Protection of Czechoslovak borders during the Cold War

The protection of borders between the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic (CSSR) and several of the capitalist countries of Western Europe, namely with Germany and Austria, in the Cold War era and especially after 1951, was provided by special troops of the Pohraniční Stráž (English: the Border Guard) and a system of engineer equipment which created the real "Iron Curtain".

The purpose was to prevent citizens of the Eastern Bloc escaping to the West, although official reports stated it was to keep the enemy's spies and saboteurs out of Czechoslovakia.

[2] Subsequently, an independent HQ of Border Guard was created, but the number of staff was nearly the same (about 6,000 men) as the detection of potential emigrants by regular police was preferred.

As the fence was not visible from there at some places, curious or careless West German strollers often overlooked border markers and mistakenly entered Czechoslovak territory, leading to their arrest.

The Czech Republic, Slovakia (which was established after the 1993 disestablishment of Czechoslovakia), Germany and Austria are now all part of the Schengen Agreement, which allows border crossing without identity checks.