CUP Undergraduate Research
Date of Award
Spring 4-1-2019
Document Type
Thesis
College
College of Arts & Sciences
Department
Humanities
Degree Name
History, BA
First Advisor
Joel Davis, Ph.D.
Abstract
This thesis aims to explore the far-reaching effects of armored warfare and tank development on the outcome of the Eastern Front of the Second World War, where Nazi Germany and the United Soviet Socialist Republics fought an existential war that would decide the destiny of Eastern Europe. As such, this thesis provides background information on the Nazi ideology that opened this theater of the Second World War before delving into German tank development, examining several vehicles that had a significant impact on armored development in general as well as within the theater when these vehicles raged across the steppes of Russia and Ukraine. The perspective then changes to cover the Soviet response to the invasion, the general flow of the war in this theater after Operation Barbarossa, culminating with the Battle of Berlin. Several important facets of this front such as the Soviet implementation of Deep Battle philosophy and the evacuation of Soviet war industry to the Ural Mountains is also covered. Finally, common trends in Soviet armor that allowed their tanks and other armored vehicles to prevail over Nazi Germany will be discussed, and an overview of several significant Soviet armored vehicles ranging from self-propelled guns to an assortment of tank destroyers and the vaunted T-34 and IS-2 medium and heavy tanks is also explored.