Combustion

“Nothing behind me, everything ahead of me, as is ever so on the road.” — Jack Kerouac

The internal combustion engine — compact, powerful, and fuelled by petroleum — liberated machinery from the rails and the factory floor. It put power on wheels and treads, creating the automobile, the truck, and ultimately the tank.

Unlocks

• Units: Tank

Historical Background

The internal combustion engine was developed through the contributions of numerous inventors across the 19th century. Nikolaus Otto built the first practical four-stroke engine in 1876, and Karl Benz patented the first true automobile in 1886. Rudolf Diesel’s compression-ignition engine, patented in 1893, offered greater efficiency and torque. Within a generation, the internal combustion engine had transformed transportation, agriculture, and warfare.

The military implications became apparent during the First World War. The stalemate of trench warfare — where machine guns and barbed wire made infantry assaults devastatingly costly — demanded a mobile, armoured solution. The British deployed the first tanks at the Battle of the Somme in 1916, and by the war’s end, both sides recognised the tank’s potential. In the Second World War, armoured warfare reached maturity: German Blitzkrieg tactics combined tanks, motorised infantry, and air support into a devastating combined-arms doctrine that overran France in six weeks. The tank became the dominant land weapon of the 20th century, and the internal combustion engine that powered it reshaped both warfare and civilian life beyond recognition.