Have new lego-ish tanks for my desk!
![[link]](https://www.welarson.net/eh/gw_tanks.jpg){kind=link}
It's a Britsh Mark I heavy and a French FT-17 light tank.
The Mark I is famous for being the first tank. It was basically a big metal box with either cannons or machine guns mounted in side sponsons, designated as male or female tanks respectively. Inside the box you'd have eight men, the engine (just out in the open) putting out heat and fumes, the crankshaft spinning merrily, ammunition, pigeons, spent casings, and yet more fumes from the guns. It moved along at about walking speed which is just as well as it had no suspension. It was designed specially for the western front of World War I and didn't have much influence on future tank designs.
The French Renault FT-17 was also a World War I tank and had a ton of influence on future tank design. In fact the first tanks produced by both the United States and Russia (not the Soviet Union yet) were copies of this tank. It had a crew of two, a rotating turret, a sprung suspension, and a separate engine compartment. It rattled along at the pace of a brisk walk. These little tanks were used in World War I, a number of inter-war conflicts and even in World War II in a limited capacity.
It reminds me of aircraft in a way. The first aircraft were made in the United States, but it was the early French aircraft that looked like aircraft as we know them now. Same with tanks, the British had the first tanks, but it's this little early French tank that looks like what the tank would become. The French really don't get enough credit for innovation.