World War II Database

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

ww2dbaseThe industrial concern that later became the Skoda conglomerate was originally established in Plzen in Austria-Hungary by the noble Waldstein family in 1859. It was purchased by industrialist Emil Skoda in 1869. In 1899, it became a joint-stock company. Long before WW1, Skoda had already become one of the main industrial firms of Austria-Hungary, and the heavy guns, ammunition, and other military products; it had 35,000 employees in its main complex in Plzen alone. The company retained its role for the newly established nation of Czechoslovakia after WW1. In 1923, its blue logo featuring a winged arrow was introduced. When Germany took over the western half of Czechoslovakia in 1939, Skoda became an arsenal for the German military, producing Panzer 35(t) tanks, Jagdpanzer 38(t) tank destroyers, K1 howitzers, among other equipment and weapons. After the war, the Czechoslovakian communist government nationalized the industrial complex at Plzen, and it would continue to serve in a similar role and importance for many decades to come.

Plzen Skoda Works Complex Interactive Map

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