Slovakia

Czechoslovakia was a new nation state that appeared on the map of Europe at the end of World War I. It united three provinces from the former country of Austria-Hungary: the Czech-majority provinces of Bohemia and Moravia from the Austrian Empire and the Slovak-majority province of Slovakia from the Kingdom of Hungary. The Czechs and Slovaks shared a similar (but not identical) language, and the two peoples were to cooperate together in a federal Czechoslovakia. So much for theory. In actuality, the richer and more numerous Czechs tended to run the nation for their benefit, alienating many Slovaks.

Slovak grievances came to a boil after Germany annexed the mixed Czech-German inhabited Sudetenland from Czechoslovakia in 1938. At the same time, Hungary seized the southern quarter of Slovakia, with its mixed Hungarian and Slovak population.

Over the succeeding months, escalating confrontations between the Czechs and Slovaks weakened the Czechoslovakian government, until finally German troops entered the country and occupied Bohemia and Moravia. The Slovaks used this opportunity to establish their own independent state.

Independent Slovakia was heavily dependent on Germany. Although officially a German protectorate, German troops did not occupy the country, and Slovakia pursued its own foreign policy, albeit strongly pro-German.

Slovakia inherited some resources of the Czechoslovakian Army--a few tanks, aircraft, and other military equipment. With this equipment, Slovakia began raising its own armed forces. This proceeded extremely slowly, as Slovakia lacked financial and industrial resources to move quickly. Furthermore, Slovakia lacked an experienced officer corps. The former Czechoslovakian Army had been dominated by Czech officers, with few Slovaks rising above the rank of sergeant.

By the time of the German invasion of Poland, almost the entire Slovakian Army was still in training. The Slovaks, however, not only permitted the Germans to pass through their country to attack Poland, they also sent what forces they could to gain revenge on the Poles.

When Germany annexed the Sudetenland in 1938, Poland also seized the Teschen (Cieszyn) district (the southern half of hex 37:1831) from Moravia and tiny parts of the Carpathians from Slovakia (too small to show at Europa scale). In reward for Slovakian participation against Poland, Germany in 1940 allowed Slovakia to regain its former territory and actually to annex some additional territory from German-occupied central Poland.

The Slovakian forces that entered Poland consisted of the trained elements of the three divisions Slovakia was forming. These were organized in two ad hoc brigades, the 1st with the headquarters of the 1st Division and six infantry battalions, supported by engineers and artillery, and the 3rd with the headquarters of the 3rd Division and two mixed motorcycle/cavalry battalions, supported by artillery. These brigades advanced into southern Poland alongside the Germans. After the campaign, they returned to Slovakia and were dispersed back into their original formations.

So, if only two Slovakian brigades participated in the Polish campaign why does First to Fight include almost 20 Slovakian counters? No, they're not battalion breakdowns for the brigades. First to Fight includes the Slovakian order of battle for the entire war, plus all Slovakian counters that don't appear in Fire in the East or Scorched Earth:

In First to Fight

2x 4-6 Inf XX 1, 2
1x 3-5 Inf XX 3
1x 1-8* M/C X 3
1x 2-6* Inf X 1
1x 1-2-4 Sec X HG
3x 0-5 Cons X2,3, 4
1x 0-1-5 Cons IIISlvnsk
1x 1-8 Police IIHGP
1x 1-8 Tank IIVysoka
2 pts pos AA
1x Inf XXX HQ Sl
1x Capital Slov.
1x Me 109E 7F5 1/7
1x Me 109G 7F6 2/9

In Fire in the East/Scorched Earth:

1x 4-8 Inf XX 1
2x 3-5 Inf XX 1, 2
1x 2-3-5 Sec XX 2

Note: This unit currently has the old security symbol. It will receive the new security symbol in the collectors' edition of FitE/SE.

1x 2-8* Mot Inf X Pil
1x 0-5 Cons X 1

Note: This unit currently has a unit ID of "Slov." It will receive the "1" unit ID in the collectors' edition of FitE/SE.
1x 2-1-10 Tank III 1
1x 2-1-6 Art III 12
1X B.534 3F2 0/6

Note: This air unit currently is rated 2F3. It will receive its 3F2 rating in the collectors' edition of FitEISE.

The printed colors on the Slovakian counters came out unsatisfactorily. First, a production error caused one block of counters to be printed in Luftwaffe colors. Second, the block in the right colors is difficult to read (not enough contrast between the black print and dark blue background). Since we deliberately tried to boost the contrast and readability in this color scheme, this is doubly annoying. Well, we'll continue to reprint the Slovakians until they're all in the right colors and are readable.

The 1939-45 Slovakian OB is fairly straightforward, tracing the evolution of the Slovakian Army throughout the war. Notes on Slovakian units are:

• The 1st Division was formed as infantry and entered the war against the USSR as such in June 1941. In August 1941, it became a mobile division, receiving Slovakia's tank regiment and what motorized transport was available. For game purposes, it is best to shown this division as fast infantry, not combat/motorized, with the tank regiment independent. It fought its way across the Ukraine and southern Russia to the Caucasus. During the German evacuation from the Caucasus, it abandoned its heavy equipment and had its personnel air lifted across the Kerch Straits. Re-equipped as an infantry division, it was no longer a reliable front-line unit and was mostly used for rear-area security. By mid-1944, the Germans regarded it as very unreliable and accordingly disarmed it, sending its personnel to Romania as a construction brigade.
• The 2nd Division's history was similar to the 1st's up to August 1941. During the August reorganization, it became a security division and was used in the Ukraine in 1941-42. In 1943, it became unreliable and was sent to Byelorussia to garrison a quiet region near Minsk. Desertions continued to mount, and in November 1943 the Germans disarmed its remaining 4,500 men and sent them to Italy as a construction brigade.
• The 3rd Infantry Division never quite got going as did the 1st and 2nd, probably because it was third in line to receive Slovakia's scarce military resources. The Slovakians in 1942 did offer to send the division to the Soviet Union-but only if Germany greatly increased its aid to Slovakia. The Germans turned down this offer, whereupon the Slovakians broke up the division to furnish replacements to the rest of the army.
• In 1943, with the war going poorly for the Axis and with the bulk of Slovakia's forces mired in the Soviet Union, Slovakia began forming a Home Army, consisting of the 1st and 2nd Infantry Divisions. (Despite their numbers, these units are distinct from the 1st Mobile and 2nd Security Divisions in the Soviet Union.) As the Red Army surged to the western borders of the Ukraine in 1944, these divisions were assigned to defend the Carpathian mountain passes in eastern Slovakia. During the Slovak Uprising in 1944, they were used against the insurgents, after which the Germans disarmed them and used them as construction brigades in the Carpathians.
• In 1944, after the Slovak Uprising was put down, Slovakia again began forming new forces-the Home Guard (Domobrana). The two infantry divisions added to the Slovakian replacement pool when the uprising occurs represent the maximum potential forces of the Home Guard. In the event, the Home Guard never really got going, with only a couple of regiments becoming effective before the end of the war.
• The 1st Tank Battalion contains the armored assets Slovakia inherited from the former Czech Army. Later expanded to a regiment, it served with the 1st Mobile Division in the USSR until it abandoned its equipment in the evacuation across the Kerch Straits in 1943. The Slovakians began rebuilding the regiment at home, but it never became fully operational again.
• The Slovakian construction regiment is a composite unit of various small engineer and labor units. It includes the 1st Construction Battalion, which was a Jewish forced labor unit. This unit served with the Slovakian forces in the Soviet Union in 1941 and then was used in Slovakia as forced labor for the Hlinka Guard, until exterminated in the spring of 1944.
• The Hlinka Guard was a fascist political and military organization, modeled after the Italian Blackshirts and German SS. The Guard was organized in small units spread across Slovakia; the bulk of these are amalgamated in the 1- 2-4 security brigade in the OB. As the unit symbol indicates, these were security forces, used to help maintain order in Slovakia and to fight the ever-growing guerrilla movement in the country. The Pohg battalion is shown separately; the Pohg was an elite battalion of storm troops used for special police actions in Slovakia.
• The Slovakian Air Force inherited a mixed bag of aircraft from the old Czech Air Force, with enough B.534 fighters to justify one Europa group. In formation at the start of the war, the B.534 squadrons fought in the Soviet Union and were gradually reequipped with German aircraft, first Me 109Es and later Me 109Gs. The Slovakian Air Force also had some bomber and transport aircraft, but not enough to justify a counter. In the Slovak Uprising of 1944, 38 aircraft defected to the Soviets, and the Germans disbanded the remaining air units.

The preceding notes refer to the Slovak Uprising. Not all Slovakians were blindly loyal to their government. Many abhorred fascism and sought to recreate an independent and united Czechoslovakia. Throughout the war, there was a small insurgency movement in Slovakia, mainly operating as guerrillas in the Carpathians. By 1944, with the war going badly for Germany and Slovakia, many Slovaks were disillusioned with their government and the Axis.

In August, with the Red Army poised to pour into Slovakia, a group of Slovakian army officers attempted to seize control of the army and government, in order to take Slovakia out of the alliance with Germany. Many of the armed forces and police units inside Slovakia went over to these officers. The troops around Bratislava and those guarding the Carpathian passes remained loyal to the government. The loyal forces, together with the Hlinka Guard and German reinforcements, quickly suppressed the rebellion and kept Slovakia tied to the Axis. The surviving insurgents fled to join the insurgents in the Carpathians, where they continued to resist the fascists until Slovakia went down to defeat at the hands of the Red Army.

Bohemia-Moravia

When the Germans occupied the Czech portion of Czechoslovakia in March 1939, they declared the seized provinces to be the German protectorate of Bohemia- Moravia. Unlike Slovakia, this "protectorate" amounted to a de facto annexation of Bohemia-Moravia into Germany.

The Germans raised an "Army of Bohemia Moravia" of 7,000 Czechs in October 1939, but this force probably had no effective combat existence in the period covered by First to Fight. Die hard Europa players can add three 0-1-5 Inf III (BM/1, BM/2, BM/3) to the German garrison of Bohemia- Moravia, if they wish. The reliability of these units at any time during the war is open to question. In May 1944, the Germans disarmed these soldiers, formed them into a construction brigade (0-5 Cons X BM), and sent them to Italy as forced laborers. They proved so ineffective even in this role that the Germans returned the unit to Bohemia-Moravia in October 1944 and disbanded it.

Soviet Union