Antitank hedgehogs in front of Trehgornaya Manufactura in Moscow, Russia

D-day beach.

The Czech hedgehog (rozsocháč in Czech language) was a static tank obstacle defense made of angle iron (that is, lengths with an L- or I- shaped cross section) deployed during World War II by various combatants. Image File history File links Czech_hedgehog. ... Image File history File links Czech_hedgehog. ... Image File history File links Normandiataisto. ... Image File history File links Normandiataisto. ... Czech (pronounced ; čeÅ¡tina IPA: in Czech) is one of the West Slavic languages, along with Slovak, Polish, Pomeranian (Kashubian), and Lusatian Sorbian. ... For other uses, see Iron (disambiguation). ... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000...

The hedgehog is very effective in keeping tanks from getting through a line of defense. It maintains its function even when tipped over by a nearby explosion. Although it may provide some scant cover for infantry, infantry forces are generally much less effective against fortified defensive positions than mechanized units.

The name refers to the place of origin. The hedgehogs were originally used on the Czech–German border by the Czechoslovak border fortifications - a massive but never-completed fortification system built on the eve of World War II by Czechoslovakia. The fortification system fell to Germany in 1938 after the occupation of the Sudetenland as a consequence of the Munich Agreement. Due to the rising threat of Nazi Germany the Czechoslovak government decided to build a system of border fortifications. ... For the fortification of food, see Food fortification. ... Year 1938 (MCMXXXVIII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Sudetenland (Czech and Polish: Sudety) was the German name used in English in the first half of the 20th century for the Western regions of Czechoslovakia inhabited mostly by Germans, specifically the border areas of Bohemia, Moravia, and those parts of Silesia associated with Bohemia. ... For the annual global security meeting held in Munich, see Munich Conference on Security Policy The Munich Agreement (Czech: ; Slovak: ; German: ) was an agreement regarding the Sudetenland Crisis among the major powers of Europe after a conference held in Munich, Germany in 1938 and signed in the early hours of...

Czech hedgehogs were widely used during World War II by the USSR in anti-tank defense. They were produced from any sturdy piece of metal (sometimes even wood), including railroad rails. Czech hedgehogs were especially effective in urban combat, where a single hedgehog could block an entire street. Czech hedgehogs thus became a symbol of "defense at all cost" in USSR, even obtaining their own monument near Moscow to commemorate the successful defense of the city. Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000...

However, in real warfare Czech hedgehogs proved to be relatively ineffective. They were often made larger than they should have been, and although they were quite useful in urban warfare, there wasn't much use of armor in urban warfare during the Russian campaign.

Czech hedgehogs are prominently featured in almost every WWII movie and PC game, which depicts the landing at Omaha Beach. German soldiers at the Battle of Stalingrad World War II was the most extensive and costly armed conflict in the history of the world, involving the great majority of the worlds nations, being fought simultaneously in several major theatres, and costing tens of millions of lives. ... Combatants United States Germany Commanders Omar Bradley, Norman Cota, Clarence R. Huebner Dietrich Kraiss Strength 43,250 Unknown Casualties 3,000 1,200 Omaha Beach was the code name for one of the principal landing points of the Allied invasion of German-occupied France in the Normandy landings on June...

Technical details

Technically, a Czech hedgehog can be made of any material capable of withstanding at least 60 tons of force while being at most 140 centimetres high. However, such parameters were hard to achieve in makeshift hedgehogs, thus reducing their usefulness.

Industrially manufactured Czech hedgehogs were made of three L-shaped metal brackets (L 140/140/13 mm, length 180 cm, weight 198 kg; later versions: length 210 cm, weight 240 kg) joined by sheet metal, rivets and bolts (or, later in the war, welded together) into a characteristic spatial three-armed cross. (This pattern forms the axes of an octahedron.) Two arms of the hedgehog were connected in the factory, while the third arm was connected on-site by an M20 bolt. The arms were equipped with square "feet" to prevent sinking into the ground, as well as a notch for attaching barbed wire. A millimetre (American spelling: millimeter, symbol mm) is an SI unit of length that is equal to one thousandth of a metre. ... Kg redirects here. ... Solid rivets Metal wheel with riveted spokes and tyre. ... Screws come in a variety of shapes and sizes for different purposes. ... Welding is a fabrication process that joins materials, usually metals or thermoplastics, by causing coalescence. ... A coordinate axis is one of a set of vectors that defines a coordinate system. ... An octahedron (plural: octahedra) is a polyhedron with eight faces. ... Typical modern agricultural barbed wire. ...

See also

• Dragon's teeth (fortification)
• Caltrop
• British "hedgehog" road block

During World War II, the term Dragons teeth came to designate square-pyramidal fortifications used to impede the progress of mechanized armies. ... Caltrop used by the Office of Strategic Services. ... Detail from a pillbox embrasure. ...

External links

• Imperial War Museum Online Collection. Photograph number A 23992, Royal Navy Commandos at La Riviere preparing to demolish two of the many beach obstacles (image). Retrieved on 2007-04-17.</ref>