A while back I covered Slovakia during WW2 and mentioned the Slovak army fought alongside
the Germans and other Axis armies on the Eastern Front. Today we're gonna take a look at the
Slovak Army of World War II and the Slovak Expeditionary Army Group on the Eastern Front.
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After the First World War an independent Czechslovakia saw the light of day. Some Slovaks strived
for more autonomy and some were willing to go further and strived for a seperate and
distinguished Slovak nation. The main political force behind this was the Hlinka’s Slovak
People’s Party led by the Catholic priest, Monsignor Andrej Hlinka (1864– 1938). Hlinka
died in 1938 and was succeeded by Jozef Tiso. The party program was based on the teachings
of the Catholic Church combined with nationalism, anticommunism and authoritarianism. Democracy
was rejected as an outdated concept. They believed that the current Czechslovak Republic
was a transit station for Slovaks to gain full independence. And that so-called “independence”
came in 1939. On 14 March Slovakia declared itself independent and the following day the
Germans marched into the remaining Czech lands (earlier Hitler had already gained the Sudetenland)
and the remaining parts were now called the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia. The new
Slovak Republic was on paper a democratic state. But in reality the Slovak system was
not democratic state at all since no elections ever took place.
The Slovak Army had around 30,000 men. It took part in the invasion of Poland and annexed
some of the territories while the bulk of the nation was carved up by Germany and the
USSR. The Slovak armed forces would grow to around 90,000 men. More than 40,000 Slovak
soldier would join Germany's attack on the USSR as the so-called Slovak Expeditionary
Army Group. Initially morale among these men was low and
the justifying the attack was a big task for official Slovak propaganda. Relations between
Slovakia and the USSR had been good. That's also why Hitler didn't inform the Slovak government
about his plans to invade the Soviet Union. He saw the Slovaks as unreliable fearing Slavic
fraternization. Nevertheless the Slovak leaders witnessed the amassing of German troops on
the Soviet border and offered German high command to join the attack.
The Slovak Mobile Brigade had around 3,500 men and was immediately deployed. Equipped
with ligjt Czech tanks the unit saw combat near Lipowiec (Lypovets). However, the Soviet
resistance proved to be to strong and soon the Slovaks retreated to its earlier positions.
Tank losses were considerable. A German liaison officer complained about the ineffectiveness
of the Slovaks and the Germans declined another Slovak deployment at the front. This time
they were equiped with German gear and advanced with the German armies through southern Ukraine.
When Slovak soldiers were greeted as liberators by for example Ukrainians, who had since the
Soviet annexations of Eastern Poland been living under Soviet rule, and when they witnessed
the reality of Soviet rule (dire poverty, destroyed churches and prisons filled with
executed prisoners) morale improved. Under command of General Čatloš the Slovak
Army Corps, with two infantry divisions and corps troops moved through Ukraine. The were
considered of little value by the Germans and needed to be reorganized. The bulk of
the Slovak army returned and 18,500 men stayed behind. The performed guard duties and fought
Soviet partisans near Zhitomir and later around Minsk. They carried out security tasks on
the Sea of Azov. When the Soviets counter attacked on the Mius the Slovaks were on the frontline
once again and took on a sector of 10 km in December 1941. Led by Major-General August
Malar the managed to hold their positions till July 1942 and then advanced alongside
the German 4th Panzer Army towards Rostov. The later crossed the Kuban region and helped
capturing the region of Maykop. Cassualties were less the result of battle,
but more because of sickness and malnutrition. The Germans had little sympathy for them.
In August 1942 the division set up defensive positions near Tuapse, because the drive on
the Caucasus was halted. After the loss of Stalingrad the Mobile Division hastily withdrew
via the Sea of Azov along with the Germans. Using amphibian vehicles they barily made
it across the Strait of Kerch leaving lories and artillery behind. The reorganized 1st
Slovak Infantry Division with about 5,000 men was evacuated to Crimea in March 1943.
Morale by now was very poor. This was caused by the losses, but also the Slovak soldiers
witnessed the terror committed by the advancing Germans combined with the fact that the Hungarians
took part in the campaign as well and the Slovak government saw it as very unlikely
that the former Slovak lands annexed by Hungary would return.
On Crimea meanwhile one Slovak regiment remained there when another took up positions near
Kakhovka. Here a Soviet offensive took place. I read that the regiment was smashed and whole
units defected to the Red Army. It is went from bad to worse:
The Germans saw this as well and remnants of the division were used as 'labour division'
in Italy. Others were put to work in Romania and then in Hungary.
The Slovak army continued to wear Czechoslovak uniforms albeit with new insignia. The soldiers
had green-brown uniforms and the rank-and-file soldier wore low ankle boots and puttees.
On this photo you see Slovak soldiers at the Polish front during the Polish Campaign in
1939. They were armbands with swastikas. This is interesting as the Hlinka Party had another
symbol, not the Swastika. I think they had this because the Slovak uniforms had somewhat
of the same collor as the Polish uniforms. Therefore the Slovak troops ran the risk being
seen as Polish enemy soldiers by the Germans, but swastikas would prevent this.
The helmets had also a distinguished feature to prevent friendly fire. The Slovak helmet
was the Czechoslovakian Vz32 reissued for the Slovak Army. These reissued helmets had
a blue band painted at the base of the helmet. This was most likely to distinguish them from
the Soviet forces. The double white cross was stencilled to the side of the helmets,
sometimes on both sides. The soldiers of the Slovak Army continued
to carry the vz. 24 rifle. A bolt-action carbine designed and produced in Czechoslovakia from
1924 onwards. It was developed from the German Mauser Gewehr 98 and had a similar bolt design.
It replaced the Vz. 98/22 rifle which was also based on the German model.
From the spring of 1944 is became clear to most Slovaks that the Slovak Republic would
not survive this war. Around that time partisans were dropped by the Soviet air force in the
east and center of the country to organize resistance. Slovak communists and their sympathizers
joined them. They committed acts of sabotage. They encountered almost no resistance from
Slovak authorities since the Slovak police force was inadequate for such a task. Martial
law was declared mid-August, which in reality only existed on paper. Towards the end of
the month German forces entered the country and the Slovak army revolted: around 60,000
Slovak insurgent forces were able to stop the Germans for two months. Towards the end
of October the Germans had suppressed the uprising and occupied the whole nation. It
led to murderous consequenses. Villages suspected of collaboration with the insurgent army (that
was by now called Czechoslovak Army in Slovakia) were destroyed and many people were executed.
Eventually the Red Army took over Bratislava early April 1945. With that the Slovak Republic
ceased to exist. After the war Josef Tiso among other high ranking persons the former
Slovak state were triad and executed.