Kama tank school

The Kama tank school (German: Panzerschule Kama) was a secret training school for tank commanders operated by the German Reichswehr at Kazan, Soviet Union. It operated from 1929 to 1933. The school was established in order to allow the German military to circumvent the military restrictions on tank research spelled out in the Treaty of Versailles. Similar schools were established in the Soviet Union for German pilots and German military officers training in gas warfare. Following the Nazi party's rise to power the school was closed and Germany's Tank Force and Air Force were trained in Germany.

The Treaty of Versailles, signed on 28 June 1919, prohibited Germany from operating any form of tank or air force after the country had lost the First World War. Germany had normalised its relations with the Soviet Union in 1922, with the signing of the Treaty of Rapallo.

Initially, Germany was unwilling to break the Treaty of Versailles. This attitude changed however in 1923, when French and Belgian troops occupied the Ruhr area after Germany defaulted on its payments of war reparations. In December 1926, Germany and the Soviet Union signed an agreement to establish a tank school on Soviet territory. The school was eventually opened in 1929 and served to train approximately 30 German tank specialists.

After its opening, the school accommodated up to a dozen German officers at a time, training there for up to two years. As its equipment, the school had six heavy and three light tanks brought in and a number of light British tanks supplied by the Soviets.

Apart from training officers, the school also served German companies like Krupp, Daimler and Rheinmetall as a development ground for new tank designs. Technicians worked on the designs that would later become the Panzerkampfwagen I and II.

...
Wikipedia