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164-517: The StG 44 was the first successful assault rifle, with features including an intermediate cartridge , controllable automatic fire, a more compact design than a battle rifle with a higher rate of fire, and being designed primarily for hitting targets within a few hundred metres. Other rifles at the time were designed to hit targets at greater ranges, but this was found to be in excess of the range in which most enemy engagements actually took place. The StG 44 fulfilled its role effectively, particularly on

328-551: A Maschinenpistole (submachine gun). The German Army showed no interest, as it already had the MP 18 submachine gun firing 9 mm pistol rounds and did not want to create a new cartridge. In 1923, the German Army set out requirements for a Gewehr 98 replacement. It had to be smaller and lighter than the Mauser, have similar performance out to 400 metres (440 yd), and have a magazine with

492-527: A "straightforward design". Fifty rifles were to be delivered for field testing in early 1942. At the start of World War II, German infantry were equipped with weapons comparable to those of most other military forces. A typical infantry unit was equipped with a mix of bolt-action rifles and some form of light , medium or general-purpose machine gun . A problem with this mix was that the standard rifles were too large to be effectively used by mechanized and armored forces, where they were difficult to maneuver in

656-415: A 20- or 30-round capacity. The Bavarian company Rheinisch-Westfälische Sprengstoff (RWS)  [ de ] experimented with rounds in the 1920s, and German companies developing intermediate ammunition for aerial machine guns showed interest. Development of the future infantry rifle did not start until the 1930s. RWS offered two rounds, one with a 7 mm bullet and one with an 8 mm bullet, both in

820-553: A 46 mm case. The German company Deutsche Waffen und Munitionsfabriken had the 7×39.1mm round, and Gustav Genschow & Co (Geco) proposed a 7.75×39.5mm round. Geco's automatic carbine was the Model A35 , a further development of the SG29 semi-automatic rifle. The weapon was complicated and unsafe to handle. The German government started its own intermediate round and weapon program soon after. German ammunition maker Polte of Magdeburg

984-481: A Kar 98k. Without suppliers to quickly produce components, companies could not manufacture sufficient numbers to replace the Kar 98k quickly. Introducing the new assault rifle in quantities that would not make an impression on the front would be counter-productive. Hitler instead may have wanted to introduce it on the largest scale possible. Production soon began with the first batches of the new rifle being shipped to troops on

1148-498: A StG-44 replica in different calibers, including the original 7.92×33mm Kurz, but also more modern calibers, like 7.62×39mm , 5.56×45mm NATO and .300 AAC Blackout , but these have yet to be released. 7.92mm Kurz ammunition is currently manufactured by Prvi Partizan of Serbia. A late-war U.S. assessment derided the StG 44 as "mediocre", "bulky", and "unhandy", declaring it incapable of sustained automatic fire and prone to jamming, though

1312-531: A choice of French or Russian. Roughly the same time allocations were used in the last two years. Lectures were supplemented by visits to fortifications, arms factories and exercises of the railway regiment. During the three month summer breaks the students attended manoeuvres and were taken on field tactical exercises in which they commanded imaginary units. At the end of the course they took their second examination. Only about thirty students passed this extremely difficult test. They were then assigned ( kommandiert ) to

1476-536: A commonly captured weapon. Relatively large numbers of StG 44 were used post-war by Polish anti-communist resistance groups until the 1950s. After World War II, the Soviet Union and other Eastern Bloc states supplied allied regimes and guerrilla movements with captured German arms, such as the StG 44, along with newly manufactured or repackaged 7.92×33mm ammunition. French forces discovered many in Algeria and determined

1640-421: A fire rate of 600-1000 rounds per minute, automatic rifles increased the amount of ammo a soldier had to carry. However, the ammo was much heavier (393 gr (25.4 g) for 7.62 x 51 round compared to 160 gr (10.4 g) for .45 ACP), effectively limiting the ammo load. Additionally, when fired in full automatic mode free recoil delivered by full-sized and full-powered cartridges became an issue, too. Though technically

1804-574: A fixed barrel and gas system. It was realized that with careful attention to the mechanical ratios, the gas system could be omitted. The resultant weapon, the Gerät 06(H) , was supposedly slated for adoption by the Wehrmacht as the StG 45(M). The operating principle lived on in postwar designs from CEAM/AME , CETME , and most famously, Heckler & Koch . Towards the end of the war, there were last-ditch efforts to develop cheap so-called Volksgewehr rifles in

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1968-527: A full-powered cartridge, the first one to fulfil this requirement may have been the Japanese 6.5×50mm Arisaka used by the Russian Fedorov Avtomat rifle, used in limited numbers from 1915 to 1917 (the cartridge itself dates back to 1897). The Fedorov was arguably the first assault rifle. This led to a series of early attempts to produce a lower-powered round using existing calibers. Examples include

2132-550: A general staff to plan and implement the reconstruction of the Prussian Army. They persuaded the king that to match the French commanders, who rose by merit, each Prussian commander of an Army, Corps and Division should have a staff-trained officer assigned as his adjutant. Scharnhorst intended them to "support incompetent Generals, providing the talents that might otherwise be wanting among leaders and commanders". The unlikely pairing of

2296-524: A position chosen by us, and only when casualties, demoralization, and exhaustion have drained his strength will we ourselves take up the tactical offensive.... Our strategy must be offensive, our tactics defensive. The government of Napoleon III was undoubtedly startled by the Prussian victory over Austria, and urgently sought to reform their army to face the conflict with Prussia which seemed inevitable and imminent. Their senior officers entirely failed to grasp

2460-501: A safe position. It was produced in several variants: an "I" version for infantry use, a "P" version for use in tanks (to cover the dead areas in the close range around the tank, to defend against assaulting infantry), versions with 30°, 45°, 60° and 90° bends, a version for the StG 44 and one for the MG 42. Only the 30° "I" version for the StG 44 was produced in any numbers. The bent barrel attachments had very short lifespans – approx. 300 rounds for

2624-408: A senior general staff officer — the kaiser instructed his thirty-two-year-old son: "whatever he advises you must do". The system also removed uncertainty about the competence of Army Commanders Rupprecht, Crown Prince of Bavaria and Albrecht, Duke of Württemberg , though both were well-trained soldiers. Other armies were commanded by highly experienced staff officers, for example Paul von Hindenburg

2788-599: A similar-sized intermediate round and followed the design concept, but utilized a rotating bolt as a part of its firing action. In 1944 the US added an automatic fire capability to the M1 carbine, and issued it as the M2 carbine with 30 round magazines, fulfilling much the same function. Kits were distributed to convert M1 carbines to M2s. The extent to which the Sturmgewehr influenced the development of

2952-610: A small, handy, low-powered rifle that required little training to use effectively. Franchi of Italy-based the actions of both the LF-58 carbine and the LF-59 battle rifle on the StG-44. United States and, later, NATO developed assault rifles along a roughly similar path by at first adding selective-fire capability in a reduced power, full-caliber cartridge. The Soviet Union lightened the AK-47 and introduced

3116-579: A study on the M1 Garand's fire rate: a trained soldier averaged 40–50 accurate shots per minute at a range of 300 m (330 yd). "At ranges over 500 m (550 yd), a battlefield target is hard for the average rifleman to hit. Therefore, 500 m (550 yd) is considered the maximum effective range, even though the rifle is accurate at much greater ranges". Simultaneously, armies of both sides had put submachine guns to extensive use. Soviet PPSh-41 and PPS-43 , US Thompson , British Sten and

3280-496: A suitable firearm. He pointed out that firefights rarely took place beyond 800 metres (870 yd), about half the 2 km (1.2 mi) sight line range of the 7.92×57mm round from a Mauser Gewehr 98 rifle or less for MG 08 machine gun. A smaller, shorter, and less powerful round would save materials, allow soldiers to carry more ammunition, and increase firepower. Less recoil would allow semi-automatic or even fully automatic select-fire rifles, although in his paper he called it

3444-528: A threat, Schlieffen and his successor Helmuth von Moltke the Younger drew up and continually refined the Schlieffen Plan to meet this eventuality. The Plan committed Germany to an early offensive against France while Russia was still mobilising and also required the invasion of neutral Belgium , effectively discounting any realistic prospect of maintaining British neutrality. In Bismarck's German constitution

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3608-575: A unique military fraternity. Their exhaustive training was designed not only to weed out the less motivated or less able candidates, but also to produce a body of professional military experts with common methods and outlook. General Staff–qualified officers alternated between line and staff duties but remained lifelong members of this special organization. Until the end of the German Empire , social and political convention often placed members of noble or royal households in command of its armies or corps but

3772-445: Is a rifle / carbine cartridge that has significantly greater power than a pistol cartridge but still has a reduced muzzle energy compared to fully powered cartridges (such as the .303 British , 7.62×54mmR , 7.65×53mm Mauser , 7.92×57mm Mauser , 7.7×58mm Arisaka , .30-06 Springfield , or 7.62×51mm NATO ), and therefore is regarded as being "intermediate" between traditional rifle and handgun cartridges. As their recoil

3936-435: Is significantly reduced compared to full-power cartridges, fully automatic rifles firing intermediate cartridges are relatively easy to control. However, even though they are less powerful than a traditional full-power cartridge, the external ballistics are still sufficient for an effective range of 300–600 metres (330–660 yd), which covers most typical infantry engagement situations in modern warfare. This allowed for

4100-607: The Truppenamt ("troop office"), and selected many General Staff officers to fill the available places. The War Academy ( Kriegsakademie ) was abolished, but training of General Staff officers continued, dispersed among the Wehrkreise (Military District) headquarters but overseen by tutors from the Truppenamt . General Staff officers continued to play major roles in the nation, most strikingly when former chief of staff Paul von Hindenburg

4264-610: The Waffenamt (Armament Office) re-designated the weapon as the Maschinenpistole 43 (MP 43) ("Machine pistol 43") and, making a few improvements, billed the weapon as an upgrade to existing submachine guns, temporarily deceiving Hitler. Much time was wasted trying to make the MP 43 a replacement for the Karabiner 98k rifle. This goal was eventually realized to be impossible; the MP 43 cartridge

4428-531: The .223 Remington , to be introduced to combat by special forces . Field reports were extremely favorable, leading to the introduction of the M16 rifle . Some militaries have considered the adoption of a 'universal service cartridge' – a replacement of small caliber, high-velocity intermediate cartridges and full-power cartridges with a cartridge at the larger end of the intermediate cartridge spectrum, well suited for both assault rifle and general-purpose machine gun use in

4592-417: The .280 British , along with new weapons to fire it. The round attracted significant interest among other UK-oriented forces, but during NATO standardization effort the US was dead-set against any reduction in power. The British EM-2 bullpup rifle used an intermediate round, and was issued in limited numbers in the 1950s but the 7.62×51mm NATO was selected and it was removed from service. In practice,

4756-422: The 6mm to 7mm caliber range, with external and terminal ballistic performance close or equal to the 7.62×51mm NATO and 7.62×54mmR full-power cartridges. The US Army conducted testing of telescoped ammunition , polymer-cased ammunition , and caseless ammunition for future service cartridges. As of 2022, the candidate for US Army universal cartridge is the 6.8×51mm Common Cartridge, selected by

4920-505: The 7.62×51mm NATO round adopted post-war was still a full-power cartridge, the trend towards the adoption of less powerful rounds was already under way in the West. For example, the M1 Garand had initially been developed for the .276 Pedersen (7 mm) round, a cartridge less powerful than the standard .30-06 Springfield . The U.S. Army's adoption of the M1 carbine in 1941 proved the utility of

5084-637: The AKM . The U.S. developed the concept of small-caliber, high-velocity (SCHV) bullets and further reduced the weight of their firearms with the introduction of the M16 (5.56 mm). The Soviet armed forces followed suit with the introduction of the SCHV AK-74 rifle (5.45 mm). Captured StG 44 were used by Polish partisan groups during World War II, including during the Warsaw Uprising in 1944, although they were not

StG 44 - Misplaced Pages Continue

5248-764: The Allies . Initially, the Army's leaders feared that their leading role as the defenders of Germany would be usurped by the unruly SA , the Nazi party's political militia. When Hitler suppressed the SA in the Night of the Long Knives , the army stood aside and effectually acquiesced in the extrajudicial murders involved, including those of army officers. While the General Staff welcomed Hitler's expansion of

5412-516: The Army Group North receiving 2,000 MKb 42(H) rifles on 21 April 1943. By the end of the year, it is estimated that a total of 29,500 MKb 42(H) and MP 43/1 rifles were produced in total, with slightly more than half being issued to troops in the field. Meanwhile, officers and other ranks in the Army were showing a growing interest in the machine carbine, with the guards at Hitler's headquarters enthusiastically expressing their approval upon receiving

5576-531: The Battle of Jena . In the aftermath of this debacle, the Prussian Army and state largely collapsed. "Seldom in history has an army been reduced to impotence more swiftly or decisively." After the Peace of Tilsit in 1807, King Frederick William III appointed Scharnhorst, Gneisenau, Prime Minister Baron vom und zum Stein and several promising young officers to his Military Reorganization Commission. This commission acted as

5740-524: The Eastern Front , offering a greatly increased volume of fire compared to standard infantry rifles. The StG largely influenced the Soviet AK-47 , introduced two years after the war concluded. The StG's influence can still be seen in modern assault rifles, which, after World War II, became the global standard for infantry rifles. MP 43, MP 44, and StG 44 were different designations for what was essentially

5904-759: The First Battle of the Marne . Soon Moltke was replaced by Erich von Falkenhayn who was already the Prussian war minister. After failing to dislodge the Entente in Flanders, he put the Western Front on the defensive. He was replaced at the war ministry in early 1915, and in 1916 Hindenburg and Ludendorff took over as advisers to the supreme commander. They led OHL in aggressively intervening in German political and economic life , changing

6068-591: The First Sino-Japanese War . The General Staff was divided between the central Großer Generalstab in Berlin and the general staffs of the corps and division HQs. The head of the Großer Generalstab was the "Chief of the General Staff" and was also the technical superior of all general staff officers. The Chief of the General Staff's chief deputy held the title of Generalquartiermeister . Beneath them were

6232-651: The German 7.92×33mm Kurz used in the StG 44 and the .30 Carbine used in the American M2 select fire carbine during the late years and closing days of World War II. With the data collected during World War II and the Korean War, the benefits of intermediate cartridges became apparent. This resulted in the development of "modern" cartridges such as the Soviet 7.62×39mm M43 (used in

6396-512: The Gewehr 41 , but these proved troublesome in service, and production was insufficient to meet requirements. Several attempts had been made to introduce lightweight machine guns or automatic rifles, but recoil from the powerful 7.92×57mm Mauser round was too difficult to control in automatic fire . By 1941, it was becoming clear that action needed to be taken. Although various experimental rounds had been developed to one degree or another by this point,

6560-761: The Izhmash factory (factory number 74) in Izhevsk until 1952. The 7.62×39 mm cartridge, however, was verifiably influenced by the 7.92×33 mm cartridge used in the StG 44. In July 1943, the Soviet Technical Council of the People's Commissariat for Armament (NKV) met to consider new foreign weapons firing lower-powered rounds. Two rounds that were studied were the American .30 Carbine and German 7.92 Kurz, captured from MKb 42(H) rifles undergoing troop trials. The meeting concluded that

6724-666: The P7 pistol. The Sturmgewehr remained in use with the East German Nationale Volksarmee with the designation MPi.44 until it was eventually replaced with domestic variants of the AK-47 assault rifle. The Volkspolizei used it until approximately 1962 when it was replaced by the PPSh-41. It was still used by other public security formations thereafter. The ammunition was manufactured there at least until 1961. Other countries to use

StG 44 - Misplaced Pages Continue

6888-635: The Prussian General Staff and officially the Great General Staff ( German : Großer Generalstab ), was a full-time body at the head of the Prussian Army and later, the German Army , responsible for the continuous study of all aspects of war , and for drawing up and reviewing plans for mobilization or campaign. It existed unofficially from 1806, and was formally established by law in 1814,

7052-544: The SKS , AK-47 and AKM ). Later an international tendency emerged towards relatively small-sized, lightweight, high-velocity Intermediate military service cartridges. Cartridges like the American 5.56×45mm M193 (1964; originally used in the M16 ), Soviet 5.45×39mm M74 (1974; used in the AK-74 , which replaced the AKM), Belgian SS109 / 5.56×45mm NATO (1980; used in most AR-15 systems), and

7216-537: The unification of Germany and the establishment of the German Empire in 1871. It came to be regarded as the home of German militarism in the aftermath of World War I , and the victorious Allies attempted to suppress the institution. It nevertheless survived to play its accustomed part in the German rearmament and World War II . In a broader sense, the Prussian General Staff corps consisted of those officers qualified to perform staff duties, and formed

7380-588: The "General Staff of the Field Army", part of the Oberste Heeresleitung (OHL, Supreme Army Command). The General Staff was streamlined into only three departments; Operations, Intelligence and Political Affairs. The need for the system was promptly demonstrated when Supreme Commander Kaiser Wilhelm II proposed to concentrate against Russia, not France. Chief of the General Staff Helmuth von Moltke

7544-488: The 30° version, and 160 rounds for the 45° variant. The 30° model was able to achieve a 35×35 cm grouping at 100 m. Some StG 44s were fitted with the Zielgerät 1229 infra-red aiming device , also known by its codename Vampir ("vampire"). This device consisted of a large scope, rather like modern starlight scopes, and a large infra-red lamp on top, the scope being able to pick up the infra-red that would be invisible to

7708-408: The 4 million planned. Some 822 million rounds of 7.92×33mm Kurz ammunition were produced from 1942 to 1945. At the beginning of March 1945, the troops had 273.9 million rounds, with a replenishment reserve of 69.6 million rounds on standby. In a somewhat unrelated development, Mauser continued design work on a series of experimental weapons in an effort to produce an acceptable service-wide rifle for

7872-521: The 7.62×51mm NATO was found to be too powerful for select-fire weapons, as the British testing had warned. When the US entered the Vietnam War it was armed with the semi-automatic M14 rifle while facing increasing numbers of full-automatic AK-47s. Demands for a select-fire weapon were constant but the Army was slow to respond. An ARPA program cleared the way for small numbers of a new and much smaller round,

8036-478: The 7.92 mm cartridge was an important development and that the Soviets needed to design a reduced-power round. The first prototype 7.62 mm M1943 round was created a month later and used the 7.92 Kurz design method of using the same caliber bullet as their standard rifle round ( 7.62×54mmR ) in a shorter case. After World War II, many Western countries continued using their existing full-caliber rifles. Although

8200-574: The 7.92×33mm caliber. One of these, the Gustloff Volkssturmgewehr , used a gas-delayed blowback action based on the Barnitzke system, whereby gas bled from the barrel near the chamber created resistance to the rearward impulse of the operating parts, which ceases when the projectile leaves the muzzle, allowing the operating parts to be forced rearward by the residual pressure of the cartridge case. This principle has been used most successfully in

8364-402: The AK-47 is not clearly known. Apart from external layout similarity and the gas-operation principle, the AK-47 was not a copy of the German gun because the AK-47 used a very different mechanism. However, tens of thousands of Sturmgewehrs were captured by the Soviets and some were more than likely provided to Kalashnikov and his team. In addition, Hugo Schmeisser was put to work by the Soviets at

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8528-555: The Allies. The victors' fear was encapsulated by the clause in the Treaty of Versailles : "The Great German General Staff and all similar organisations shall be dissolved and may not be reconstituted in any form." The German Army was limited to 4,000 officers. The Weimar Republic ' s armed forces, the Reichswehr , was led by Hans von Seeckt . He camouflaged the General Staff by renaming it

8692-509: The Army instead decided to select yet a new design, the Polte 8×33mm Kurzpatrone ("short cartridge"). This used a spitzer bullet and basic cartridge design of the standard 7.92×57mm Mauser rifle cartridge, cutting down the cartridge from the original 7.92×57mm Mauser to 7.92×33mm Kurz. It was understood that this was not ideal, but it would minimize logistical problems. The German 7.92×57mm Mauser chambered FG 42 battle rifle /automatic rifle

8856-434: The Austrians, the General Staff made several improvements to increase the strategic and tactical proficiency of the King's army. Cavalry would no longer be held in reserve, but would actively screen the army's movements at all levels, make first contact with the enemy, and constantly observe hostile activities. Newly developed rifled artillery would no longer be placed in the rear of the order of march for employment behind

9020-426: The Chinese 5.8×42mm (1987; used in the QBZ-95 ) allow a soldier to carry more ammunition for the same weight compared to their larger and heavier predecessor cartridges, have favourable maximum point-blank range or "battle zero" characteristics and produce relatively low bolt thrust and free recoil impulse, favouring lightweight arms design and automatic fire accuracy. The late 19th and early 20th century saw

9184-399: The Danes falling back behind water obstacles which the Prussian Navy could not overcome. A rigid system of seniority placed Friedrich Graf von Wrangel , widely regarded as being in his dotage, in command. He ignored all of Moltke's directives and his own staff's advice, and by allowing the Danish Army to withdraw at its leisure he prolonged the war for several months. The resulting post mortem

9348-456: The Eastern Front. By the end of the war, a total of 425,977 StG 44 variants of all types were produced and work had commenced on a follow-on rifle, the StG 45 . The assault rifle proved a valuable weapon, especially on the Eastern front, where it was first deployed. A properly trained soldier with a StG 44 had an improved tactical repertoire, in that he could effectively engage targets at longer ranges than with an MP 40, but be much more useful than

9512-525: The French army having lost 100,000 stragglers before a shot was fired through poor planning and administration. (Most of these were reservists who had not been able to join their units before the units were hastily dispatched to join the armies forming up near the frontier.) During the war, there were again the inevitable mistakes due to the "fog of war", but German formations moved with a speed and precision which French staff officers, accustomed only to moving battalion-sized punitive columns, could not match. In

9676-410: The French army of the time, there was an anti-intellectual prejudice in favour of brave and unimaginative regimental officers over intelligent and well-trained staff officers. The French Army paid dearly for this bias in 1870 and 1871. The result of the strategic preparation by Moltke (and diplomatic maneuvers by Chancellor Otto von Bismarck ) was complete Prussian victory. After the victory, Germany

9840-437: The French while committing the majority of German forces to face Russia. Changing geopolitical factors around the turn of the century, including the establishment of vast European colonial empires and especially the rapprochement between the United Kingdom and France eventually led the German General Staff to reassess the wisdom of such a strategy. Whereas Moltke and his immediate successor Alfred von Waldersee were confident in

10004-414: The General Staff and a Historical division, which analysed past and current conflicts and published accounts of them and lessons learned. The General Staff reformed by Moltke was the most effective in Europe, an autonomous institution dedicated solely to the efficient execution of war, unlike in other countries, whose staffs were often fettered by meddling courtiers, parliaments and government officials. On

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10168-633: The General Staff"). When the General Staff was required to take the field during major campaigns, it remained a small but effective body. During the Franco-Prussian War for example, the staff that accompanied the headquarters of the King (as commander-in-chief) and was responsible for the direction of armies that totaled 850,000 men, consisted of the chief of staff, a quartermaster-general and an intendant-general whose duties were not directly concerned with military operations, three heads of departments, eleven other officers, ten draughtsmen, seven clerks and fifty-nine other ranks (orderlies, messengers, etc.). Nor

10332-440: The German MP-40 had an even higher fire rate (and thus higher fire density) compared to larger-caliber semi auto rifles, but their effective range was considerably shorter: e.g., 164 yd (150 m) vs 500 yd (460 m) for Thompson and M1 Garand, respectively. SMG, chambered in pistol calibers ( 7.62x25 , 9x19 Parabellum and .45 ACP ) lacked penetration provided by larger and faster rifle bullets. Seeking to combine

10496-579: The German military believed a maximum effective range of 400 m was optimal. Full-power rifle cartridges were excessive for most uses for the average soldier. Only a trained specialist, such as a sniper , or soldiers equipped with machine guns, which fired multiple rounds at a known or suspected target, could make full use of the standard rifle round's range and power. In the late 19th century, small-arms cartridges had become able to fire accurately at long distances. Jacketed bullets propelled by smokeless powder were lethal out to 2,000 metres (2,200 yd). This

10660-402: The German standard 7.92×57mm Mauser rifle round, in combination with the weapon's selective-fire design, provided a compromise between the controllable firepower of a MP-40 submachine gun at close quarters with the accuracy and power of a Karabiner 98k bolt-action rifle at intermediate ranges. While the StG 44 had less range and power than the more powerful infantry rifles of the day,

10824-404: The Great General Staff, while retaining their regimental attachments. After two years they took their third and final examination, after which five to eight officers were permanently posted to fill vacancies in the General Staff — a remarkable winnowing from the many who had entered the competition. Occasionally, an exceptional officer was appointed without this training: for example Max Bauer , who

10988-418: The Great. Reformers in the army began to write and lecture on the need to preserve and somehow institutionalize the military talent that Frederick had assembled in his army. They argued that a carefully assembled cadre of talented officer staff could plan logistics and train the Army in peace as well as in war. In the last years of the eighteenth century, it became the practice to assign military experts to assist

11152-428: The High Command (today 'For the commander') according to our old custom. The commander always issues his orders through his Chief of Staff, and even the most senior subordinate leader must submit himself to his orders without objection, because his orders will always be given on behalf of the supreme commander. The Schlieffen Plan was scuttled when the shaken Moltke ordered the German right wing in France to retire during

11316-439: The Imperial German General Staff, with seconded general staff officers from Saxony , Württemberg and Bavaria , and was responsible for military planning for the German Empire. They began preparing for what seemed to be another inevitable war with France, which was intent on revenge and recovery of the provinces annexed by Germany. Bismarck's diplomatic skill had prevented any hostile European coalition forming against Germany, but

11480-400: The Kaiser commanded the army and also appointed the chancellor and his cabinet, who had no control of the military. The elected representatives in the Reichstag were needed to pass budgets, but aside from this had no power over the conduct of the government. This was one of the seeds of the mass destruction of the First World War, as military planning was not subject to political control. Thus,

11644-450: The Kar 98k in close combat, as well as provide covering fire like a light machine gun. It was also found to be exceptionally reliable in extreme cold. The StG 44's rate of fire was 540 rpm. A primary use of the MP 44/StG 44 was to counter the Soviet PPS and PPSh-41 submachine guns, which used the 7.62×25mm Tokarev round. These cheap, mass-produced weapons used a 71-round drum magazine or 35-round box magazine and though shorter-ranged than

11808-486: The Kar 98k rifle, were more effective weapons in close-quarter engagements. The StG 44, while lacking the range of the Kar 98k, had a considerably longer range than the PPS/PPSh submachine guns, more power, an ability to switch between a fully automatic and a default semi-automatic fire mode and surprising accuracy. The StG 44 was an intermediate weapon for the period; the muzzle velocity from its 419 mm (16.5 in) barrel

11972-470: The MP 18 was used when it went into service). The assault rifles in a squad added firepower when the machine gun had to cease fire or move. When attacking a position, Kar 98k riflemen would employ grenades against at close-range, while StG 44 riflemen would fire in rapid semi-automatic or automatic bursts to keep the defenders suppressed. The magazine follower spring had a short service life, so soldiers were ordered to load no more than 25 rounds to reduce wear of

12136-465: The MP 43 for the troops. After further questioning, Hitler was surprised upon learning that limited numbers of the new rifle were already being used on the Eastern Front. He called for full reports from the Army and after reviewing them, Hitler changed his opinion on the MP 43, ordering the monthly production of 30,000 guns alongside the 7.92×33mm Kurz cartridge on 2 October 1943 (the day before, Chief of

12300-481: The Prussian Army was to gain against Austrian Empire and France , Moltke needed only to issue brief directives expressing his intentions to the main formations, leaving the staffs at the subordinate headquarters to implement the details according to the doctrines and methods he had laid down, while the Supreme Commands of his opponents became bogged down in mountains of paperwork and trivia as they tried to control

12464-676: The Prussian War Ministry, already made out to cover all foreseeable contingencies and requiring only a signature and a date stamp to be put into effect. The Military Reorganization Commission opened military schools in Königsberg and Breslau. On 15 October 1810 Scharnhorst opened the General War School ( Allgemeine Kriegsschule ) , on the same day that the new University of Berlin opened nearby. The General War School trained selected officers for three years. One of its first directors

12628-602: The Prussian army now favored the Jominian theory, which gave preeminence to the Army and to its autonomy, compared to the civilian control advocated by Clausewitz . To an extent, the General Staff became obsessed with perfecting the methods which had gained victory in the late nineteenth century. Although he maintained an icy formal demeanor, Moltke the Elder had been a flexible and innovative thinker in many fields. Schlieffen, by comparison,

12792-601: The Schlieffen Plan was adopted without political input, even though it required the violation of the neutrality of Belgium, which the Germans had guaranteed by treaty. Nor was the German Navy's high command informed. It failed to take adequate account of logistics and the inability of horse-drawn transport to supply troops far from rail-heads. The plan has been accused of being too rigid. The philosopher Manuel de Landa argues that

12956-490: The Seven Weeks' War of 1866. Many nations adopted Prussian staff methods and structures, with mixed success. Throughout his tenure, Moltke pushed for the Prussian army to engage in reassessment and self-improvement at every command level to maintain tactical superiority relative to other nations. Moltke formalised the concept of mission-type tactics , which emphasized the importance of initiative at all levels of command, even

13120-516: The StG 44 after World War II included Czechoslovakia (although it was not officially adopted) and Yugoslavia , where units such as the 63rd Paratroop Battalion were equipped with it until the 1980s, when the rifles were ultimately transferred to Territorial Defense reserves or sold to friendly regimes in the Middle East and Africa. France adopted captured StG 44 for colonial Foreign Legion units. Argentina manufactured their own trial versions of

13284-620: The StG 44 made by CITEFA in the late 1940s and early 1950s, but instead adopted the FN FAL in 1955, because it used the then more common and powerful 7.62×51mm NATO round, which also lacked connections with the Third Reich. New semi-automatic civilian reproductions of the MKb 42(H), MP 43/1, and StG 44 are being manufactured in Germany today by SSD (Sport Systeme Dittrich) and distributed by HZA Kulmbach GmbH in

13448-488: The Syrian Al-Tawhid Brigade posted a video clip on their YouTube channel showing a cache of StG 44s in their possession. They claimed to have captured 5,000 StG 44 rifles and ammunition from a weapons depot in the city of Aleppo . Photos later surfaced of the rebels using them in combat. In September 2013, a photo showed a Syrian rebel with a Sturmgewehr 44 connected to a makeshift remote weapon station . The gun

13612-519: The Technical Department for Armament Production Karl Saur managed to convince Hitler of the merits of the new weapon). In November 1943, the Army ordered the issue of MP 43s for the troops in the Eastern Front, with the goal of having it as the standard weapon for more than a hundred divisions. Hitler would re-designate the weapon as the Maschinenpistole 44 (MP 44) in April 1944, while the production

13776-521: The US .30 Carbine cartridge for the M1 Carbine and the German 7.92×33mm Kurz , a shortened version of the standard 7.92×57mm Mauser round used in the StG-44 , which is more commonly considered to be the first assault rifle. The Soviets developed a similar round, the 7.62×39mm , for the SKS but far better known as the round for the post-war AK-47 . These earlier examples were generally developed with

13940-572: The US Next Generation Squad Weapon Program . This cartridge has a muzzle energy even higher than 7.62×51mm NATO . Typical intermediate cartridges have: Cartridges issued to Law Enforcement and Paramilitary forces were or are chambered for. Service cartridges are cartridges the service rifles of armies were or are chambered for. Cartridges tested for standard issue or research were or are chambered for. German General Staff The German General Staff , originally

14104-694: The War Academy attended about 20 hours of lectures per week. Instruction was by professors from Berlin University and officers serving on the Great General Staff, who thereby enhanced their own educations. In 1872 the War Academy was taken from the Inspector of Military Education and placed under the Chief of the General Staff. The spirit of the academy was articulated by Chief of Staff Helmuth von Moltke, who emphasized

14268-545: The Younger and Generalquartiermeister, Hermann von Stein convinced him that this was unthinkable because the thousands of orders could not be quickly rewritten and because the French with their quicker mobilization and excellent railways would be attacking a German border in force long before the Russians. One of the eight German Armies was commanded by Crown Prince Wilhelm of Prussia , paired with Konstantin Schmidt von Knobelsdorf ,

14432-454: The ability of a relatively modest German garrison to defend the country's western frontier against the forces of Metropolitan France indefinitely, the General Staff under Alfred von Schlieffen determined that British neutrality in a future conflict could no longer be counted on, thus exposing Germany to the potential combined might of the British, French and their vast colonial empires in the west in case of any extended conflict. To meet such

14596-456: The academy he was invited into the social circle of Prince Alexander of Prussia, where he came "in touch with men of science as well as those in the state and court service. After its defeat in the war against Prussia of 1866, Bavaria established its own War Academy and continued to train its own staff officers after the foundation of the German Empire in 1870. The General Staff of that time

14760-461: The actual responsibility for the planning and conduct of operations lay with the formation's staff officers. For other European armies which lacked this professionally trained staff corps, the same conventions were often a recipe for disaster. Even the Army of the Second French Empire , whose senior officers had supposedly reached high rank as a result of bravery and success on the battlefield,

14924-565: The army, they were opposed to many of his wilder schemes and continually urged caution. When several of Hitler's early moves such as the remilitarization of the Rhineland , the Anschluss with Austria and the occupation of the Sudetenland succeeded despite advice from the General Staff that these might bring about a premature war with France and Britain, Hitler was further convinced that his intuition

15088-614: The attacking units. The German Army had tactical success during the Spring Offensive , but the Allies held strategic points. They were sure that a series of successful breakthroughs would snap their enemy's resolve, ignoring the fact that each victory sapped German strength, while their foes were continually strengthened by Americans flooding into France. The Germans were overwhelmed during the Hundred Days Offensive , and eventually agreed to an Armistice of 11 November 1918 with

15252-571: The barrel to keep the muzzle flash from blinding the shooter. At the end of the war, Hugo Schmeisser claimed that 424,000 MP 43/MP 44/StG 44 rifles were built between June 1943 and April 1945 in four plants: 185,000 by C.G. Haenel in Suhl; 55,000 by J.P. Sauer & Sohn in Suhl; 104,000 in Erfurt ; and 80,000 by Steyr-Daimler-Puch AG in Steyr, Austria . This was fewer than the 1.5 million ordered, and far fewer than

15416-680: The battlefield, Moltke's pre-war calculations were proved correct, and the Austrian army was brought to battle at Königgrätz and destroyed. In contrast to the Prussian staff, Austrian staff officers gained their posts either by membership of the Austrian nobility and a desire to avoid tedious regimental duties, or after uninspiring training which made them into plodding, rule-bound clerks. In all aspects of preparation, planning and execution, their muddled efforts compared badly with that of their Prussian counterparts. In reviewing Prussian deficiencies against

15580-439: The battlefield, reducing the " fog of war " effect. Finally, the introduction of the breech-loading infantry rifle marked a revolution in weapons effect, so that Moltke made the following analysis in 1865: The attack of a position is becoming notably more difficult than its defense. The defensive during the first phase of battle offers a decisive superiority. The task of a skillful offensive will consist of forcing our foe to attack

15744-458: The commander until he makes a decision. Gneisenau also founded mission tactics ( Auftragstaktik ), in which the commander determines the objective of an operation and allocates the forces used, while the subordinate on the spot determines how the objective will be attained. In 1816, the reformer Karl von Grolman organised the Staff into Eastern (Russia), Southern (Austria), and Western (France and

15908-531: The contrary, the General Staff itself had a powerful effect on Prussian, and later German, politics. The Second Schleswig War (1864), the political origins of which lay in Denmark 's conflict with Prussia and Austria over the Schleswig–Holstein question , vindicated Moltke's concepts of operations and led to an overhaul of the command arrangements of the Prussian Army. Moltke envisaged a rapid attack to prevent

16072-856: The cramped spaces of an armored vehicle. Submachine guns, such as the MP 28 , MP 38 , and MP 40 were issued to augment infantry rifle use and increase individual soldiers' firepower, but lacked range and accuracy beyond 100 metres (110 yd). During the invasion of the Soviet Union , increasing numbers of semi-automatic Tokarev SVT-38 and SVT-40s were used by the Red Army – mostly elite units and non-commissioned officers – while some Soviet rifle companies were completely equipped with PPSh-41 submachine guns. After experiencing high volumes of automatic fire from these weapons, German commanders re-thought their small arms requirements. The German army had been attempting to introduce semi-automatic weapons such as

16236-462: The demand for better fire density in infantry operations. To achieve this goal, both Allied and Axis countries rapidly developed and produced a number of semi-automatic service rifles, such as American M1 Garand , Soviet SVT-40 and the German Gewehr 43 . Compared to their bolt-action predecessors, these weapons provided a considerably higher effective fire rate . In 1951, the US military published

16400-559: The development of the assault rifle , a type of versatile selective fire small arms that is lighter and more compact than traditional battle rifles that fire full-power cartridges. The first known early intermediate cartridge to see service was the 10.4x38mmR Swiss used in the Vetterli rifle which gave it controllable handling and a then high-capacity magazine of 12 rounds. Predominant intermediate cartridges in mainstream circulation came around 50 years later and saw widespread use with

16564-610: The entire army from a single overworked headquarters. Moltke's wide experience also prompted the General Staff to consider fields of study outside the purely military, and rapidly adapt them to military use. Immediately upon his appointment, he established the Abteilung (section or department) which studied and promoted the development of railway networks within Prussia and incorporated them into its deployment plans. He also formed telegraphic, and other scientific and technical departments within

16728-427: The entire idea, his apprehension may have been from reluctance to send a new weapon to the front in too small numbers. Industry would not be able to replace some 12 million Kar 98k rifles in a short time, and the already strained logistics structure would have to support another cartridge. While the Sturmgewehr required specialized tooling to manufacture it, it consumed less materials and was faster and easier to make than

16892-510: The erratic but popular Field Marshal Blücher as commander in chief with Lieutenant General Gneisenau as his chief of staff showed this system to its best advantage: Blücher lauded Gneisenau for his role in maneuvering the Prussian Army during a difficult retreat through the Harz mountains. Gneisenau is recognized as the first "great Chief of Staff". He institutionalized the right of the commander's adviser to take part in command and control by advising

17056-483: The essays did not know the names or regiments of the candidates. From hundreds of applicants, about one hundred were accepted every year to enter the first-year course at the academy. Those who performed satisfactorily were promoted to the second and then the third year. In the first year, fourteen hours of lectures each week were on military subjects, including military history, while seventeen hours were non-military, which included general history, mathematics, science and

17220-463: The field) under Moltke himself, and war games and map exercises known as Kriegsspiele . Although these officers subsequently alternated between regimental and staff duties, they could be relied upon to think and act exactly as Moltke had taught them when they became the Chiefs of Staff of major formations. Moltke himself referred to them as the "nervous system" of the Prussian Army. In the victories which

17384-409: The first general staff in existence. It was distinguished by the formal selection of its officers by intelligence and proven merit rather than patronage or wealth, and by the exhaustive and rigorously structured training which its staff officers undertook. The Prussian General Staff also enjoyed greater freedom from political control than its contemporaries, and this autonomy was enshrined in law on

17548-595: The five Oberquartiermeisters , who supervised the heads of the General Staff departments. The Railroad Department had the largest number of officers assigned, while the Second Department was the most important. In August 1914, following the pre-war mobilization plan, most of the General Staff, including the Oberquartiermeisters , were reassigned to the headquarters of the Armies and Corps. The remaining core became

17712-503: The former expressing his considerable annoyance at the change in designation. Shortly after this unveiling, Minister of Armaments Albert Speer sent a telegram from Hitler to the Waffenamt demanding the termination of the machine carbine project. Despite this, a limited production run continued. In the spring of 1943, small batches of the new weapon were used by troops in the Eastern front , with

17876-500: The generals of Prussia's Army, largely at the instigation of comparatively junior but gifted officers such as Gerhard von Scharnhorst and August von Gneisenau . Nevertheless, such measures were insufficient to overcome the inefficiency of the Army, which was commanded by aged veterans of the campaigns of Frederick the Great, almost half a century earlier. In 1806, the Prussian Army was routed by French Armies led by Napoleon 's marshals at

18040-474: The goal being ease of development and logistics, and lacked any rigorous study of their performance. In the immediate post-war era, the British Army began such a study with an eye to replacing its pre-World War I .303 British . The .303 had been slated for replacement repeatedly, but a series of events kept it in service decades longer than expected. Their studies led to a new purpose-designed intermediate round,

18204-483: The importance "of an active process of mental give and take between teacher and pupils, so as to stimulate the pupils to become fellow-workers". Admission to the academy was highly selective. Officers with at least five years service who wanted to become General Staff officers prepared themselves for the entrance examination, which included tactics, surveying, geography, mathematics and French, with questions set to test understanding rather than rote memory. The graders of

18368-484: The infantry; instead, a significant detachment would travel with the advanced guard of the leading corps or other major element, and the remainder would march with the front of the main body, providing immediate artillery coverage of the advanced guard on contact and of the main body during subsequent deployment on the field. A renewed emphasis was placed on maintaining contact with subordinate and superior commands, so that commanders always were informed of units' locations on

18532-497: The initially planned 200 million rounds per month, 86,000 additional workers were necessary, but were not available. The 400 million rounds per month planned from February 1944 onwards were completely utopian; from February 1945 the number was then reduced to a realistic 110 million. One unusual addition to the design was the Krummlauf ; a bent barrel attachment for rifles with a periscope sighting device for shooting around corners from

18696-452: The introduction of smokeless powder cartridges with small caliber jacketed spitzer bullets that extended the effective range of fire beyond the limitations of the open rifle sights . The Maxim gun , the world's first machine gun , was devised in 1885, and a year later, the Lebel Model 1886 rifle had the distinction of being the world's first smokeless powder bolt-action rifle . In

18860-486: The king, or emperor, who would be guided by the head of the Great General Staff). This served as a check on incompetence and also served for the objecting officer to officially disassociate himself from a flawed plan. Only the most stubborn commanders would not give way before this threat. For these reasons, Prussian and German military victories were often credited professionally to the chief of staff, rather than to

19024-400: The less successful MKb 42(W) were predecessors of the later MP 43, MP 44, StG 44. The majority of the MP 43's features came from the MKb 42(H), with the hammer firing system and closed bolt coming from the MKb 42(W). With time, Hitler became aware of the troop trials and ordered that all work on this new weapon be stopped immediately because of the new ammunition. Nonetheless, production

19188-514: The level of those they were replacing. Superior German staff work at division, corps and army level throughout the war was a major contributor to their run of successes. At the beginning of 1918 — having defeated the Russians — Hindenburg and Ludendorff resolved to win in the west. Tactically, their staff work was brilliant. Using only weapons that had failed at Verdun, they devised a long, comprehensive list of measures to smash through enemy field fortifications, which were then taught to all ranks in

19352-463: The lowest. Every Prussian tactical manual published after the Franco-Prussian War included this passage: A favorable situation will never be exploited if commanders wait for orders. The highest commander and the youngest soldier must always be conscious of the fact that omission and inactivity are worse than resorting to the wrong expedient. With unification the Prussian General Staff became

19516-531: The methods of the Prussian General Staff. The Chief of Staff of the French Army , Maréchal de France Edmond Le Bœuf , fatuously stated in 1870 that the French Army was ready for war, "down to the last gaiter button." In the event, at the outset of the Franco-Prussian War , 462,000 German soldiers concentrated flawlessly on the French frontier while only 270,000 French soldiers could be moved to face them,

19680-448: The naked eye. The user had to carry a transformer backpack powered by a battery fitted inside the gas mask canister. Electric cables connected the power unit with the IR reflector, with the cathode ray tube mounted on the rifle imaging IR from the spotlight. The Vampir had only 15 minutes of battery life, but was able to sight within 200 meters in total darkness. A conical flash hider was added to

19844-445: The name Maschinenkarabiner 1942 ("machine carbine") or MKb 42 . Both designs were similar, using a gas-operated action, with selective fire . Since both rifles shared the title of Maschinenkarabiner 42 the letters (H) and (W) were added to differentiate the two. In this case (H) and (W) were the first initial of each guns manufacturer Haenel Waffen und Fahrradfabrik and Walther Waffenfabrik AG . The MKb 42(H) along with

20008-467: The new name besides signing the order. After the adoption of the StG 44, the English translation " assault rifle " became the accepted designation for this type of infantry small arm. Over the course of its production, there were minor changes to the butt end, muzzle nut, shape of the front sight base and stepping of the barrel. The rifle was chambered for the 7.92×33mm Kurz cartridge. This shorter version of

20172-421: The new weapons. Presumably Hitler believed that these guns in particular were already being assembled by the time he gave his order terminating the MP 43 production. Sometime in 1943, while Hitler was decorating three generals for outstanding service on the Eastern Front he allowed each one to make a request (as was his custom on such ceremonial occasions). They all asked for the same thing: production and issue of

20336-414: The nominal commander of an army. Often the commander of an army was himself a member of the General Staff, but it was now institutionally recognized that not only was command leadership important, but effective staff work was a significant key to success in both pre-war planning and in wartime operations. Before the nineteenth century, success on the battlefield largely depended on the military competence of

20500-413: The opinions have differed, in the evening of this happy day in a military marriage the two halves will no longer know who gave in. The outside world and military history will not have knowledge of a domestic quarrel. The competence of command and control is based on this fusion of the two personalities. It does not matter if the order bears the commander's signature, or if the Chief of Staff has signed it for

20664-692: The origin to be from Czechoslovakia. Examples also found their way into the hands of the Viet Cong during the Vietnam War , and the PLO . StG44s were used by the WSLF and FLCS insurgents in Somalia. It is still used in very limited numbers by militia and insurgent forces in the Middle East . StG 44s have been confiscated from militia groups by U.S. forces in Iraq. In August 2012,

20828-460: The original 7.92×33mm Kurz chambering and accepting the standard magazines. The PTR-44 by PTR Industries was produced for a short while, but was soon discontinued due to high prices and lack of demand. A .22 rimfire copy of the StG 44 by GSG ( German Sports Guns ) has also been manufactured in great quantity for a lower price, but it is the only widely available reproduction of the StG. Talks have been made by HMG (Hill & Mac Gunworks) to mass-produce

20992-572: The original goal of defending Germany's borders to conquest and expansion. A consequence of wartime attrition was the premature deployment of Kriegsakademie students to army and corps general staffs, some of them before reaching their second year curriculum. Later, standards for General Staff assignment were altered due to the closure of the Kriegsakademie , to allow examined officers to serve as staff apprentices, raising concerns that these new General Staff Corps officers were not evaluated or trained at

21156-600: The other German states) Divisions. Sixteen staff officers served in the Prussian Ministry of War and six staff officers worked in the main embassies. Each army corps had one chief of staff and two other staff officers. In 1821 the Quartermaster General Staff was renamed to the General Staff, and its officers were identified by distinctive uniform markings, including a crimson trouser stripe. Staff positions did not depend on lineage. "General von Krauseneck, who

21320-689: The primary infantry weapon, but in some forces were seen as a secondary or support weapon, backing up the machine guns. This practice left a large gap in performance: the rifle was not effective at the ranges it could theoretically reach while being much larger and more powerful than needed for close combat. Weapons for short-range use existed, initially semi-automatic pistols and, later, automatic submachine guns. These fired pistol rounds which lacked power, accuracy, and range. They were only useful at very short ranges of no more than 50–100 metres (160–330 ft). This led to extensive research into creating an intermediate round to fill this gap. This type of ammunition

21484-465: The rapid fire capabilities of SMG and advantages of the rifle calibers, both Allied and Axis powers developed a range of early automatic rifles. The first automatic rifles to be adopted by the fighting armies were the German FG42 and Sturmgewehr 44 . Although efficient in the battlefield, early automatic rifles had a considerable drawback compared to both semi-automatic rifles and submachine guns. With

21648-431: The reduction of muzzle impulse to get useful automatic fire within actual ranges of combat – was probably the most important advance in small arms since the invention of smokeless powder." The StG 44's effect on post-war arms design was wide-ranging, as made evident by Mikhail Kalashnikov 's AK-47, and later Eugene Stoner 's M16 and its variants. The Soviet Union was quick to adopt the assault rifle concept. The AK-47 used

21812-648: The report accepted that its accuracy was "excellent for a weapon of its type". According to British Captain Clifford Shore in With British Snipers to the Reich , the British found the StG 44 to be poorly made compared to the weapons fielded by the Germans early in World War II. The StG 44 was the first assault rifle to be accepted into widespread service and put into mass production. "The principle of this weapon –

21976-433: The rifle, both being refitted from heavy losses on the Eastern Front; ammunition shortages meant the 1st ID was the only division fully equipped with it. The Kar 98k was retained as a specialist weapon for sniping and launching rifle grenades, while MP 40s were used by vehicle and artillery crews and officers. The StG 44 was issued to all infantry soldiers and employed for accurate short-range rapid-fire shooting (similar to how

22140-664: The same rifle with minor updates in production. The variety in nomenclatures resulted from the complicated bureaucracy in Nazi Germany. Developed from the Mkb 42(H) "machine carbine", the StG 44 combined the characteristics of a carbine , submachine gun , and automatic rifle . StG is an abbreviation of Sturmgewehr . According to one account, the name was chosen personally by Adolf Hitler for propaganda reasons and means "assault rifle" as in "to assault an enemy position", although some sources dispute that Hitler had much to do with coining

22304-524: The short cartridge system. One of these prototypes, a product of the engineers at the Light Weapon Development Group ( Abteilung 37 ) at Oberndorf, was the MKb Gerät 06 ( Maschinenkarabiner Gerät 06 or "machine carbine device 06") first appearing in 1942. This gun used a unique gas piston-delayed roller-locked action derived from the short recoil operation of the MG 42 machine gun but with

22468-467: The sovereign. Duke Frederick William introduced the term Generalstabsdienst (General Staff Service) for the Prusso-Brandenburgian army in 1640. While Frederick the Great brought success to the Prussian arms, his successors lacked his talent, so generalship in the Army declined, even though they were assisted by a Quartermaster General Staff of adjutants and engineers established by Frederick

22632-439: The spring. In January 1945, a magazine was introduced fitted with a fixed plug to restrict its capacity to 25 rounds. While the StG 44 was capable of fully automatic fire, German soldiers were directed to use it primarily in semi-automatic mode. Fully automatic mode was to be used only in emergencies, for short bursts of two or three rounds. Germany had ammunition logistics problems, thus Hitler's calculations came true in part: for

22796-430: The tank columns were still followed by horse-drawn artillery pieces. Throughout the war, German industry was unable to furnish small arms in sufficient quantities, forcing the Army to rely heavily on older weapons, prizes of war , and adaptations of former designs produced in conquered countries, thus producing an arsenal filled with an array of incompatible pieces , unlike the smaller variety of standard small arms used by

22960-1150: The years leading up to World War I, the Lebel set an international example, and smokeless powder high power service cartridges and service rifles began to be produced by all the world's great powers. This included, but was not limited to, the German Gewehr 98 , the British Lee–Enfield , the Russian Mosin–Nagant , and the American M1903 Springfield . These rifles weighed over 8 lb (3.6 kg), and they were longer than 40 in (1,000 mm) and as such were generally inappropriate for close combat. They fired cartridges and featured iron sight lines designed in an age when military doctrine expected rifle shots at ranges out to over 1,000 m (1,100 yd) for simultaneous fire at distant area targets like ranks of enemies, but typical combat ranges were much shorter, around 100–300 metres (110–330 yd), rarely exceeding 500 metres (550 yd). World War II revealed

23124-419: The young Kaiser William II replaced him in 1890 and turned away from their friendly accommodation with Russia in favor of an alliance with Austria-Hungary. Before long France and Russia allied. Therefore, an encircled Germany faced the probability that of war on both Eastern and Western fronts. Prior to his retirement in 1888, Moltke's plan for such a conflict had always been to remain on the defensive against

23288-499: Was Carl von Clausewitz , who served until 1830. His monumental work On War ( Vom Kriege ) was published posthumously. From his studies and experiences during the Napoleonic Wars, he wrote a syllabus which became the staff's central doctrine. This standardization of doctrine — which was an attempt to grasp the philosophy underlying warfare , rather than setting a narrow set of rules such as those laid down by Antoine-Henri Jomini —

23452-634: Was 685 m/s (2,247.4 ft/s), compared to 760  m/s (2,493  ft/s ) of the Karabiner 98k, 744 m/s (2,440.9 ft/s) of the British Bren , 600 m/s (1,968.5 ft/s) of the M1 carbine , and 365 m/s (1,197.5 ft/s) achieved by the MP40. Furthermore, the StG 44's inline design gave it controllability even on full-auto. The 1st Infantry Division of Army Group South and 32nd Infantry Division of Army Group North were selected to be issued

23616-407: Was a confidante of King William I , was appointed Chief of the General Staff. Under his control, the existing staff system was expanded and consolidated. Each year, Moltke selected the best twelve graduates from the Kriegsakademie for his personal training as General Staff officers. They attended theoretical studies, annual manoeuvres, " war rides " (a system of tactical exercises without troops in

23780-638: Was a single-minded, brilliant military specialist. Nor had the General Staff, before the war, considered the use of potential allies such as Turkey, or dissident factions within the French, British and Russian empires, to distract or weaken the Allied war effort. "A swift victory over the main armies in the main theatre of war was the German General Staff's solution for all outside difficulties, and absolved them from thinking of war in its wider aspects." The General Staff mistakenly predicted that China would win

23944-439: Was a small, elite body, numbering as few as fifty officers and rarely exceeding one hundred officers. Only one or two officers were permanently assigned to the General Staff, described in official returns as des Generalstabs ("of the General Staff") at any time; most were attached to the General Staff while remaining affiliated to their parent regiments, usually for several years at a time, and were listed as im Generalstab ("on

24108-511: Was allowed to continue, since the Gustloff company had been developing a machine carbine for normal rifle cartridges as a cover since July 1942. As work moved forward to incorporate this new firing system, Hitler demanded top priority for the production of FG 42 rifles, MP 40 submachine guns and telescopic sights for the Kar98k and Gewehr 41 rifles as well. To keep the MKb 42(H) development program alive,

24272-415: Was being considered as early as 1892, but militaries at the time were still fixated on increasing the maximum range and velocity of bullets from their rifles. In early 1918, Hauptmann Piderit, part of the Gewehrprüfungskommission ("Small Arms Examination Committee") of the German General Staff in Berlin, submitted a paper arguing for the introduction of an intermediate round in the German Army with

24436-423: Was beyond the range a shooter could engage a target with open sights, as at that range a man-sized target would be completely blocked by the front sight blade; only units of riflemen firing by volley could hit grouped targets at those ranges. That fighting style was taken over by the widespread introduction of machine guns, which made use of these powerful cartridges to suppress the enemy at long range. Rifles remained

24600-497: Was commissioned to develop the rounds in April 1938 and signed a contract with the Heereswaffenamt (HWA). At the same time, the HWA contracted C. G. Haenel of Suhl to create a weapon for the round. HWA requirements were for a rifle that was shorter and with equal or less weight to the Karabiner 98k and as accurate out to 400 metres (440 yd); and be select-fire with a rate of fire under 450 rounds per minute. It should be rifle grenade compatible, reliable, maintainable, and have

24764-414: Was controlled by a wired joystick, vision was provided by a video camera mounted behind a scope, and the picture was displayed on an LCD screen. In 2013 a small number of StG44 rifles were seized from rebels in Burkina Faso, it is thought that they were looted from government depots during the Libyan Civil War and later sold in the black market. Intermediate cartridge An intermediate cartridge

24928-442: Was crushed by the Prussian and other German armies during the Franco-Prussian War in 1870–1871. That outcome highlighted poor French administration and planning, and lack of professional education. The chief of staff of a Prussian formation in the field had the right to disagree, in writing, with the plans or orders of the commander of the formation, and appeal to the commander of the next highest formation (which might ultimately be

25092-467: Was elected Reichspräsident in 1925. When Adolf Hitler became Reichskanzler in 1933, he instructed the Truppenamt/General Staff to ignore the Versailles restrictions; he would create a greatly expanded Wehrmacht , including the Army , the Navy , and a new Air Force . A new War Academy ( Kriegsakademie ) was established in 1935. The General Staff advised Hitler that the Army could not be fully modernized until 1944 or 1945. When Hitler went to war in 1939,

25256-443: Was given command of the Eighth Army, the only one facing the Russians invading East Prussia , with Erich Ludendorff as chief of staff. The interactions between a commander and his chief of staff were elucidated by a successful practitioner of both roles, Hans von Seeckt The decision is taken in private, and when the two men come out, there is only one decision. They have amalgamated it; they share one mind with each other. Should

25420-455: Was given special priority by decree in August 1944. Around 16−22 October 1944, the new rifle received its final designation, the Sturmgewehr 44 (StG 44) ("Assault rifle 44"). According to Johnston and Nelson, the term was coined by General Erich Jaschke and was accepted by Hitler and all parties associated with the assault rifle program. The final change of name was partly for propaganda purposes, and partly for technical reasons. The change of

25584-441: Was one of the distinguishing features of the Prussian General Staff. Every General Staff officer had to be able, at any time, to take over the work of another and apply to it the same body of basic ideas and the same principles of operational and tactical thought. On October 1, 1859, the General War School was renamed the War Academy ( Kriegsakademie ), which was supervised by the Inspector-General of Military Education. Students at

25748-399: Was one of the first inline firearms incorporating a "straight-line" recoil configuration and an elevated sight line over the bore axis. The inline design helps reduce muzzle rise during automatic fire. Contracts for rifles firing the 7.92×33mm Kurz round were issued to both Walther and Haenel (whose design group was headed by Hugo Schmeisser ), were asked to submit prototype weapons under

25912-466: Was the Chief of the General Staff from 1829 to 1848, was the son of a Brandenburg organ player and had been promoted from the ranks. General von Rheyer, Chief of the Prussian General Staff from 1848 to 1857 was a shepherd in his youth." The General Staff continually planned for likely and unlikely scenarios. In 1843, when Europe had been largely at peace for nearly thirty years and most major nations had no plans for war, observers noted sheaves of orders at

26076-424: Was there ever a large pool of officers to draw upon to perform General Staff duties. In 1871, there were only 375 officers fully qualified to serve on the General Staff, even after an emergency expansion during the Franco-Prussian War. In 1914, there were 625 General Staff-qualified officers for armies which had almost doubled in size since 1871. In 1857, Helmuth von Moltke the Elder , a widely travelled officer who

26240-464: Was to differentiate the new rifle from the MP 38 and MP 40 submachine guns, both of which fired 9 mm rounds, preventing any confusion over ammunition supply and it also more accurately described the weapon's role, delivering full-automatic fire at short range during the final assault on the enemy's lines. Numerous reports and company correspondence reveal frequent presentation of the rifle's stages of development to Hitler. Rather than being opposed to

26404-651: Was to ensure a better (though not infallible) system for appointing commanders. The Austro-Prussian War (1866) became almost inevitable after the end of hostilities with Denmark. Many Prussians regarded the war as a sad necessity. Moltke, describing his reasons for confidence to War Minister Albrecht von Roon , stated "We have the inestimable advantage of being able to carry our Field Army of 285,000 men over five railway lines and of virtually concentrating them in twenty-five days ... Austria has only one railway line and it will take her forty-five days to assemble 200,000 men." Although there were inevitable mistakes and confusion on

26568-432: Was too weak to fire rifle grenades, too inaccurate for sniping, and the weapon was too short for bayonet fighting. In September 1943, it was decided that the MP 43 would supplement rather than replace the Kar 98k. As a result, the optical sight base, grenade-launching extended muzzle thread, and bayonet lug were removed. On 6 February 1943, an early production MP 43 was presented to Hitler and Colonel Friedrich Kittel , with

26732-467: Was trained as an artilleryman, became a prominent member of the Great General Staff, with the reputation of being the smartest man in the army. Some graduates were not enthusiastic about the first year of their training. For example, Paul von Hindenburg thought that the history of ancient battles should be minimized to give more time to modern, and that trigonometry was only useful to those who would be surveyors. The final two years satisfied him. While at

26896-408: Was unified as the Prussia-dominated German Empire ; King Wilhelm I of Prussia was proclaimed "German Emperor" on 18 January 1871. The German victory surprised many military professionals around the world. France had been considered a great military power while Prussia was widely considered a lesser power, despite its military successes in 1813–15 against Napoleon and more recently over Austria during

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