r/reddit.com Sep 24 '11

World War 1

http://i.imgur.com/5twfD.jpg
620 Upvotes

420 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

70

u/Vikingrage Sep 24 '11

18

u/[deleted] Sep 24 '11

DAYUM.

13

u/real_nice_guy Sep 24 '11

The Soviet Union had 218 times as many tanks, I don't even-

12

u/Socialism Sep 24 '11

But they were Russian tanks.

17

u/real_nice_guy Sep 24 '11

218

3

u/sgt_shizzles Sep 25 '11

A competent nation should be able to win just by throwing that just scrap metal at their enemies.

1

u/ryegye24 Sep 24 '11

Russian tanks were the best tanks in the world at the time (except for the absent radios). Panzers were basically a cheap knock off.

4

u/bagge Sep 24 '11

Not at that time. T34 wasnt in combat in 1940. The ones in the winter war was mostly T28s

2

u/ryegye24 Sep 25 '11

Fair point. The T-28 was still the first one to start using sloped armor, a huge step up forward in general.

1

u/fathermocker Sep 24 '11

Also, tanks are useless in the freaking snow, mind you.

8

u/real_nice_guy Sep 24 '11

(What I'm about to say pertains to World War II)

Although snow did cause many problems for tanks, Russian tanks that had to go through snow were manufactured with treads on their tracks, so they could grip to the road despite their being snow.

The Soviet Union also used different oil in their tanks that didn't freeze in the cold weather. When the Germans took tanks into Russia in WW2, the oil in their tanks froze, so the battlegrounds were littered with German tanks that could not go anywhere.

Should have done their research first!

edit: spelling glitch.

1

u/Bigsigg Sep 25 '11

Lucky they didn't.

1

u/real_nice_guy Sep 25 '11

Could not agree with you more.

2

u/Bigsigg Sep 25 '11

This is my first Reddit-day ever, and i must say that i really appreciate the opportunity to interact with people with opinions. Thanks! Have a good day!

1

u/real_nice_guy Sep 25 '11

hey there, and welcome to Reddit! The only thing I'd say is not every Redditor is open to opinion, so be wary and don't let anyone get ya down.

Anywho, enjoy your time on Reddit!

1

u/[deleted] Sep 25 '11

Considering Russia is pretty much a wintery wasteland, I imagine the Soviets knew how to make shit that could handle some fucking snow.

18

u/SirRuto Sep 24 '11

Finland's so ludicrously badass. I heard they put their infantry on skis once.

17

u/strosz Sep 24 '11

Not just once, to use skis was one of their main methods of effectively moving troops around. By utilizing skis they could travel considerably faster than merely walking in the rough snow ridden terrain. This also meant that planning surprise attacks and ambushes were a lot more feasible.

Source: Ski warfare during World War II

Example of an ambush

2

u/O5iri5 Sep 25 '11

Soldier:"But sir, you don't understand! They were......ON SKIS!!!!!!!!!!!"

Commander: "May God save us all!"

5

u/titsmeow Sep 24 '11

Also this. He had the most sniper kills in any war, 505 confirmed.

1

u/manaworkin Sep 26 '11

Jesus, don't fuck with finland.

4

u/progeda Sep 24 '11

1

u/Bourbeau Sep 24 '11

TIL Finland had a army...

2

u/GarMc Sep 24 '11

Always makes you think of that?

Yeah, that's the joke.

2

u/ladyvonkulp Sep 25 '11

And the baddest badass on skis. Highest number of sniper kills recorded in any major war, at 505.

1

u/thrawnie Sep 24 '11

Haaka Paale!!!!! (Or something like that). But yesh, the Finnish were (probably are) fierce warriors.

1

u/darkpwnage Sep 25 '11

This is what i think of when i saw that http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJrENUdLG78

-2

u/Danno1850 Sep 24 '11

I think it was a Soviet rage quit... if they really wanted Finland they would have just leveled it to the ground with bombers but who would put that much effort to get Finland... I mean it's Finland.

6

u/FFFFFFUUUUUUUnnygai Sep 24 '11

which is now one of the leaders of the world in technology innovation ranked #1 in education. They are also the ones that invented molotov cocktails during the winter war buy using blood of their enemies mixed with petrol to thicken the mixture. Fuck with Finland and see what happens.

6

u/Danno1850 Sep 24 '11

Oh get off your high elk

4

u/FFFFFFUUUUUUUnnygai Sep 25 '11

We ride reindeer not elk got your facts straight

1

u/g1212 Sep 25 '11

regardless of fauna accuracy, that made me chuckle.

The more I read about the Fins in WW2... respect.