| Gendarmerie | |
|---|---|
| Četnictvo | |
&sq=Qlik&lang=&file=File:%C4%8Cetn%C3%ADci_Vset%C3%ADn.gif) Czechoslovak gendarmes, pictured c. 1930 | |
| Founded | April 14, 1920[a] |
| Disbanded | March 16, 1939[b] |
| Allegiance |  Czechoslovakia |
| Role | Internal security |
| Size | 12,657 (1933) |
| Headquarters | Prague |
| Engagements | Clash at Habersbirk |
| Aircraft flown | |
| Fighter | Škoda D-1 |
| Reconnaissance | Aero A.32 |
The Gendarmerie (Czech: Četnictvo) in the First Czechoslovak Republic was a paramilitary force responsible for law enforcement in rural areas, as well as anti-riot and counterinsurgency duties.
Inherited by Czechoslovakia from a predecessor force established by the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1849, the Gendarmerie was subordinate to the Ministry of the Interior, though could be transferred to control of the Czechoslovak Army during time of war. By the early 1930s it had a strength of nearly 13,000 personnel. It saw action during the Sudeten German uprising of 1938, in which a number of gendarmes were killed in action.
Following the 1939 obliteration of the Czechoslovak state, the Gendarmerie continued as a paramilitary force of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, though veterans of the Czechoslovak Legion and Jews were dismissed from service. The Protectorate Gendarmerie both supported German security operations in the protectorate and aided the resistance. On 5 May 1945, gendarmerie forces — operating under the command of former Czechoslovak Army officer Jaroslav Záruba — responded to the call for aid broadcast by Czech Radio that marked the start of the Prague Uprising. Eight days later, on 13 May, gendarmes stormed the presidential residence of Lány Castle, bringing to an end the protectorate.
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