Panzer IA with four road wheels.
When Hitler broke with the Versailles treaty in 1934 and openly started rearmament, there was a big need for a tank so the German army could start training for mechanised warfare. Although several secret tank development projects were running for several years, no tank was ready for mass production. That is when the German army decided upon developing a small light tank for training and educational purposes only. The design was based on the British Carden Loyd tankette, lightly armoured, armed with two light machine guns and designated Panzerkampfwagen I. It became operational in 1934 and played an important role in the conceptual development and training of the german army in mechanized and combined arms warfare. However Hitlers warmongering developed faster than German tankproduction. When war broke out in September 1939 insufficient Panzer III and IV were available. As a result the Panzer I and II, never intended for real combat, were still present in large numbers in the front line units. With its light armament and light armour the Panzer I was no match for enemy armour. But in battle with infantry and soft targets it proved a useful and mobile vehicle. When Germany attacked the Soviet Union in June 1941, the Panzer I was mostly witdrawn from frontline units, but still proved useful as a protection vehicle, in anti-guerilla warfare, as a crew training vehicle and as a platform for the first tankhunters and mechanised field guns.
Panzer IB with five roadwheels.
The first type of Panzer I tanks appeared to have a stability problem at high speed, resulting in pitching and leading to accidents. Moreover the engine tended to overheat. As a result the design was adapted by lengthening the hull to accomodate a new engine and a fifth roadwheel, which solved both problems. The new design was called Panzer IB, retroactively designating the earlier version as the Panzer IA.
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