Smisek, Martin Czechoslovak Arms Exports to the Middle East. Volume 5: Algeria, Libya and Morocco 1948-1989

A volume from the series Middle East @ War. During the Cold War, communist Czechoslovakia was one of the largest arms exporters to the Middle East among the countries of the Soviet bloc. This volume of the mini-series Czechoslovak Arms Exports to the Middle East describes the history of arms deliveries from Czechoslovakia to Algeria, Libya, and Morocco, including the associated military support. Between the 1950s and 1980s, Czechoslovakia secretly supplied weapons to Arab states in North Africa. In Algeria, the first deliveries to local anti-French rebels served commercial purposes, with obsolete weapons being exchanged for US dollars. The unsuccessful delivery aboard the ship Lidice, which was seized by France in 1959, led to a diplomatic crisis with Paris. Although Prague later sent free shipments in the hope of establishing political relations, Algerian purchases remained sparse until the late 1980s. In Morocco, cooperation was brief but intense (1967-1968) and included armored vehicles and spare parts, with a maintenance facility later being built. However, the cooperation ended shortly thereafter. The coup in Libya in 1969 marked the peak of Czechoslovak arms exports. By the early 1980s, Libya had acquired large quantities of military equipment and hosted hundreds of advisers as part of Operation Litomyslthe largest foreign deployment of Czechoslovak troops during the Cold War. Using declassified original documents, this is the most comprehensive account of Czechoslovakia's military involvement in the Middle East during the Cold War ever published.