So uhh... Iron Tank might just be based off of the Nazi military.
Please don't shoot me for this and let me elaborate!
So, how did I come to this conclusion? My brain told me so at three am while I was trying to sleep.
"Remember that eagle emblem that was mentioned in that one FunkyFrogBait video talking about some dude who thought he was the reincarnation of Hitler a few years ago?"
"Shut up, I'm trying to sleep..."
"Iron Tank has that same symbol as their logo."
It took me a bit of research to see if it was true or not, and let me tell you, it certainly is!
Because remember: every choice made in a show, movie, book and poem are all intentional. From designs, to scenes and how they're recorded. They all stem from something because everything we've ever created are all inspired by the things around us or things that happened to us or to other people.
No one just makes a character do something because they think it's cool. And even if they do, they've probably seen it from somewhere before.
With that being said, let me begin...
It all started when I wondered "hey, what actually makes Iron Tank stereotypical?" And I know that's a stupid question to ask yourself, because it's right there in their accents and names — but I was more curious as to why the whole concept of a German military playing in the SL of all places was a thing (and why they were German when most people would think they're Russian at first glance).
Usually, when you think of a stereotypical German, you'd think of someone like Klaus, maybe more of a beer enthusiast and less expressive (I do at least), not a soldier. That's not what comes to mind first.
It can't just be their accents or stoicism that makes them stereotypical...
That was until I thought of their logo, and then it reminded me of something. And I'm sure you've seen it before as well...
This is a Clasp (Spange) made in 1939 that was made to be worn with the Iron Cross, a black cross like the Swastika (but without the bendy parts) that German personnel would wear. More specifically, the Clasp was for people that earned the Iron Cross in World War l, but earned yet another one in World War ll.
Both eagles in the Clasp and IT logo are facing the same way, you can't tell me that that's a coincidence.
And it's not just the crest and names that are similar, even certain aspects about the team feel "inspired" by the Nazi military; like their advanced tech and underwater transport.
Wehrmacht (name of the Nazi armed forces) were known for having advanced technology — just, not very much of it... We can see how advanced Iron Tank's tech is from Ja Nein's manipulation device to the radars inside of their submarine.
And speaking of submarines, the Nazi military's naval branch was extremely important. And while they hadn't given much care to submarines during the beginning of the Second World War, they became an essential around 1941 when the Nazis reached their "peak", having basically sixteen submarines be made every month to mess with other countries' trade boats.
And like how the Iron Tanker from rookie season sank, so did most of their battleships, like the Tirpitz, Graf Zeppelin, and Deutschland Class Panzer Schiffer. And many more of their ships hit the depths during "Operation Weserübung", I.e when they invaded Denmark.
And Uber's obsession with espionage isn't just a silly choice made by the writers, either. Of course it isn't. While Wehrmacht bearly had intelligence officers in Britain, they'd sent multiple Abwehr agents across Britain when "Operation Sea lion" failed. Not that Operation Lena was any better, most agents were caught moments after landing.
The only one that made it through was Vera Von Schalburg, a Russian woman who worked for the Russian Secret Forces (NKVD) before switching to become an Abwher agent after falling in love with Hilmar Dierks (head of the Abwher Marine Intelligence section). She testified against an agent she had been paired up with in the beginning of the operation (Karl Drücke) after they'd been caught in London, and switched to work for the MI-five shortly after, living until 1993.
And like how their cunning matches with Wehrmacht's, so do Von Pushup's punishments for his team after losses. In the Nazi military, it was common for soldiers and trainees to be punished with menial tasks, like say, cleaning equipment — but some were less fortunate, and had to run laps in full gear, because these punishments were also seen as "training opportunities" by higher ranks.
There's probably more that IT has in common with Wehrmacht, but that's about the gist of what I could think to be similarities between the two.
And honestly? It's enough to make me believe that the writers took the Nazis and made a rip-off of them for the sake of comedy.
And that's the problem. Things like this aren't supposed to be rebranded for a kids' show to get a few laughs out, it just turns the source into a big joke.
A big joke that made millions not have a proper grave to be placed into. A big joke that just happened to make thousands apon millions of soldiers traumatized from the severity of it all.
It was an actual regime that happened, not some fantasy. And while you can understand it so that you know how to write such dark times of history in your story, you can't just rip it off, slap a different label onto it and call it a day. Someone will eventually notice, so put in some actual effort.
Now I understand why I've disliked Iron Tank as much as I have, and it's because they're not just a harmful representation of Germans and what they stand for, but harmful to their grim history and how it impacted them and the countries and people around them.
And I think I can speak for everyone when I say that every nation, indigenous or not, marginalized or not, should be represented in a respectful way.
Not talking about the governments, we can dog pile on those as much as we like.
I hope you learned something new with me, and I hope that we can all come together as a community to rewrite this god awful show, because why am I so obsessed with a show with shitty characters, shitty plot, and shitty world building all at once?
* House Of History (YouTube) :- Operation Lena
* The Armchair Historian (YouTube) :- Germany's Navy in WWll
* Wikipedia :- Clasp To The Iron Cross
