The tanks used during the Spanish Civil War are not often examined in any great detail, and are often labeled as little more than test vehicles in a convenient proving ground before World War II. But, with groundbreaking research, armor expert Steven J Zaloga has taken a fresh look at the tanks deployed in Spain, examining how future tanks and armored tactics were shaped and honed by the crews' experiences, and how Germany was able to benefit from these lessons while their Soviet opponents were not. Based on recently uncovered records of Soviet tankers in Spain and rare archival accounts, this book describes the various tanks deployed in Spain, including the PzKpfw I and the T-26.

“Recounts in considerable detail how Germany, Italy, and Soviet Russia intervened in Spain, supplying troops and equipment to the warring sides.” —ARMOR Magazine Although Spain had been for many years on the periphery of the great affairs of Europe, within a few months of the Civil War breaking out in 1936, three out of the four major European powers—Italy, Germany, and the Soviet Union—decided to intervene. Spain turned out to be the perfect proving ground to carry out controlled, realistic experiments with live weapons and troops. This book covers the theories of the three main contributors that provided armor to the warring parties in the civil war, how those contributions shaped combat, and how the lessons learned were then applied to tank combat in World War II. The use of tanks in the Spanish Civil War wedded traditional war to modern technology. The fighting in Spain did not offer any easy answers, however, to the question of infantry-armor cooperation, primarily because the tanks supplied were not very worthy and had been supplied in small numbers, even though the Republicans organized an “armored division.” The situation for the tanks on the Nationalist side was so bad in practical terms that they reused captured Russian armor in their units. Tank employment in Spain did offer many lessons, but the lessons did not always lie in what was done or accomplished but precisely on what was not done and was not accomplished. “Offers important insight into the employment of tanks during the war, lessons learned (or not learned) by the participating armed forces.” —Globe at War

The Spanish Civil War was the first conflict to see real clashes between tanks, employed by both sides (at the same time, Italy was fighting in Ethiopia, employing a good number of armoured vehicles, but against an enemy with no tanks at all). Spain was thus the testing ground for modern warfare between armoured vehicles sent from Italy, Germany and Russia. The use of tanks during the Civil War only hinted at some of those aspects that would later make armoured forces one of the decisive elements on the battlefield during the Second World War. In this volume, Spanish-made prototypes and so-called ‘tiznaos’ will be described.

This book covers the deployment of tanks during the Spanish Civil War, how they fought, and the lessons derived from their use in that conflict.

The Spanish Civil War was the first conflict to see real clashes between tanks, employed by both sides of the conflict (at the same time Italy was fighting in Ethiopia, employing a good number of armored vehicles, but against an enemy entirely without tanks). Spain was thus the testing ground for modern warfare between armored vehicles sent from Italy, Germany and Russia. The use of tanks during the Civil War only hinted at some of those aspects that would later make armored forces one of the decisive elements on the battlefield during World War II. This volume will describe the units fielded by the Nationalist and Republican factions.

By the spring of 1936 an armed clash was imminent between the forces of Spain's extreme Left and extreme Right. Viewed largely as a confrontation between democracy and fascism, the resulting civil war proved to be of enormous international significance. Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy intervened to assist General Franco, while the Soviet Union came to the aid of the Republican forces. This book explains the background to the war and charts the course of the nearly three-year long conflict through to General Franco's victory. Photographs and colour plates illustrate the uniforms and equipment of the Republican and Nationalist armies.