Soviet Russia's T-34 Tank: The Story of a Rugged WWII Armored Vehicle
The Soviet T-34 tank played a crucial role in defense and later spearheaded the drive toward Berlin in the final months of World War II.
Here's What You Need to Know: Over 64,000 T-34s were built during the war.
December 1941 was a dark month and the end of a dark year for the Soviets as the Germans pressed ever onward toward Moscow, the lair where Joseph Stalin and his minions plotted what to do next against the Nazi juggernaut that had, in a few short months, rolled over everything before them. Poland had been taken, and then Denmark and Norway, and then Belgium and France had fallen to the Germans, who now had advance units reportedly within eyeshot of the Kremlin. The German commanders were confident. They had never tasted defeat at that point, and a December 4 intelligence report stated flatly that the Soviets were simply not capable of “conducting a counter-offensive without significant reserves.” Unfortunately for the Germans, they had the Soviet T-34 tank to contend with, and they underestimated their opponent.