Snapshot: Afghan Central Powers helmets
by Tom Buck

The ongoing military operations in Afghanistan have had the unexpected effect of opening up a time capsule for helmet collectors. WWI Austrian, German and Czech helmets have been brought back by veterans and offered on the market. But how did these helmets end up in Afghanistan in the first place?

In the early 1930’s Afghanistan under the new King Zahir began a program that was to reform its military. In 1933 he sought and received assistance from Germany who along with Turkey sent military advisers and instructors to Kabul's newly opened military academy.

King Zahir had turned to the former Central powers because the allied powers had turned a cold shoulder to him. This was mostly motivated by the British who wanted to keep Afghanistan as weak as possible for fear that the Afghanis may someday attempt to take back the territory that they had stolen from them at the end of the previous century.

In spite of Germanys assistance they were still lacking in arms and equipment. Czechoslovakia, which is known for producing and exporting military equipment, answered the King’s call when it came time for helmets. Production of the Czech model 30 and 32 was in full swing and these were being exported to Spain and to a few African countries. These were offered to Zahir's Government but the offer was rejected, most probably over the price. The Czechs, still eager for a sale, dug deep. Being part of the former Austria-Hungarian Empire they still had some of their First World War Model 16’s sitting in storage.

Provisions in the Treaty of Versailles allowed Czechoslovakia to keep and maintain a small token army. These were those helmets. Most likely destined for the scrap heap, the King, seeing a good economical solution to his needs, bought them and issued them to his elite cavalry units.

By 1938 the standing regular army numbered nearly 100,000 troops but by summer of 1939 Afghanistan declared neutrality. In spite of this declaration they allowed Germany to conduct acts of sabotage from within their borders on the Soviet Union and British India. Diplomatic protests from both of these countries and their military intervention into nearby Iran compelled the King to put a stop to these acts. Being in no position to take on either the Soviet Union or Britain, Afghanistan reaffirmed its earlier position of neutrality by expelling all German agents that were operating within its borders and by proclaiming its backing of the Allied forces.

Zahir’s army and his helmets would not see combat during the Second World War.

(April 2006)