The most underrated Panzer? - Panzer I 

german spy in England went to a bar -Two martini please - Martini dry? - Martini zwei !

A big, bulletproof box armed with twin machine-guns going almost 20mph is absolutely terrifying from the perspective of the majority of soldiers, who were infantrymen. Why people are only just realising this is beyond me.

“Sacrificed Armour for Speed” *Battlecruisers Intensifies*

Fast and Führious haha wie nice

Also panzer 38(t) is underrated. They were a great addition to German panzers at Poland and France. Better gun than panzer III at that time and great mobility.

"One tank in an unexpected place is worth 100 tanks where they are expected." - MAJ K J Macksey - "Panzer Division: The Mailed Fist"

Gotta say, that's a nice thumbnail. It doesn't just look good, but it's educational as well.

Soviet Womble spotted at 8:09 ?!

Important additional information the "training tank" issue, I asked Dr. Pöhlmann (the leading German expert on the Panzerwaffe) for his assessment. He noted that the Panzer I was intended for combat, yet that after the experience in Spain 1937 it was rather apparent that the tank was lack-luster and likely not suited for this role. Additionally, the accuracy of the term "training tank" depends on the definition of what one does understand in terms of "training". The must crucial training role the Panzer I fulfilled was training in large formations for operations. So, it was NOT a "training tank intended solely for training", yet one could argue it was a "training tank that should also serve in a combat role".

I think the problem is people assume it to be fighting other tanks, it was never designed too. The Panzer 1 is an infantry fighter, meant to fight the enemy units in a combat zone. it was never intended to take on other vehicles. the intent was to have the armored unit have some anti tank capable vehicles that could be used if an armored threat arose, but in standard combat, the Panzer 1 and 2 were intended to suppress the infantry. I personally love the Panzer 1 and 2, each with a good combat record and service life.

I must admit to being a little concerned once I realized that this video was focused on the Panzer I. However, you effectively made your point that this tank is unjustly underrated given the circumstances. I agree with this, especially because anyone who studies the Spanish Civil War has found multiple sources ragging on the Republicans for being unorganized and mostly inept. This is mostly true, however people just assume that the Nationalists were great because they had German and Italian help. No one considers what the Nationalist training and doctrine were like in situ. Yet the Republicans had the help of Soviets who found the command of Republican military structures exasperating, especially the Anarchist forces - thus the May Days where the Spanish Republic with Communist backing crushed the Anarchists in 1937. So it makes sense that the Panzer I was squandered by Franco's forces. That said, I would absolutely love a video devoted to the Panzer II in the future. I know basically nothing about the strategic and tactical context in which it was used.

I like that graphic about "You have not seen tank in action" with SovietWomble :D Niecely done!

I love the symble for allied incapabilitys is a smashed tea cup and a snapped bagett

would have guessed T 38

Please, please make a shirt and possibly poster based on the intro graphic/thumbnail with all the Panzers coloured different like that. That'd look awesome. Thanks!

"Fast&Führious Rearmament"... I actually already laughed tears...

In addition to these facts, the transmission probably lasted longer than on any other German tank.

_"Fast & Führious Rearmament"_ Nice!😂

As the head of the Departement of Redudancy Departement I take objection with your criticism and I also protest it.

You give away the secret of your video successes: combined arms. Which, in a sense is a combination of perspective, humility, clarity and insight. I greatly appreciate how you step back and "fit the piece into the historical puzzle" so that what you invite me to examine is more clearly presented. Many thanks.

I always understood the term "training tank" for the Panzer not as training tank for the individual soldiers, but as training tank for the whole army. Thank you for supporting my point here.

"Sadly, back then spawn killing was not in fashion". *Cries in Warthunder*

this is my first time watching a video from you Military History and honestly I’m quite impressed at the work you’ve put in this video and seemingly every other video just by looking at them, hats off to you.

You killed me with the "fast and Fuhrious" description

You never disappoint with your uploads MHV!

Aren't they all overrated?

Really Loved the visualization you did in the museum scene - was very effective in conveying a difficult concept to grasp on paper (we’re so used to reading stats).

The Bob Semple tank! The greatest tank of all time!

I'd love you see make a video on the 38(t) and its substantial role in German armoured operations in 1939-45. Few people understand the importance of this Czech design which was kept in production in some form or another until after WW2.

So if the Panzer I is underrated then does that mean that tankettes were actually brilliant? In terms of armament and functionality the Panzer I was just an oversized tankette.

Love your information packed vids, good to see the true stats of armaments from back then, keep up the good work.

Kinda off topic, but i just love the images of the Panzer I next to other bigger tanks. The Panzer is just so smol, i love it

A controversial choice but well argued, as always. I was expecting the Panzer III which was the workhorse of the Panzer waffe in the years of triumph; its operational life extended by upgrades, superior tactics and being just a solid aĺl around package. Or the Panzer IV, the workhorse of the Panzer divisions whose operational life was extended through upgrades to the end of the war. The late war heavy tanks which many admire could not stem the tide of war. Have you read Len Deighton's excellent book Blitzkrieg? He makes similar arguments, for example that the Panzer I and II were outclassed by French tanks but fear of tanks, mass deployment and the superior German combined arms tactics made these little tanks very effective in 39/40. He also has excellent graphics like yours.

3:47 Better said, most Spanish soldiers from both sides had never even seen a tank prior to the SCW. Spain had only two light armored battalions and a few experimental tanks, and they were yet to develop a tank doctrine... which they did during the war.

This was fascinating and entertaining. A similar summary of the Panzer II would be great to see!

Excellent, well-researched argument. Interesting and amusing presentation. Thanks for posting!

Welcome to the Department of Redundancy Department, we welcome you! This is gold.

"likely not seen a Tank in Action before" - picture of Sovietwomble... i see what you did there ;)

Very cool video, never woulda thought about the panzer one like that

Those animations are a new nice touch. And a most informative video. Context is important as always.

That thumbnail though! I want that on a shirt haha.

Your American English is so good. I mean "department of redundancy department". I've been using that expression for years.

your docs are great..keep it up

Great video. Learned a lot

6:23 Of course it makes sense to build a training tank of a training tank. Where else would you teach your soldiers how to train on a training tank?

"Fast & Führious Rearmament" great humor as always!

I love this content. I hope you make more in the future.

Great topic!! Really enjoyed ur video. Merci

So what I understand is: subscribe to your second channel.

I would subscribe to the idea that the Panzer 1 was a fantastic infantry support tank and, if combined with Panzer III, could be a formidable opponent against even heavier French fortifications. I will admit, I often overlooked the Panzer 1 and the Mark IV Light Tank (Great Britain), and Military History Visualized makes a fantastic point.

Well reasoned and thought out. Very educational.

Well done Sir! On a scale of 1 to 10 an 11! Thank You! Please continue!

Wish everybody´s content stayed as balanced as your channel, wish the whole internet community (even myself at times) could take an example as to how these midget-documentaries (cause that they are) come in to being, and are treated by the utmost respect. It´s no longer content, or chewing what others said before you, but analyzing it with specific set of logical principles you clearly studied in heart and mind. Even if sometimes I want to pick up my Mauser 98k, and shoot a blank over your head, hehe :-) But that´s only when it comes down U-Boote and RADAR, and trust me, just about everybody get´s a few depthcharges from me in that area, especially if we look at the later war years. It´s becoming ever harder to separate mythology from reality, and it´s not going to get more easy as our *living* primary sources of this Era are slowly withering away... I know, because I lost a primary source in the WW2 Radar Program as a friend of many years just a while ago. Yet you do a very good job at extracting Reality from Mythology. Truly enjoy this content, it´s refreshing and well-balanced, and an inspiration for trying to do sometimes along these lines myself. The problem being my interests are very broadband, but I´d have to distill down to a handful of subjects, since I learned one cannot remember every little detail about everything. The human memory is finite, even if the philosophy and methodology by which you process the raw information/sources are a rather ´simple´ set of rules and extrapolations... And even these are often not enough! Regards, Thomas PS. Quite literally *all* WW2 content on RU-vid pisses me off because of Mythology, mistakes, shallow research and parroting clearly, if not directly from other people/sources outright. And I don´t mean quotes, I mean just basically distilling a war movie into one´s vision and ´reality´ of that time-period.

The lost underrated tank in history is no other than... ... the Bob Semple

This was a real life example of the important difference between the quality of a tool, and the quality of a master craftsman. Great video!

7:20 The footage really adds to the points being laid out.

7:28 Well, if you're Spanish you use "cojones": preparing a Molotov cockhtail and a hand grenade, entrenching, waiting until it's stuck in the mud and then throwing the cockhtail into the engine and the grenade on the caterpillars. Not kidding, a Republican Spanish infantry squad managed to knock out of action 5 Panzer I during a single action of the Battle of Madrid using this method.

"Fast and Führious"! €5,- in die Wortspielkasse!!! $6,25 into the punny bank!!!

This is an impressive, outstanding piece of research and presentation. Or should I say ANOTHER.... You make it clear that a stampede of buzzing, sting bees, i.e., Pz 1's, would be formidable in the field.

Awesome video! Just when i think i know a lot about panzers... This is why i never say i know a lot about anything... Thanks 4 share it!

MHV on first channel: The most underrated Panzer? MHV 1s later on second channel: the Pz. 1.

I just don't understand why we jumped into conclusions so quickly with the Panzer I. We might have as well tossed it into the sea and say it's a bad tank because it can't float.

Superb analysis!!!

I enjoy your videos very much because you talk about subjects that are not "sensational". Could you possibly do one on anti-tank rifles and related infantry weapons other than panzerfaust.

It has to be the first model, just by the video title. The simple fact is that the Panzer 1 is the foundation of the later doctrine, Panzer arm of the service. It showed what needed to be worked and what didn't. It also showed what had to be improved. You need to learn, what you need to learn. You only do that by actually doing things. They were getting out and doing things.

The Soviet Womble reference! :D

3:24 i thought there was a stain on my screen lol... really cool video though. Love all panzers

cool, that you put in all the links

Panzer I wasnť even a tank .. just a tankette

How about the Czech 35 and 38 they are good tanks for there time and generally forgotten

The tumbnail design is awsome.

Nice analysis.

I would love for this to be a series. The most underrated tank from each country and also the most overrated.

Before watching i would say the Pz. II and Pz 38t.

Great video

You should totally make a video on the evolution of German tanks from Pz I to king Tiger and the thought behind each new model

when you read the text "the most panzerlied tank"

The most underrated Panzer? the Stugs ones.

Thank you for this.

Great information here. Always enjoy WW2 History 🤔

we could say that the panzer I is a good IFV

How to confuse an American "Give me an m1" How to confuse a German "I like the Panzer"

I really like the Pz 1, nice video

ich liebe deine video's!

TIK should see this, lets see if he still thinks light soviet tanks were useless in 1941. If you only have a rifle and you are in an open field, they are pretty damn scary.

The most underrated panzer isnt a panzer, it's the Sturmgeshutz 3

Tanks for your video, well thought out and informative as usual. Two questions: -I have read that a design flaw of the panzer I was that the rear bogie (driving?) wheel was on the ground, giving unwanted problems with the track. -Also, I read that the British (pre war), had an "export" tank that they sold to other countries and that Germany was one of the customers. Either of these assertions true to your knowledge? If I may change the subject. I want to suggest that an armored vehicle (AV) is either a tank or an SP gun and that that distinction is dependent on usage not design. Further, this usage directly affects its Power and its Force. So I contend that an AV is an SP gun when it's movement is channeled (as in streets or in support of a straight forward infantry attack), thus making its Force and local relatively predictable and that its Power is predicated narrowly on gun and armor, with the former being the most important of the two. Let me throw in here that tanks shouldn't fight tanks, they are too expensive for that usage. And I know there is a great deal to be said about that but it's not possible on this Sunday evening. Power is more important than force. An AV is a tank when used in the manner of 19th century hussars i.e. moving fast behind lines, arriving unexpectedly, applying its Force to soft targets; threatening or destroying supply depots, communication nodes and last, though far from least, causing such panic that transformation of the entire battle area is forced on the enemy, rumours flying faster than radio transmissions that "we are about to be cut off, surrounded". Enemy effectiveness withers at an ever increasing tempo, an army is killed by panic zeroing out Power and Force with relatively little fighting. Now that's Power! To test my assertion I will posit that the American WWII M-20 armored car would have been better a vehicle than the panzers used in the 1940s romp to the French coast. It was more reliable (as wheeled vehicles usually are), faster, needed less logistic support (more miles to gallon) and had a sufficient gun (shrugs) and armor. Not leaving out of course the need for the same hard driving German commanders. Probably what I have written is now so obvious that no one will disagree, which would be distressing in that I would be deprived of some delicious back-and-forth. LOL Oh, and one other thing occurred to me as I typed away. I wonder if anyone would agree that France lost the battles of 1940 during the 1917 mutinies?

Most adroit segway to the commercial I've heard in a while made be chuckle. wunderbarer Filmemacher

Panzer I: *I AM THE FATHER OF ALL PANZERS.*

Not like I'm claiming anything, but Bob Semple tank was never ever defeated by Panzerwaffe in an open combat. Just saying.

And the little guy is so cute with its locomotive-type tracks near the rear (sorry, I don't know the proper term, it's that piece of metal over the 2nd and 3rd wheels from the back). Also, I would've guessed the 35t/38t. Also, also - cheers!

When I play men of war assault squad 2, I often attack positions with infantry combined with armored cars and panzer 1 and 2s. They often destroy the enemies squads early game and can cause a massive collapse of their front lines. I can also remember a time I was defending and I had a panzer 1 dug in that managed to kill 86 infantry men before getting knocked out. Quite useful little buggers.

This is absurd. The Mk 1 was nothing more than a tankette. It may well have been effective in a ww1 context but by the 1930s it was rendered totally obsolete by the universal adoption of anti tank weaponry. Any anti tank rifle or gun of the late interwar period could incapacitate a Mk 1, which had even less armour protection than a ww 1 era Renault. Still worse, any encounter between a Mk 1 and any allied tank you care to mention that mounted something other than a MG as a main gun could result in but one outcome, a dead Mk 1. The Germans were painfully aware that with the European wide adoption of the 37 mm anti tank gun in the late 1930s that the Mk 1 was obsolete. That they managed to work around this glaring limitation is to their credit, but it doesn't change the fact that the tank itself was in every respect, outclassed by the opposition. The Germans succeeded in the opening campaigns in ww2 despite the Mk1, not because of it.

00:05 *every wheraboo ever* : REEEEEEEEEEEEEE KING TIGER BEST TANK IT TOOK 42069 SHERMANS AND T34 TO KILL A KING TIGER REEEEEEEE

I love the rip at Soviet Womble at 8:10

Actually in Spain, the 'Gruppe Drohne' experimented a bit regarding the Problem with the T26. They used special armour-piercing Machinegun-Ammo with which they were able to penetrate the T26. They had to come within a range of under 100m though. The spanish tankers then modified some Pzkpfw I with 20mm-Breda-Guns, but the germans refused it, since the Pzkpfw II was about to get produced

The most underrated panzer is ur mom

Fast and Führious is nice! Didn't know that one yet :P also I smiled when you said "all the otters" Haha :) Schönen Gruß, mach weiter so :)

The majority of the time i play in men of war assault squad 2 as germany i like to use the panzer I as an early game infantry support or scouting vehicle, and it hasn't performed bad up to now. Its always managed to take out numerous soldiers and when kept out of sight from AT weapons and other tanks it can perform very well in defensive roles as well