page_title: Tanks in the German Army
section_title: Interwar period
hierarchical_section_title: Tanks in the German Army / German design and development / Interwar period
caption_attribution_description: Information added by Wikimedia users.Deutsch: Gemeinsame Militärparade der Wehrmacht und der Roten Armee in Brest am Ende des Polenfeldzugs. V.l.n.r: Generalleutnant Mauritz von Wiktorin, General der Panzertruppen Heinz Guderian und Generalmajor Semjon Kriwoschein. English: Common parade of Wehrmacht and Red Army in Brest at the end of the Invasion of Poland. At the center Major General Heinz Guderian and Brigadier Semyon Krivoshein. Cropped version of the following image: File:Bundesarchiv Bild 101I-121-0011A-22, Polen, Siegesparade, Guderian, Kriwoschein.jpg. Polski: Wspólna Defilada Wehrmachtu i Armii Czerwonej Brześć 1939, Heinz Guderian, Semyon Krivoshein Русский: совместный парад вермахта и РККА в Бресте 22 сентября 1939 года. На трибуне - генерал-лейтенант Мориц фон Викторин, генерал танковых войск Гейнц Гудериан и комбриг Семён Моисеевич Кривошеин (слева направо). Українська: Спільний парад Вермахту і Червоної армії у Бресті 22 вересня 1939. На трибуні (зліва направо) - генерал-лейтенант Моріц фон Вікторин, генерал танкових військ Гейнц Гудеріан і комбриг Семен Мойсейович Кривошеїн.
context_section_description: The post-World War I Treaty of Versailles of 1919 prohibited the design, manufacture and deployment of tanks within the Reichswehr. When Imperial Germany fell to the Allies, the victors pushed for severe restrictions on the country's war-making capabilities and  Germany took the brunt of the blame to the west and was forced into signing the Treaty of Versailles in June 1919. Limitations for the land army included a 100,000-strong infantry army, absolutely no tanks of any kind and just a few armored vehicles for spot duty. The German Army became a shell of its former self. Paragraph Twenty-four of the treaty provided for a 100,000-mark fine and imprisonment of up to six months for anybody who "[manufactured] armoured vehicles, tanks or similar machines, which may be turned to military use".
  Despite the manpower and technical limitations imposed upon the German Army by the Treaty of Versailles, several Reichswehr officers established a clandestine General Staff to study World War I and develop future strategies and tactics. One such Reichswehr officer, Hans von Seeckt, became Commander-in-Chief. Seeckt took to heart the lessons learned in the Great War and set about in rewriting the foundation of the German Army. Infantry still remained the heart and soul of any planned offensive, but the tank would become the spearhead of actions that could shatter enemy defenses through speed, force and firepower. Tactics involved the splitting up of enemy formations and counteractions involving pincer movements to surround and ultimately decimate the enemy in whole. By 1926, German Army doctrine was all rewritten to fulfill this vision. Although at first the concept of the tank as a mobile weapon of war met with apathy, German industry was silently encouraged to look into tank design, while quiet cooperation was undertaken with the Soviet Union. In late 1920s and early 1930s, Germans closely co-operated with Russians in the development of armored vehicles, which were tested at Kama tank school, near Kazan in the USSR. There was also minor military cooperation with Sweden, including the extraction of technical data that proved invaluable to early German tank design.
  As early as 1926 various German companies, including Rheinmetall and Daimler-Benz, produced a single prototype armed with a large 75-millimeter cannon (the Großtraktor, "large tractor", was so codenamed to veil the true purpose of the vehicle).  Only two years later prototypes of the new Leichttraktor ("light tractor"), were produced by German companies, armed with 37-millimeter KwK L/45 guns. Development of the Neubaufahrzeug started in 1932 when Wa Prüf 6 established design specifications for a new 15 tonne tank to be known as the "mittlere Traktor". It had many connections to the previous Großtraktor, utilizing many of the same components including the engine and transmission. Initially both Krupp and Rheinmetall were asked to submit proposals, but after the end of trials of the Großtraktor prototypes, during which Rheinmetall's vehicle proved superior to others, Krupp would only be awarded a contract for a turret design while Rheinmetall was to design both a chassis and turret. Rheinmetall's turret design had a rounded shape and was armed with a 3.7 cm gun above the 7.5 cm gun, while Krupp's turret was more rectangular and had the 3.7 cm gun mounted beside the 7.5 cm gun. Both turrets were also armed with a co-axial MG-34 machine gun, along with the two sub-turrets at the front and rear of the tank.
  The Neubaufahrzeug was intended to fulfill the role of a medium tank in Germany's developing armored force, but it proved to have too many problems with its front drive and aircraft engine for this role. But even with all its faults, the Neubaufahrzeug provided insight into tank designing that was valuable to the next German medium tank project, the Begleitwagen.
  In 1934 Rheinmetall built two mild steel prototypes, one with their own turret design and one with Krupp's. Three more prototypes were built with proper armor and the Krupp turret design in 1936. The Großtraktor was l
caption: Gen. Heinz Guderian (center) with attache and Soviet officer at a joint German–Soviet parade in Brest.
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