Armed Forces of Slovakia

Armed Forces of the Slovak Republic (1939-1944)

At the end of January 1939, Slovak Prime Minister J. Tiso announced that the Hlinkova garda assault forces had begun military training and would later become the basis for the Slovak army. In addition, he demanded that the government of Czechoslovakia, that all Slovaks, who served in the Czechoslovak army, should be in military service in Slovakia ^[2] . On February 27, 1939, the Czechoslovak government agreed to equip the military units in Slovakia exclusively with Slovaks and to transfer by March 1, 1939 all officers of Slovak nationality from the Czech Republic and Moravia to Slovak units. At the same time, in the territory of Slovakia, with the participation of German officers, military training and reorganization of the Glinka Guard assault units continued with the aim of creating an “auxiliary army” from them ^[3] .

As a result of the German occupation and dismemberment of Czechoslovakia , on March 14, 1939 the puppet " state of Slovakia " ( Slovenský štát ) was created .

On the same day, March 14, 1939, Hungarian troops went on the offensive in Transcarpathia . Units of the eastern army of Czechoslovakia located in the region (which, on March 14, 1939, became subordinate to the Slovak government) initially took measures to counteract the advance of the Hungarian forces and disarm the militants of the " Carpathian Sich " (in particular, in the city of Khust ), but then began to withdraw. As a result, by March 17, 1939, Hungarian troops occupied the territory of the Carpathian Ukraine. On March 18, 1939, a German-Slovak treaty was signed in Vienna, according to which the Third Reich took Slovakia under its protection and acted as a guarantor of its independence. In the western part of Slovakia, a “security zone” ( Schutzzone ) was created, into which German troops were introduced.

On March 23, 1939, a German-Slovak agreement was signed in Berlin for a period of 25 years, according to which Germany received the right to deploy troops in Slovakia, build bases and other military facilities, and the Slovak government committed itself to pursuing a foreign policy and building own armed forces in agreement with the German government ^[4] .

The formation of the armed forces of Slovakia was begun on the basis of paramilitary groups of the Slovak fascists Glinkova Guard and the personnel of the Czechoslovak army units remaining in Slovakia ^[5] . Armament, armored vehicles (30 tankettes LT vz. 33 ^[6] , 27 light tanks LT vz. 34 ^[7] , 52 tanks LT vz. 35 ^{[ 8]} , 21 ^[9] tank LT vz. 40 ^[10] , 19 armored vehicles OA vz.30 , armored vehicles OA vz.27 , etc.), artillery ( Skoda 37 mm anti-tank guns , field guns, etc.), cars and tractors also belonged to the Czechoslovak army.

The armed forces of the "state of Slovakia" included:

• Ground Forces ( Slovenská Armáda )
• Air Force ( Slovenské Vzdusné Zbrane )
• auxiliary paramilitary forces:

• Air Defense Service ( Civilná Protiletecká Obrana )
• state security service ( Stráž obrany štátu, SOŠ ) - established in November 1943, disbanded on September 15, 1944

Initially, in 1939, soldiers of the Slovak army were dressed in uniforms of the Czechoslovak army with new insignia (buttonholes were introduced instead of shoulder straps; all military personnel wore red armbands with a black swastika in a white circle; in addition, some military personnel wore a helmet image of the patriarchal cross with two crossbars); later, the Slovak army wore a German uniform with a “national” patch on the sleeve ^[11] .

On March 23-31, 1939, the armed forces unsuccessfully fought defensive battles against the troops of Hungary, who seized part of the territory in eastern Slovakia.

In mid-July 1939, with the assistance of Germany, the Slovak authorities decided to create separate regular units from ethnic Germans within the Slovak army, as a result of the Volksdeutsche , the 2nd battalion of the 3rd Infantry Regiment (under the command of Major Walter Domes) and the 2nd artillery division of the 12th artillery regiment (under the command of Major Karol Pihl). These units did not receive special status, but for the Volksdeutsche there was a slight difference in the insignia - although they were dressed in the standard uniform of the Slovak army, they wore a shield with a swastika on the collar ^{[12] [5]} .

On the night of August 25-26, 1939, an Abwehr sabotage group was deployed from Slovakia to Poland under the command of Lieutenant Herzner, whose task was to ensure the capture of the strategic tunnel on the Kosice - Bohumin railway line .

Subsequently, after the start of the German invasion of Poland in September 1939, Slovakian troops invaded Poland and took part in battles with units of the Polish army ^[5] . In addition, 175 aircraft from the 4th Luftwaffe air fleet were based at Slovak airfields ^[13] .

The personnel of the Slovak army was also used to suppress the protests of the population:

• So, on October 30, 1940, a major miners' strike in Handlova was crushed by the gendarmerie and troops using tanks and armored vehicles ^[4]

On November 24, 1940, the Slovak government signed the Tripartite Pact .

Later, military construction of airfields and other infrastructure began in Slovakia to provide the German forces with the army group Heeresgruppe B ^[14] .

In addition, in 1940-1941. Germans handed over to Slovakia 37 captured tanks Pz.Kpfw.38 (t) Ausf.S ^[15]

June 22, 1941, on the day of the German attack on the USSR , a battle group of the Slovak army (3,500 most combat-ready Slovak military personnel from the "mobile brigade" and several light tanks of Czechoslovak production), led by German officers, attacked the Soviet forces along with the German 17th Wehrmacht army troops in the area of ​​the city of Lipovets . The attack was unsuccessful - the Slovaks suffered losses, most of their tanks were shot down and they retreated to their original positions ^[16]

On June 23, 1941, the government of J. Tiso declared war on the USSR ^[17] and sent to the eastern front the mobile group Kalinchak and the Slovak Expeditionary Force , which participated in military operations against Soviet troops. In addition, the Slovak units carried out security services and participated in the struggle against Soviet partisans in the occupied territory of the USSR ^{[18] [5]} .

• At the end of July 1941, six air squadrons of the Slovak Air Force were sent to the Eastern Front.

On November 25, 1941, the Slovak government signed the Anti-Comintern Pact .

On December 13, 1941, the government of J. Tiso declared war on Great Britain and the USA ^[19] , however Great Britain and the USA did not declare war on Slovakia throughout the war ^[17] .

In 1942, the Germans handed over to Slovakia 14 reconnaissance aircraft FW.189A-1 , which was equipped with the 1st reconnaissance air squadron (also directed to the Eastern Front).

After the encirclement of German troops near Stalingrad and the beginning of the Soviet offensive in the North Caucasus, the Slovak units, which were part of Army Group “A” , were demoralized, cases of desertion of Slovak troops and their transition to the side of Soviet troops and Soviet partisans became more frequent ^[20] .

• So, on May 15, 1943, in the area of ​​the village of Remezy (BSSR), captain Jan Nalepka, chief of staff of the 101st infantry regiment, went over to the Soviet partisans with a group of officers and soldiers of the regiment. On May 18, 1943, a partisan detachment of Czechs and Slovaks was created in the Soviet partisan formation of A. N. Saburov ^[21] . On June 8, 1943, they were joined by a Slovak soldier Martin Corbel, who arrived in a tank - so the partisans received a serviceable LT vz.38 tank with ammunition ^[22]
• On October 29-30, 1943, in the region of Melitopol, 2,600 troops of the 1st Slovak Infantry Division sided with the Soviet troops ^[23] .

In June 1943, the government of J. Tiso ordered 58 LT-38 tanks from the Germans for the Slovak army, after which the Germans delivered 37 Pz.Kpfw. 38 (t) tanks of various modifications to the Slovak army ^[24] , 7 PzKpfw III Ausf.N tanks ^{[ 25]} , 16 PzKpfw II Ausf.F tanks and 18 anti-tank self-propelled guns Sd.Kfz.138 Marder III ^[26] . In addition, in 1943-1944. the Germans transferred to the Slovak army 30 tracked artillery tractor tractors TVI ^[27] , 45 pcs. le.FH18 field howitzers for horse-drawn batteries and 8 pcs. field howitzers le.FH18 / 40 for motorized batteries ^[28] .

Subsequently, the Slovak units on the Eastern Front became part of the German army group Southern Ukraine created on March 31, 1944.

In the spring of 1944, with the permission of the German command, the East Slovak Army was created.

On August 12, 1944, Tiso introduced martial law throughout Slovakia ^[29] . After the start of the Slovak uprising , during which soldiers and units of the Slovak army sided with the rebels, on August 29, 1944, the German command began the disarmament of the Slovak army, whose troops did not resist the German troops. Subsequently, some officers of the Slovak army continued their military service on the side of Nazi Germany, some of the soldiers were demobilized, but most of the troops were sent to concentration camps ^[30] .

In the aftermath of the Slovak uprising, the Germans replenished the personnel of the Slovak units, who continued to serve on the side of the Third Reich at the expense of citizens of the Third Reich of Slovak origin, and a number of Volksdeutsche Germans who had previously served in the Slovak armed forces were transferred to serve in the German army ^[5] .

In general, during the war, Slovakia mobilized 80 thousand people for military service, of which 50 thousand were sent to the Eastern Front. The war against the USSR directly involved the military units of Slovakia, equivalent to 2.5 divisions: two infantry divisions, three artillery regiments (one howitzer regiment, one anti-tank artillery regiment and one anti-aircraft artillery regiment), one air regiment and one tank battalion - in total , 42.5 thousand military personnel, 246 guns and mortars, 35 tanks and 160 aircraft (including 16 Messerschmitt Bf.109E3 fighters , 25 Avia B.534 fighters , 30 Letov Š-328 light bombers, etc.) ^{[17 ]} . In addition, the Orel-1 ersatz armored train was built, which was used to protect the Pinsk - Gomel railway line ^[31]

• The losses of the Slovak army on the Eastern Front amounted to 1,565 military personnel killed, died from wounds and diseases and missing, as well as 5,200 prisoners ^[32]
• taking into account the wounded, the losses of the Slovak army on the Eastern Front amounted to more than 2 thousand troops killed, died from wounds and illnesses, missing and wounded ^[17] .

In addition to the armed forces of Slovakia, citizens of Slovakia served in the armed forces of the Third Reich, including in units and troops of the SS .

• in 1944, with the “ Abvergrupp-218 ” (attached to the headquarters of the commander of the German troops in Slovakia), the creation of military units began. The 2nd special detachment “Avergergroup-218” was formed from 220 Slovak fascists admitted to German military service ^[33] ;
• Slovaks served in the 4th company of the 502th SS jaeger battalion ^[34]
• in 1944, in the territory of Slovakia, from the Germans and Slovaks the task force “ SS-Jagdeinsatz Slowakei ” was formed, which was subordinate to the “ SS-Jagdverband Südost ” SS fighter compound ^[35] .
• later, from the Germans and Slovaks, the Waffen-SS "Schneeewittchen" combat group (" SS-Kampfgruppe" Schneewittchen " ") was formed, which took part in the fight against partisans

In total, up to 6 thousand Slovaks ^[36] and 12 thousand Germans living in Slovakia “Volksdeutsche” ^[12] (the number of people serving in the Wehrmacht, divisions and troops of the SS during the war from 70% to 80% of the total number of Germans living on the territory of Slovakia - male Volksdeutsche from 17 to 40 years old) ^[37] . In addition, Volksdeutsche ethnic Germans living in Slovakia have served in the Freiwillige Schutzstaffel armed forces subordinate to the “ general SS ” since 1939 ^[38] . Another 850 Slovak citizens served in the German construction units and 2000 in the “ Luftwaffe assistants ” ^[39] .

Armed Forces of the Slovak Republic (since 1993)

The armed forces of Slovakia were re-created in 1993, after the collapse of Czechoslovakia .

On September 1, 1994, the High Command of the Armed Forces of Slovakia was transformed into the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Slovakia. Subsequently, until the end of 1994, the number of generals and officers was reduced, and the number of armed forces was reduced to 46,667 people ^[40] .

Since 1994, Slovakia has actively participated in the NATO Partnership for Peace program.

In 1995, the number of armed forces was 47 thousand people.

Slovakia sent troops to the UN peacekeeping contingent in Angola ( United Nations Angola Verification Mission III , 1995-1997) ^[41] .

In August 1995, Slovakia took part in the exercises “Cooperative Nugget 95” in Louisiana, and one reinforced platoon (50 military personnel) was sent to the joint combat training center ^[42] .

In the spring of 1996, the creation of territorial troops (“Domoobrana”) began - 43 mobilization points were created on the territory of the country, and the recording of officers and volunteers began to create 180 companies in each region of Slovakia. Small arms and armored personnel carriers were transferred to the arsenal of “home-made”, however, in the case of wartime, re-equipment of these units with antitank weapons was envisaged ^[43] .

In 1996, the creation of the “quick response battalion”, the first unit modeled on the units of the armed forces of NATO countries, was begun as part of the Slovak armed forces. The battalion included three mechanized companies, an anti-tank unit, a mortar battery, an MTO platoon, and an anti-aircraft unit. The staff of the battalion was 636 people (63 officers, 26 warrant officers and 547 sergeants). The place of permanent deployment of the battalion was the city of Martin ^[44] .

In 1998, Slovakia sent troops to the UNDOF , the UN peacekeeping contingent to serve in the Golan Heights . In February 2008, it was decided to withdraw the Slovak peacekeepers ^[45] .

After the beginning of the summer of 1999, NATO's operations to stabilize the situation in Kosovo and Metohija , Slovakia sent troops to the KFOR contingent.

In addition, Slovakia deployed troops to the NATO contingent in Bosnia and Herzegovina .

In preparation for joining NATO, Slovakia from the late 1990s began to reorganize the armed forces and modernize the material and technical base of the army. For 2001-2004 , military allocations were envisaged in the amount of 1.89% of GDP (about 400 million US dollars per year): up to 25% of these funds were earmarked for the modernization of weapons, the rest - for the maintenance of equipment and personnel.

In 2000, the Slovak government decided to destroy all six existing Oka operational-tactical missile systems, the destruction was carried out in Slovakia (at factories in the cities of Novaki and Trencin), the United States financed the elimination of the complexes ^[46] .

Also, in 2000, Slovakia sent a peacekeeping contingent to the UN mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea -UNMEE (in February 2002, one soldier of the Slovak army died in a car accident) ^[47] .

In 2001, the number of armed forces was 33 thousand people, including: the number of Ground Forces - 19.8 thousand people, the Air Force - 10.2 thousand people. The number of reserves (national guard) is 20 thousand people, paramilitary groups - 2.6 thousand people. (including the internal security forces - 1.4 thousand people).

Since 2002, a transition has begun from universal military duty to contracting the armed forces. On August 1, 2005, universal military duty was abolished, and a transition to a contract army took place.

Also, since 2002, Slovakia has been participating in the war in Afghanistan .

On November 15, 2002, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia and Ukraine created a multinational engineering battalion “Tisa” with a four-troop composition (from Slovakia, one engineering company was included in the battalion) ^[48] .

At the beginning of 2003, the Military Ordinate of Slovakia began operations.

Slovakian military personnel are part of the UN peacekeeping contingent on the island of Cyprus ^[49] .

Slovakia took part in the war in Iraq ; in 2003, the government sent troops to the international coalition forces . The contingent was withdrawn from Iraq at the end of 2007 ^[50] , the loss of the Slovak contingent in Iraq amounted to 4 soldiers.

• In addition, under the NATO Training Mission-Iraq program, Slovakia sent 5 military instructors to Iraq (ceased operations and left the country in April 2007) and allocated 53 thousand US dollars to finance the Iraqi security forces training program ^[51]

On March 29, 2004, Slovakia joined NATO and committed to increase military spending to 2% of GDP (although in fact, in 2005-2007, military spending amounted to 1.6% of GDP) ^[52] .

In 2006, the armed forces totaled 26,200.

On October 1, 2007, the NATO Training Center, the Explosive Ordnance Disposal Center of Excellence , EOD COE, was opened in Trencin ^[54]

Also, in October 2007, Slovakia signed an agreement on military cooperation with Israel ^[55] .

In April 2008, Slovakia and Kazakhstan signed an agreement on military cooperation. In particular, the agreement provides for the training of officers of the armed forces of Kazakhstan at courses in the city of Liptovsky Mikulas and on the basis of the NATO Partnership for Peace Center, as well as the internship of Kazakhstani military doctors in the central military hospital of Slovakia in the city of Ruzomberok ^[56] .

In 2009, Slovakia bought 10 Iveco LMV armored vehicles ^[57] , in the future, their number was increased to 40 vehicles ^[58] . The Iveco LMV M65E armored vehicles of the Slovak armed forces are equipped with a combat module developed by the Slovak company EVPU Nova Dubnica in cooperation with the Czech military repair company VOP-026 Sternbek, the cost of one vehicle is 27 million kroons ^[59] .

On March 28, 2013, a Memorandum on military cooperation was signed between the defense ministries of Georgia and Slovakia ^[60] .

The military budget of Slovakia in 2010 amounted to 1.09 billion US dollars ^[61] .

As of 2011, the total strength of the armed forces was 16,530.

• Ground forces : 7322, includes a headquarters, two mechanized brigades, a separate reconnaissance regiment, one artillery division, one engineering battalion and one chemical defense battalion. It has 245 T-72M tanks, 383 BMPs, 132 armored personnel carriers, 5340 field artillery guns (including 119 Dana self-propelled howitzers, 46 Gvozdika self-propelled howitzers, 51 D-30 towed howitzers, 16 pcs. howitzers M-200), 84 MLRS, 12 pcs. 120 mm mortars, 425 anti-tank missile launchers, 48 ​​pcs. SAM ^[61] .
• Air Force : 4190 people, 22 MiG-29 fighters (12 of them upgraded to NATO standards), three Su-22M4, 15 pcs. L-39 , 16 combat helicopters Mi-24 , 14 pcs. Mi-8 and Mi-17 helicopters , six Mi-2 ^[61] .

According to official figures from the US Embassy in Slovakia, only from 1993 to 2013, the United States provided Slovakia with military assistance worth about $ 77 million; in addition, there were expenses for the education and training of Slovak soldiers - in the amount of $ 15 million ^[62] .

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• J. Bystrický. Pozemné vojská Slovenskej armády na východnom fronte (1941-1945). // Slovensko a druhá svetová vojna. Bratislava: MO SR, 2000.
• Mark W. Axworthy. Axis Slovakia: Hitler's Slavic Wedge 1938-1945. New York, 2002.
• I. Baka. Slovenská republika a nacistická agresia proti Poľsku. Bratislava: Vojenský historický ústav, 2006
• Major N. Efremov. Transfer of the Slovak army to a contractual basis // Foreign Military Review, No. 9 (702), September 2005. p. 70

• Official page of the Ministry of Defense of Slovakia
• Official page of the armed forces of Slovakia