How tanks redefined warfare

From the mud churned battlefields of the First World War to the high-stakes clashes of the Cold War, the tank has shaped the course of conflict like no other machine. In this episode of the History Extra podcast, Emily Briffitt is joined by Mark Urban as he reveals the dramatic evolution of armoured warfare through its iconic vehicles, and the engineers, commanders and crews who drove them into the history books. Along the way, they explore how tanks transformed strategy, influence global power, and became enduring symbols of both liberation and destruction. Thank you so much for taking the time to join us to talk all about your latest book, Tank. Historically,

What do you think it is that actually defines a tank? Is it firepower? Is it armor, maneuverability, or something else entirely? Well yes, it's all of those things really. And there's a sort of particular category of sort of grumpy old middle-aged bloke who appears on social media to tell other people it's not a tank when they put up photos of some other thing on tracks with armor and all the rest of it.

And I don't have a huge amount of time for that, to be honest, but for the purposes of the book, yes, as you implied in your question, what it is, is a gun on a mobile platform protected by armor. And you can drill further into that and say it's a gun designed to hit things it can see, or the crew can see, direct fire. If it's firing over a hill at something 20 miles away, then it's a self-propelled gun and not a tank. It's artillery.

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