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The Globe At War |
Revisiting one of World War II's greatest Controversies: Was the Soviet Union preparing to attack Germany in 1941? |
The T-34 medium tank served as a logical next step in Soviet tank design and marked a tremendous technological leap forward. No German tank, not even the Panzer IV's early marks, competed well with the outstanding armor and armament equipping the T-34. The T-34's 76.2mm gun far outranged any German tank gun in 1941.[85] More importantly, although the T-34s frontal armor was only marginally thicker than the typical Panzer III or IV's of In addition, the T-34 was a tank designed for simplicity, ruggedness, and were easy to maintain. The T-34 also enjoyed considerable maneuverability in less than ideal tank terrain, because of its wide track and low ground pressure.[86] Nevertheless, of the available T-34s and KV-1s, in 1941, the Red Army only deployed 1,475 KV-1s and T-34s near the Soviet Union's western borders. Insufficient mobility proved problematic, mechanized corps lacked 40% their assigned vehicles.[87] In addition, the grossly inadequate training provided to the Red Army's tanks crews crippled the mechanized corps' efficacy. Tank drivers often received barely one hour of training before sent to active duty.[88] Ammunition and spare parts shortages further reducing hours spent on the training grounds. Many Soviet tank heavy units lacked officers with the necessary schooling to lead armored formations. Grounds such as these did more toward indicating the Red Army's ill preparedness for offensive combat operations than the typically inaccurate story told by statistically reciting raw numbers. Overall though, and on paper, the Red Army enjoyed several qualitative advantages over the German army in 1941, especially in regards to technological advantages; led by the Red Army's new world-class tanks. The Red Army also enjoyed huge numerical advantages over Germany, reaching more than 4:1 in available armor in the west. Nevertheless, was this enough to form the basis for a war machine preparing to attack Germany in 1941? In addition to the Red Army's armored and infantry arms we also need to examine how prepared was the Red Army for waging war in the sky. 1 |2 |3 |4 |5 |6 |
A collection of Soviet medium tanks on the eve of war. From left to right - A-8 (BT-7M), A-20, T-34 Model 1940, T-34 Model 1941- Picture from Ukraine and in Public Domain |