The Age of Tanks - Chapter 2: Blitzkrieg

Historical Context

• Autumn of 1918: End of World War I.
• Global celebrations, but militaries were distrustful about the future of warfare.

General Jean Baptiste

• Considered the "father of the tank".
• Creation of tanks to end trench warfare.
• France and Great Britain built thousands of tanks, but many were discarded after the war.

Military Reaction

• Some military leaders believed tanks were no longer necessary and war would be traditional again.
• General Jean Baptiste insisted on the need to evolve tanks.

Treaty of Versailles

• France sought a treaty to limit Germany:
  • Reduced armies.
  • Prohibition of modern weapons.
• James Guderian: a young German lieutenant who opposed the treaty and studied tank warfare.

Evolution of German Tanks

• Guderian became an expert in tanks despite lacking practical experience.
• Germany built tank replicas for training without violating the treaty.
• In 1926, Germany and the USSR collaborated on tank training in Kazan.

Development of the Panzer Tank

• Introduction of the Panzer I: light, fast, and with radio.
• Hitler ordered mass production of the Panzer I in 1933, which surprised the world.

Soviet-German Collaboration

• Stalin distrusted all contacts with Germany and arrested many involved in the tank program.
• Innovations in tank design, like the BT Soviet tank, which was faster.

Spanish Civil War

• 1936: Civil war served as a testing ground for German and Soviet tanks.
• First confrontation between German and Soviet tanks.

Guderian and the Blitzkrieg

• The Blitzkrieg strategy was effective in Poland in 1939, using 2,750 German tanks.
• The invasion was swift and devastating, despite Poland also having tanks.

T-34 Prototypes

• Mikhail Koshkin: engineer who developed the T-34, an innovative tank with better protection and speed.
• The T-34 was finally accepted and mass-produced, but Koshkin died before seeing it in combat.

Battles of 1940-1941

• France adopted a defensive strategy with the B1, but it was insufficient against German tanks.
• Germany launched a lightning invasion of France, successfully using their Blitzkrieg.

Advance and Retreat

• The Battle of Kursk (1943) was a turning point, where the Soviets held out and the Germans began to retreat.
• Soviet tank production increased, even though resources were limited.

The End of the War

• In April 1945, Berlin was taken by the Soviets and Western Allies, marking the end of World War II.
• Tanks continued to be a crucial element in post-war military strategy.