Already in the course of World War II, it became finally clear to all participants that the infantry should first of all not trample the ground with boots and boots, but move as quickly as possible on the ground, using tracked or wheeled vehicles. At the same time, it is desirable that this transport could also support its infantrymen with fire if necessary. This is how, in fact, the first Soviet armored personnel carrier appeared.
At the end of the first half of the 20th century, the trendsetters in military affairs were, of course, the Germans. Traumatized by the experience of the First World War, France did not pay due attention to the reform of its armed forces. The Polish leadership openly inadequately assessed its potential, as well as the potential of its neighbors, as a result of which it made the wrong decisions in the field of manning and organizing troops. The Red Army was in the process of reforming, and therefore also could not keep up with the rapidly developing German machine.
An interesting feature of the outbreak of World War II was the clash of ideas between the commanders of the "old men" who held prominent posts in the First World War and the commanders of the new wave. After the Polish campaign of the Wehrmacht in Germany, it became finally clear that the outcome of the new war would be decided not in bloody positional meat grinders, but in competent maneuvering. The Blitzkrieg tactics made it clear that the army should be motorized as well as the industry can afford.
Although, of course, the Germans thought about the need to put the infantry on wheels even before September 1, 1939. The Khanomag wheeled-tracked armored personnel carrier was developed in 1938. Serial production of this machine began in the summer of 1939, as a result of which it was destined to become one of the symbols of the German "Blitzkrieg". Already during the Great Patriotic War, German "Hanomag" began to fall as captured vehicles in the formations of the Red Army. The Soviet command quickly appreciated all the delights of the idea of infantry motorization. The USSR could not develop its own full-fledged armored personnel carrier and saturate rifle units with it directly during the war.
It's another matter when the war is over. The experience of the Second World War was taken into account and comprehended. In 1947, the development of its own wheeled armored personnel carrier for rifle units began. There were several projects, but the most successful was the BTR-152, created by the engineers of the Likhachev Plant. It is easy to guess that the armored personnel carrier was based on the components and assemblies of a Soviet truck, namely the ZIL-151. Serial production of the BTR-152 lasted from 1950 to 1955, after which the vehicle was replaced with more advanced designs.
As for the external resemblance to the "Hanomag", there is nothing to be surprised at: the German design turned out to be simple and successful. Of course, the similarities that take place are mostly external. Moreover, if you look at other armored personnel carriers from the Second World War and the beginning of the Cold War, they are all quite similar. At least take a look at the American M3 wheeled-tracked armored personnel carrier. At the heart of the first armored personnel carriers was a fairly simple idea that it should be an off-road truck hung with armor and auxiliary weapons.
If you want to know even more interesting things about World War II, then you should read what kind of threat from the depths: why did the Germans need the Tauchpanzer III underwater tank.