Figure 1.--One of the innovative attributes of the T-34 was sloping armor. Notice how the turret ois almost rounded. The result was that many German shells that might have been a kill bounced off it. And the T-34 had a powerful main armament that matched the German firepower. This T-34 crew seems to have adopted a young war orphan as a mascot. His parents were probably killed by the Germans.

As World War II progressed, it became that it was the medium tank that would play the most effective battlefield role. They provided the balance between mobility, fire power, and armor that fitted the World War II battlefield. And it was the Soviets which produced the tank that had the most profound impact on the battlefield--the T-34. It was the T-34 medium tank that proved to be the perfect balance of mobility (wide tracks, excellent speed), firepower (76mm or 85mm cannon) and armour protection (low profile and inovative sloped armor) needed for mobile warfare. Many assessments of World War II focus on the German Panzers. The NAZIs assumed that the Soviet Union was a backward country incapable of producing the same high quality as Aryan supermen. The Germans were not impressed with the Soviet T-26s and other tanks they saw in Poland (September 1939). The T-26 was based on an exported British designed Vickers 6-Ton tank that the British Army rejected. The production runs were from 1929 to 1933 and they were used by many European countries in that era. While some bought them from Britain the Soviet ones were built domestically, but we do not know if they sold any. Ironically even Poland had some in their Army. German OKW based their assessment of Soviet armor based on what they saw up close in Poland. OKW which was rapidly upgrading their Panzer corps apparently did not consuder that the Soviets might do the same. The appearance of the T-34 tank on the battlefield was a shock to the Wehrmacht as it was in fact superior to the German Panzers. The T-34 tank in fact is considered by many to be the finest tank of the War. The Soviets adopted the T-34/76 medium tank (December 1939). The key innovation was designed to make the T-34 'shell proof' by welded 45mm frontal armor sloped at 60 degrees. The Soviets unlike the Germans designed their tanks aiming at simplicity so they could be mass-produced and easily maintain iand repaired in the field. This as much as the armor was critical on the battlefield. The Soviets had begun to produce the T-34 before the German invasion--about 1,200. And only a few were deployed. It was totally unknown to the Germans. The Whermacht were shocked at the effectiveness of the T-34 when they first encountered it. But because only a few wwre deployed and the Soviets had not perfected effective tank tactics, it did not at first have a significant impact. The T-34 tank was also relatively inexpensive to build and easily mantained. This was in sharp contrast to the much more complicated German tanks. Unbeknown to the Germans, even as the Wehrmacht was driving into the Soviet Union during the Summer of 1941, T-34 tanks were rolling off Soviet production lines in far greater numbers than German tanks.

The T-26

The Germans were not impressed with the Soviet T-26s and other tanks they saw in Poland (September 1939). The T-26 was based on an exported British designed Vickers 6-Ton tank that the British Army rejected. The production runs were from 1929 to 1933 and they were used by many European countries in that era. While some bought them from Britain the Soviet ones were built domestically, but we do not know if they sold any. Ironically even Poland had some in their Army. German OKW based their assessment of Soviet armor based on what they saw up close in Poland.

The T-34

It was the Soviets, to the horror of the Germans, who produced the tank that had the most profound impact on the battlefield--the T-34. It was the T-34 medium tank that proved to be the perfect balance of mobility (wide tracks, excellent speed), firepower (76mm or 85mm cannon) and armour protection (low profile and inovative sloped armor) needed for mobile warfare. Many assessments of World War II focus on the German Panzers. The NAZIs assumed that the Soviet Union was a backward country incapable of producing the same high quality as Aryan supermen. OKW which was rapidly upgrading their Panzer corps apparently did not consider that the Soviets might be doing the same. The appearance of the T-34 tank on the battlefield was a shock to the Wehrmacht as it was in fact superior to the German Panzers. The T-34 tank in fact is considered by many to be the finest tank of the War. The othr major candidate is the Grrman Mark IV Panther which the Germans optimistically hoped was theanswer to the T-34. The Soviets adopted the T-34/76 medium tank (December 1939). The key innovation was designed to make the T-34 'shell proof' by welded 45mm frontal armor sloped at 60 degrees. The Soviets unlike the Germans designed their tanks aiming at simplicity so they could be mass-produced and easily maintain iand repaired in the field. This as much as the armor was critical on the battlefield. The T-34 was a robust, no-frill tank, but also proved to be a war-winning design. The Soviets had begun to produce the T-34 before the German invasion--about 1,200. And only a few were deployed. It was totally unknown to the Germans. The Wehrmacht were shocked at the effectiveness of the T-34 when they first encountered it. Only a few had been deployed when the Germans struck. And the Soviets had not perfected effective tank tactics (in part because of Stalin's Red Army purges). As a result, the T-34 at first did not have a significant impact. The T-34 tank was relatively inexpensive to build and easily mantained. This was in sharp contrast to the much more complicated German tanks which were more difficult to build (affecting the numbers which could be oproduced) and maintain in the field. Unbeknown to the Germans, even as the Wehrmacht was driving into the Soviet Union during the Summer of 1941, T-34 tanks were rolling off Soviet production lines in far greater numbers than German tanks. A military historian writes, "The T-34 is the one weapon that truly won the Second World War. A bold statement I grant you, but when one considers the vastness of the Eastern Frint the campaigns foughtbin France, Italy and north africa and, indeed, in the Far East were just side shows when it came armoured warfare. Throughout the Second World war tank designs came an went, but the T-34was the one constant from 1940 to 1945. After Hitler's invasion of Russia the T-34 became the speargead of the Red Army's blitzkrieg that took it from Stalingrad and Kursk to the very heart of Berlin and victory over the Nazis." [Tucker-Jones] Other historians make a similar assessment, although not alway often he German Mk V Panther rnks very highly. [Zaloga] And while we think there is much to this assesment, it must be added that Blitzkreg campaigns ar not conducted by tanks alone. Sucess requites in addition to air support, a very substantial mechnnized support system to keep the tanks supplied and to exploit the gaps punched in enemy lines with infantry forces. This mechanized support was something the ploddung red rmy did mnot have in adeuate mumbers until American Lnd Lease trucs begn to arrive in numbers. This gave the Red Army a mobility tht the Whermacht could only dream of at the height of its power.

Sources

Tucker-Jones, Anthony. T-34:ed Army's Legendary Medium Tank (2015), 144p.

Zaloga, Steven. Armored Champions: The Top Tnks of World War II (2015), 368p. Any assesmebt of the T-4 as Zalong points out has to include whn it appeared. Obviouly the tanks in 1945 are going to be superior to those in service during 1939.

Created: 2:00 PM 6/10/2013
Last updated: 11:48 AM 6/6/2015