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The First Tank
The first working tank ever created was named "Little Willie". It was initially ordered to be built by Winston Churchill as a kind of solution to trench warfare, with him asking for a "land-ship". Made by William Foster Company in the Autumn of 1915, it most likely received its nickname as a reference to the enemy German leader, Kaiser Wilhelm. https://tankmuseum.org/tank-nuts/tank-collection/little-willie#:~:text=Little%20Willie%20was%20the%20first,a%20possibility%20for%20the%20battlefield. -
Tanks of the Third Reich
During WW2, the Nazis used several different tank models, including the infamous Panzer IV and Tiger II tanks. Far improved from their ancestors in WW1, these tanks were armed and armored to the teeth. The Panzer IV was armed with a 75mm main cannon, and 2 MG-34 Machine Guns as secondary armament. The Tiger II sports an 88mm Anti-Tank Cannon, as well as armor more than 7 inches thick in some areas. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiger_II https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panzer_IV -
Allied World War 2 Tanks
The Allied Forces also used a variety of tanks in World War 2. Among these are the Soviet T-34 and the American M4 Sherman, two very iconic tanks. The Sherman featured a 75mm cannon, along with two machine guns, and it was mass produced by companies like Ford. The T-34, with its 76.2mm cannon and good balance between firepower and armor, was a key part of the soviet victory in the war. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanks_in_World_War_II https://tankmuseum.org/tank-nuts/tank-collection/t-34-76 -
German Invasion of France
One of the first times in WW2 that tanks were truly necessary, was the Nazi Invasion of France. The French believed that the Ardennes Forest would act as a kind of natural barrier between them and the Germans, with the trees being too dense to get through quickly. The Nazis, using a variety of tanks and armored vehicles, plowed through the Ardennes, consequentially taking France in a matter of weeks. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_France -
The Tank Museum
The Tank Museum in Dorset, Britain, is the foremost museum on the evolution of military tank technology. I used their website for a lot of the information on featured tanks in this timeline. https://tankmuseum.org/ -
Modern Tanks
The first M1 Abrams is serviced in February 1980. A modern battle-tank, the Abrams has been used in several recent conflicts, including the War in Afghanistan, the War in Iraq, and even in the Ukrainian Defense against Russia. With a 120mm main cannon on some models, as well as an HMG and two more machine guns, the M1 Abrams is death on treads for the enemy. This does however put the production cost at several million dollars per tank. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M1_Abrams -
Fury
The famous movie about a World War 2 Tank Crew was released on this date. -
Future Tanks?
In the future, who knows what kinds of weapons and armoring tanks may have? I personally like to speculate that something like the M808 Scorpion Tank from the Halo Franchise might exist, using a Magnetic Accelerator Cannon (Railgun) as a primary weapon.