The First World War wide moving battles ended in the trenches by the last months of 1914, with their machine gun emplacements, barbed wire fields and heavy artillery, that all made any offensive too costly. Years were spent in this stalemate with huge human losses for the soldiers before a new arm was created in 1916 to reach a quick conclusion : the tank, invented in England as well as in France. Colonel Estienne was the first in France to design a tracked vehicle, armoured and fitted with weapons, able to move on battle torn ground and crushing all the obstacles it would meet. It was created to crack open the enemy lines and tear a gap through which the infantry and the cavalry would reopen a war of movement. On Estienne's indications, Ingenieur Brille (working for the Schneider firm) choose the Baby-Holt tractor of US origin to install an armoured body. After the failure of the Champagne offensive in December 1915, General Joffre found interest in this new weapon and authorized a contract for 400 of this tank to the Le Creusot factory in February 1916.
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