As a result, the German army entered World War II, still having the P aK 36 caliber 37 mm, which turned out to be completely insufficient against the French Char B1 Bis or the Soviet T-34 and KW-1. However, with time, especially in the 1930s and with the development of own armored weapons, the problem of anti-tank weapons was treated in the German army rather of secondary importance. After the signing of the Treaty of Versailles in 1919, the development of anti-tank weapons was hindered, but in 1928 the gun was put into mass production 3.7 cm PaK 36 which at that time was one of the most modern anti-tank guns in the world. The German army had experience in fighting enemy armored vehicles from the period of World War I (1916-1918). It is assumed that during the entire Second World War, about 350 infantry divisions served in the Wehrmacht. 17,700 as in 1939), and its artillery component - especially heavy artillery - was also reduced in it, while its anti-tank defense was significantly improved. However, from 1943, the standard division of the "traditional" infantry consisted of approx. In the course of the war, infantry divisions underwent transformation - in 1943 some of them were transformed into armored grenadier divisions. It also had modern and efficient - for those times - means of communication and command. In total, the so-called infantry division In the first mobilization wave, there were approximately 17,700 people and had a significant artillery component, but also was abundantly equipped with machine guns. In addition, there were numerous support units, including: an artillery regiment with 4 artillery squadrons (including one heavy), an anti-tank battalion, a sapper battalion and a communications battalion. This affected both the equipment and the organization of the German infantry division, which during the September campaign of 1939 consisted of 3 infantry regiments, each of which was divided into 3 infantry battalions, an artillery company and an anti-tank company. The decisive influence on the shaping of the organization and tactics of the German infantry before the outbreak of World War II was, on the one hand, the experience of the previous World War, but also theoretical works created in the 1920s and 1930s, which often emphasized the need to perceive the German infantry as a tool waging an offensive war.
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