NAZI WAR MACHINE

Inside the Panzer II that stormed the Eastern Front

With the end of World War I came the Treaty of Versailles. Among many things limiting Germany were restrictions to its military rights, preventing it from producing armoured vehicles except for a few designated for security. To get around this, the German military ordered the Panzer II be produced under the designation Landwirtschaftlicher Schlepper 100, meaning that it was developed under the guise of being a farm tractor. This was common practice for Germany, and ensured that it wasn’t in short supply of armour when war broke out.