Howitzer groups called batteries. The English word ""howitzer"" comes from the Czech word ""houfnice"", from "houf", "crowd", and "houf" is in turn a borrowing from the Middle High German word "Hūfe" or "Houfe" (modern German "Haufen"), meaning "heap". "Haufen", sometimes in the compound "Gewalthaufen", also designated a pike square formation in German. In the Hussite Wars of the 1420s and 1430s, the Czechs used short barreled ""houfnice"" cannons to fire at short distances into crowds of infantry, or into charging heavy cavalry, to make horses shy away. The word was rendered into German as "aufeniz" in the earliest attested use in
Name of the Czech Republic newly independent Czechoslovakia ("Česko-Slovensko" or "Československo") . Within that state, the Czech Socialist Republic ("Česká socialistická republika", "ČSR") was created on 1 January 1969. On 6 March 1990 the Czech Socialist Republic was renamed the Czech Republic ("Česká republika", "ČR"). When Czechoslovakia broke up in 1993, the Czech part of the name was intended to serve as the name of the Czech state. The decision started a dispute as many perceived the "new" word "Česko", which before had been only rarely used alone, as harsh sounding or as a remnant of "Československo". The older term "Čechy" was rejected by many