A line of 830 bunkers was to defend the capital city of Prague

A line of 830 bunkers was to defend the capital city of Prague

The immediate protection of Prague was provided by a fortress half-arc line consisting of 830 light fortification buildings. Even today, after almost 75 years, we can find bunkers in the vicinity of the capital that have survived the liquidation works from the occupation. Although the emphasis on the location and method of fortification of Czechoslovakia’s…

The tragedy of the last days of the Second World War in Velké Meziříčí

The tragedy of the last days of the Second World War in Velké Meziříčí

In the last days of the war there was an early uprising in Velké Meziříčí, which was immediately suppressed by the Germans. After brutal interrogation, the occupiers executed several dozen people and declared martial law in the town. At the end of the war, Velké Meziříčí, which was crossed by the important Brno-Prague road, had…

Avtomat Fyodorov – Weapon capable of fully automatic fire

Avtomat Fyodorov – Weapon capable of fully automatic fire

Not so long ago, it was a de facto ideologically motivated duty to declare that the best results in scientific and technical research were always achieved by Russian or Soviet inventors. After 1989, however, the opposite extreme is often encountered. Of course, these ideological shifts also affect weapons. Surprisingly, there is still one interesting type…

Mannlicher M1895

Mannlicher M1895

The Austro-Hungarian army rifle Mannlicher model 1895 calibre 8×50mmR Mannlicher (military designation 8 mm Repetiergewehr Modell 95, abbreviated as M 95) represents the most typical weapon of our great-grandfathers. In various modifications (with a total length of 1,270 mm for the rifle and 990 mm for the carbine) it was also used by the other…

The bloodiest war in American history, North versus South

The bloodiest war in American history, North versus South

It was the bloodiest war in American history, killing 210,000 soldiers and claiming a total of 625,000 lives, including civilians. The war killed 30% of all male residents of the South between the ages of 18 and 40. After the Battle of Gettysburg, the victors collected the discarded rifles and took them to Washington, D.C.,…

Tank Char B-1

Tank Char B-1

The road to the standard French heavy tank was a complicated one. From the commissioning of the development to the entry into service took more than a decade. Several companies undertook the development during the 1920s, with Renault emerging as the winner, whose prototype was accepted into service in 1929 after modifications. In 1929, a…

Trench knife pattern 17

Trench knife pattern 17

In 1917, the Austro-Hungarian soldiers got their hands on an inconspicuous weapon, which fully characterised the unprecedented brutality of trench warfare, in which there was no place for chivalrous manners or flashy weapons. It fulfilled all the elements of mass consumption and its purposeful shape was underlined by its durable construction. The cheap materials used…