BAHNA
Encyclopedia
BAHNA is a regular no-fee public presentation of the Army of the Czech Republic
in military training ground Zadní Bahna near Strašice in Plzeň Region
, the Czech Republic
. Its purpose is to propagate the armed forces, to show military technology and to remember the military traditions and historical operations. The name is uppercased to distinguish the event from the location.
Starting in 1990 the event was organized by a military history club in Volduchy
as a competition between historical vehicles in an extremely rough terrain (in Czech
bahno, plural bahna means the silt). The popularity of the event gradually grew up among both the public and the professional soldiers. Since 1994 BAHNA is the official Land Forces Day (Den pozemního vojska) of the Czech army.
As of 2006 BAHNA has one day to present up-to-date military equipment, professional skills and readiness of Land Forces soldiers, including members of the Active Reserve. Military history clubs engage in historical reenactment
s related to Czech military history (usually from WWI
or WWII
era). BAHNA's typically have several hundredths participants including some soldiers from the NATO countries. In recent years the event gets watched by around 50,000 visitors.
Military of the Czech Republic
The Army of the Czech Republic comprise the land forces, the Czech Air Force and support units. From the late 1940s to 1989, the extensive Czechoslovak Armed Forces formed one of the pillars of the Warsaw Pact military alliance...
in military training ground Zadní Bahna near Strašice in Plzeň Region
Plzen Region
Plzeň Region is an administrative unit in the western part of Bohemia in the Czech Republic. It is named after its capital Plzeň .- Communes :...
, the Czech Republic
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
. Its purpose is to propagate the armed forces, to show military technology and to remember the military traditions and historical operations. The name is uppercased to distinguish the event from the location.
Starting in 1990 the event was organized by a military history club in Volduchy
Volduchy
Volduchy is a village and municipality in Rokycany District in the Plzeň Region of the Czech Republic.Volduchy lies approximately north-east of Rokycany, east of Plzeň, and south-west of Prague.-References:*...
as a competition between historical vehicles in an extremely rough terrain (in Czech
Czech language
Czech is a West Slavic language with about 12 million native speakers; it is the majority language in the Czech Republic and spoken by Czechs worldwide. The language was known as Bohemian in English until the late 19th century...
bahno, plural bahna means the silt). The popularity of the event gradually grew up among both the public and the professional soldiers. Since 1994 BAHNA is the official Land Forces Day (Den pozemního vojska) of the Czech army.
As of 2006 BAHNA has one day to present up-to-date military equipment, professional skills and readiness of Land Forces soldiers, including members of the Active Reserve. Military history clubs engage in historical reenactment
Historical reenactment
Historical reenactment is an educational activity in which participants attempt torecreate some aspects of a historical event or period. This may be as narrow as a specific moment from a battle, such as the reenactment of Pickett's Charge at the Great Reunion of 1913, or as broad as an entire...
s related to Czech military history (usually from WWI
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
or WWII
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
era). BAHNA's typically have several hundredths participants including some soldiers from the NATO countries. In recent years the event gets watched by around 50,000 visitors.
External links
- BAHNA at the website of Czech Army (some texts in English)
- Photo galleries of BAHNA 2006: http://www.army.cz/scripts/detail.php?id=7712, http://www.sweb.cz/bahna.strasice/
- Schematic map of the training area (descriptions in Czech)
- BAHNA homepage
- http://www.klub-vm.eu
