Panzerkampfwagen I

Panzerkampfwagen I

First official German tank built in 1934, despite the fact that treaty of Versailles from 1919 was prohibiting Germany from producing the offensive weapons. Previous models were camouflaged from media by calling them tractors or agricultural machinery. Panzerkampfwagen I was light and fast, which was important for the planned operations - the concept of Blitzkrieg was demanding quick actions that would not leave enemy time to prepare defence lines and for that purpose Pzkpfw I was perfect. Fast, light, could manouver in rough terrain and thanks to low silhouette it was easy to hide. Panzer I and Panzer II were the main German tanks during invasion on Poland, later Holland and Belgium. In those operation their opposition were often below their level, not to mention that those countries had very little armored vehicles. But during invasion on France the situation has changed - French tanks were slow, heavy and hardly able to manouver in rough terrain, but their armors were too thick for Panzer I and after 1940 they were used mostly for militia operations against partisans (Greece, Yugoslavia) or for training purposes. However the platform was used to build tank hunter Panzerjäger I and self-propelled gun sIG-33 Bison.

Battle of FranceDunkirk evacuationInvasion of Poland

tanksworld war 2 tanks