The T-34 is undoubtedly one of the most famous tanks in the history of both World War II and military affairs in general, which is a kind of symbol of the Soviet victory in the war with the Third Reich. The machine was developed for the needs of the Red Army as a successor to the so-called BT series pursuit tanks (BT-5 and BT-7), as well as the T-26 tank. Work on the machine began in 1937 in a special design bureau at the Kharkov Steam Engine Plant. Initially, the work was led by engineer Adolf Dick (he also made the first sketches of the new machine), and after his arrest by the Soviet security agencies, the work was led by Mikhail Koshkin. Initially, the machine had the designation A-20. However, a second prototype (A-32) was quickly built with the main armament in the form of a 76.2-mm gun and significantly thicker frontal armor. It was the last prototype that was finally accepted for production. It can be assumed that at the time of its adoption, the TT-34 was a very successful tank in many respects. It was characterized - as in 1940 - by very powerful weapons, had well-profiled armor based on inclined armor plates, as well as very high mobility and off-road characteristics. The disadvantages include the very poor ergonomics of the machine or the poor optics used in the first production batches. Despite these shortcomings, when the T-34 appeared on the Eastern Front, the German troops were very surprised by it. The high overall rating of the T-34 and its combat values determined its mass production and made it the basic tank of the Red Army during the battles of 1942-1945. They also led to further improvements to the design, for example, in 1942 a new hexagonal turret appeared, which improved the quality of work of the crew members with the commander's cupola. The engine and transmission were also improved. However, in 1944, the T-34/85 model was adopted with a completely new three-man turret and the main armament in the form of an 85 mm gun. The T-34 tank took part in almost all the major battles between the Red Army and the Wehrmacht on the Eastern Front in 1941-1945: starting with the Battle of Moscow, through the Battles of Stalingrad and Kursk Duma, Operation Bagration and the capture of Berlin. After 1945, the T-34 tank was still in service, it was also widely exported outside the USSR to countries such as Czechoslovakia, Poland, East Germany, Hungary and Syria.
