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InventionMaxim's first patents related to the development of the Maxim were registered in June and July 1883.[1] The first prototype was demonstrated to invited guests in October 1884.[2] The weapon was first revealed to the public at an international Inventions Exhibition at Kensington in the spring of 1885.[3] Functionality
Trials showed that the Maxim could fire 500 rounds per minute, equivalent to the firepower of about 30 contemporary breech-loading bolt-action rifles. Compared to modern machine guns, the Maxim was heavy, bulky and awkward. Even though one person could fire the gun, it was usually operated by a team of men. The cooling mechanism of the weapon needed a constant supply of water in order to produce a continuous stream of fire, and several men were needed to move or shift its position. CompanyMaxim's first established the Maxim Gun Company, mainly financed by Albert Vickers, son of steel entrepreneur Edward Vickers. Albert Vickers became the company's chairman. Later the company joined hands with the swedish-originated competitor Nordenfelt, and became Maxim-Nordenfeldt. The Post Office Directory of trades in London of 1895 lists the Maxim-Nordenfelt Guns and Ammunition Company Limited office at 32 Victoria Street SW (London) on page 1579. Finally the company was absorbed into the mother Vickers company, leading first to the Maxim-Vickers gun and then, after Vickers' redesign, the Vickers machine gun. Use in colonial warfare
The Maxim gun was first used by Britain's colonial forces in the First Matabele War in 1893-1894. In one engagement, 50 soldiers fought off 5,000 warriors with just four Maxim guns. The gun played an important role in the swift European colonization of Africa in the late 19th century. The extreme lethality was employed to devastating effect against obsolete charging tactics, when native opponents could be lured into pitched battles in open terrain. As it was put in a well-known jingle by Hilaire Belloc,
However, the importance and destructive power of the Maxim gun in colonial warfare has often been overplayed by popular myth. Modern historical accounts suggest that, while the weapon was effective in pitched-battle situations such as the Matabele war or the Battle of Omdurman (1898), its significance was as much due to its psychological rather than physical impact, used in a number of less optimal situations, such as hilly or mountainous terrain or dense vegetation, with poor line of sight. A larger calibre version of the Maxim, firing a one-pound shell, was built by Maxim-Nordenfeldt. This was known in the Second Boer War as the Pom-Pom from the sound and was used on both sides. Adoption by European armies and naviesMaxim's company initially had some trouble convincing European governments of the weapon's efficiency. Soldiers generally held a great mistrust of machine guns, due to their tendency to jam in the midst of battle when needed the most, often resulting in casualties. The 1906 version of the book Small Wars[5] notes that the Maxim gun is significantly more reliable than other guns of the period, a key issue with pre-1900 machine guns. On page 440 the author notes: "The older forms are not suitable as a rule.... They jammed at Ulundi, they jammed at Dogali, they jammed at Abu Klea and Tofrek, in some cases with unfortunate results." The Maxim Gun was much more reliable than previous crank-operated weapons, but the mistrust for machine guns was deep-seated, and the reliability of the weapon had to be proven and tested thoroughly before being put to use. Another more practical problem was that, initially, the position of the Maxim was easily given away by the black clouds of smoke produced by the constant firing of the gun. National and military authorities were therefore reluctant to adopt the weapon. The advent of smokeless powder (developed by, among others, Hiram's brother Hudson Maxim), helped change this. The weapon was adopted by the British army under the guidance of Sir Garnet Wolseley, who had been appointed Commander-in-Chief of the British Army in 1888. In October that year he placed an order of 120 rifle calibre Maxims[6] - using the same .577/450 ammunition as their Martini-Henry rifles. Wolseley had previously led military excursions in Africa (the Ashanti war and the Gordon Relief Expedition in 1884-85), and had a reputation for being a strong subscriber to military innovation and reform, which he demonstrated in Africa, where he, apart from using machine guns and explored other unconventional ideas, founded the Egyptian Camel Corps. The design was purchased by several other European countries, setting off an arms and technology race. The Maxim gun first saw significant action in the Russo-Japanese War, where both sides employed vast numbers of Maxim's guns. Nearly half of all casualties in the entire conflict were derived from Maxim guns. World War IBy World War I, many armies had moved on to improved machine guns. The British Vickers machine gun was an improved and redesigned Maxim, introduced into the British Army in 1912 and remaining in service until 1968. Production took place at Crayford in Kent and some models were fitted to early biplanes also fabricated there. The German Army's Maschinengewehr 08 and the Russian Pulemyot Maxima were both more or less direct copies of the Maxim. On the Western Front, 90 percent of bullet-related casualties were inflicted by Maxim-type guns. The gun also saw use during the Russian Civil War which followed the Revolution in 1917. A picture of the period depicts a Maxim gun mounted on tachanka, a horse-drawn carriage along with the gunner, firing backwards at a pursuing White Army regiment. Some propaganda Socialist realist art even features Lenin as manning the gun himself, however it is very unlikely that he ever did so. Anarchists attribute this mobile setup to Makhno. Maxim Guns, Maxim Clones, and Maxim Derivatives
References
Literature
it:Mitragliatrice Maxim he:מכונת הירייה של מקסים pl:Karabin maszynowy Maxim ru:Пулемёт Максима sv:Maximkulspruta zh:马克沁机枪
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