The Mephisto tank first arose as a sort of evolution of armored cars that were already starting to find a role in combat, like the British Royal Naval Air Service's Rolls Royce Ghosts of 1914. Such ...

The First World War saw the birth of anti‑tank warfare. German forces used modified field guns, early armor‑piercing ammunition, and eventually the 13mm Tankgewehr rifle to counter the first tanks.

When the German Tankgewehr was introduced in May 1918, the first 300 or so guns were of a different pattern than the standard production that would follow (and of which about 16,000 would be made).