Renault Char G1R mock-up in its second phase, as a 35 ton tank
Char G1
General characteristics
Crew
Length
Width
Height
Weight	20 metric tons
Armour and armament
Armour	60 mm
Main armament	high velocity gun
Secondary armament	two machine guns
Mobility
Power plant
Suspension
Road speed	40 km/h
Power/weight
Range	200

The Char G1 was a French replacement project for the Char D2 medium tank. Several prototypes were developed since 1936, but not a single one had been completed at the time of the Fall of France in 1940. Military vehicles are commonly armoured to withstand the impact of shrapnel, bullets or shells, protecting the soldiers inside from enemy fire. ... The Char D2 was a French tank of the Interbellum. ... 1936 (MCMXXXVI) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... In World War II, Battle of France or Case Yellow (Fall Gelb in German) was the German invasion of France and the Low Countries, executed 10 May 1940 which ended the Phony War. ... 1940 (MCMXL) was a leap year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1940 calendar). ...

Development

Early 1936 the French Infantry had not yet developed a satisfactory medium tank. Whereas a reasonably effective heavy break-through tank was available, the Char B1, and several light infantry support tanks were on the brink of being taken into production — the Renault R35, Hotchkiss H35 and the FCM 36 — a good medium tank had still to be designed, as the Char D1 was a manifest failure and the Char D2 only a slight improvement over its ancestor. In May 1936 therefore the Conseil Consultatif de l'Armement demands that studies are initiated on the design of a tank having sufficient protection and armament to fight other armour, but light enough (twenty tons or less) to be both cheap and mobile. In October a special commission reveals to the French industry the further specifications for a Char G: a maximum speed of at least 40 km/h, a range of 200 km, a protection level equal to that of the Char B1 bis (i.e. 60 mm all around), a wading capacity of 120 cm and a trench crossing capacity of 250 cm; a complete protection against gas attack; the dimensions should not impede rail transport and the armament should consist of a high velocity gun capable of destroying all expected enemy medium tanks, combined with two machine guns. The Char B1 was a French heavy tank manufactured before the Second World War. ... The R 35, short for Char léger Modèle 1935 R or Renault R35 was a French light infantry tank of the Second World War. ... Char léger modèle 1935 H modifié 39 in Israel The Hotchkiss H35 or Char léger modèle 1935 H was a French light tank developed prior to WWII. // Development In 1926 it had been decided to provide armour support to the regular infantry divisions by creating autonomous... The last surviving FCM 36 in the Musée des Blindés in Saumur The FCM 36 or Char léger Modèle 1936 FCM, was a light infantry tank that was designed for the French Army prior to World War Two. ... The Char D1 was a pre-World War 2 French tank. ...

The specifications implied that the vehicle would have been the most potent and modern French tank yet developed. It also entailed that its introduction would not take place in the near future, as it was simply too advanced. This way it was avoided that a decision would have to be reached about the future course the Infantry tank weapon should take. At the time there were officers, like Charles de Gaulle, who proposed that the Infantry raise armoured divisions that were similar in organisation to the Divisions Légères Mécanisées of the French Cavalry or the German Panzerdivisionen, i.e. balanced forces with much organic mechanised infantry and motorised artillery, that would be flexible enough to fulfill all possible tactical roles. Other officers however considered it redundant to imitate the Cavalry and thought the Infantry should stick to its proper task: the break-through only. Some of them wanted that the money to be spent on armoured divisions would go to the production of a sufficient number of light infantry tanks to give each division its own organic battalion, as the best way to ensure an effective execution of combined arms tactics. Some wanted only heavy tanks to be built. The Char G, mobile, but heavily armoured enough to function as a break-through tank, made only sense if German-style armoured divisions would be created and a definite decision about its production could only be made when the debate had produced a clear winner. This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Panzer Division is the German term for armored division. ...

Despite this uncertainty about its future the project generated enormous interest among French industrialists, as it had a real potential to become France's main AFV building programme, leadling to large state investments the French industry badly needed during the period of the Great Depression. Late 1936 and early 1937 seven companies submitted plans: Baudet Donon Roussel; FCM; Fouga; Lorraine de Dietrich; Renault; SEAM and SOMUA. The commission immediately rejected the SOMUA and FCM proposals for being too vague; those of Baudet Donon Roussel, Fouga and Lorraine de Dietrich were being kept under consideration untill further information could be provided about their feasibility. The SEAM and Renault projects were sufficiently advanced to approve the construction of a prototype of each. The last two firms' good contacts with the French military had allowed them to begin design work even before the specifications were officially revealed. In Renault's case this advantage had turned into a disadvantage when in november it had been decided that a hull-based main armament was to be preferred on instigation of Prince Poniatowski, head of a design bureau subcontracted by SEAM, whose proposal unsurprsingly had this feature. An armoured fighting vehicle (AFV) is a military vehicle, equipped with protection against hostile attacks and often mounted weapons. ... Great Depression was a worldwide economic downturn which started in 1929 (although its effects were not fully felt until late in 1930) and lasted through most of the 1930s. ...

External links

• http://mailer.fsu.edu/~akirk/tanks/france/France-Other.html