Fascist Germany knew how to make tanks. The crucial role of this type of military equipment in World War II was recognized by Adolf Hitler himself. He personally oversaw their development and production. But the Soviet Union was also able to create such a technique. And largely thanks to his formidable war machines, he was able to win this war.
The most important tool for conducting military operations in World War II were tanks. But nowhere was this formidable weapon used more intensively than on the Soviet-German front.
First year of war
Some historians mistakenly or deliberately overstate the Soviet tank potential at the beginning of the war, while operating with statistics. Indeed, if you look at the numbers, then the USSR had about 7 times more tanks than the enemy - 23.5 and 3.5 thousand, respectively. But the vast majority of units of this Soviet armored vehicles were hopelessly outdated and almost could not withstand modern enemy tanks in battle.
There were less than two thousand modern combat vehicles of the T-34 and KV-1 type. In almost all respects they surpassed German tanks. But the models of Soviet military vehicles were completely new, still technically incomplete, which often made them very vulnerable. In addition, the lack of radio communications among their crews made it impossible for coordinated interaction in battle.
From the German side, 3, 610 tanks were involved at the beginning of the war. About 2.5 thousand of them were machines of the last two designs PZ III and PZ IV. Outdated ones were also involved - PZ I and PZ II, as well as French and Czech captured tanks.
The results of the battles with the use of tanks in 1941 were disappointing for both warring parties. The Red Army (Workers 'and Peasants' Red Army) left only 1, 558 vehicles, and the Wehrmacht - 840.
