How Tanks Changed The World Essay

Zaccary Cooke

Mrs. Smith

CP English 9

March 3, 2023

Tanks and How They Changed the World. The tank is a weapon of warfare that completely changed how wars were fought. War is no longer slow, battle strategies are fueled by the tank’s fierce power. This British invention would lead to the win of the allies in World War 1, but the invention would lead to the axis power’s almost unstoppable blitzkrieg pushing through most of Europe. Tanks would go on to evolve, becoming better, so unstoppable that they would force soldiers to leave battle, an action which could consequently lead to execution. The evolution would begin in later World War One and go all the way to modern day tanks. In the end, the biggest changes would occur from the end of World

At the beginning of World War One, war was stranded in the trenches, not much was happening. The tank would pick up the pace of the war, bringing soldiers out of their trenches to fight. Germans were scared of these big metal giants, they didn’t know what to think, “One hundred years ago today, on September 15th 1916, German soldiers looked out over the tops of their trenches and got a tremendous shock. Giant metal-covered vehicles, as large as a barn, were slowly advancing towards their position, moving forward in a caterpillar-like motion and spitting cannon and machine gun fire as they came” (Mizokami). This example perfectly explains how tanks were viewed. Germans had not known about the British plans to make these machines, so it came completely as surprise when they slowly rolled up to the battlefield. Though tanks were feared in World War One, they would become even stronger and more powerful in the 2nd war. Tanks in World War Two would always be inferior to the German industry that produced the powerful tanks for the axis powers. The blitzkrieg was fueled by Two things, the first being Panzerschokolade (tank chocolate) which was infused with crystal methamphetamine. The second fuel was the tanks that the Germans had made. It was said that one German tank could take on 12 of any allied tank with ease. “The Wehrmacht’s machine guns and machine pistols had a higher rate of fire, its multiple-barrel

The British “Landship committee” was the secret group that was formed. The men who are given the credit of creating the tank are William Tritton and Walter Gordon Wilson. Information about the creation of tanks was kept away from everyone, Germans didn’t know about its creation, which is why Germans were at first scared of the machine that was created (refer to quote in early 1st paragraph). Secretive creation is quite scary, to the German’s on the fields of Flers-Courcelette especially. At this battle, the first Mark 1’s rolled up to the German lines, instilling much fear into the Germans, so they ran away from combat. The British inventing the tank does not mean that they did it the best though. In World War One, British tanks were usually beaten out by the faster, smaller French tanks. “A light tank, and the first to have a rotating funnel, the FT17 was of revolutionary, influential design. Most tanks today mimic its basic design. They were first deployed in May 1918 and were a runaway success” (Browne). Between the periods of the two world wars, Germany was realizing that it had to ramp up their tank industry in order to get back at the rest of Europe for the treaty of Versailles, which absolutely pummeled the German’s with an amount of money that they just couldn’t pay. Between the periods of the two world wars, Germany was realizing