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A British Mark V tankThe Renault FT, the first "modern" tank
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History of the tank
Era
World War I
Interwar
World War II
Cold War
Post–Cold War
Country
Australia
United Kingdom
Cuba
China
Canada
New Zealand
Czechoslovakia
France
Germany
Iran
Iraq
Italy
Israel
Japan
Poland
North Korea
South Korea
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Type
Light tank
Medium tank
Heavy tank
Super-heavy tank
Cruiser tank
Flame tank
Infantry tank
Main battle tank
Tank destroyer
Tankette
Assault gun
Self-propelled anti-aircraft weapon
Self-propelled artillery
Self-propelled mortar
Multiple rocket launcher
A British tank destroyed by the Germans on the Western Front, 1917
The development of tanks in World War I was a response to the stalemate that developed on the Western Front. Although vehicles that incorporated the basic principles of the tank (armour, firepower, and all-terrain mobility) had been projected in the decade or so before the War, it was the alarmingly heavy casualties of the start of its trench warfare that stimulated development.[1][2] Research took place in both Great Britain and France, with Germany only belatedly following the Allies' lead.
In Great Britain, an initial vehicle, nicknamed Little Willie, was constructed at William Foster & Co., during August and September 1915.[3] The prototype of a new design that became the Mark I tank was demonstrated to the British Army on 2 February 1916. Although initially termed "Landships" by the Landship Committee, production vehicles were named "tanks", to preserve secrecy. The term was chosen when it became known that the factory workers at William Foster referred to the first prototype as "the tank" because of its resemblance to a steel water tank.
The French fielded their first tanks in April 1917 and ultimately produced far more tanks than all other countries combined.
The Germans, on the other hand, began development only in response to the appearance of Allied tanks on the battlefield. Whilst the Allies manufactured several thousand tanks during the war, Germany deployed only 18 of its own.[4]
The first tanks were mechanically unreliable. There were problems that caused considerable attrition rates during combat deployment and transit. The heavily shelled terrain was impassable to conventional vehicles, and only highly mobile tanks such as the Renault FTs and Mark IV performed reasonably well. The Mark I's rhomboid shape, caterpillar tracks, and 26-foot (8 m) length meant that it could negotiate obstacles, especially wide trenches, that wheeled vehicles could not. Along with the tank, the first self-propelled gun (the British Gun Carrier Mk I) and the first armoured personnel carrier followed the invention of tanks.
^Williamson Murray, "Armored Warfare: The British, French, and German Experiences," in Murray, Williamson; Millet, Allan R, eds. (1996). Military Innovation in the Interwar Period. New York: Cambridge University Press. p. 6. ISBN 0-521-63760-0.
^Harvey, A. D. (1992). Collision of Empires: Britain in Three World Wars, 1793–1945. A&C Black. ISBN 978-1852850784 – via Google Books.
^Watson, Greig (24 February 2014). "Hotel where warfare changed forever". BBC News.
^Showalter, D.E. "More Than Nuts And Bolts: Technology And The German Army, 1870–1945." Historian 65.1 (Fall 2002): 123–143. Academic Search Premier. Web. 16 February 2012.
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