Tanks during World War One
The ideas of tanks were first developed by a simple tractor that used caterpillar tracks. The caterpillar tracks were invented in 1770 by Richard Edgeworth. The tracks were created for steam powered tractors to get through thick, muddy battle terrain. Keeping in mind that caterpillar tracks were invented, Nikolaus August Otto created the internal combustion engine in 1885. In 1899, Frederick Simms designed a motor-war-car, which incorporated the caterpillar tracks and the internal combustion engine. The car had bullet proof casing and two, revolving machine guns. It was offered to the British army, but was marked as little use. In 1914, a little bit after the war had started, a British colonel named Ernest Swinton and the Secratary of the Comittee for Imperial Defense named Maurice Hankey stayed enthusiastic for the potential of the tank. The tank works by having a conveyor belt type machine move the tracks. On the inside there is a driver who controlled the tanks movement. They also had people controlling the machine guns. They thought the tanks would be great for breaking into trenches.
Impacts
While the tank offered a lot of help, there were a few consequences to go with it. The tank was very slow and vulnerable making it easy for enemies to shoot down. Also some of the models could not make it over trenches, they would get stuck. On the other hand, most models could get through the barbed wire and eventually hit the enemies. The tanks also had machine guns on the sides so the soldiers could shoot the enemies while moving.
Connections To Today
We still use tanks to fight in battles today, although they are very different. Today tanks are larger, faster and offer more protection. They have a cannon on top to also fire at the enemies. The tanks in World War One were smaller, slower and an easy target to shoot down. For example, the Type 10 MBT tank is a Japanese tank that has 5 large wheels inside of each track. The front side is sharply angled so the back side will act as a shield. The Japanese used it in 2012 to battle China.
Big Willie Tank (1916)
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Type 10 MBT (2012)
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