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Škoda Works (Czech: Škodovy závody) was the largest industrial enterprise in Austria-Hungary and later in Czechoslovakia, one of its successor states. It was also one of the largest industrial conglomerates in Europe in the 20th century. The current successor Škoda Holding is focused on transport vehicle manufacturing; some companies no longer connected with it use the brand Škoda in other industries.
The company was founded by the noble family Waldstein in 1859 and was bought by Emil Škoda in Plzeň during 1869. It soon established itself as Austria-Hungary's leading arms manufacturer producing heavy guns for the navy, mountain guns or mortars along with the Škoda M1909 machine gun as one of its noted products. Besides producing arms for the Austro-Hungarian military, Škoda also manufactured locomotives, aircraft, ships, machine tools, steam turbines and equipment for power utilities.
Škoda was quick to expand business, and in the 1880s founded what was then a very modern steelworks capable of delivering castings weighing dozens of tons.
In 1899, the ever expanding business was transformed into a joint-stock company, and before the First World War Škoda Works became the largest arms manufacturer in Austria-Hungary. The First World War brought a drop in the output of peacetime products. Huge sums were invested into expanding production capacities. In 1917, the company had 35,000 employees in Plzeň alone. In 1923, the company's world-famous registered trademark - the winged arrow in a circle - was entered in the Companies Register.
The deteriorating political situation in Europe saw arms production rise again in the mid-thirties. Prior to World War II Škoda produced LT-35 and LT-38 tanks, which are better known under their German labels Panzer 35(t) and Panzer 38(t). These tanks were originally produced for the Czechoslovak army and their production continued during the occupation by Nazi Germany. They were used extensively by the Wehrmacht in the Polish campaign, the Battle of France and also in German invasion of the Soviet Union.
(Source: Wikipedia).
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