Some tanks went down in history not only because of their characteristics, but because of what they symbolize. Tanks that have gone down in history.
Only the biggest tech fans will argue that this or that tank changed the course of history. There are many other factors - military, political, economic, social - that can explain the reasons for victories and defeats much better than the caliber of the weapon or the thickness of the armor.
Nevertheless, some tanks went down in history, not because of their characteristics, but because of what they symbolize. It doesn't matter if they were the best tanks by the subjective standards that define the word "best". The point is that in historical memory, certain tanks will always be associated with certain conflicts.
Let's talk about the next five tanks and their impact on history.
British tank Mark IV
If you want, you can laugh at this funny diamond design, which gives the impression that the tank factory forgot to attach a turret to it. By today's standards, the Mark IV's half-inch armor is just a joke. Its armament, consisting of a small cannon and machine guns, was very weak, and the speed of 6.4 kilometers per hour was lower than that of the infantryman.
But this tank could cross the no-man's land and survive, but the infantryman could not. For most of the First World War, the Allied armies were bleeding to smash their foreheads against the German defenses. Machine guns, artillery and barbed wire indicated that the new technology was creating a stalemate on the battlefield. On such a battlefield, the attacker could advance only a few miserable hundred meters on the blood-soaked ground, no matter how much he hammered the defender with his artillery, and no matter how many people went into the attack.
The Mark IV symbolized a technical breakthrough that would break this impasse by destroying enemy machine guns and breaking through barbed wire obstacles, thanks to which the long-suffering "mother of the infantry" could achieve a decisive advantage. Of course, there were also more important reasons that compelled imperial Germany to ask for peace in 1918. Its armies were exhausted, its civilians were starving due to the Allied blockade, and fresh American troops all entered and entered France. By 1918, the Entente armies had become combined arms and much more skillful than the massive armies that mercilessly exterminated each other at the Somme. However, the Mark IV showed that if technology creates problems, technology can solve them.
German tank Mark II
It is a myth that Germany had more tanks in 1940 and that they were better than the Anglo-French armies. The French Char B1 heavy tank and S35 medium tank were better than the German ones, and the British Matilda heavy tank was invulnerable to any German artillery pieces, except for the 88 mm anti-aircraft guns, which began to be supplied to the army as anti-tank weapons.
Paradoxically, at the beginning of the war, the Mark II combat vehicle was usually at the forefront of Nazi tank offensives (meaning the Pz. Kpfw. II tank - ed.). Weighing only 10 tonnes and a 20mm cannon, this machine had a solid, if not outstanding, design. The Mark II was weaker and smaller than some of the Allied tanks, but it had one important advantage. Its crew consisted of two people - the commander and the gunner, while in French tanks the commander had to simultaneously control the car and fire from a tank gun. More importantly, the German tanks had radios, while the French (and Soviet) did not. Thanks to this, the Germans could fight in cooperation, despite the smoke and confusion on the battlefield.
Such advantages cannot explain the stunning victories of the Germans over the Allied tank forces, which in 1940 were supposed to take over them. This is due to better tactics, better preparation and handling, and air superiority. Although the Mark II was not a great tank, it was good enough for skilled commanders like Heinz Guderian and Erwin Rommel to show their astonishing leadership skills and conquer Western Europe.
Soviet tank T-34
The classic depiction of a tank in Hollywood is a steel monster smashing puny people like matches. But in reality, the tank works differently. Those tanks that try to operate in this way usually turn into burning torches thanks to the skillful actions of selfless infantrymen and anti-tank crews.
But this did not really console the German soldiers during the invasion of Russia in 1941. German troops are used to sweeping away enemy armored vehicles on their way, and the tactical and technical characteristics of the older Soviet T-26 and BT-7 vehicles only strengthened them in this habit. However, German soldiers watched in shock and horror as 37- and 50-mm shells from their tank and anti-tank guns bounced off the thick armor of the Soviet T-34 medium tank and the KV heavy.
The 26-ton T-34 has thick, angled armor, from which shells ricochet; a powerful 76, 2 mm cannon, wide tracks and a diesel engine that allows this machine to move at a speed of almost 50 kilometers per hour, maneuvering in the mud and not getting stuck.
But the T-34 cannot be called a miracle weapon. There was no radio communication, and the crew commander was at the same time a gunner, as in French tanks. All the advantages of this machine did not prevent the Wehrmacht from destroying its T-34 in the western regions of Russia in the summer and autumn of 1941, and at the same time a significant part of the Red Army.
However, the fact that the "inferior" Slavs are capable of making tanks that surpass everything in the German arsenal of the system, was not only a blow to the morale of Germany during one of the most important military campaigns in its entire history. This became an indication that Germany would have to wage a life-and-death war with an enemy who is more powerful than all the enemies she faced before.
American M4 Sherman
The word "mediocrity" can hardly be called praise. But while the Sherman was not an exceptional tank, it proved that “good” is a worthy enemy of the “best”.
The American M4 was too tall. Its cannon and armor were good when the vehicle began operation in 1942, but at the end of the war they were already inferior to German tanks. However, this vehicle turned out to be quite reliable, in the USA it was possible to establish its mass production, in contrast to heavy tanks in Germany, it had good firepower and armor protection. "Not bad" is not a compliment, but the tank turned out to be pretty good.
During the Second World War, 49,000 Sherman tanks were built, and they formed the backbone of the tank forces of the United States, as well as Britain, Free France, Poland and Australia. Even the Soviets received 4,000 vehicles under Lend-Lease, and many Soviet tank crews preferred their favorite EMCHs because they were more comfortable and more reliable than the T-34. The Shermans showed themselves in the summer of 1944 during the Allied breakthrough in Normandy, when they advanced in France at such a pace that the German Tigers and Panthers broke down on the road, remaining on the sidelines.
The Sherman became a symbol of industrial tank warfare, the fodder for the Moloch of a world battle that devoured tanks like candy and for which tanks were as disposable as bullets.
Chinese Type 59
There is nothing special to say about the Type 59. It was a Chinese copy of the Soviet T-54, which became the first version of the ubiquitous T-55.
But he, too, may have claims to worldwide fame. This is a Tiananmen Square tank, the steel personification of a totalitarian state that opposes the human desire for freedom. It is he who can be seen in the photograph that has become an icon in 1989; it was the T-59 tank column that blocked the path of a lonely Chinese citizen who awakened the consciousness and conscience of the world.
This unremarkable product of tank design from the late 1950s continues to serve in countries as diverse as Burma, North Korea and Pakistan. But the T-59 won its place in the history of that brief moment when human dignity rose up against the tanks.
Michael Peck is a freelance writer for Foreign Policy and War is Boring.
Source: Michael Peck, The National Interest, USA inosmi.ru
