The Territorial Defense of the Republic of Slovenia ( (TO RS)), also known as the Territorial Defense of Slovenia (Slovenian: Teritorialna obramba Slovenije [TOS]), was the predecessor of the Slovenian Armed Forces. It was named after the Yugoslav Territorial Defense.

History

After the 1968 Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia, the Yugoslav leadership adopted the doctrine of General People's Defence and established the Territorial Defense. After the victory of democratic parties in the 1990 Slovenian parliamentary election, the central government in Belgrade ordered disarmament of TO Slovenia, a decision that was effectively ignored. Many weapons subsequently disappeared from supply depots and were later issued to the initial territorial defence units of the Republic of Slovenia.

Command

TO headquarters were established on November 20, 1968. The early development of this military command was almost exclusively in the hands of Slovenian officers. In 1990, the Territorial Defence Republic Headquarters was violently occupied by the federal army. After this incident, Slovenia designated a new headquarters, who took command of the Slovenian Army. May 1991 marked the opening of the first military training centres in Ig, Ljubljana; and Pekre and Maribor. The first draftees were sworn in on June 2.

Organization

The command language in TO was Slovenian, and this itself was organized in the form of an ancillary impact force to the JNA. After 1990 it was organized as a separate army, which was finally formed in the months before independence, in accordance with the Slovenian Constitution, which had been adopted in 1991.

Equipment

Small arms

Vehicles

Artillery

Aircraft