The fact that it came about is quite impressive given the shortcomings of the nation that produced it.
The Soviet Red Army had essentially tried to copy Western designs throughout the 1920s with mixed results.
Perhaps the failure to refine played in its favor.
This image, dated 1940, shows some of the earliest T-34 tanks produced. Image: CC BY-SA 3.0, RIA Novosti
It was simply the right tank from the start.
The first prototype left the factory in late January 1940, while full production began in June 1940.
It was known simply as Prinadiezhit-Chetverkior or thirty-four to its crews.
This T-34 tank is on display at the U.S. Army Aberdeen Proving Grounds in Maryland. Image: NARA/U.S. Navy Don S. Montgomery
Germany seriously underestimated the Soviet Red Army, in part because there was practically nothing known about the T-34.
That changed just a day after the Nazis launched Operation Barbarossa.
On June 22, 1941, the first T-34 tanks were encountered on the battlefield.
T-34 tank crews being briefed by an officer at the edge of a snow-covered forest during World War II. Image: IWM
They came as a shock to the Germans.
That number grew quickly to 1,853 by the Battle of Moscow in December of that year.
That plan never moved forward, and instead, the Germans went ahead with the Panther.
This 1985 photo shows the right front view of a Soviet T-34/85 tank equipped with additional external fuel tanks, at the grounds of the Memorial Complex of the Ukrainian State near Kyiv. Image: Author
Germany opted to essentially reinvent the wheel and largely failed.
More than a dozen of the tanks were refurbished for future use in parades and movies.
It has been speculated that the Laotian tanks were actually Czechoslovakian-produced but those were still a near-identical licensed copy.
A Soviet T-34 tank and infantry liberate a village from the Germans during 1943. Image: IWM
It is also doubtful even many tank buffs could tell the difference once the vehicles were refurbished.
Unlike so many other military weapons that disappeared, the T-34 is actually fairly common.
Hundreds are known to be in military museums or serve as war materials.
Russian workers carrying out a repair on a war-damaged T-34 tank at a Soviet factory. Image: IWM
That basic plot was recycled for the 2018 Russian filmTanks for Stalin.
That same year, Russia also releasedT-34, which told the story of a World War II tank crew.
A heavily fictionalized account of the war, it premiered at Comic-Con Russia 2018.
Russian infantry leap from T-34 tanks to accept the surrender of a group of German soldiers. Image: IWM
It was nominated for a Golden Eagle Award the Russian equivalent of the U.S. Academy Awards.
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The Red Army and the Second World War
The Tank Museum
A knocked-out Soviet T-34 tank and burning vehicles on a road in Russia. Image: IWM
Operational T-34 tanks remain in the world. This one is shown in action during a demonstration at The Tank Museum in 2013. Image:CC BY-SA 2.0, Peter Trimming
