“Tanks” Machines of Oppression

Noor Majid of DOT : In modern combat Tank and armored divisions are considered as the spearhead of any military ground intervention. A classical way of war of movements mastered and successfully executed by German General Heinz Guderian during Second World War. This kind of warfare demands flexible and fast maneuver of troops to attack the enemy with a co-ordinate mixture of air strikes, artillery, mechanized infantry and armored core combination. Though the fundamental goal of crushing and conquering the enemy in fast pace depends on the success of armored core, which is dominated by the steel beasts Aka Tanks as we call them. Apart from their duty and role in battlefield tanks ahs another history which we overlook very often. It’s the use of tanks outside battlefield during peacetime which earned it a reputation as a mechanical sign of quelling political unrest, civil movements more often taking over the political power of a state by the means of Coup d’état.
The earliest story of tanks association to quell unrest and to intimate the civilian population starts from the very beginning of its inception into service. One such event was the role of tanks in suppressing the workers unrest in Scottish city of Glasgow. Scotland contributed highest numbers of soldiers in the British Army during the Great War, and its population was proud of their military service to the crown. Regiments such as the Scottish Highlanders, The Scott Guards are still regarded as elite regiments of United KIngdom. During the Great war Scotland paid its price of this service both in number of combat losses of its men and also in terms of money. The British Empire was sufferring greatly against their German foes on the battlefield and soon they realized to break the stalement of trench warfare they need to come with a solution. Thus a secret project was taken under the Admiralty, which resulted in the development of tanks. As the war progressed further British army realized they need greater number of tanks to break the German defenses. Thus a public fund raising program was taken under the war ministry. It was a race among British population who after the battle of Cambri saw the tanks as the winner of the war. Cambri was the first battle where tanks were deployed in numbers and it was partially successful to break the German defenses through at a high cost of man and material. However at that time the British newspaper published the story of its great success and avoided mentioning the high loss ratio and mechanical breakdowns of early tank engines and transmission. So when the fund raising program started to build more tanks, each british city competed with another to raise more money for the tanks. Glasgow came as the winner. after the war in 1919 the whole British economy was in distress and Scotland felt it most badly. Unemployment and workers unrest begin to rise throughout the city and masses of crowd gathered each day on the streets protesting against their economic hardships. The government realized this rebellion must be suppressed and it must be done soon. Though they wanted to avoid a bloodshed of its loyal citizens and former servicemen of the army. THus tanks were sent to Glasgow as a show of force and intimidation and it worked. Soon the population left the streets and the worker rebellion was long gone. it happened as the authorities happened without any bloodshed. thus the christening of tanks as a symbol of authority on order was established. Though it was just the beginning throughout the 20th century tanks participated in many other oppressive roles on civilian population.
One of such event unfolded far from England, in China.In June 4th 1989 students and activists of China was demanding political reforms were protesting on Tianmen Sqaure while the tanks from the Chinese army arrived. it was a bloodbath and cruel suppression that killed almost thousands of students in its aftermath. After the Tianamen Sqaure incident China was mostly isolated from the rest of the world. The western powers also imposed crucial sanctions against China, which were in affect untill 2001. The Tianamen Sqaure event become greatest example of uses of tanks on civilian population because of a single photograph. It was captured by vetern Jeffe widener of Associated Press.