NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Tachanka

The tachanka (Russian: тача́нка) was a horse-drawn machine gun platform, usually a cart or an open wagon with a heavy machine gun installed in the back. A tachanka could be pulled by two to four horses and required a crew of two or three (one driver and a machine gun crew). It was reputedly invented by Nestor Makhno. Image File history File links Taczanka. ... Image File history File links Taczanka. ... A machine gun is a fully-automatic firearm that is capable of firing bullets in rapid succession. ... Nestor Makhno. ...

There are at least two plausible hypotheses about origin of the word tachanka. By one of them it is a Ukrainian diminutive, or endearing form of the word tachka, meaning 'cart'. Another opinion is that it is a contracted word 'Tavrichanka' for rugged carriages known in Southern Ukraine and Crimea, derived from the name "Taurida" for this area. However, in opinion of fighters of Makhno, and also modern experts, the word occurs from a Ukranian language netychanka ("нетичанка") which in turn occurs from Polish najtyczanka - "a kind of a vehicle". This Polish word has occured from the name of district Neu-Titschein in Czechia [1] A diminutive is a formation of a word used to convey a slight degree of the root meaning, smallness of the object named, encapsulation, intimacy, or endearment. ... Motto: ÐŸÑ€Ð¾Ñ†Ð²ÐµÑ‚Ð°Ð½Ð¸Ðµ Ð² ÐµÐ´Ð¸Ð½ÑÑ‚Ð²Ðµ - Prosperity in unity Anthem: ÐÐ¸Ð²Ñ‹ Ð¸ Ð³Ð¾Ñ€Ñ‹ Ñ‚Ð²Ð¾Ð¸ Ð²Ð¾Ð»ÑˆÐµÐ±Ð½Ñ‹, Ð Ð¾Ð´Ð¸Ð½Ð° - Your fields and mounts are wonderful, Motherland Location of Crimea (red) on the map of Ukraine. ... Taurida was a historical oblast of Russia that is now part of Ukraine. ...

A regular civilian horse cart could be easily converted to military use and back. This made the tachanka very popular during the Great War on the Eastern Front, where it was used by the Russian cavalry. The usage of tachankas reached its peak during the Russian Civil War (1917–1920s), particularly in the peasant regions of Southern Russia and Ukraine, where the fronts were fluid and mobile warfare gained much significance. Later on it was adopted by a number of armies, notably the Polish Army which used it during the Polish-Bolshevik War. Combatants Allied Powers: Russian Empire France British Empire Italy United States Central Powers: Austria-Hungary German Empire Ottoman Empire Bulgaria Commanders Nikolay II Aleksey Brusilov Georges Clemenceau Joseph Joffre Ferdinand Foch Robert Nivelle Herbert H. Asquith D. Lloyd George Sir Douglas Haig Sir John Jellicoe Victor Emmanuel III Luigi Cadorna... Combatants German Empire Austria-Hungary Russian Empire Romania Commanders Paul von Hindenburg Erich Ludendorff Conrad von HÃ¶tzendorf Nikolay II Grand Duke Nicholas Constantin Prezan The Eastern Front was a theatre of war during World War I in Central and, primarily, Eastern Europe. ... Combatants Red Army (Bolsheviks) White Army (Monarchists, SRs, Anti-Communists) Green Army (Peasants and Nationalists) Black Army (Anarchists) Commanders Leon Trotsky Mikhail Tukhachevsky Semyon Budyonny Lavr Kornilov, Alexander Kolchak, Anton Denikin, Pyotr Wrangel Alexander Antonov, Nikifor Grigoriev Nestor Makhno Strength 5,427,273 (peak) +1,000,000 Casualties 939,755... Year 1917 (MCMXVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar (see link for calendar) or a common year starting on Tuesday of the 13-day slower Julian calendar (see: 1917 Julian calendar). ... The 1920s is a decade sometimes referred to as the Jazz Age or the Roaring Twenties, usually applied to America. ... The US M1A1 Abrams tank is a typical modern main battle tank. ... Polish Army (Polish Wojsko Polskie) is the name applied to the military forces of Poland. ... Polish-Bolshevik War Conflict Polish-Bolshevik War Date 1919–1921 Place Central and Eastern Europe Result Polish victory The Polish-Soviet War (also known as the Polish-Bolshevik War or the Polish-Russian War) was the war (February 1919 – March 1921) that determined the borders between the Russian...

The tactics of tachanka employment are centered around taking advantage of its speed to surprise the enemy. Tachankas, before the introduction of the tank or automobile to the battlefield, were the only way to provide high-speed mobility for the heavy, bulky machine guns of WWI. The speed of the horse-drawn cart would be used to move the machine gun platform to a favorable firing position, and then aimed fire would be opened on the enemy before they had a chance to react. Since the machine gun was pointed towards the rear of the cart, the tachankas also provided effective suppressive fire onto pursuing enemy cavalry after raids and during retreats. Nestor Makhno pioneered the use of the tachanka in a mass charge. A large number of the vehicles would assault the enemy position as if they were cavalry, then wheel in a coordinated maneuver so that all at once suddenly had their muzzles to the enemy, and fire a point-blank burst of machine gun fire, all of it going into the same point of the enemy line. This maneuver required very precise coordination between the crews, but Makhno was good enough to make it work, using it to win a battle with Anton Denikin's forces in 1919. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... For other uses, see Red Square (disambiguation). ... Location Position of Moscow in Europe Government Country District Subdivision Russia Central Federal District Federal City Mayor Yuriy Luzhkov Geographical characteristics Area - City 1,081 kmÂ² Population - City (2007) - Density 10,469,000 9684. ... Nestor Makhno. ... Anton Denikin on the day of his resignation in 1920 Anton Ivanovich Denikin (Анто́н Ива́нович Дени́кин) (December 16, 1872 - August 8, 1947) was a Russian army officer before and during...

Initially mostly improvised, with time the Polish Army also adopted two models of factory-made taczankas, as they were called in Poland. They were used during the Polish Defensive War of 1939 to provide cavalry squadron support. They were attached to every cavalry HMG squadron and HMG company of infantry. Combatants Poland Germany, Soviet Union, Slovakia Commanders Edward Rydz-ÅšmigÅ‚y Fedor von Bock (Army Group North), Gerd von Rundstedt (Army Group South), Mikhail Kovalov (Belorussian Front), Semyon Timoshenko (Ukrainian Front), Ferdinand ÄŒatloÅ¡ (Field Army Bernolak) Strength 39 divisions, 16 brigades, 4,300 guns, 880 tanks, 400 aircraft Total: 950... 1939 (MCMXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display full year calendar). ...

Despite certain uniformization, the tachanka's armament was improvised in most cases. In Russia the standard Maxim HMG was often used. The Polish cavalry of the times of the Polish-Bolshevik War also often used all kinds of MGs and HMGs available, including the Maxim, Schwarzlose MG M.07/12, Hotchkiss machine gun and Browning machine gun. The late models of standardized tachankas of the Polish Army were all equipped with Ckm wz.30, a Polish modification of the M1917 Browning machine gun, also suitable for anti-air fire. The tachankas were also adopted by the Wehrmacht, which used the Jf.5 model armed with double MG34 for anti-air protection of infantry throughout World War II. An early Maxim gun in operation with the Royal Navy The Maxim gun was the first self-acting machine gun. ... The Maschinengewehr Patent Schwarzlose M.07/12 is a Austria-Hungarian heavy machine gun, standard machine gun of the Austro-Hungarian Army throughout World War I. Similar looking to the Maxim gun derived machine guns such as the Vickers, it was a simpler design using a single spring compared to... The Hotchkiss machine gun was the standard machine gun of the French Army during World War I. It was made by the French arms company Hotchkiss et Cie, which was set up by American engineer Benjamin B. Hotchkiss after he moved to France in the 1860s. ... The Browning Model 1917 Machine Gun is a heavy machine gun used by the United States armed forces in World War I, World War II, Korea, and to a limited amount in Vietnam; it was also used by some other countries too. ... ciÄ™Å¼ki karabin maszynowy wz. ... The Browning Model 1917 Machine Gun is a heavy machine gun used by the United States armed forces in World War I, World War II, Korea, and to a limited amount in Vietnam and by other nations. ... American troops man an anti-aircraft gun near the Algerian coastline in 1943 Anti-aircraft, or air defense, is any method of combating military aircraft from the ground. ... Image:Wehrmacht 20 April 1939 Birthday Parade. ... MG34 The Maschinengewehr 34, or MG34, was a German machine gun that was first produced and accepted for service in 1934, and first issued to units in 1935. ... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki TÅjÅ Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000...

In culture

One of the songs glorifying the Red Army during the Russian Civil War was called Tachanka. The concluding lyrics, roughly translated, run: Red Army flag The Workers and Peasants Red Army (Russian: Ð Ð°Ð±Ð¾Ñ‡Ðµ-ÐšÑ€ÐµÑÑ‚ÑŒÑÐ½ÑÐºÐ°Ñ ÐšÑ€Ð°ÑÐ½Ð°Ñ ÐÑ€Ð¼Ð¸Ñ, Raboche-Krestyanskaya Krasnaya Armiya; RKKA or usually simply the Red Army) were the armed forces first organized by the Bolsheviks during the Russian Civil War in 1918 and that in 1922 became the army of the Soviet Union. ...

Tachankas can be seen in the classic Soviet films Chapayev and The Burning Miles. Chapayev (Russian: ) is a 1934 Soviet film. ... Miles of Fire (ÐžÐ³Ð½ÐµÐ½Ð½Ñ‹Ðµ Ð²Ñ‘Ñ€ÑÑ‚Ñ‹, Ognennye Versty, 1957), is an early Red Western. ...

See also