Sir Hiram Stevens Maxim was born in America...
more of them. This changed war tactics dramatically, as one machine gun was as effective as 15 rifles.Nevertheless, the weapon"s significant size meant that it was mainly used to defend against massive infantry and cavalry attacks, which were effectively stopped by machine gun cross fire. The machine gun as a defensive weapon thus proved more effective than any offensive systems at the time.
But while the combatants fired tons of artillery shells at each other from protected positions, designers in Germany, Britain, France and Russia were working on new weapons capable of breaking through the enemy"s echeloned defenses. Toxic gases, flamethrowers, tanks and assault groups were their answers to Sir Hiram"s invention.
In other words, the machine gun as a death machine was indirectly responsible for spurring the arms race.
MOSCOW. (RIA Novosti economic commentator Vlad Grinkevich)
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