The Casemate Short History Series presents readable and entertaining
introductions to military history topics.
Today tanks are synonymous with the modern army; imposing, essential
pieces of high-technology equipment, seemingly impregnable. But how did
the tank come into being, and how did it develop and influence conflict
in the 20th and 21st centuries? Why do different countries use tanks so
differently in combat and what was the biggest tank-on-tank battle?
The Casemate Short History of Tanks addresses all these questions and
more in an informative and entertaining introduction to this iconic
weapon of the last hundred years.
Tanks first ventured into battle on the Somme in 1916, and by the end of
the war countries were beginning to choose "heavy" or "light" tank
designs to suit their preferred doctrine. Design stagnated between the
wars, until World War II brought about rapid change. Tanks would prove
integral to fighting in almost every theater; the Germans swept across
Europe using tanks to spearhead their blitzkrieg method of war, until
Soviet tanks proved more than their match and led to some epic tank
battles on a huge scale.
After World War II, tank designs became increasingly sophisticated, and
armor undertook a variety of roles in conflicts, with mixed results.
American armor in Korea was soon forced into an infantry support role,
which it reprised in Vietnam, while Soviet armor was defeated in
guerrilla warfare in Afghanistan. However, tanks played a pivotal role
in the American "shock and awe" doctrine in two wars in Iraq, and tanks
remain a crucial weapons system on the battlefield.
