Just a thought provoking scenario. What if the British never deployed tanks during the Battle of Amiens, or say they were never invented? Maybe some sort of other technology would have taken its place? How do you think the war would've ended?
The French heavy Chars are Merde and would only serve to convince sceptics that tracked armoured fighting vehicles are a silly idea with no future. ....
A slow armored car with better cross country performance is what people wanted, though it might just straight up be butterflied all together.The little Renault FT17 would be seen by most as a slow armoured car with better cross country performance than its wheeled equivalent vehicles, however it still wouldn't be able to cross badly torn up ground or trenches.
Tracks were still needed to break the stalemate of trench warfare.
The other option is developing 8-wheeled trucks to cross rough terrain.
The earliest tank concepts in the 20th century are from before the war. A frenchman proposed the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Levavasseur_project in 1903. An austrian proposed another in 1911, and an australian in 1912. So the idea had been growing for a while. WWI just provided the ground for it to spread. If the british hadn't done it, the french would take over, starting with the FT17 (the St. Chamond was simply too bad.)