Largest Tank Battle in History Did Happen on the Eastern Front in WWII, But not at Kursk

Bet this gives you a tanker stiffy.

Being burned alive inside a tank does not seem like an ideal way to go.

Much better to be burned alive in the open air on a pleasant sunny day in spring

History board?

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Knocked out Soviet T-34.


Awesome tank.

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Early on it totally outclassed anything the Germans had. But as the Germans introduced first long barreled 7.5 cm Pz. Mk. IV and later on the Tiger and Panther, not to mention the Stug III, the T-34 was itself outclassed. Really past late 1942, it's only redeeming quality was reliability and massive numbers. But one on one, tank against tank, it was no match for what the Germans could hurl at it.

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I got a freedom boner reading about the tank battles between the US and Iraqis.

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Does that make me a porn star seeing how I was there?

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Does that make me a porn star seeing how I was there?

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Why'd you have to make it weird?

Fish in a barrel.

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He wanted to one up Napoleon and didn't heed the historical message

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You're correct. But you've also got to look at the situation from the standpoint of what Hitler saw then. He knew the Red Army had just gone through a huge purge where it's officer corps was virtually wiped clean. Most of the senior leaders of the Red Army were dead or in the Gulags. He also knew there was intense hatred of the Communist in the Baltics and in Ukraine.

And on top of all this, Hitler had the example of WWI fresh on his mind. Everyone mentions how Hitler failed to learn the lessons of Napoleon's invasion of Russia. But they fail to also remember he had, at that time, a far more recent example of war against Russia, namely the war Germany and Austria fought against Russia from 1914 to 1917. And in that war, which Hitler personally took part in, Russia was not just defeated, it totally collapsed. So from his own personal perspective, the idea of inflicting a major military defeat on Russia that brought about its complete collapse was not just feesable, it had in fact already been done once. And Germany had done it all while also fighting another war in Western Europe at the same time. So by this logic, if Germany could crush Russia and cause it to collapse in 1917 all while also fighting a major front in France, why now in 1941 could she not do it again, especially considering this time around there was not viable Western Front to speak of?