USE OF ARMED FORCES IN POLITICAL CRISES

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP82-00046R000200250020-0
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 6
• Document Creation Date: December 27, 2016
• Document Release Date: June 4, 2013
• Sequence Number: 20
• Publication Date: January 1, 1953
• Content Type: REPORT

Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release @ 50-Yr 2013/06/19: CIA-RDP82-00046R000200250020-0
COUNTRY
SUBJECT
PLACE
ACQUIRED
Czechoslovakia
Use of Armed.
50X1
TY IN MATION
REPORT NO.
DATE DISTR.
NO. OF PAGES
Na0FENCL.S.
(LISTED BELOW)
50X1
/6 atirt
3
50X1
Forces in Political Crises
.50X1?
DATE
ACQUIRED BY SOURCE
DATE OF INFORMATION
50X1
THIS IS UNEVALUATED INFORMATION
SUPPLEMENT TO
REPORT NO.
50:00 1. When STALIN and GOTTWALD died, all the units in the 3rd
Tank Divisions were ordered to cancel all passes ana leaves. When
STALIN died s six men out of my group of 36 communications technicians
50:00 were on leave. The order
forbidding absences from the unit was in force until four days after
STALIN's funeral. On neither occasion were any other special security
Precautions enforced bY the division, as far as I could judge. \
2, Enlisted man and officers living in the barracks could not have their
own radios unless they obtained special permission from the division
commander. The reason given for this rule was the need to save elec-
tricity. I never knew anyone who had asked for or who had been given
permission to have his own radio. In effect, the only miliary person-,
mel who had access to radios they could tune themselves were communi-
cations personnel using official radios with earphones, and married and
other officers billeted outside the barracks.
SICURITY INFORMATION
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release @ 50-Yr 2013/06/19: CIA-RDP82-00046R000200250020-0
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 50-Yr 2013/06/19: CIA-RDP82-00046R000200250020-0
RESTRICTED Security Information
WARNING.?Material on the reverse of this sheet may carry a classification of CONFIDENTIAL,
SECRET, or TOP SECRET.
EXPLANATORY NOTE
Date of Info.?The date or dates on which, or between which, the events described in the
report occurred or the conditions described existed.
Place Acquired.?The place where the information was first acquired by a controlled indi-
vidual. A date following in parentheses indicates when the information was acquired.
Source Description.?A description of the individual from whom, and, when pertinent, of any
other individual through whom the information was received.
Source Evaluation.?An indication of the reliability of a source, expressed either verbally or
by means of a letter inserted parenthetically in the source description. Reliability includes com-
petence, objectivity, honesty, and other factors likely to affect the accuracy of the source's reports.
The source evaluation is definitive in the sense that it reflects everything known about the source,
including his previous record of reporting. If the report was received from one source through
another, each is evaluated separately. The key follows:
A: Completely reliable. B: Usually reliable. C: Fairly reliable. D: Not usually reliable.
E: Not reliable (applied to sources of doubtful honesty or loyalty, regardless of their compe-
tence). F: Reliability cannot be judged (applied to untested or insufficiently tested sources).
Appraisal of Content.?A tentative opinion by the issuing office as to the probable truth of
the report, expressed either verbally or by means of a number from 1 through 6. It is based on
immediately available information which may or may not be complete, and does not purport to
constitute final evaluation. The key follows:
1: Confirmed by other independent and reliable sources. 2: Probably true. 3: Possibly true.
4: Doubtful. 5: Probably false. 6: Cannot be judged. Documentary: Based on an original
document which has been seen by a staff member of the issuing office.
The appraisal of content is independent of the source evaluation. A "B" source may submit
a "4" report; and "E" source may submit a "1" report. Reliable sources tend to produce accurate
reports, and conversely a series of accurate reports tends to establish the reliability of the source,
but there is no necessary correlation in any particular instance.
RESTRICTED Security Information
U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 1953--O-2651B2
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anvl
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release @ 50-Yr 2013/06/19: CIA-RDP82-00046R000200250020-0
50X1
SECRET
-2-
3. At 0700 hours on the morning of 31 May 1953 I received a telephone
50X1 te11in6 vie that
effective at once all leaves ana passes oe solaiers were canceled.
No reason was given for the order. At the time, only two soldiers
out of 60 in the company were absent on passes. I was supposed to
send them telegrams to return at once, but as I knew that they were
not far away' and would return anyway that evening, I did not think
it necessary to send the telegrams. I did not make any announcement
of the order to the men, but planned instead only to tell individuals
who asked for passes that the battalion had issued orders saying no
one could leave for the time );)eing.
4. At 1100 hours I heard the news of the currency reform on the radio.
Within five minutes of this broadcast, I received another telephone
call from the battalion giving the contents of an Army order of the
day about the currency reform. In the same call, the political
Officer of the battalion also gave detailed instructions to the
political officer in my unit, a non-commissioned officer, as to what
he was to tell the soldiers about why the change was necessary. In
addition, the officer stated that for the next few days, until
further orders were given, SNB and militiamen would be making checks
at night on the roads near the frontier. My unit had to be informed
of this because border guard units usually have instructions to
arrest anyone from outside the area found near the frontier, includ-
ing members of the SNB and the militia. The order restricting
passes remained in force for one week.
5. The issuance of orders forbidding absence from the units was a
fairly common occurrence. Such an order was received a few hours
after the news of STALIN's death was broadcast and was kept in
effect Until four days after STALIN had been buried. The order
issued after GOTTWALD died was in force until only one day after the
funeral. The orders issued when STALIN and GOTTWALD died were applied
as soon as received. Orders canceling passes before big holidays
were always issued to PS units. They were issued about five days
before the Christmas, New Year's, Easter and May Day holidays, to be
put into force three days before the holiday and to stay in effect
until a few days after the holiday,
6.
50X1
50X1
As far as I know, these orders restricting the liberty of the
soldiers were the only ones received
during the time Of the currency reform.
50:00 I was told by an acquaintance in a nearby village
50X1
Some weeks later,
sometime. during the week of the currency reform the students from
his school or class (60 in all) were sent to Ostrava to overawe the
. local population. The acquaintance did not say how long he was in
Ostrava or how many other soldiers were there, but he did say he
had heard that other officer training school classes elsewhere had
been called from their studies in the same way at this time. He
said that: he did not see any disorder in Ostrava and that while it
was there, his unit did nothing except march about under arms.
7. Apart from the restriction on absence from the camp area, Ldo not
know or any special security arrangements in my unit at the time
of the .currency reform. I was told by a civilian friend, however,
thateen Monday, 1 June 1953, there was. a police check point between
the airfield and Pilsen and that no one without special papers
could pats this point. My friend was a driver for the state coal
mines. His car as turned back.
SECRET
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release @ 50-Yr 2013/06/19: CIA-RDP82-00046R000200250020-0
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release @ 50-Yr 2013/06/19: CIA-RDP82-00046R000200250020-0
RESTRICTED Security Information
WARNING.?Material on the reverse of this sheet may carry a classification of CONFIDENTIAL,
SECRET, or TOP SECRET.
EXPLANATORY NOTE
Date of Info.?The date or dates on which, or between which, the events described in the
report occurred or the conditions described existed.
Place Acquired.?The place where the information was first acquired by a controlled indi-
vidual. A date following in parentheses indicates when the information was acquired.
Source Description.?A description of the individual from whom, and, when pertinent, of any
other individual through whom the information was received.
Source Evaluation.?An indication of the reliability of a source, expressed either verbally or
by means of a letter inserted parenthetically in the source description. Reliability includes com-
petence, objectivity, honesty, and other factors likely to affect the accuracy of the source's reports.
The source evaluation is definitive in the sense that it reflects everything known about the source,
including his previous record of reporting. If the report was received from one source through
another, each is evaluated separately. The key follows:
A: Completely reliable. B: Usually reliable. C: Fairly reliable. D: Not usually reliable.
E: Not reliable (applied to sources of doubtful honesty or loyalty, regardless of their compe-
tence). F: Reliability cannot be judged (applied to untested or insufficiently tested sources).
Appraisal of Content.?A tentative opinion by the issuing office as to the probable truth of
the report, expressed either verbally or by means of a number from 1 through 6. It is based on
immediately available information which may or may not be complete, and does not purport to
constitute final evaluation. The key follows:
1: Confirmed by other independent and reliable sources. 2: Probably true. 3: Possibly true.
4: Doubtful. 5: Probably false. 6: Cannot be judged. Documentary: Based on an original
document which has been seen by a staff member of the issuing office.
The appraisal of content is independent of the source evaluation. A "B" source may submit
a "4" report; and "E" source may submit a "1" report. Reliable sources tend to produce accurate
reports, and conversely a series of accurate reports tends to establish the reliability of the source,
but there is no necessary correlation in any particular instance.
RESTRICTED Security Information
U. S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 1953-0- 265182
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release @ 50-Yr 2013/06/19: CIA-RDP82-00046R00070n7snn9n_n
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release @ 50-Yr 2013/06/19: CIA-RDP82-00046R0002002r5n0020-0
SECRET
-.3-
8. About two weeks after the currency .reform,
50X1 One of the Men in the ward, a member
of a Technical Labor Battalion (Ptebonmy technicky?prapor), had heard
from a friend of his that at the beginning of the rioting in Eileen .
the 'soldiers in one of the barracks in the city had been called into
formation With their arms ne had been marched to the aceve of the riot
and then, Without, any explanation being given, had immedistely been
marched 'back to the barracks and confined to their quartets for the
next-leW days The man in the hospital conjectured that the officer
in charge of the troops must either have been given a last minute
Order not to use the soldiers against the rioters have refused to
USe.the'reoldiers in this way, or have decided that it was not safe
to try to use the soldiers against the rioters.
9. After all the excitement had passed, I talked with a friend whose
Judgement I respect about what might have been done against the
COmmunists during the riots. We decided that three or four armed
Czechs dressed in US uniforms and driving a jeep painted with US
Army markings could have driven up to any military post in the area
and, with no fighting at all, have brought practically every soldier
50X1 they met over to their side0 the jeep could have
been driven directly up to the gate, where almost certainly the
guards would have immediately gone over to the crew of the jeep as
soon as they were identified as wearing US uniforms. The crew could
then have driven on into the camp area and persuaded the rest of -
the soldiers to join them.
50X1
10.
50X1
50X1
I did not hear anything about the Interior Guard (VS) doing anything
during the rioting in Pilsen. I know that there was an Interior
Guard unit at Pilsen, because sometime during July 1953 I went to
the SkodaWorks at Pilsen to pick up some bottles of oxygen for the
There were four or five members of the VS at the gate of
the Skoda Works and there were a few more inside the courtyard.
This was nothing new, however, as I also remember having seen members
of the VS there early in the spring.
11. I do not recall just when I heard of the currency reform. I heard
that orders had been issued canceling all passes and leaves while
I was on guard duty Sunday evening, 31 May 1953. The only other
special precaution taken in my unit that I remember was the arrange-
50X1 ment to double the guard during the hours of dark-
ness, There were usually about 30 soldiers on guard duty around
the field. For two or three days, the guard was increased to 60.
The restriction on passes or leaves lasted for 14 days.
12. I do not remember when I heard that there were riots in Pilsen.
The news of what was happening in Pilsen reached the soldiers from
chauffeurs and others who had occasion during the day to drive offi-
cers to and from the city. Soon after I learned about the riots (I
do not remember how soon) I heard that the riots had been put down
by the factory militia and by members of the border guard. There
was a fair amount of excitement among the soldiers at what was
happening in the city, but apparently the soldiers did not give any
thought to what they might do themselves. The soldiers doing guard
duty were issued their arms and ammunition in the usual way, and
there did not seem to be any out-of-the-ordinary control of access
to the weapons rooms in the barracks.
13. The soldiers were not particularly disturbed by the money reform.
Most of the soldiers did not have any money before, and they did
not have any after. The soldiers did not think the money reform
affected them much one way or another. The most money any one sol-
dier changed in my unit was 8,000 crowns. Soldiers with little or
no money of their own changed money for their better-off comrades.
SECRET
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release @ 50-Yr 2013/06/19: CIA-RDP82-00046R000200250020-0
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release @ 50-Yr 2013/06/19: CIA-RDP82-00046R000200250020-0
RESTRICTED Security Information
WARNING.?Material on the reverse of this sheet may carry a classification of CONFIDENTIAL,
SECRET, or TOP SECRET.
EXPLANATORY NOTE
Date of Info.?The date or dates on which, or between which, the events described in the
report occurred or the conditions described existed.
Place Acquired.--The place where the information was first acquired by a controlled indi-
vidual. A date following in parentheses indicates when the information was acquired.
Source Description.?A description of the individual from whom, and, when pertinent, of any
other individual through whom the information was received.
Source Evaluation.?An indication of the reliability of a source, expressed either verbally or
by means of a letter inserted parenthetically in the source description. Reliability includes com-
petence, objectivity, honesty, and other factors likely to affect the accuracy of the source's reports.
The source evaluation is definitive in the sense that it reflects everything known about the source,
including his previous record of reporting. If the report was received from one source through
another, each is evaluated separately. The key follows:
A: Completely reliable. B: Usually reliable. C: Fairly reliable. D: Not usually reliable.
E: Not reliable (applied to sources of doubtful honesty or loyalty, regardless of their compe-
tence). F: Reliability cannot be judged (applied to untested or insufficiently tested sources).
Appraisal of Content.?A tentative opinion by the issuing office as to the probable truth of
the report, expressed either verbally or by means of a number from 1 through 6. It is based on
immediately available information which may or may not be complete, and does not purport to
constitute final evaluation. The key follows:
1: Confirmed by other independent and reliable sources. 2: Probably true. 3: Possibly true.
4: Doubtful. 5: Probably false. 6: Cannot be judged. Documentary: Based on an original
document which has been seen by a staff member of the issuing office.
The appraisal of content is independent of the source evaluation. A "B" source may submit
a "4" report; and "E" source may submit a "1" report. Reliable sources tend to produce accurate
reports, and conversely a series of accurate reports tends to establish the reliability of the source,
but there is no necessary correlation in any particular instance.
RESTRICTED Security Information
U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE .1953-0-285182
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release @ 50-Yr 2013/06/19: CIA-RDP82-00046R000200250020-0