Wehrmacht Armored Vehicles

According to the Treaty of Versailles signed in 1919, Germany was prohibited from possessing armored vehicles. However, the later Boulogne Protocol allowed the Weimar Republic to have a limited number of armored transport vehicles and police armored cars. After Hitler came to power, Germany began preparations for a war that, according to German plans, was to be fought swiftly. This concept required high mobility for military units, which in turn demanded a large number of various vehicles—both regular trucks and armored vehicles. Serial production of armored cars in Germany resumed in 1934, and by 1936, they were standard equipment in reconnaissance units (which included the Sd.Kfz. 247 Ausf.B armored car). At the beginning of the hostilities, the armored vehicle fleet was supplemented with captured vehicles, including one of the best armored cars of World War II, the Panhard 178 (designated Panzerspähwagen P 204(f) in the Wehrmacht). The German army also widely used semi-tracked armored transporters. The versatility built into their design allowed these armored vehicles to be used for transporting personnel as well as for mounting various types of weapons or equipment. The most common armored transporters in the Wehrmacht were the semi-tracked Sd.Kfz.251 armored personnel carriers.