The French army, joining the Second World War, was prepared and trained on the basis of the experiences resulting mainly from the Great War. Thus, it adhered to the defensive doctrine of war, which placed particular emphasis on the methodical preparation of operations, their careful planning, as well as ensuring the strongest possible artillery support. This doctrine, however, attached a considerable role to reconnaissance. In the 1920s and 1930s, it was assumed that it would be implemented, for example, by cavalry units (more and more mechanized, the closer the war broke out), air reconnaissance, but also own armored vehicles. On the one hand, they were to be tracked vehicles, which in the French army were called AMR for short (French: Auto Mitrailleuse de Reconnaissance), but also wheeled armored cars, such as Panhard P-165 and P-175, Laffly 80AM, Laffly 50AM and finally the very successful Panhard 178, which entered the line in 1937. It is worth adding that these armored cars were part of various formations of the French army. For example, in a motorized infantry division there was a squadron of AMR reconnaissance tanks consisting of 12 vehicles. Armored cars were also made up of regiments of armored cars (French Regiment d'Auto Mitrailleuse) consisting of, among other things, 32 cars, 108 motorcycles and 12 trucks. In general, it can be assumed that at the time of the outbreak of World II, the French army had about 700-800 armored cars of various types, both in the metropolis and in the colonies.