The First Panzer

According to the terms of the Treaty of Versailles, Germany was forbidden to develop any tanks. But that didn't stop Hitler when he came to power. Since Hitler served in the trenches of World War 1 and saw the first tanks rumble across No Man's Land, he knew that tanks were key to avoiding another bloody stalemate in his planned campaign against the rest of Europe. So he approved the development of the Panzerkampfwagen series. The first of them were the Panzerkampfwagen 1, a light tank. It had a top speed of 50 mph, armed with 2 MG13 machine guns but had low armor that can easily be penetrated. These tanks were demonstrated to Hitler in 1935. He liked them and approved continued development of the Panzer Program. Although they were to be used mainly as training tanks but since at the time of the Invasion of Poland, they formed the bulk of Nazi Germany's tank forces. They were used in large numbers for infantry support but a lot of them were converted into tank destroyers. They first saw combat service in the Spanish Civil War and were sold to Franco’s fascist movement and the Republic of China during the Second Sino-Japanese War among other supplies (they were cut off after the Reich and Japan became allies.) They saw service in the Invasion of Poland, the Battle of France, and the first few months of Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the Soviet Union. Afterwards they were taken out of frontline service and used for police enforcement in occupied territories. They were taken out of service after the Nazis surrender, with the ones sold to Spain being obsolete in 1956. The picture above shows a german soldier on guard talking to a Panzer commander prior to the tank’s demonstration. Although this tank wasn't much, it eventually led to the development of the most feared tank of the war: the Panzer VI Tiger.

This was one of my birthday present. Tank and minings by Brickmania. Guns by Brickarms.