Soviet tank operations in the Spanish civil war

Abstract

Although often cited as ‘the proving ground for World War II’, the lessons of the Spanish Civil War have been misunderstood. This account, the first to use an extensive collection of recently released Soviet military archival material, examines the use of tanks by the Soviet‐backed Republican forces, it argues that the conflict did have important lessons in tank technology and tactics for the Red Army, but that many of the lessons were distorted as a consequence of the Purges, or ignored due to deep‐seated shortcomings.