Stalingrad 1121 French Tank Crewman, WWI

The first tanks and units composed of them appeared in the French army during World War I, as a remedy for the stalemate of the positional war of the Western front. Interestingly, however, unlike Great Britain, the initiative to build them came from French economic entities and defense companies, rather than the French army. On the other hand, among the French officers, there were many supporters of introducing new weapons to the line, and Colonel Estienne deserves special emphasis. It is assumed that the first tanks of the French armed forces were the not very successful Schneider CA1 vehicles, and from April 1917, another heavy tank - Saint-Chamond - was delivered to the units. In the same 1917, a truly revolutionary vehicle was introduced into service - the Renault FT-17 light tank, widely recognized as the most successful tank in its class in the Great War. This vehicle had a rotating turret with main armament, was much cheaper to produce than the Schneider CA1 or Saint-Chamond, and was better suited to combat in the trench war realities. These tanks played a great role in the French and Allied offensives at the end of the First World War, contributing in no small way to the defeat of the German army.