Bull. The only thing that T-34 had from Christie was the suspension system. The overall design (e.g. sloped armour and larger-than-typical-gun for its period were purely Russian). What makes you think Christie emigrated? Another myth.
The T-34's had the only technological superiority that ever mattered, ease of manufacture. You can quote damage, or penetration, or armor, but in the end none of it actually made a damned difference now did it?
The Russians only needed to make one tank design to win the war, the Germans needed to make nearly a dozen of which only several saw action. That speaks highly of the T-34 now doesn't it?
Well if armor, penetration etc. were important measures of the T-34's impact on the war, they reflect poorly on it because it was obsolete by 1944. The Soviets had many other designs, and yes they certainly needed more designs to win the war, as well as an opponent fighting multiple powers on multiple fronts. The T-34 is a medium-class battle tank and was never meant to match up pound for pound against the heaviest tanks. What can I say? Russia was underdeveloped at the start of the war, and Stalin made sure it stayed that way in many respects. With good leadership Russia would have achieved a far greater place in world history, but that leadership was all but exterminated before it could take hold after the fall of the Czars.
Its the sad truth. The biggest reason operation Barbarossa succeeded was that there were no competent Soviet officers left.
Soviets and Russians today refer to their part of WWII as GPW (Great Patriotic War). Why is it so? .................................................... Ludwik Kowalski (see Wikipedia) who lived in Russia in 1941, where the first Soviet victory, pushing Germans away from Moscow, took place.
Hitler wanted to attack Russia in May 41.. He had to divert troops to save Mussolini in Greece.. Delaying his attack on Russia. The German army would have taken Moscow before General Winter struck.. Moscow was the rail hub of Russia.. So what ever tank they produced would not have been worth one whit without rail transport..
In addition there was a palace coup in Yugoslavia, so it changed from a German satellite to an enemy. As a result the German army was delayed for a time in order to conquer Yugoslavia. Greece was taken care of quickly after that.
If German would treat occupied Slavic nations they could have won but sense Germans mistreated the native poorly so they did not have much cooperation . American have learned in Iraq they are learning in Afghanistan . No one likes the occupier, I don't care how good he is , he is an occupier.
