The T-34 is a Soviet medium tank first produced in 1940. It was the mainstay of Soviet armored forces throughout WWII, and widely exported afterwards. A few T-34s remained in use until the 1990s. The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) (Russian: (СССР)  listen; tr. ... Tank classification can be done either by weight or by role. ... 1940 was a leap year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... Alternative meanings: vehicle armour, Armor (novel) A hoplite wearing a helmet, a breastplate and greaves (and nothing else). ... German soldiers at the Battle of Stalingrad World War II was the most extensive and costly armed conflict in the history of the world, involving the great majority of the worlds nations, being fought simultaneously in several major theatres, and costing tens of millions of lives. ... Events and trends The 1990s are generally classified as having moved slightly away from the more conservative 1980s, but keeping the same mind-set. ...

It was developed from the BT series of Fast Tanks, but meant to replace the T-28 medium. When first built, it was the tank with the best balance of firepower, mobility, and protection in existence. By the end of WWII, its production had replaced all other Soviet tank designs except for a small number of Iosef Stalin heavy tanks. This multi-role design greatly influenced the development of Main Battle Tanks in the late 20th century. The Bystrokhodniy Tank (Fast Tank), was a series of Soviet light tanks which were produced between 1932 and 1941. ... The T-28 was the Soviet Unions first medium tank. ... The IS-1 mounted an 85-mm tank gun. ... (19th century - 20th century - 21st century - more centuries) Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s As a means of recording the passage of time, the 20th century was that century which lasted from 1901–2000 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar (1900–1999 in the...

Production history

The ancestry of the T-34 derives from the BT series of fast tanks developed in the USSR in the 1930s. These were discovered to be too lightly armoured and armed for the sort of combat that would be expected. The T-34 took the BT's Christie-type suspension and incorporated it into a much more robust tank (The BTs were derived from prototype fast tanks built by American tank designer J. Walter Christie, which were sold to the Soviet Union after the American military declined to buy them. The T-34 incorporates elements of the Christie suspension, in particular the large road wheels). The Christie suspension is a suspension system developed by Walter Christie for his tank designs. ...

Development proper commenced in 1936, and a prototype was completed in 1939. Full scale production started in 1940. The T-34 was produced in two major variants, the basic T-34/76 with a 76-mm gun (simply called T-34, in Soviet service), and the T-34/85 with an 85-mm gun. 1936 was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1939 was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1940 was a leap year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ...

Between 1940 and 1944, nearly 40,000 T-34/76 tanks were produced. Another 31,000 T-34/85s were built in 1944 and 1945. After the war, the T-34 was out of large scale production in the USSR by 1946, and was followed by the T-44 and the T-54. Production was later restarted in Poland and Czechoslovakia where many T-34/85s were made in the 1950s. Some of these ended up in various Cold War conflicts all over the globe. 1940 was a leap year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1944 was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1946 was a common year starting on Tuesday. ... The T-55 and T-54 main battle tanks were the Soviet Unions replacements for the World War II era T-34 tank. ... The Cold War (1947-1991) was the open yet restricted rivalry that developed after World War II between groups of nations practicing different ideologies and political systems. ...

Variants

• T-34/76A - Production model of 1940
• T-34/76B - Production model of 1941 with heavier armor and a cast turret.
• T-34/76C - Production model of 1942 with heavier armor and a redesigned turret.
• T-34/76D - Production model of 1943 with welded turret.
• T-34/76E - Production model of 1943 with a commanders cupola.
• T-34/76F - Production model of 1943 with a cast version of the T-34/76D turret.
• T-34/57 - A very few T-34 in 1941 and 1943 were fitted with the ZIS-4 high-velocity 57mm gun to be used as 'tank hunters'.
• T-34/85 - Production model of 1943 with a 85 mm gun and improved turret.
• OT-34 - Variant of both 76 and 85mm T-34 fitted with an internal flamethrower replacing the hull machine-gun.
• Panzerkampfwagen T-34(r) - designation of T-34s captured by Germany.

The T-34 chassis was used as the basis for a series of self-propelled guns such as the SU-122, SU-85 and SU-100. Alternative meanings: vehicle armour, Armor (novel) A hoplite wearing a helmet, a breastplate and greaves (and nothing else). ... German troops use a flamethrower on the Eastern Front during the Second World War A flamethrower is a mechanical device designed to throw flames or, more correctly, project an ignited stream of liquid. ... The SU-122 was a Soviet self-propelled gun used during World War II. History The SU-122 was an assault gun which used the hull of the T-34 tank and was the result of an April 1942 specification for assault guns aimed with guns of 122 mm calibre... The SU-85 was a Soviet self-propelled gun used during World War II. History The SU-85 was based on the earlier SU-122, which itself was based on the T-34. ... The SU-100 was a Soviet self-propelled gun used during World War II. History The SU-100 was developed as an improvement to the SU-85, with a more powerful gun. ...

Post-war, some T-34s were fitted with 122mm howitzers as self-propelled guns by Syria and Egypt. Loading a WW1 British 15 in (381 mm) howitzer 155 mm M198 Howitzer A howitzer or hauwitzer is a type of field artillery. ... A U.S. M109A6 Paladin self-propelled howitzer Self-propelled artillery vehicles mount a large howitzer (or alternatively mortar or rockets) and are used for long-range indirect bombardment support. ...

Combat history

The T-34 is often used as a symbol for the effectiveness of the Soviet counterattack against the Germans. The appearance of the T-34 definitely was an unpleasant surprise for the German commanders, as it could combat all 1941 German tanks effectively. It was faster, had better armament (50 mm was the predominant calibre of German tanks guns) and better armour protection, due to the technical innovation of sloped armour. The word caliber (American English) or calibre (British English) comes from the Italian calibro, itself from the Arabic quâlib, meaning mould. ... Sloped armour was developed as a defensive measure by the French SOMUA (Société dOutillage Mécanique et dUsinage dArtillerie) right before the outbreak of World War II. It was a technological response to the trend of fitting increasingly bigger guns on battle tanks. ...

However, at the beginning of the war direct tank to tank combat was a relatively rare occurrence; the vast majority of losses suffered were from logistical and mechanical troubles (50% of Soviet tanks at the start of the German invasion), artillery and air strikes, anti-tank guns and later in the war self-propelled guns and tank destroyers.

Combat effectiveness of early war T-34s was also hampered by the cramped two-man turret layout. The commander's battlefield visibility was poor; the forward-opening hatch forced him to observe the battlefield through a single vision slit and traversable periscope. He was also distracted by having to fire the main gun. In contrast, contemporary German tanks had much superior three-man turrets with commander, gunner, and loader. German commanders usually operated "heads-up", with the seat raised and having a full field of view, unless taking fire. Turret (highlighted) attached to a tower on a baronial building in Scotland In architecture, a turret is a small tower that projects from the wall of a building, such as a medieval castle or baronial house. ... Hatch may refer to: Hatch, Utah Hatch, New Mexico Orrin Hatch Richard Hatch A hatch (door) is a door in a floor or ceiling. ... Diagram of periscope. ...

The other key factor diminishing the initial impact of T-34s on the battlefield was the poor state of tank tactics and crew training, a hangover from Stalin's purges of the Soviet officer corps in the late 1930s. This was further exacerbated by the lack of radios during the early war, making it practically impossible to coordinate them in combat. Iosif (usually anglicized as Joseph) Vissarionovich Stalin (Russian: Иосиф Виссарионович Сталин), original name Ioseb Jughashvili (Georgian: იოსებ ჯუღაშვილი; see Other names section) (December 21, 1879[1] – March 5, 1953) was a Bolshevik revolutionary and leader of the Soviet Union. ... The Great Purge is the name given to campaigns of repression in the Soviet Union during the late 1930s which included a purge of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. ... Events and trends Technology Jet engine invented First atom was split with a particle accelerator Golden Age of radio begins in U.S. Disney adopts a three-color Technicolor process for cartoons First Kit Kat in UK The photocopier is invented by Carlson Air mail service across the Atlantic Science...

At the outset of the war, only about 10% of all Soviet tanks were T-34 variants, this number increased to 50-60% percent till mid-1943. By the time the T-34 had replaced older models and became available in greater numbers, newer German tanks (including the improved German design based on the T-34, the Panzer-V 'Panther') outperformed it. Heavier Soviet tanks designs (e.g. the IS-1 and IS-2) were also better-armed and better-armoured than the T-34. General characteristics Length 6. ... The IS-1 mounted an 85-mm tank gun. ... The Iosef Stalin tank, named after Joseph Stalin, was a heavy tank developed by the Soviet Union during World War II. It is sometimes transliterated Iosif Stalin, from the Russian, Иосиф Сталин. ...

T-34/85s saw action in the Vietnam War (most famously in the attack on Lang Vei) and even as recently as the Bosnian War. The Vietnam War was fought from 1957 to 1975 between communist and Vietnamese national forces and an array of Western and pro-Western forces, most importantly the United States. ... Lang Vei was an American Special Forces camp, located app. ... This is the history of Bosnia and Herzegovina. ...

Importance

The T-34 is often called the all-round best tank of World War 2.

It is true that the German Panther, whose design was based on much study of the T-34, may have been the most powerful all around tank of the war, but it was complex to build and suffered from engine problems. The Tiger, like other heavy tanks, had a better gun and thicker armour but suffered from poor mobility and transportability, and had reliability and maintenance problems. General characteristics Length 6. ... First Tiger I tank captured near Tunis The Panzerkampfwagen VI Ausf. ...

The T-34 was easily mass produced and it was also reliable and easy to maintain in the field. Consequently, large numbers could be deployed and operated simultaneously. These virtues in combination with its very good balance of firepower, armour protection, and mobility, allow it to be classified, all things considered, as the best tank of the war.The American M4 Sherman had many of these virtues but was deficient in armour design and (in most variants) firepower. German industry was never really effectively organised to mass produce tanks in the quantities required and produced too many divergent designs. German tanks were relatively complex and over-engineered, and had long implementation cycles. General characteristics Length 5. ...

The up-gunned T-34/85 remained the standard Soviet medium tank until the end of the War. The huge numbers produced were a deciding factor in the Allied victory. The T-34's balanced design allowed it to replace most light, medium, and heavy tanks in Soviet service, and influenced the development of the main battle tank (MBT) class after the war.

See also

• List of Soviet tanks
• Vickers Tank Periscope MK.IV
• Kharkiv Morozov Machine Building Design Bureau

List of Soviet tanks. ... Vickers Tank Periscope MK.IV (invented by engineer Rudolf Gundlach) was first patented in 1936 as Gundlach Peryskop obrotowy. ... Kharkiv Morozov Machine Building Design Bureau (KMDB, Ukrainian: Харківське Конструкторське Бюро по Mашинобудуванню ім. ...

External links

• An Evaluation of the T-34 and KV tanks (http://www.battlefield.ru/library/archives/stat/stat7.html)
• Battlefield.ru (http://www.battlefield.ru/map.html)

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