1114 GERMAN TANK CREWMAN, WWI

At the time of the outbreak of World War I, the German army, like any other European army of that time, did not have any tanks. However, in the course of this conflict, Germany managed to overtake France, especially Great Britain, which already in 1916 introduced the first tanks on a large scale at the end of the Battle of the Somme. For the German army, the appearance of Mark IV tanks was quite a surprise, which became a catalyst for the development of their own armored forces. It also led to the design of the first German tank, the A7V, which had a crew of at least 18 people! The German army, however, still treated this type of weapon of secondary importance, and at the same time was aware that the economic and economic opportunities of Germany did not allow for the production of tanks in large numbers. For this reason, it first used armored weapons on a larger scale only at the beginning of 1918, during the so-called Ludendorff offensives on the Western Front. It is worth adding that not only the native A7V was used in its course, but also many captured tanks - especially British ones.