The Second World War: tanks as the main element of weapons

In the first half century of the twentieth century, much has changed in military affairs, and quite radically. The war itself took on completely different outlines and appearance. One of the main and fundamental changes was the withering away of the old ways of martial arts and the transition to new ways of conducting war. A huge role in this change was played by the appearance of tanks, and the fact that they became the main driving force on the battlefields. If they were used only as prototypes in the First World War, and were rare, then in subsequent years the specialized units formed the backbone of the armies, and the tactics and strategy of tank combat were honed during the Second World War. Tanks of many countries just then received their reputation as the main force on the battlefield.

In the 1930s, in all the leading countries of the world, intensive work was carried out to create new models of equipment that would not be inferior in terms of their characteristics to the weaponry of the alleged opponents. Particular attention was paid to the development of armored vehicles. The result of this confrontation was the Second World War. Tanks in the first days of military operations showed their advantages and more and more firmly won a basic place on the battlefield. During the WWII, legendary samples appeared, about which at least once, but everyone heard.

Today there is no such person who would not have heard of the T-34, which was designed and created before the Second World War began. Tanks produced in the pre-war years in the USSR already had better characteristics than the German ones. The armory of the latest Soviet combat vehicles was not even taken by anti-tank guns. Also known is the heavy tank KV-1, also developed before the start of the Second World War. In the subsequent years of the war, these tanks were upgraded more than once, the characteristics of both armor and striking power were improved.

It is impossible not to mention the heavy IC2 and its upgraded version of IC3. These Soviet tanks of the Second World War are considered the highest achievement of the tank building of that period. On their basis, the main military vehicles of the Soviet Union were subsequently created .

Another, no less legendary, is the well-known German tank "Tiger", created in 1942. It already belongs to the number of heavy tanks. The very creation, as well as the creation of other heavy armor models of the Wehrmacht, such as the medium tank "Panther" and SAU "Ferdinand", dictated the Second World War. These tanks were created primarily to replace the already obsolete Pz III and IV models.

Among the American units of heavy armored vehicles, the most popular tank was the Sherman and the lightweight Stuart. They successfully fought on the Pacific Front, in Africa and Europe. The most famous among the English tanks of the Second World War are Valentine, Matilda, Churchill and Cromwell, and among the French tanks - the Samoa tank.

The tanks of the Second World War firmly established their place in the history of the development of armored vehicles as the best examples of their time. And they earned their fame on the battlefields, in real battles.