File:Husité - Jenský kodex.jpg|thumb|Battle between [[Proto-Protestantism|Proto-Protestant]] [[Hussites]] and [[Catholic]] Crusaders; Jena Codex, 15th century]]
The military history of the [[Czechs|Czech people]] dates back to the [[Middle Ages]] and the creation of the [[Duchy of Bohemia]] and the [[Kingdom of Bohemia]]. During the [[Hussite Wars]], [[Jan Žižka]] became a military leader of such skill and eminence that the Hussite legacy became an important and lasting part of the Czech military traditions.<ref name="Gawdiak">{{cite book|editor1-last=Gawdiak|editor1-first=Ihor|title=Czechoslovakia: a country study|date=1989|publisher=Federal Research Division, Library of Congress|pages=218–219|edition=3rd|url=http://www.marines.mil/News/Publications/MCPEL/Electronic-Library-Display/Article/898249/country-study-czechoslovakia/}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Matuška|first1=Matěj|last2=Syka|first2=Jan|title=Husitský válečník: Kdo byli boží bojovníci...|date=2015|publisher=Grada Publishing|isbn=978-80-247-5156-6|page=162}}</ref> The contemporary Czech Army derives its legacy from the [[Proto-Protestantism|proto-Protestant]] [[Hussite Wars|Hussite Army]], with many of today's units bearing names in honour of Hussite Army personalities or formations.

When the [[World War I]] broke out, the [[Czech Crown lands]] were part of the [[Austria-Hungary]] and the colonised Czech population had to serve in its army. From 1914, on the background of [[Tomáš_Masaryk#Czechoslovak_Legion_and_US_visit|attempts to attain independence]], various units composed of Czech nationals (with up to 10% of [[Slovakia|Slovak]] nationals), mainly POWs, were established, fighting as part of the French, Italian and Russian forces against the [[Entente powers]]. Beginning in 1916, these [[Czechoslovak Legion]]s gained increasingly independent status. Following the 1918 [[Czechoslovak declaration of independence]], the newly established Czechoslovak Army derived its legacy primarily from these legions rather than from the Austrian Habsburg Imperial Army.

Official military names since 1918:

* 1918–1950 - Czechoslovak Armed Forces (this official name was given to the Czechoslovak Army on March 19, 1920, on the basis of the Armed Forces Act)
* 1950–1954 - Czechoslovak Army
* 1954–1989 - Czechoslovak People's Army
* 1990–1992 - Czechoslovak Army
* since 1993 - Army of the Czech Republic (ACR)

=== Czechoslovakia ===
{{Main|Czechoslovak Army|Czechoslovak People's Army}}
The [[Czechoslovak Army|Czechoslovak Armed Forces]] were originally formed on 30 June 1918 when 6,000 members of the [[Czechoslovak Legion in France]], which had been established in 1914, took oath and received a battle banner in [[Darney]], [[France]], thus preceding the official [[History of Czechoslovakia (1918–38)|declaration of Czechoslovak independence]] by four months. There were also 50 000 legion soldiers in Russia at that time. The military achievements of the Czechoslovak legions on the [[Czechoslovak Legion in France|French]], [[Czechoslovak Legion in Italy|Italian]] and especially [[Czechoslovak Legion|Russian]] front became one of the main arguments that the Czechoslovak pro-independence leaders, especially for [[T. G. Masaryk]] in America,<ref>PRECLÍK, Vratislav. Masaryk a legie (Masaryk and legions), váz. kniha, 219 pages, first issue - vydalo nakladatelství Paris Karviná, Žižkova 2379 (734 01 Karviná, CZ) ve spolupráci s Masarykovým demokratickým hnutím (Masaryk Democratic Movement, Prague), 2019, {{ISBN|978-80-87173-47-3}}, pp.17 - 25, 33 - 45, 70 – 96, 100- 140, 159 – 184, 187 - 199</ref>  could use to gain the support for the country's independence by the [[Allies of World War I]].

In 1938, [[Serviceman|servicemen]] of the Czechoslovak Army and the [[State Defense Guard (Czechoslovakia)|State Defense Guard]] fought in an undeclared border war against the German-backed [[Sudetendeutsches Freikorps]] as well as [[Second Polish Republic|Polish]] and [[Kingdom of Hungary (1920–46)|Hungarian]] paramilitary forces. As a result of the [[Munich Agreement]], areas heavily populated by ethnic [[Sudeten Germans|German speaking people]] were incorporated into the [[Nazi Germany|Third Reich]] and military-aged men living there were subject to being drafted into the [[Wehrmacht]]. In 1939, after the [[Slovak State]] proclaimed its independence and the remainder of [[Carpathian Ruthenia]] was occupied and annexed by [[Kingdom of Hungary (1920–1946)|Hungary]], the [[German occupation of Czechoslovakia|German occupation of the Czech Lands]] followed and the [[Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia]] was proclaimed after the negotiations with [[Emil Hácha]]. The Protectorate's government possessed its own armed force, the [[Government Army]] (6,500 men), tasked with public security and [[rearguard]] duties. On the other side of the conflict, a number of Czechoslovak units and formations served with the [[Polish Army]] ([[Czechoslovak Legion (1939)|Czechoslovak Legion]]), the [[French Army]], the [[Royal Air Force]], the [[British Army]] (the [[1st Czechoslovak Armoured Brigade]]), and the [[Red Army]] ([[I Corps (Czechoslovakia)|I Corps]]). Four Czech and Slovak-manned RAF squadrons were transferred to Czechoslovak control in late 1945.

[[File:Czech army Sgt. Van Kmecik and Croatian army Master Sgt. Bravko Horvat discuss patrol routes.jpg|thumbnail|left|[[Croatian Army]] soldier discusses patrol routes with a [[Czech Army]] soldier (left)]]

From 1954<ref>{{cite book|last1=Burian|first1=Michal|last2=Rýc|first2=Jiří|date=2007|title=Historie spojovacího vojska|trans-title=History of [Czechoslovak] Signal Corps|language=cs|location=Prague|publisher=Ministerstvo obrany – Agentura vojenských informací a služeb|isbn=978-80-7278-414-1|page=148}}</ref> until 1989, the Army was known as the [[Czechoslovak People's Army]] (ČSLA).<ref>For more information on the Czechoslovak Army during the Cold War, see Gordon L. Rottman, ''Warsaw Pact Ground Forces'', [[Osprey Publishing]], 1987</ref> Although the ČSLA, as formed in 1945, included both Soviet- and British-equipped/trained expatriate troops, the "Western" soldiers had been purged from the ČSLA after 1948 when the [[Czechoslovak coup d'état of 1948|communists took power]]. The ČSLA offered no resistance to the invasion mounted by the Soviets in 1968 in reaction to the "[[Prague Spring]]", and was extensively reorganized by the Soviets following the re-imposition of communist rule in Prague.

Of the approximately 201,000 personnel on active duty in the ČSLA in 1987, about 145,000, or about 72 percent, served in the ground forces (commonly referred to as the [[army]]). About 100,000 of these were conscripts.<ref>Library of Congress Country Study: Czechoslovakia, [http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query2/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+cs0133) Ground Forces], 1987</ref> There were two military districts, [[Western Military District (Czechoslovakia)|Western]] and [[Eastern Military District (Czechoslovakia)|Eastern]]. A 1989 listing of forces shows two Czechoslovak armies in the west, the [[1st Army (Czechoslovakia)|1st Army]] at [[Příbram]] with one tank division and three motor rifle divisions, the [[4th Army (Czechoslovakia)|4th Army]] at [[Písek]] with two tank divisions and two motor rifle divisions. In the Eastern Military District, there were two tank divisions, the [[13th Tank Division (Czechoslovakia)|13th]] and [[14th Tank Division (Czechoslovakia)|14th]], with a supervisory headquarters at [[Trenčín]] in the Slovak part of the country.<ref>Orbat.com, [http://www.orbat.com/site/history/historical/nato/warsawpact.html Warsaw Pact Order of Battle 1989] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303230623/http://www.orbat.com/site/history/historical/nato/warsawpact.html |date=2016-03-03 }}, accessed 2 June 2010</ref>

During the [[Cold War]], the ČSLA was equipped primarily with Soviet arms, although certain arms like the [[OT-64 SKOT]] armored personnel carrier, the [[L-29|L-29 ''Delfín'']] and [[Aero L-39 Albatros|L-39 ''Albatros'']] aircraft, the [[P-27 (weapon)|P-27 ''Pancéřovka'']] antitank rocket launcher, the [[vz. 58]] assault rifle or the [[Uk vz. 59]] machine gun were of Czechoslovak design.

After the fall of communism during the [[Velvet Revolution]] in 1989, the [[Czechoslovak People's Army]] was renamed back to the [[Czechoslovak Army]] and was completely transformed as well.

===After 1992 (dissolution of Czechoslovakia)===
{{update section|date=April 2023}}
[[File:Afghanistan - Czech BVP2 tanks are firing.JPG|thumb|Czech [[BMP-2|BVP-2]] firing in Afghanistan]]
[[File:Czech soldiers participate in exercise Combined Resolve at the Joint Multinational Readiness Center in Hohenfels, Germany, Nov. 15, 2013 131115-A-HE359-010.jpg|thumbnail|Czech Army Soldiers to participate in exercise Combined Resolve at the [[Joint Multinational Readiness Center]] in Hohenfels, Germany]]
The Army of the Czech Republic was formed after the Czechoslovak Armed Forces split after the 31 December 1992 peaceful dissolution of [[Czechoslovakia]]. Czech forces stood at 90,000 in 1993. They were reduced to around 65,000 in 11 combat brigades and the Air Force in 1997, to 63,601 in 1999,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.defenceandstrategy.eu/filemanager/files/file.php?file=6406|title=Starting points for professionalization of the armed forces|language=cs|year=2000|access-date=2008-06-27}}</ref> and to 35,000 in 2005. At the same time, the forces were modernized and reoriented towards a defensive posture. In 2004, the army transformed itself into a fully professional organization and compulsory military service was abolished. The Army maintains an active reserve.

The [[Czech Republic]] is a member of the [[United Nations]] and the [[Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe]].  In March 1999, the Czech Republic joined [[Enlargement of NATO#Vilnius Group|NATO]]. Since 1990, the ACR and the Czech Armed Forces have contributed to numerous peacekeeping and humanitarian operations, including [[IFOR]], [[SFOR]], and [[EUFOR Althea]] in [[Bosnia and Herzegovina|Bosnia]], [[Operation Desert Shield (Gulf War)|Desert Shield]]/[[Desert Storm]], [[Afghanistan]], [[Kosovo]], [[Albania]], [[Turkey]], [[Pakistan]] and with the Coalition forces in [[Iraq]].

Current deployments (2019):

*[[Lithuania]]: NATO Operation ([[NATO Enhanced Forward Presence]]) - 230 soldiers
*[[Latvia]]: NATO Operation ([[NATO Enhanced Forward Presence]]) - 60 soldiers
*[[Afghanistan]]: NATO Operation ([[Resolute Support Mission]]) - 390 soldiers
*[[Estonia]], Latvia and Lithuania: NATO Operation ([[Baltic Air Policing]]) - 95 soldiers, 5x [[Jas 39 Gripen]]
*[[Kosovo]]: NATO Operation ([[Kosovo Force|KFOR]]) - 9 soldiers
*[[Mali]]: EU military training mission ([[EUTM Mali]]) - 120 soldiers
*[[Mali]]: UN peacekeeping mission ([[United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali|MINUSMA]]) - 5 soldiers
*[[Somalia]]: EU Operation Atalanta ([[European Union Naval Force Somalia – Operation ATALANTA|NAVFOR]]) - 3 soldiers
*[[Sinai Peninsula|Sinai]]:  International peacekeeping force ([[Multinational Force and Observers|MFO]]) - 18 soldiers
*[[Iraq]]:  Military intervention against the [[Islamic State]] ([[Operation Inherent Resolve|OIR]]) - 31 soldiers (air advisory team), 12 soldiers (chemical unit)
*[[Mediterranean Sea]]: EU military operation ([[European Union Naval Force Mediterranean|EU Navfor Med]]) - 5 soldiers
*[[Bosnia and Herzegovina]]: Military deployment to oversee the military implementation of the [[Dayton Agreement]] ([[EUFOR Althea|European Union Force Althea]]) - 2 soldiers
*[[Golan Heights]]: UN peacekeeping mission ([[United Nations Disengagement Observer Force|UNDOF]]) - 3 soldiers
*[[Democratic Republic of the Congo|DR Congo]]: UN peacekeeping mission ([[United Nations Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo|MONUC]]) - 2 military observers
*[[Mali]]: UN peacekeeping mission ([[United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali|MINUSMA]]) - 2 military observers
*[[Kosovo]]: UN peacekeeping mission ([[United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo|UNMIK]]) - 2 military observers
*[[Central African Republic]]: UN peacekeeping mission ([[United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic|MINUSCA]]) - 3 military observers