If you can refer to any similarity in the current war in Ukraine with what was the German invasion of the USSR in WW2, it would be given by the influence of tanks. (In geopolitical terms, they have little to do with it, since it is now the Russians who are the aggressors.)
It is therefore not surprising the importance that the issue has assumed in recent weeks with the request of President Volodimir Zelenski to strengthen the support of the Western powers in tank feed.
And this is how the news that offers us terms such as the Leopard 2 (the most advanced model in the European NATO countries) or the US Abrams is born.
War reorganization of the USSR
Then began the aggression suffered in 1941, which brought the USSR to the brink of collapse its military reorganisation.
It is estimated that the Soviets managed to relocate some 1,500 factories to the Ural region and there, in addition to maintaining the basic industries, they concentrated on the production of tanks.especially the T-34.
In mid-1942, and just before his forces began the defense and siege of Stalingrad, Hitler received a report he called “impossible”: The Soviets had increased the production rate of their tanks, clearly outnumbering the Germans. In the first half of ’42 the Soviets they already had 11 thousand new tanks and increased to 13,600 in the second half. Germany, at that time, was producing 500 tanks a month.
The battle of the tanks
As the Red Army began its approach to Stalingrad, the power of their tanks was decisive.
And all the more so the following year, when in Operation Citadel, Hitler ordered what would have been the last and most desperate attempt to win the war. their tanks Tiger, Panzer and Ferdinand they were deployed over an area of 250 kilometers from north to south, in the Kursk region, 650 km apart. from Moscow.
There, between July 5th and August 23rd the largest tank battle in history was fought, with the participation of three million soldiers and 6,300 armored vehicles. The German defeat was definitive and, from that moment on, the unstoppable Soviet offensive. Up to Berlin.
Source: Clarin
Mary Ortiz is a seasoned journalist with a passion for world events. As a writer for News Rebeat, she brings a fresh perspective to the latest global happenings and provides in-depth coverage that offers a deeper understanding of the world around us.