Military historians and analysts believe that the main role of all types of weapons used in World War II belongs to armored vehicles, which determined the outcome of battles and major battles. It is estimated that from 1939 to 1945, about 230 thousand tanks left the factory workshops of different countries. These are 130 brands of light, medium and heavy vehicles, which were produced in 13 countries of the world.
Before the start of World War II, there were 11 countries that produced tanks in the world: the USSR, Germany, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Great Britain, France, Italy, Sweden, USA and Japan. Spain and Romania also made short-term attempts to produce such equipment, but then abandoned them and began to buy cars abroad. During the war, Czechoslovakia disappeared from this list, but Canada, Australia and Argentina were added.
If we consider only those armored vehicles that underwent baptism of fire in mortal battles, then in the first period of the war on the battlefields, Germany undoubtedly was in the lead. It was the "finest hour" of the formidable Panzerkampfwagen III and Panzerkampfwagen IV combat vehicles, the tracks of which twisted the sands of the Sahara, the roads of Europe and the vast expanses of Russia. The tank corps were also equipped with the PzKpfw III light tank, better known as the T-III, and the most massive PzKpfw IV, which reached 8,700 units by the end of the war.
The KV heavy tank turned out to be a worthy enemy to the Germans, which already in 1941 smashed the elite units of the Wehrmacht. But besides him, the Red Army had a great and formidable T-34, which had several more modifications. The technical solutions used to create this miracle of military equipment provided the T-34 with mobility, combat power and security. It was maximally adapted for fighting in the Russian off-road conditions. During the war years, the defense industry produced 84,000 T-34 tanks of all modifications.
By 43, the year of the great tank battles, the heavy tanks PZ. VI - "Tiger" and PZ. VII - "Royal Tiger" entered the armament of the German troops. To these vehicles was added the Panzerkampfwagen V "Panther" medium tank, which has high combat characteristics. But the Soviet designers were also able to quickly respond to the changed conditions of combat - the army received a heavy breakthrough tank IS-2, equipped with a 122 mm howitzer capable of demolishing the entire structure.
It is worth noting another vehicle that played a role in the battles of World War II - the American M4 Sherman tank, supplied to the USSR under Lend-Lease since 1942. The Soviet troops had 3,600 of these machines, but they gained fame by participating in battles in the West in 1944-45.
