SOAS Research Online

Abstract

From a technology that was practically non-existent prior to World War I, the tank had emerged by the end of World War II as the main battle weapon of land armies, as it has remained until the present. Tanks reoriented all other branches of the military into support functions for armour and became a measure of the strength and prowess of conventional armed forces. Yet, along the way it faced continual obstacles and resistance due to limitations of vision, conservative expenditures, and misunderstandings of lessons learned in battle. Ultimately, it was a weapon that only progressed due to the efforts of individual pioneers in multiple countries who each pushed for its advancement.