The tanks of the Wehrmacht (German armed forces) were in perfect harmony with the then German concept of their use. When developing the first combat vehicles, combat power and mobility were at the forefront. The latter was planned to be provided due to the small thickness of the armor. However, the protection had to withstand armor-piercing bullets fired from rifle-caliber machine guns. During the First World War, it was because of machine guns that the front became static. Therefore, theorists believed that bulletproof protection would return proper mobility to the troops.
Violation of the Treaty of Versailles
According to the Treaty of Versailles, concluded after the defeat of Germany in the First World War, this country was forbidden to produce and import tanks, as well as other similar vehicles. But the Germans secretly violated this restriction back in 1925 by launching the Big Tractor project. The result of this program was 6 tanks, which were fully assembled by the beginning of 1929. But it was impossible to conduct tests in Germany itself, so combat vehicles were sentin the USSR (tank school near Kazan). After conducting field tests, German engineers took into account all the shortcomings, so that in the future light, medium and heavy tanks of the Wehrmacht became much more perfect. In Germany, the production of first-generation combat vehicles was brewing.
Pz. I
The first German tanks Pz. I belonged to the light category. The simplicity of their design and low cost made it possible to establish mass production. Only the way to the conveyor was not easy. The first tank went into development only in 1930 under the code name "Small Tractor". The chassis was ordered from Krupp. To speed up the production process, the Germans decided to use a copy of the English suspension of the Carden-Loyd tank. To maintain secrecy, all parts were purchased through intermediary firms. But in the end, the German engineers did not wait for this suspension, recreating it according to the drawings and photos of the English counterpart. The then global crisis greatly slowed down the production process, and the release of the first series took place only in 1934. From that time on, the Nazis oriented German industry towards the creation of tanks for future conquests. Tank schools were actively opened to train drivers. Germany was preparing for World War II.
First modification
By the end of 1935, the Wehrmacht tanks, the photo of which is attached to the article, reached the number of 720 units. All of them went to equip the combat divisions formed in the same year. In 1936, three tank divisions were founded, whichthe Nazis put on full alert.
However, the Pz. I tank had to be modified. Engineers revealed insufficient power density (only 11 hp per ton). This problem was solved by replacing the old motor with a new engine (100 hp) from Maybach. Instead of a track roller, an ordinary sloth was added to the suspension of the tank. The new model received the designation Pz. I Ausf. B. Its release began in the middle of 1936, and after twelve months the new tank division consisted of 1175 modified units.
Pz. II
Even in 1933, the German leadership realized that the recruitment of divisions would be hopelessly late. In order for the Wehrmacht tanks to arrive in sufficient numbers, the engineers were ordered to work on the creation of a new light model. She was named La. S. 100, but after it entered service with the division, it was renamed Pz. II. The Nazis did not become original and took the Pz. I tank as a prototype. The main difference of the new car is a spacious tower. This significantly increased the armament of the tank: the left machine gun was replaced by a 20 mm automatic cannon. They wanted to install it on the first generation Pz. I model, but it was too tight for her.
Of course, the main purpose of cannon weapons is to fight enemy tanks. But the most important thing is that the enemy artillery shields were powerless against cannon shots. The rapid-fire anti-tank gun was the most dangerous weapon of the time. Her ammunition was equipped with high-explosive fragmentation and armor-piercingshells.
Pz. III
The development of the medium tank Pz. III began in 1933. And at the end of 1935, Daimler-Benz won a tender for the construction of 25 units of the installation series. The towers were provided by Krupp. After the release of the first batch, the unfinished design of the combat vehicle became obvious. Wehrmacht tanks needed improvement. It took the engineers three whole years to complete it.
The first small series had an interesting feature in terms of weapons: two machine guns were paired with a cannon, and the third was located in the tank hull. The vehicles were equipped with only 14.5 mm bulletproof armor. And imperfect suspensions reduced mobility on rough terrain. In general, each new modification of the Pz. III brought the Germans closer to a tank suitable for mass production.
The most successful of them was the Pz. III Ausf. E combat vehicle. Due to the fact that the chassis was developed by Daimler-Benz, this tank had the best driving performance in the world and the highest speed - 68.1 km / h. And reinforced armor (6 cm) and a powerful 50 mm gun made it the most formidable combat vehicle of that time. This fact will be confirmed many years later, when researchers study captured tanks in the Wehrmacht in detail.
Pz. IV
Developed by Krupp to support light and medium Pz. III. To do this, the tank was armed with a 75-mm gun of 24 caliber and two machine guns. The engineers paid special attention to its suspension. They experimented withleaf springs and road wheels until almost perfect vibration damping is obtained. It did not even require the installation of shock absorbers.
Wehrmacht Pz. IV tanks have become the most massive in the history of Germany. Not a single German combat vehicle received the same distribution either before or after the war.
Conclusion
Starting from the middle of 1943, Wehrmacht tanks on the Eastern Front began to take up a defensive position. Basically, all battalions consisted of "fours" (Pz. IV). The Germans suffered serious losses, and the situation with the equipment became more complicated every day. It got to the point that assault guns were used instead of tanks. In 1944, entire battalions were armed with them. Of course, assault guns were great for fire support, but they could not work together with linear tanks due to the limited sector of fire. As a result, the entire organizational structure of the tank battalions went to pieces. In the last months of the battles, one-day battle groups were created from several assault guns and combat vehicles. After the defeat of the Nazis, the tanks of the Wehrmacht of World War II were destroyed. And those that remained were taken over by the Soviet troops.
Today we have described all the main Wehrmacht tanks from 1941-1945. Of course, we did it briefly, since it is impossible to fit the entire amount of information into the narrow framework of a short article. For a more detailed acquaintance with the mentioned equipment, it is better to refer to the materials of military encyclopedias.
