They could theoretically fire over 500 rounds per minute (rpm), but this was not normal in combat, where "rapid fire" generally consisted of repeated bursts amounting to 250 rpm. This efficiency created a myth that Germany deployed far more machine guns than its opponents in 1914.įollowing the onset of positional warfare, machine guns gained notoriety as highly effective direct-fire weapons. German machine gunners exploited the weapon’s long-range accuracy, and the fact that the guns were a regimental (rather than battalion) asset allowed them to be grouped to achieve maximum effect. The German army had been a late convert to the potential of machine guns, but its tactical employment of them in 1914 proved superior to that of its enemies.
Russia, Germany and Britain used guns based on the Maxim system, while France and Austria-Hungary used indigenous designs – the Model 1907 "St Etienne" and the Schwarzlose respectively. From the late 1880s, their military potential was hugely enhanced by the availability of small-calibre, smokeless cartridges.īy 1914, all the major combatants had furnished their armies with machine guns on similar scales of issue. His innovation prompted wider development of automatic firearms. By harnessing the energy released in firing a cartridge, Maxim produced a weapon capable of discharging multiple bullets by simply activating a trigger. Its development was initiated by American-born Hiram Maxim’s (1840-1916) invention of the first automatic firearm in 1883. The machine gun was a product of the "second industrial revolution".