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First Tank
This is the first tank, called "Little Willie", it was created by the duo of William Tritton and Walter Gordon Wilson to be the prototype for the later Mark I tank. It wasn't armored, but was still several tons heavy, and was created as an answer to German trench warfare and to be an anti-infantry vehicle. -
First Deployment
In late 1916, the Mark I would be deployed for the first time with mixed success, but promising outcomes for the future. It excelled in its anticipated Anti-Infantry role, but frequently got stuck in trenches and was quite expensive at the time. There were 2 variations- Male and Female- The male was more heavily equipped to deal with fortifications, and the Female was lighter equipped to directly support infantry. -
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Experimentation
After the British developed their tank, other nations, understanding the usefulness of such a vehicle, decided to make their own versions. The Russian Tsar tank was created to little success, being a strange vehicle looks-wise, but the Germans were onto something. The A7V was Germany's first tank, and was designed to counter British tanks, and was akin to a metal box with guns, decorated in the German Iron Cross, which was a medal of honor in the German army at the time. -
Pre-WWII era
After WWI, the Treaty of Versailles limited Germany's army and forbid them from developing tanks- But this didn't stop them from doing it in Secret, as the Panzer I was created, and was starting to look like an actual "Tank" would. It was a light tank that had a light armament and was fielded in the thousands. The British Vickers Mark E was a tank that wasn't adopted by the British Army for long, but was sold to the world, and adapted into the Soviet T-26 and was used in the Spanish Civil War. -
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WWII
During WWII, many nations developed better tanks. America developed the Medium Tank "M4-Sherman" to directly support infantry as a cheap and adaptable vehicle with a decent armament. The German Panzer IV was one of the most numerous tanks of the war with over 8,000 of them being developed and was a highly versatile and reliable tank. The Soviet T-34 was also created as a counter to German Tanks, and excelled in this field, beating out the Nazi Tanks in almost every field and being cheap to make. -
Early Cold War
After WWII, America and the USSR were fighting for global dominance, and developed new technologies to spite each other, tanks included. America, for a while, had the M26-Pershing, a heavily armored American tank with a heavy armament, it was initially designed to combat German Tigers, Panthers and other tanks, and for a while found use in the early Cold War. The Soviets developed the T-55, a cheap, versatile successor to the T-34 that was maneuverable, easy to use and easy to field en masse. -
Late Cold War
Nearing the end of the Cold War, America found itself in an increasingly dominant position over the Soviets. the Soviets didn't advance as rapidly as the Western nations did. The M1-Abrams was released in 1979 as a 2nd gen American MBT, a versatile and quick tank with advanced fire-control systems and a lot of money poured into it, as the west's design philosophy included overwhelming power in their designs and saw the German Leopard II and British Challenger II being designed this way as well. -
Present day
Tanks ever since 1991 underwent a significant transformation- Not in design philosophy, but the technology that were inside these war machines. China, a nation that previously was using Soviet tech in its armed forces (PLA), nowadays has the advanced Type-99 and less advanced but more versatile Type-96 that are a step up from Russian and Soviet tech, even nowadays as China further expands its industrial base and economic power. The US has the M1A2-Abrams, a significantly upgraded M1-Abrams.