Svazarm or Union for Cooperation with the

Army An army, ground force or land force is an armed force that fights primarily on land. In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include aviation assets by ...

(

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus *Czech (surnam ...

: Svaz pro spolupráci s armádou / Svazarm, Slovak: Zväz pre spoluprácu s armádou / Zväzarm) was, in Communist Czechoslovakia, the largest "

paramilitary A paramilitary is a military that is not a part of a country's official or legitimate armed forces. The Oxford English Dictionary traces the use of the term "paramilitary" as far back as 1934. Overview Though a paramilitary is, by definiti ...

" organisation, although many of the activities that Svazarm provided for its members were more reminiscent of a

Boy Scout A Scout, Boy Scout, Girl Scout or, in some countries, a Pathfinder is a participant in the Scout Movement, usually aged 10–18 years, who engage in learning scoutcraft and outdoor and other special interest activities. Some Scout organizatio ...

movement than of a regimented paramilitary group. Established in 1951, the Svazarm was an almost exact copy of the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

's DOSAAF, however, with massively scaled down maritime activities as Czechoslovakia was

landlocked A landlocked country is a country that has no territory connected to an ocean or whose coastlines lie solely on endorheic basins. Currently, there are 44 landlocked countries, two of them doubly landlocked (Liechtenstein and Uzbekistan), and t ...

. However,

canoeing Canoeing is an activity which involves paddling a canoe with a single-bladed paddle. In some parts of Europe, canoeing refers to both canoeing and kayaking, with a canoe being called an 'open canoe' or Canadian. A few of the recreational ...

was still a popular activity. In 1985, it had about one million members, 60% of whom were under 35 years of age.

Activities

The activities the Svazarm provided were extremely diverse, ranging from

medical Medicine is the science and Praxis (process), practice of caring for patients, managing the Medical diagnosis, diagnosis, prognosis, Preventive medicine, prevention, therapy, treatment, Palliative care, palliation of their injury or disease, ...

training to

dog The dog (''Canis familiaris'' or ''Canis lupus familiaris'') is a domesticated descendant of the gray wolf. Also called the domestic dog, it was selectively bred from a population of wolves during the Late Pleistocene by hunter-gatherers. ...

training. Dog lovers would be instructed in the training and breeding of dogs suitable for military purposes, especially

German Shepherd The German Shepherd, also known in Britain as an Alsatian, is a German Dog breed, breed of working dog of medium to large size. The breed was developed by Max von Stephanitz using various Old German herding dogs, traditional German herding dog ...

Shortwave radio Shortwave radio is radio transmission using radio frequencies in the shortwave bands (SW). There is no official definition of the band range, but it always includes all of the High frequency, high frequency band (HF), which extends from 3 to 30& ...

operation was another popular activity, and was also useful for creating future

radio Radio is the technology of communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 3 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmitter connec ...

operators in the army. A more specialised branch of the Svazarm, based at

Košice Košice is the largest city in eastern Slovakia. It is situated on the river Hornád at the eastern reaches of the Slovak Ore Mountains, near the border with Hungary. With a population of approximately 230,000, Košice is the second-largest cit ...

, trained pilots for the air force. Training included at least twenty flight hours of glider training and forty hours of basic training on motorised

aeroplane An airplane (American English), or aeroplane (Commonwealth English), informally plane, is a fixed-wing aircraft that is propelled forward by thrust from a jet engine, Propeller (aircraft), propeller, or rocket engine. Airplanes come in a vari ...

s, as well as the necessary

aviation Aviation includes the activities surrounding mechanical flight and the aircraft industry. ''Aircraft'' include fixed-wing and rotary-wing types, morphable wings, wing-less lifting bodies, as well as lighter-than-air aircraft such as h ...

theory A theory is a systematic and rational form of abstract thinking about a phenomenon, or the conclusions derived from such thinking. It involves contemplative and logical reasoning, often supported by processes such as observation, experimentation, ...

. There were also sections: Model airplanes and gliding (formally DOSLET), motor sport section (motorcycles and cars) and all sorts of shooting sports. Svazarm also operated its own hi-fi club and record label, Čs. Hifi-klub, which distributed its releases primarily to club members. The repertoire included Czechoslovak and Warsaw Pact as well as Western artists.

Svazarm members in the armed forces

The Czechoslovakian

military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a d ...

were usually less than impressed with the recruits that the Svazarm sent them, complaining that Svazarm members were "too soft" and lacked military knowledge. As military training for Svazarm members totalled 25 hours per year, and nearly all Svazarm instructors were insufficiently trained, this complaint was not unfounded. Many Svazarm members thought that as any

World War III World War III, also known as the Third World War, is a hypothetical future global conflict subsequent to World War I (1914–1918) and World War II (1939–1945). It is widely predicted that such a war would involve all of the great powers, ...

would be fought with

nuclear weapon A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission or atomic bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions (thermonuclear weapon), producing a nuclear exp ...

s, conventional military training was a complete waste of time and thus took up an apathetic view of the entire Svazarm

enterprise Enterprise (or the archaic spelling Enterprize) may refer to: Business and economics Brands and enterprises * Enterprise GP Holdings, an energy holding company * Enterprise plc, a UK civil engineering and maintenance company * Enterpris ...

. It was also rumoured that many Svazarm trainers were not too enthusiastic themselves and would tell their students how to avoid being

conscripted Conscription, also known as the draft in the United States and Israel, is the practice in which the compulsory enlistment in a national service, mainly a military service, is enforced by law. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it contin ...

References

External links

Czechoslovakia - A Country Study
{{Authority control Organizations based in Czechoslovakia Military of Czechoslovakia 1951 establishments in Czechoslovakia Organizations established in 1951 1990 disestablishments in Czechoslovakia Organizations disestablished in 1990