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Tanks of the Interwar Period

During the first world war, tanks were used in combat, and they proved to be quite useful. As a result, during the interwar period, many nations developed tanks for combat. However, very few countries had the industrial resources and money to design and build them. Britain and France rose to the top of designing these tanks, while other countries "copied" and developed their own based off of their tanks. However, over the 1930s, the Soviet Union began to push ahead and develop many more tanks that Britain and France.

In 1918, the US and British developed a heavy tank for Britain and France. The Mark VIII was a 37 ton tank equipped with two 6 pounder guns and was capable of traveling cross country at 7 miles per hour. The French also developed a tank of its own: the Renault FT. This revolutionary light tank was the first to have a fully rotation turret, included lower track profiles, more compact hulls, and the main armament located in the turret. The configuration with the crew compartment at the front, engine in the back, and the gun on a turret became the standard tank layout. Over 3,000 of these tanks were manufactured, and it later inspired the FT-17, another commonly used tank.

In the US, J. Walter Christie developed very fast tanks. This utilized the Christie suspension system along with a very high power to weight ratio only made possible because of the use of large aircraft engines. However, since the US thought the costs of these new tanks would be too expensive, the Soviet Union bought their prototypes and developed it into the BT tanks. These tanks were extremely fast, though at a cost of very little protection. They were considered "convertible tanks," with the ability to remove the tracks and engage a chain drive to the rearmost road wheel on each side, allowing the tank to travel at very high speeds on roads. In wheeled mode, the tank was steered by pivoting the front road wheels. These tanks later developed into the A-20 and A-32, which served as a stepping stone between the BT tanks and the T-34, one of the most legendary World War 2 tanks.

The Germans also had tanks of their own. Although they were not allowed to produce any tanks because of the Treaty of Versailles, their tanks were like the Apple of today. Their build quality was off the charts: everything was engineered to perfection. Compared to the Soviets, they were superior in build quality; while the Soviets slapped some metal onto a suspension, Germans would triple check each individual weld and bolt. Their tanks were called Panzerkampfwagen (PzKpfw or PzKw), which means "Armoured Fighting Vehicle". One of their first tanks was the two-man PzKpfw I Ausf A. It weighed in at around 5.4 tons and was equipped with a 60 hp engine. and was a 5.4 ton machine with a 3.5-litre 60 hp (45 kW) petrol engine. It had 13 mm of armour and was armed with twin 7.92 mm machine guns. However, a more common variant Ausf B was a little larger to accommodate a 100 hp Maybach engine, used in most future German tanks.

In 1938, the annexation of Czechoslovakia took place. Germans now had full access to the Czech military industry. Czechs had developed the Škoda LT-35 and the Českomoravská Kolben-Daněk (ČKD) TNHP. The Škoda weighed in at 10 tons and came equipped with a 37 mm main gun, along with having excellent cross-country capabilities. The ČKD was 8.5 tons and also fitted with a 37 mm gun; it was found to be a extremely reliable machine with a top quality chassis, similar to the German tanks at that time. Further production was ordered, and these tanks were added to the German panzer forces, as well as the PzKpfw 35(t) and the PzKpfw 38(t). The PzKpfw 35(t) and 38(t) were Czech designed light tanks that featured 37 mm guns. However, due to the low caliber and low power of these guns, production was halted in 1942. They saw combat in early World War 2.

Later French tanks included the Renault R 35, which closely resembled the FT-17. Although it followed the same form factor as the FT-17 with its small size, the armor was quite decent. However, the real star of the show is the SOMUA S35, which is regarded as one of the best tanks of the 1930s. It featured the best combination of armor, firepower, and mobility of any tank at that time, only surpassed by the Panzer IV and the T-34 in World War 2. The 47 mm of frontal armor was sloped, thus effectively making it above 60 millimeters thick. The 47 mm main armament was powerful enough to destroy its German and Soviet competitors with very little effort. One downside is that this tank cost more to manufacture than its relative counterparts.

Tanks were also produced in Japan, although they started out by buying other tanks. The most significant of these were the Type 85 Chi-Ro, Type 95 Ha-Go, and Type 97 Chi-Ha. In 1929, the Type 85 was the first to use diesel engines in their tanks. The Type 95 light tank had a crew compartment for three crewmen, a 37 mm gun main armament, and a diesel engine. The diesel engine monopolized Japanese tank designs and later inspired Soviet tanks. The Type 97's main distinct feature was a low velocity 57 mm gun, designed for supporting infantry. The relatively slow shell velocity at just over Mach 1 was great for supporting infantry, but lacked in power against Soviet BT tanks.

Many countries all inspired each other in tank design, and improved on each others tanks. The big tanks would come during World War 2 and after the war, but this interwar period definitely unleashed the potential of armored vehicles in combat.