Why Italian Tanks Were so BAD (World War II)

A live action version of our classic video
While the Italian Army tank crews of World War II were undoubtedly brave in combat, they lacked decent, modern day equipment and were hampered by extremely poor leadership.
Sources / footage
pastebin.com/qhFf77q2

[@kursk_kuku141]

“Why are there six pedals when they are only four directions?” -Caboose

[@planemod8399]

Ok

[@coolboi1232]

Red vs blue what are you doing here

[@alfrede.newman6626]

Ahh.. but who dictated there is only 4 directions ?.. hmm ? Me

[@akramgimmini8165]

He designed all Italian Tanks

[@luvr381]

There are six directions; forward, backward, left, right, up, and down.

[@jameslewis2635]

The Italians should have licenced the Panzer 3 or 4 designs early in the war when they figured out that their units were not up to fighting the Allies. Even the Panzer 3 was better than what they ended the war with.

[@amernoori4157]

They were considering licensing the Panther I think and a deal was somewhat close, it was manufactured in Italy when the Germans had taken over control in Italy. Edit: never mind it just said it in the video.

[@alfrede.newman6626]

Yeah...El Duce was an idiot also, all dictators basically are.

[@stonedtowel]

Agreed but nevertheless with lack of industrial capacity on every axis country, lack of standardized equipment, and a overall lack of manpower to both field and build up their militaries they were bound for the same course.

[@cesarespisa8575]

Italian industry was unable to build pz III or IV under license

[@steffenrosmus9177]

@@amernoori4157 so you had to license the crew too.

[@robertgallagher7734]

have to respect the Italian tankers' bravery and sense of duty to get in those for battle.

[@dusk6159]

The soldiers manning the artillery batteries too

[@pandastical9205]

If I hear the same ‘one forward four reverse’ quote in one more WWII video I might cry

[@giancarlogarlaschi4388]

" ENEMY TANKS BREAK AT OUR BACKS , THUS ARIETE SURROUNDED , ARIETE KEEPS FIGHTING " Last Radio communique Ariete Division , El Alamein .

[@alfrede.newman6626]

With the Italian love for cars, it seems to me that they would have developed great drive trains that would simply require a decent gun and appropriate armor.

[@casematecardinal]

They actually made some of the best combat and armored cars of the war. So I guess even then they focused mostly on making amazing cars

[@simonbirch8689]

Italian craftsman’s ship was the same as now. Everything is finely crafted instead of mass produced. They built most of their tanks too early so by the time WW2 came around they were 10 years behind, and they never militarized their economy so they never mass produced. Hence why their late war tanks were good, just so few and far between.

[@MaticTheProto]

@@simonbirch8689 hahahahhaHAHAHAHAH no

[@silverjohn6037]

In terms of industrial prerequisites there's a huge gap between a light sports car and tanks. The drive trains, suspensions and armor are closer to farm tractors and locomotives than a race car. There's a big difference between trying to move a one ton vehicle from zero to sixty on a race track and moving 20-30 tons across country up hills and over obstacles.

[@adrianzanoli]

tbf, the italian tanks had a 47mm gun since 1940, this was comparable with a Panzer IV, most of the tanks back then had a 37mm gun main gun, they could easly penetrate most of the allied tanks if not all of them at the beginning of the war. The P26/40 had a 75mm gun that was similar to the T-34/75. The main problem was the lack of armor protection, and especially the underpowered engines.

[@thedarksage328]

"Why did the New Italian Navy build ships with glass bottoms? So, that they could look at the old Italian navy."😃

[@ericl7416]

hahahahaha

[@extremathule982]

Yeah,....and also take a look at the old British navy.😃

[@JohnSmith-rw8uh]

@@extremathule982 and the Australian one

[@JohnDoe-on6ru]

Stepping into an Italian tank in the first place is only for the most brave of men. It takes no courage to get in a Tiger lol

[@jameslewis2635]

Only because you know the Tiger has a 50% chance of breaking down before it reached the battlefield.

[@MaticTheProto]

@@jameslewis2635 better than the t34 and en par with the sherman

[@joperamod5760]

@@jameslewis2635 no

[@murphy7801]

@@MaticTheProto t34 had the lowest crew survival of any medium heavy tank in the war at 15%. It's awful. It takes no courage to get into a char 2c with 90mm of slopped armour

[@MaticTheProto]

@@murphy7801 I was talking about the reliability

[@NeuKrofta]

Everyone always skips the Battle of Kasserine Pass where Italian tanks absolutely annihilated the US 1st Armored Division of M3 Lee's and M4 Shermans

[@kromtastic]

Glad you found footage of me in my rank 1 Italian tanks in War Thunder. Just a smoldering mess in a field lol

[@robertgift]

Well done and illustrated video! Thank you, SH2

[@solinvictus1234]

Cause Italians was no way ready, as equipment, for another WW. The first WW and then the Spanish Franco's war highly drained the Italian army resources, capability and money to modernize the whole army.

[@lanfrancoadreani9212]

2:00 the CV33 wasn't cheap It costed 89,890 lire, more or less the equivalent of 78,000 in today's Dollars an early Panzer 2 was roughly 267,000$ and more importantly a Panzer I costed the equivalent of 192,895$

[@paoloxillo9012]

Ehm no, ~3000 lire= 1€=~1$

[@regidelthegeneralthatzappe4469]

@@paoloxillo9012 Non hai preso in considerazione 89 anni di inflazione

[@paoloxillo9012]

@@regidelthegeneralthatzappe4469 in effetti

[@roybennett9284]

It's not the Italians fault,as they didn't have a industrial vase

[@NeuKrofta]

The Italian tanks were comparable to Allied tanks for the first couple years, it wasn't until 42-43 that they became obsolete, like many other prewar/early war tanks of everyone else.

[@brokenbridge6316]

This video had some nice pics

[@coling3957]

The joke about Italian tanks reverse gears was still being told by Germans in the 1980's when I lived there. Who says Germans haven't got a sense of humour?

[@NeuKrofta]

the most unoriginal joke told, Germans always stealing from everyone else lol

[@JohnSmith-rw8uh]

The german panzer 1 was crap, they just had stukas and 109's to support it

[@silentwolf6555]

Again, no mention of the P40?

[@shadowman8535]

Tbh Italians did have 2 good tanks, p43 and p44 they were pretty good

[@thunberbolttwo3953]

To little way to late.

[@alecbowman4127]

The P40 was the only one actually built. They could still take out Shermans and did see action.

[@Trillock-hy1cf]

Thanks for stating measurements/distances in Imperial and Foreign.......

[@sven9900]

the moment i looked at the channal name, i wished it was named as, "simple history 2, electric boogaloo"

[@sigbauer9782]

"Often rated as one of the best tanks in the world" Rated by who? war thunder wannabes? "Often rated as an occasional tank in a few games" FIFY

[@Plugneedsahug]

Re upload?

[@WAKIZASHI158]

Nice World Of Tanks Background Gameplay

[@WAKIZASHI158]

Also War Thunder?

[@GMKGoji01]

I'm impressed you used War Thunder footage for this video.

[@yumyunrangLOAL]

Were? They still are. Look at the fucking Ariete, thing's as durable as raw spaghetti

[@michelangelodealberti310]

wgats the name of the game where the ww1 footage is from

[@averylividmoose3599]

Its World of Tanks and its not WW1 footage, he said the FIAT 3000 was made in the 1920s and the tank seen there specifically was the up-gunned one from dual machine guns to a 37mm gun

[@stephennewton2223]

A minor quibble. A 90mm gun would be 3.6 inch. The 88mm was 3.5 inch.

[@wildwilly356]

bruh you did this video already

[@DJhuggo]

The italiana tanks are developing for the colonial wars

[@Zoydian]

Word has it that, although the crews were not happy with their tanks performance in desert battle, they were happy to use them to make great lasagna.

[@treybone3263]

What game was used to get this footage?

[@mynamejeff8401]

War thunder

[@kingofcrimson4177]

World of Tanks for the part about the Fiat-3000 and WarThunder for the rest.

[@pen2009]

What game is that ?

[@Disaster0031]

Looks like he used world of tanks for part of it for showcase of the tank, judging by the siren and graphics

[@themightywookie351c3]

Has the latest tank ever been in real combat?

[@Cesarc2]

Faltó el M 11 39.

[@shimantagoswami4781]

Italian tank are looked like tank, practically these are small tracked armoured vehicle only.

[@pukalo]

I love WW2 Italian tanks despite their quirkiness.

[@norikaikakyoin7069]

Wait a minute this was a simple history video?

[@gtthfkb]

Yes

[@makarameach7358]

If you were to review tanks in World of Tanks, that would be cool.

[@lomathedolphin2535]

They actually used WarThunder gameplay. Holy scheise.

[@sevenless419]

The Italians Could’ve Never Been Mocked when they Built more of the good tanks

[@avyrye8353]

Hearing your voice with historical images feels odd to me

[@kimjanek646]

Didn't really answser the question though 😂

[@christaylor6654]

I don’t think any country fears am Italian designed tank. I’m just a master gunner so what do I know

[@bucimuci]

dont blame the tools

[@HerrKurt]

Italian tank fiat..Fix It Available Today! 🤣

[@binaway]

Their early tanks worked well against the tribal worriers of East Africa. Against a well equipped modern army it was a different story.

[@jasonmyers5349]

MAMAMIA

[@MelonBoi789]

3

[@dominuslimo4147]

Is he playing on world of tanks or war Thunder?

[@averylividmoose3599]

both, the FIAT 3000 was covered in WoT as War thunder refuses to add FT-type hulls, the rest was War thunder

[@Z020852]

How history repeats itself: Italian Tanks WW2 Edition 1. Outdated, too light armor and too weak guns = Equites not having as big horses as Companions (probably Campanians too), not having as good breast plate armor as Companions (probably Campanians too); not having as much armor as Parthian cataphracts (probably not even as much as the richest Gallic nobles) 2. Outdated, too slow = Numidians. They're not even the best at this, therefore Carrhae.

[@kurtlagon2023]

All using "War Thunder" reference...👍🇮🇹

[@tcapo514]

Italy makes switchblades not tanks

[@doubleasdomain8143]

Bro used war thunder to do the tank animation 😂😂

[@ErmakBrovar]

Self-propelled gun is not a tank.

[@Tutel9528]

It’s a tank,just not meant for head to head engagement.

[@ErmakBrovar]

@@Tutel9528 no, it is not a tank. It’s self-propelled gun. Tanks and self-propelled guns gave different gun-armor balance.

[@TheSpritz0]

HEY wassa matta for you🤪

[@nofrackingzone7479]

Like most Italian vehicles at the time it was unreliable…. Eighty years later and little had changed. 😂

[@JohnSmith-rw8uh]

your country make anything?

[@alanmountain5804]

The Italians did however make some decent armoured cars but yeah their tanks were terrible

[@joperamod5760]

not all

[@Korpsmen]

Welp it true really not else much to say besides that the C1 artete is kinda mediocre

[@caitlynaltier2226]

i love at the start it was war thunder

[@theyoinkster8064]

I think that the start was WoT not WT

[@caitlynaltier2226]

@@theyoinkster8064 looks more like war thunder

[@theyoinkster8064]

@@caitlynaltier2226 nope, I play WT very regularly and those graphics look nothing like WT.

[@caitlynaltier2226]

@@theyoinkster8064 i havent played warthunder in like 3 months so your prob right

[@reddaniels7011]

Well In WOTB,Italian tanks are OP especially Tank destroyers.😒

[@nickpaine]

It had no forward gear but reverse had overdrive.

[@julianshepherd2038]

You had to be crazy to take on a Matilda II in an Italian tank. You could not win.

[@xmaniac99]

You could just drive around it, no way Fatilda would catch up.

[@JohnSmith-rw8uh]

in a semovente you could

[@gamingbalkancroatia3405]

Bro using war Thunder for explaining history🤣

[@Btester2]

So basically they had poor engineering and design? I mean they really didn't think those out very well.

[@zjanez2868]

more that they just didnt have the industrial capacity to build large tanks Edit: also the very mountaious terrain isnt very friendly to large tanks

[@DJhuggo]

In fact because the italians tanks are developing tô use in the colonial wars in África .

[@NeuKrofta]

They were designed with certain criteria in mind and were prewar/interwar tanks; they were old. Tanks become obsolete, nothing new there

[@pyeitme508]

Old video dude

[@emilkostov479]

Becouse the are obsolete.

[@sgt_slobber.7628]

They couldn’t make tanks yet they made Ferraris?!!!!!!?:/

[@mrj57f]

To retreat faster ..

[@sgt_slobber.7628]

@@mrj57f and in style!!!!!;);)

[@sylumgand]

No, THEY didnt make Ferrari's, Enzo Ferrari cobbled together race cars. Also when has Ferrari ever meant robust and reliable?

[@sgt_slobber.7628]

@@sylumgand Ferrari is Italian is he not?!!!!!?

[@JohnSmith-rw8uh]

@@sylumgand modern american cars arent either

[@nickpaine]

Generally poorly designed and engineered but widely thought to be "sexier" than other designs of the day.

[@NeuKrofta]

how were they poorly designed and engineered?

[@nickpaine]

@@NeuKrofta Just joking. It's what is often said of Italian cars. Good looking but not reliable. Come to think of it, that's what they say about Italian men, too.

[@NeuKrofta]

@@nickpaine the engines were underpowered but that doesn't mean the whole tank was poorly designed

[@anthonynicholich9654]

They were better than anything America had.

[@averylividmoose3599]

...yeah? like the Stuart, the Lee, the Grant, and the M4 Sherman?

[@ZawcheeOnYoutubeDotCoom]

"Bruh The Italians made some really trash tanks in ww2" "How does ur spaghetti taste like?"

[@ItzKyIe]

2

[@justvincent2083]

1

[@matteonervi8622]

as an italian i sadly have to say that even the C1 ariete isnt a real world class tank for modern standards. :c

[@lulutileguy]

was not for Italy tanks would not have reverse

[@paulsimmons5726]

Little known fact - After making tanks, these guys began making FIATs after the war, LOL!

[@averylividmoose3599]

FIAT was a car manufacturer before the war but their factories were used for tank production, they just simply went back to cars after the war

[@JohnSmith-rw8uh]

idiot FIAT is a respected name for people who know about cars. one of the pioneers of the automobile... holder of land speed records.

[@davidgillock6425]

Maybe they used olive oil instead of motor oil.

[@robertoorsi5771]

Because Italy was a pour country like now. And now we have immigrants invasion and no weapons to stop them, who have powerfull ships with radar and satellite devices to pick up immigrants on the Libyan shores. So we have in Italy thousands of immigrants that sell drugs because there's no job. Mr Geroge Soros is so rich that he can finance fleets of ONG ships. And we have also Mr Rchard Gere who makes advisor.

[@anonymous-mj8wb]

finally made a world class tank in form of ariat main battle tank . back in 1995 italian engineer: man we need a better tank. italian spy: we stole the American designes for an m1 Abrams. italian engineer: cool. italian spy: just change it up a bit so it so no one questions about how we made it.

[@zedeyejoe]

Italian economy could not handle war time production, neither of course could the German. Italian tanks had one advantage, AT shells would often go right through them, so Allies switched to using HE against them.

[@Tutel9528]

Neither of course the German?Germans built 120,000 aircrafts of all types and almost 50,000 tanks and self propelled guns between 1939-1945.Still about 10x of that of Italy.They built 1,200 U-Boats and 35,000 rockets of V-1 and V-2.

[@Tutel9528]

When the war started Germany was the largest national economy in Europe,second next to USA in the world.I really hate the myth that Germany was a 3rd world country when the war started.Why do people keep believing in this?

[@pro321pvp]

They don't have any ammo so they used pizza

[@pogmothoin1342]

Sounds like Russian tanks in UKRAINE

[@BKaganYilmaz7]

Nice propaganda 👍

[@Tutel9528]

Nope,Italian tanks were just trash.

[@darren2933]

4