With increased firepower and protection, these mechanized forces would, only some twenty years later, become the armor of World War II. This was the internal combustion engine, which had made possible the development of the tank and eventually would lead to the mechanized forces that were to assume the old roles of horse cavalry and to loosen the grip of the machine gun on the battlefield. The sole purpose of this weapon was to assist the infantry in creating a penetration so that the cavalry, which had been waiting for the opportunity since 1914, could exploit into the German rear.įew recognized during the Great War that the means for returning mobility and shock action to combat was already present in a device destined to revolutionize warfare on the ground and in the air. Basically, the tank was intended to bring the firepower of artillery and machine guns across the morass of No Man's Land while providing more protection than a purely infantry unit could carry. The tank was originally designed as a special weapon to solve an unusual tactical situation, the stalemate of the trenches. From a non-existent beginning, the tank went from concept to the decisive edge in the Great War less than three years. Compared to other weaponry, the tank was the most rapidly developed weapon system in the history of warfare.
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