Czeska Zbrojovaka means "Arms factory"...
Yup, Czech Arms Factory.
Zbrojovka can be translated as "arsenal," but it literally means "weapons factory" from an etymological standpoint.
Czech has always been rendered in the Roman alphabet, to my knowledge. However, it is a Slavic language, so it has some sounds that are not common in Germanic or Romance languages. These tended to be rendered with accent/diacritical marks, as well as some letters we don't see much in other Western European languages, specifically "z." As such, more nouns start with the letter "z" in Czech than do in most other European languages rendered in the Roman alphabet.
In the Roman alphabet, "CZ" and "Cz." have generally been standard abbreviations for the Czechoslovak Republic, Czechoslovakia, and the Czech Republic. The Czechoslovak Republic was created by the Czech and Slovak people in 1918 and affirmed by the Versailles Treaty in 1919. In other words, the "CZ" abbreviation isn't exactly very old, as it post-dates the breakup of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
Depending on how you want to date the formation of the enterprise now known as "Ceska Zbrojovka," it can probably be given as either 1919 or 1936. I wouldn't necessarily disagree with any number of dates in between 1919-1936, either. See the following article on the evolution of the Czech arms industry:
http://www.czfirearms.us/index.php?topic=16482.0In conclusion, I don't think it was a marketing consideration originally, so much as an accident of history and language. Since it hasn't hurt marketing and promoting the brand by one iota in the intervening years, there's no reason to change the branding.
