The modern tank is considered the elite weapon of every military man. With powerful guns and armor that make a tank unstoppable, this has been called the cavalry of today's army and today's soldiers could not enter combat without them and their support. The use of tanks is not long since the tank was not produced until World War I and when the first one was built no general knew what military role the tank would play. It wasn't until the world was moving into the 1930s and the start of World War II that the tank was still in its early stages when it was still being developed as to how it would be used in large scale battles and warfare. During the time the tank was not the known super weapon because it was an underdeveloped and unused weapon; but it was one of the most advanced weapons of the time and the great importance the tank had during the war. When the tank was used on both sides; each side tried different types of tanks wondering whether World War I was using the tank to its full potential or whether the tank could become a force to be reckoned with. When looking at how the tank developed during World War II, it is worth examining what the tank was like at the beginning of the war and how it influenced future tanks and other classes of vehicles in the military. The tank at the beginning of the Second World War The tank at the beginning of the Second World War At the beginning of the war it was a small machine with weak guns, not as powerful as today's ones and still small compared to the guns of the end of the Second War world. The tank's armor could easily be pierced by an infantryman's gun during World War I, a period in which generals had to figure out how to make a functioning tank by equipping it with tough armor and powerful weapons but without making it. heavy where...... in the center of the paper......ing Vehicles. Blackfriars Road, London: Lorenz Books. 2006. pages. 4.30-31pm Giovanni Pike. History of tanks: World War II. GlobalSecurity.org 03/12/05. February 26, 2009 http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/ground/tank-history3.htm John Pike. History of tanks - Between the two wars. GlobalSecurity.org 03/12/05. February 26, 2009 http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/ground/tank-history2.htm John Weeks. Men against tanks. New York: Mason/Charter. 1975 page 20Kennedy Hickman. Sherman M4 tank: an icon of World War II. About.com: Military History. ND February 26, 2009 http://militaryhistory.about.com/od/vehiclesarmor/p/M4Sherman.htmRickard, J., Panzer I Light Tank, Military History Encyclopedia on the Web, 11/30/07. February 26, 2009 http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/weapons_panzer_I.htmlRoger H.Nye. Patton's mind. New York: Avery Publishing Group Inc. 1993 pp. 41-43