CLAS: Colby Liberal Arts Symposium

World War 2 Tank Warfare

Diamond 153

Since their inception in World War 1, the concept of an armored vehicle, or tank has had a profound impact on the landscapes of conventional warfare to this day. Since the inception of the first British tanks in World War 1, the tank has found its way into nearly every military power in the world. While the tank was certainly a behemoth to behold in the World War 1 trenches, it was in World War 2 in which tanks truly began to shine, and all the nations involved in the war had tanks to call their own. Thousands upon thousands of tanks saw action in World War 2, with entire battalions sometimes being comprised solely of armored units. For my presentation, I will be talking about the various different tanks and armored vehicles of World War 2. I intend to analyze the key types of tanks in World War 2, as well as analyze the more in-depth, behind-the-scenes aspects of tank warfare and how it impacted the war. How did each country implement tanks into their forces, and to what extent were they implemented? What made the German tanks different from, say, the Russian or American tanks in terms of design and effectiveness? How did tanks influence battles and strategy? How did each nation approach the task of designing, producing, and maintaining these mechanical beasts of war? And ultimately, how did all of these factors impact the outcome of the war? I hope to provide answers for these questions in an in-depth analysis while also providing insight into debates on the subject that are still argued over to this day.

https://digitalcommons.colby.edu/clas/2015/program/334