GENERAL INFO
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Battle of Flers, one of the first locations the tank was used. Also used in the Battle of Somme, as well as many others.
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Impacts and consequences of the Tank
Tanks were not very crucial to the outcome of the war. Perhaps they could have been, if they were utilized better and sooner, but improved artillery tactics got the most credit of any weaponry. Germany's massive defensive trench systems were basically impenetrable by foot soldiers. The only thing that could overrun these huge trench systems were mass amounts of tanks, the only vehicle that could hope to advance in the quagmire of mud, trenches, and barbed wire. Eventually these tanks were used in massive attacks with hundreds of tanks participating. Towards the end of the war, the British and the French had fielded an incredibly large amount of tanks, while Germany had only fielded 20. Tanks overrun all the largest most menacing targets in the final part of WWI. We have a somewhat twisted view of WW1 as being the killing ground of the trenches first and foremost. In fact, trench warfare was bloody indeed, but the loss rates on the battlefield were the highest in the opening and closing months of the war, when the armies had moved into the open field. The reason for this is that the techniques of Warfare had developed at totally different speed. Firepower was very modern indeed, mechanized to such an extent that the production capacities of Britain, France and above all Russia at first could not cope with the demand. Not only Artillery, but also the personal firearm had improved in range and rate of fire dramatically. The resulting slaughter was predictable and caused the entrenching of both armies, which resulted in the Stalemate that made this war so seemingly endless.
Connections to Today
The tank is still a weapon in today's war, but has been weaponized and very advanced since WW1. Modern tanks are all over war, used by all war filled countries (bigger countries with large armies). Based on country, they all have different designs, and different strengths/weaknesses. The four newest and upcoming tanks (as of MilitaryFactory.com) are the T-99 Armata, the Altay MBT, the MBT-3000, Type 10 MBT (to the left). New tank designs are being made and thought about everyday, to make sure that they don't have an inferior army and can stay up to date.
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