František Moravec

Who was František Moravec?

František Moravec was Czechoslovak military intelligence officer before and during World War II.

In 1915 Moravec was drafted into Austro-Hungarian Army and sent to the Eastern Front, into Galicia. In September 1914 he fought at the Battle of Rawa. On January 13, 1915 Moravec was taken as prisoner by Russian troops and sent to the POW camp in Tsaritsyn. In 1916 he joined the Serbian Legion and fought in the Romanian Front, was moved from Archangel to Britain, and in 1917 joined the Czechoslovak Legions at the Salonica Front. In January 1918 the legions were sent to the Western Front in France and in summer 1918 to the Italian Front.

After the Great War he was sent to Slovakia to fight against the Hungarian and the Slovak Soviet Republic. After 1919 Moravec served as an army officer in Pilsen and in 1930 he joined the military intelligence service and moved to Prague. During 1937–1939 Moravec was head of the service.