#if you were hoping that this post was gonna be about a panzer or something actually cool i am so sorry lmao

[nick--knack]

A while ago I said I was going to make a post about my favourite tank and, well, here it is. A post about none other than the Burstyn-Motorgeschütz.

Having been invented in Austria-Hungary during 1911, the Motorgeschütz was ahead of it's time. it's draft design was more advanced than some tanks seen during world war 1, and one could argue that it was the very first tank to ever exist...

Backstory

The idea for the Motorgeschütz first came around when a man named Gunther Burstyn was invited by his cousin to go on a torpedo boat trip during his service in 1903. Burstyn was impressed by the boats speed, power, and armour, and this led him to the idea of creating a 'land torpedo boat' powered by a gasoline engine. He figured that such a vehicle would need to be able to travel off-road and over trenches if it were to be used in battle.

Later on he attended an engineering school where he visited an Automotive Exhibition in Vienna in 1906. There he saw the Austro-Daimler Panzerautomobil which was essentially just an armoured car. Burstyn saw the potential in the vehicle, but he saw the wheels as a big limitation because wheels made it easier for one to get stuck in mud and harder to drive over ditches and trenches.

Once he finished his engineering school and got promoted, he stayed in Trento between 1906 to 1908 where he discovered 'plate chains' used on heavy guns to reduce ground pressure. This gave him the idea 'hmm, what if we wrapped this stuff around several wheels at a time to even out the weight of the vehicle?'

Finally, with all these things in mind Burstyn set out to draw up the first blueprints of the motorgeschütz in 1911 and eagerly send them off to the Austro-Hungarian war ministry with high hopes that his invention will catch their interest.

The Design

Now when it comes to the design of the Motorgeschütz, it's quite hard to describe because of how vague it's blueprints were. Hell, you could even say that it's unknown which side was the front of it since it was never explicitly stated where the driver sat.

The only parts of the blueprints that weren't too vague were the arms of the Motorgeschütz. The arms at the back were operated by the crew member at the rear, and the arms at the front were operated by the crew member in the turret.

While arms would've indeed make it easier to get over obstacles and drive over trenches as shown, it also came with some complications of its own. Arms lifting the vehicle would cause it to shift it's weight risking the possibility of losing traction and getting suck in muddy terrain.

Results and Conclusion

The Austro-Hungarian war ministry turned Burstyn's idea down 3 months after he had submitted it, stating that they didn't see enough potential in it to be worth the investment. Not only that, but they also pointed out that the blueprints for the vehicle were far too vague. They stated that if Burstyn wanted his motorgeschütz to be made, he would be the one to pay for it which obviously he couldn't.

Burstyn wouldn't give up that easily, though, because right after this he approached the German war ministry to file a patent... only to be turned down again. A couple last-resort attempts that involved going to the press to have news articles written about his invention were made but alas, it failed to draw in support.

Austria-Hungary ended up going to war without a single armoured vehicle in 1914, and without a single tank overall for the rest of the war. Had the motorgeschütz been built, it certainly would've given the country more of an advantage in WW1 but it's hard to say if it would have enough of an impact to change the outcome entirely.

Now why is this tank my favourite tank? Because I think it looks funny :))) that's all.

If you made it this far, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed my ramble.

[thegothicviking]

I was tagged by @reeshs @ofmemesandbands to do a little "get to know me ask thingy". Thank you for that, you beauties! 🖤 Excuse my long answers but I think you'd be entertained anyway! (I hope?)

Nickname: Mary Cemetery, Mary, or simply Viking/The Viking.

Real name: That will remain a mystery/a secret but I can reveal that it begins with M. (But it's not Mary or Mari or anything similar) and I do have the word "Viking" in one of my last names (I have two surnames because my parents were not married and wanted me and my big sis to have both of their family names. So yes! A little part of my name is Viking-[something]from my mother's maiden name/original family name. Meaning YES I am indeed Viking!

Zodiac: Taurus/Tyren/El Toro

Favorite musicians or bands:

- The Bauhaus (or Peter Murphy as solo)

- The Sisters of Mercy

- Lords of The New Church (or Stiv Bators as solo)

- Feeling B & Magdalene Keibel Combo (Flake and Paul are my bois!)

- Rammstein (also nice bois!)

- David Bowie (Rest in peace my sweet boi!)

- Dissection (Rest in Chaos Jon, even though you were a homophobic lunatic/Asshole I still liked your music. Swedish Satanic Black Metal)

- A lot of deathmetal

- Skeletal Family (many 80's goth rock bands really)

-Nachtmahr

- Eisbrecher

- Stahlmann

-Deine Lakaien

- Scorpions

- Depeche Mode (anything from the 1980's really)

- Classical compositioners like Edvard Grieg/Beethoven/Bach and a little bit of Mozart or Vivaldi

- KSMB. Swedish punk rock/German punk rock or Swedish metal (yes...I am a Norwegian that prefers SWEDISH Black Metal. Shoot me if you must!)

- Rosetta Stone

- Pretencious Moi? (Their lyrics are like an unfinished story and you can fill the gaps!)

- KNORKATOR (absolute insane and silly bois, I love them!!)

- Rozz Williams (Rest in Peace my sweet beautiful boi!),

- INXS (Rest in Peace M. Hutchence my beautiful boi!)

- Die Ärzte

- Skitarg (like a Swedish ICP but of course a lot better and with funnier lyrics!)

- Danzig

Favorire Sports team: Team Bisexual! 💜

Other Blogs: Not yet. I still need to learn how to add other blogs and then I will do one specifically about my Liebeslied Rammstein fic series and the character's. And maybe also my poetry in there too. Or maybe not.

Do I get asks?: Sometimes. Mostly I get questions about being Norwegian/Scandinavian or someone make rude Anon comments about one of my posts and I have to defend myself and my opinions. But a part from that; No. Not that many.

How many blogs do I follow?: 132

Tumblr crushes: Yes.

Lucky Numbers: 13 (After I won a non-smoking contest in class and my name was number 13 on the class list) I have also always liked the numbers 8 and 0. I prefer even numbers.

What am I wearing?: Comfy plain black suit/tracksuit looking pants that are both stylish and comfy AND has pockets!!, and my black long sleeve Feeling B jumper, no socks and no bra and black hotpants (knickers. I hate wearing thongs/g strings!)

Dream Vacation: I long to go back to Prague, and I want to visit Egypt and the Pyramids, Berlin (because we only got to stay in the city for a couple of hours..ugh!) I also long back to Auschwitz....(yes. I do. I was there in 2007/2008. I am a WWII history nerd!)

Dream car: Either a very old school and dashing Ford Model T, a hearse or a big brutal Panzer Tank. There is no in between!

Favorite Food: Anything that doesn't contain too much garlic (Iiiish!), raisins, Olives, Pineapples (NO PINEAPPLES ON PIZZAAAAAA!), coconuts or too much spices/chili/Soy (I am allergic to Soy) And don't worry you can feed me Vegetarian/Vegan food too! I won't try to bring my own meat and I will trust your cooking skills as long as you don't feed me any of the ingredients above!!

Drink of choice: That depends on the situation/disaster/time of the day and mood. Is it a good day? Then Water, Corona (the beer not the virus!!) or Energy drinks. Is it morning? A good Landersino (weak capuccino but strong milk coffee) Is it Evening/night time? Then a nice cup of tea. Has it been a terrible day? Then Gin & Tonic, Vodka & Redbull, A really strong Long Island Ice Tea or Rum & Coke.

Instruments: The horrible cat shriek sounding Recorder Flute. That is the only instrument that I am rocking at the moment! (I will play the Titanic song for you if I truly love you!)

Languages: Norwegian Nynorsk, Norwegian Bokmål, my dialect, English, Swedish (Gothenburg dialect or Scaania/Malmö dialect), Spanish and I am also trying to learn German and Welsh (yes. Welsh. It is beautiful but impossible to learn!)

Celebrity Crushes: David Bowie (rest in peace sweet alienboi!) Stoya (female pornstar), Till Lindemann, Noomi Rapace (Swedish Actress), Michael Nyqvist (Swedish Actor. Rest in Peace my sweet boi!), young Kate Bush, Antonio Banderas, John Maclean (discovered this divine creature on Youtube recently!), Rozz Williams (Rest in Peace my sweet boi!), Peter Murphy, Emilie Autumn (but I don't listen to her that often anymore), Adora Batbrat (Gothic Youtuber but I am not that fan of her anymore), Razor Candi (Gothic Model but she has gotten some more surgeries now that I don't like), Salma Hayek, Shakira.

Random Fact(s):

A little gross but I have basically no nails on either of my pinky-toes. I was born that way and I am the 5th generation woman on my mother's side that doesn't have pinky toe nails! (I miss the upper part so trying to cut them is always a game of Russian Roulette...will I be able to cut it? Will I cut my skin, bleed and die?? I'll have to cut and see because the tiny little stump/piece of nail is still jabbing me if it gets "too long" :)! )

I was also born with a more inward bent spine/back and I was told by my Chiropracter (or how you spell it?) at the age of 10 that if I didn't do exercises/wore a corset..(at the age of 10!?!?) for my back then it would break/snap should I ever want to get pregnant (even though I always look pregnant when I relax and walk "normally".....*sigh*). So yeah I need to work up my core! (But I am too lazy to do so ...)

I know how to belly dance (not that many moves but I'm still learning from online classes)

I can write and read in the Elder Futhark runes without cheating!

I am a natural cold blooded bitch with a normal temperature of 36.4 °C, instead of the standard 37.5°C. (Once again this is from my mother's side)

I did amateur acting from the age of 6-19 and in 10 out of those 13 years/plays I had to be a boi/man because we were always in short of bois and I have a deep voice I guess.. (so yeah for 10 years of my childhood I was basically a boi/man!)

Despite enjoy dressing up in skirts and dresses and do my makeup I have a very butch/masculine personality (I was a tomboy as a kid) and both men and women are either terrified or confused by this (as they expect me to be just as feminine as my looks/makeup. Which is silly!)

I am sadistic (in my writing and in my thoughts) and one of the reasons why I write is to be able to TORTURE and/or KILL "people" without getting arrested :)

Ok so I am not gonna tag anyone in particular. If you would like to answer these questions then go right ahead and do so!

Uki. Takk! Det var/va alt! (Ok. Thanks! That was all!)