As part of our ‘Soviet Icons’ series, we attempt to explain a little bit about the lesser-known Soviet legend Mikhail Koshkin.
If the Bolshevik revolution was centred around the plight of the working man, then indeed, Mikhail Koshkin was the epitome of a Bolshevik. Mikhail was a candy maker, a soldier, a company director and eventually a designer of the Second World War’s greatest tank.
Mikhail Koshkin’s Early Life
Mikhail Ilyich Koshkin was born in the small village of Brynchagi around 200km northeast of Moscow on December 3rd 1898. Mikhail’s family were poor peasant farmers and life was tough; the family had a small tract of land and would do their best to raise Mikhail and his two siblings. Unfortunately, in 1905, when Mikhail was only seven years old, his father, Ilya, was killed in a logging accident, this made the families predicament even more difficult. Within many rural Russian villages of the day, small schools held lessons from within the church, it was from one of these schools that a young Mikhail finished at age 10.
From Farming to Candy
After finishing school, Mikhail’s family desperately needed financial support, so it was decided that he would travel to Moscow to find employment. Luckily the young Mikhail was able to find work with the Einem Confectioners; Einem Confectioners (later renamed Red October) were famed throughout Europe and manufactured award-winning chocolate, even supplying their sweet treats to the court of the Russian Tsar.
Much of Mikhail’s wage would be sent to his mother back home, where she remained with his two sisters. Unfortunately, change was on the horizon, and In February of 1917, Mikhail was drafted into the Russian army.
From Candy to War
Military life was a brutal affair made even more challenging as Russia had entered the great war. After only five months, Mikail was wounded and pulled from the front line and eventually removed from active service altogether.
The military helped shape Mikhail’s character and, in keeping with his new found military experience, on April 15th 1918, Mikhail Koshkin decided to join the newly formed Red Army. As part of this new fighting force, Mikhail took part in Russia’s bloody civil war; he was a determined Bolshevik, believed in the cause of soviet communism and was eventually promoted to the post of political officer. During Mikhail’s military career, he was wounded several times and even suffered from typhoid. After three years, he was taken from the front and sent back to Moscow.
From University back to Candy
As a result of his loyalty, Mikhail Koskin was sent to Moscow to attend the Sverdlov Communist University. The Sverdlov Communist University was a new educational facility formed in 1918 for Soviet activists. Mikhail graduated in 1924 a top student from here; he would return to what he knew, taking up the post as a confectionery factory manager in Vyatka (today’s Kirov).
At only 26 years old, Mikhail moved up the Party, proving himself an efficient manager and activist. It was whilst in Vyatka that Mikhail met his wife with whom he would have 2 daughters.
Back to University
In 1929, thousands of people who worked in manufacturing across Russia were sent to technical colleges in an effort to educate the labour pool and modernise the national economy. For Mikhail Koshkin, this was perfect as he could continue his ambitions; as a loyal Bolshevik, he was able to arrange enrolment in the prestigious Leningrad Polytechnic Institute.
Whilst studying, Mikhail revealed he had an outstanding talent for design. As the country teetered on the brink of war, there was a need for modern tanks and talented engineers to make them; Mikhail Koshkin was waiting in the wings.
Tank Designing Under Pressure
In 1934, Mikhail graduated from university and was appointed as deputy chief designer of the Leningrad plant of experienced mechanical engineering. From here, a team began to draw up the designs and plans for what would become some of the Soviet Union’s most famous, or infamous fighting machines.
On December 28th 1936, it was recognised that Mikhail was an expert in tank design, so he was appointed to head the tank design bureau No. 190 at the Kharkov Locomotive Building Plant.
Life was not easy as the plant he was sent was already underperforming and investigated for sabotage. Not long after Mikhail’s appointment, the former head of the design bureau Afanasy Firsov was arrested along with many other designers who were either arrested, shot or sent to the Gulags.
The Road to Success
Life in 1930’s Russia was not easy as the Soviet Union began to grow and find its feet, it had many enemies, and as Stalin grew more paranoid, no one was safe. Mikhail Koshkin would have seen what had happened to his predecessor and those around him, meaning there was no room for error. Whether it was his upbringing, work in the factories or military service Mikhail had developed a rare ability to inspire people and orchestrate an effective team. Within the Kharkov plant, he managed to earn the respect of his peers and superiors and directed that energy to production.
The previous tanks designed were inferior in comparison to foreign models, although they held promise. Mikhail and his team used some features from the older models whilst borrowing from different designs, even utilising pioneering work from the US designer J. Walter Christie.
In February 1939, two prototypes were ready. Mikhail and his team would have to present their tanks at a meeting of the Defense Committee with Stalin in attendance. Mikhail Koshkin took to the floor, famed for his enthusiasm and belief in the project. Unfortunately, the military hierarchy didn’t like the modern design and voiced their disapproval. That would have been the end of the project had Stalin not intervened.
“I think we will give comrade Koshkin and his designers freedom of action. Let them experiment on two machines. Comparative tests will show who is right.”
Joseph Stalin
One Last Trial
Finally, the T-34 was born, although there is one more final sad twist to the tale. In order that the T-34 pass its tests, it would have to cover a set distance to show how it could handle the terrain. Such was Mikhail’s belief in his own project that he joined his team and personally drove one of his tanks from Kharkov to Moscow. The journey took the tanks across some challenging terrain, and many joked that proud Mikhail Koshkin would be taking his tanks back by train. But they succeeded.
On March 17th, 1940, a proud Mikhail rolled into Moscow where a delighted Stalin commented that the T-34 was “the first sign of our armoured forces.” After Stalin’s enthusiastic seal of approval, more miles were needed, so Mikhail and his team drove the tanks back. On this winter journey, tired and exhausted, Mikhail Koshkin caught a cold, eventually turning to pneumonia.
Koshkin passed away on September 26th 1940, at the Kharkov factory sanatorium, in sight of his beloved T-34.
Legacy
The T-34 had sloping armour, meaning the thickness and weight could be reduced, a relatively powerful engine and wide tracks. Unlike many of its German counterparts, it was fast and manoeuvrable and didn’t get bogged down in wet conditions.
The T-34 also sacrificed many comforts for the crew making it comparably cheaper and easier to produce than its rivals. Eventually, one of the biggest factors in the success of the Soviet Union.
During the war, over 80,000 T-34’s would be produced and after the war the T-34 would be exported worldwide, with a few still in service today.
Honours
In 1942 Mikhail Koshkin was posthumously awarded the USSR State Prize and the Order of the Red Star along with the First Degree Stalin Prize. In 1990, the last president of the USSR, Mikhail Gorbachev, awarded Mikhail Ilyich Koshkin the highest civilian honour possible, giving him the Hero of Socialist Labor title.
I feel that Mikhail would have been most proud of the words spoken by the German general Paul Ludwig Ewald von Kleist when he called the T34 tank “the finest tank in the world.”