Tank was the codename (dreamed up to disguise their intended purpose) of the new British armoured fighting vehicles which were envisaged as land warships. The first tanks were developed by the British during the Great War, but were perhaps just an evolution of the older lightly armed and armoured cars and tractor-drawn artillery. Early tanks were too slow and used in too few numbers to be really effective, once infantry had overcome the initial shock of being attacked by a tank they were able to attack it with explosives. It was the German army during the 1930s who perfected the concept of how to use tanks, they produced fast moving vehicles which were used in a new form of lightning fast warfare (Blitzkreig) in which tanks were used to break through a narrow part of the enemy lines, followed by the infantry who then spread out along the rear lines. This type of warfare proved devastatingly effective during the German invasions of Poland, Belgium, France and Holland during the Second World War. However, with the advent of tanks came the development of anti-tank guns. Artillery pieces which fired armour piercing ammunition and could destroy tanks, and of course other countries developed their own more heavily armoured and armed tanks to destroy the German tanks. The most effective of these was the Russian T-34, which for the first time utilised the concept of sloping armour to deflect armour piercing rounds. It could be said then, the British invented the tank but didn't understand how to use it, the Germans realised its potential and perfected its use, and the Russians perfected the tank itself. Research Tank
Abbreviations
Warfare
Research Tank