Re: Cause German Tank Success
German tanks are my #1 hobby!
From 1938 through 1941 German tank dominance is attributed to doctrine and tactics. When Germany invaded France they fielded more Czech 38t tanks than their own. The Panzer I and II were used extensively in Poland and France, with lesser numbers (between 2-300 IIRC) of the Panzer IV ausf D's. The Panzer IV ausf D was a decent tank compared to what the French, British and Polish forces were fielding but it's short 75mm cannon was no match for the Russians T-34/76 which was fielded in 1941. The French had the capability and military resources to easily repel the Germans, but the political chaos of 1940 France prevented their army from mounting any real and meaningful organized military defense. Also, the French at that time refused to consider the tank as an actual maneuvering element and as such, their tanks were relegated to infantry support only whereby they never achieved any sort of massed armor. Additionally, the Germans were the first army ever to grasp and implement the combined arms team and the air land battle. One other unique feature about the German armor formations is the fact that the Germans started the war from day one with armored infantry which accompanied the tanks in half tracks. It's now common knowledge but was not back then that tanks are useless without infantry support.
The Germans reallized that they had limited industry and resources and therefore opted to build quality vehicles in limited numbers. The Russians were the exact opposite, they had virtually unlimited resources in material and men and therefore opted to simply smother the Germans. The T-34 was an excellent design in it's time, but it didn't enter battle in meaninful numbers and formations until well into 1942. America chose to employ massive amounts of mediocre tanks. Statisitcally 4 Sherman tanks were destroyed for every Panther tank destroyed, the problem was that their were 10 Sherman tanks for every Panther tank, and America was able to churn them out none stop to infinity. America chose to send Shermans in numbers, they were decent tanks of the medium category, pitting them against heavy tanks... well that's why they were easy pickings for Panthers. Germany's biggest flaw was producing so many different types of tanks. In 1944 they were producing Panzer IV's, Stug IV's, Jagdpanzer IV's, Sturmpanzer IV's, Panthers, Jagdpanthers, Tiger's II, Sturmtigers II, Jagdtiger's II, and a whole host of lesser AFV's. It's been said that the Germans could have won the war by utilizing all of those resources building the Panzer IV's and variants there of. Ultimately Russia fielded the T-34/85 which was a superb tank, they also had the Josheph Stalin super heavy tanks and the monstrous IS-2's towards the end of the war. American fielded the M-26 in very limited numbers towards the end of the war, and it was superior to Panther in every respect.
So, to answer your question it was a combination of tactical excellence, decent machines and some really lousy opposition.
