List of infantry support guns
Towed infantry guns
Table:
Caliber (mm)

Weapon name

Country of origin

Period

37
3.7 cm Infanteriegeschütz M.15
Austria-Hungary
World War I/World War II

37
Canon d'Infanterie de 37 modèle 1916 TRP
France
World War I

37
Type 11 infantry gun
Japan
World War II

37
37-mm trench gun M1915
Russian Empire
World War I

37
37 mm Infantry Gun Model 1917
United States
World War I

38.1
Hughes breech-loading cannon
Confederate States of America
American Civil War

40
1.59 inch Breech-Loading Vickers Q.F. Gun, Mk II
United Kingdom
World War I

53
5.3 cm Fahrpanzer
German Empire
World War I

57
5.7 cm Maxim-Nordenfelt
United Kingdom
World War I

75
Bofors 75 mm L/20 & L/22
Sweden
Interwar

75
leIG 18
Nazi Germany
World War II

75
leIG 18 F
Nazi Germany
World War II

75
7.5 cm Infanteriegeschütz 37
Nazi Germany
World War II

75
7.5 cm Infanteriegeschütz 42
Nazi Germany
World War II

76
76 mm Canon de 76 Fonderie Royale des Canons
Belgium
Interwar/World War II

76.2
7.62 cm Infanteriegeschütz L/16.5
German Empire
World War I

77
7.7 cm Infanteriegeschütz L/20
German Empire
World War I

77
7.7 cm Infanteriegeschütz L/27
German Empire
World War I

150
15 cm sIG 33
Nazi Germany
World War II

152
152 mm mortar M1931 (NM)
Soviet Union
World War II

By analysing the following table as well as the relevant paragraphs provided at the end.

Give the answer to the question: The 1.59 inch Breech-Loading Vickers Q.F . Gun , Mk II comes from a country with what form of government ? Output only the correct answer as {"answer": "YOUR ANSWER"}. Avoid adding external knowledge.

In guns , particularly firearms , caliber ( or calibre in British English ) is the specified nominal internal diameter of the gun barrel bore regardless of how or where the bore is measured and whether or not the finished bore matches that specification . It is measured in inches to an accuracy of hundredths or thousandths of an inch or in millimeters . For example , a .45 caliber firearm has a barrel diameter of roughly 0.45 inches ( 11 mm ) . Barrel diameters can also be expressed using metric dimensions . For example , a 9 mm pistol has a barrel diameter of about 9 millimeters . Due to the inaccuracy and imprecision of imperial dimensions converted to metric units , metric designations are typically far out of specifications published in decimal inches . True caliber specifications require imperial measure , and even when cartridge designations ( often mistakenly referred to as caliber ) only specify caliber to even tenths or hundredths of an inch , actual barrel/chamber/projectile dimensions are published to at least thousandths of an inch and frequently tolerances extend into ten-thousandths of an inch . In a rifled barrel , the distance is measured between opposing lands or between opposing grooves ; groove measurements are common in cartridge designations originating in the United States , while land measurements are more common elsewhere in the world . Measurements across the grooves are used for maximum precision because rifling and the specific caliber so-measured is the result of final machining process which cuts grooves into the rough bore leaving the lands behind . Good performance requires a concentric , straight bore that accurately centers the projectile within , in preference to a tight fit which can be achieved even with off-center , crooked bores that cause excessive friction , fouling and an out-of-balance , wobbling projectile in flight . While modern firearms are generally referred to by the name of the cartridge the gun is chambered for , they are still categorized together based on bore diameter . For example , a firearm might be described as a 30 caliber rifle , which could be any of a wide range of cartridges using a roughly 0.30 inches ( 7.6 mm ) projectile ; or a 22 rimfire , referring to any rimfire firearms firing cartridges with a .22 caliber projectile .
The 3.7 cm Infanteriegeschütz M.15 was an Austro-Hungarian cannon developed for use in the trenches during the First World War . The name indicates the caliber in centimeters , the gun 's role Infanteriegeschütz which in German means infantry support gun and the model according to the year of introduction . Captured Austrian guns and Italian produced copies were first designated Cannon 37F and later as 37/10 F. Mod . 1915 in the 1930s .
Austria-Hungary , often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire or the Dual Monarchy , was a constitutional monarchy in Central and Eastern Europe between 1867 and 1918 . It was formed when the Austrian Empire adopted a new constitution ; as a result Austria ( Cisleithania ) and Hungary ( Transleithania ) were placed on equal footing . It dissolved when its member states proclaimed sovereignty and independence following the First World War . The union was established by the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867 on 30 March 1867 in the aftermath of the Austro-Prussian War . It consisted of two monarchies ( Austria and Hungary ) , and one autonomous region : the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia under the Hungarian crown , which negotiated the Croatian-Hungarian Settlement in 1868 . It was ruled by the House of Habsburg , and constituted the last phase in the constitutional evolution of the Habsburg Monarchy . Following the 1867 reforms , the Austrian and Hungarian states were co-equal in power . Foreign and military affairs came under joint oversight , but all other governmental faculties were divided between respective states . Austria-Hungary was a multinational state and one of Europe 's major powers at the time . Austria-Hungary was geographically the second-largest country in Europe after the Russian Empire , at 621,538 km2 ( 239,977 sq mi ) , and the third-most populous ( after Russia and the German Empire ) . The Empire built up the fourth-largest machine building industry of the world , after the United States , Germany , and the United Kingdom . Austria-Hungary also became the world 's third largest manufacturer and exporter of electric home appliances , electric industrial appliances and power generation apparatus for power plants , after the United States and the German Empire .
The Canon d'Infanterie de 37 modèle 1916 TRP ( 37mm mle.1916 ) was a French infantry support gun , first used during World War I. TRP stands for tir rapide , Puteaux ( fast-firing , designed by the Atelier de Puteaux ) . The tactical purpose of this gun was the destruction of machine gun nests . It was also used on aircraft such as the Beardmore W.B.V and the Salmson-Moineau . Fighter ace René Fonck used a 37mm mle.1916 on a SPAD S.XII .
France ( French : [ fʁɑ̃s ] ( listen ) ) , officially the French Republic ( French : République française , pronounced [ ʁepyblik fʁɑ̃sɛːz ] ( listen ) ) , is a country whose territory consists of metropolitan France in Western Europe and several overseas regions and territories . [ XIII ] The metropolitan area of France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea , and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean . It is bordered by Belgium , Luxembourg and Germany to the northeast , Switzerland and Italy to the east , and Andorra and Spain to the south . The overseas territories include French Guiana in South America and several islands in the Atlantic , Pacific and Indian oceans . The country 's 18 integral regions ( five of which are situated overseas ) span a combined area of 643,801 square kilometres ( 248,573 sq mi ) and a total population of 67.02 million ( as of July 2019 [ update ] ) . France is a unitary semi-presidential republic with its capital in Paris , the country 's largest city and main cultural and commercial centre . Other major urban areas include Lyon , Marseille , Toulouse , Bordeaux , Lille and Nice . France , including its overseas territories , has the most number of time zones of any country , with a total of 12 . During the Iron Age , what is now metropolitan France was inhabited by the Gauls , a Celtic people . Rome annexed the area in 51 BC , holding it until the arrival of Germanic Franks in 476 , who formed the Kingdom of Francia . The Treaty of Verdun of 843 partitioned Francia into East Francia , Middle Francia and West Francia . West Francia , which became the Kingdom of France in 987 , emerged as a major European power in the Late Middle Ages , following its victory in the Hundred Years ' War ( 1337-1453 ) .
The Type 11 37 mm infantry support gun ( 十一年式平射歩兵砲 , Jyūiichinen-shiki Heisha hoheihō ) was an infantry support gun used by the Imperial Japanese Army in the Second Sino-Japanese War and World War II . The Type 11 designation was given to this gun as it was accepted in the 11th year of Emperor Taishō 's reign ( 1922 ) .
Japan ( Japanese : 日本 , Nippon [ ɲippoꜜɴ ] ( listen ) or Nihon [ ɲihoꜜɴ ] ( listen ) ) is an island country located in East Asia . It is bordered by the Sea of Japan to the west and the Pacific Ocean to the east , and spans more than 3,000 kilometers ( 1,900 mi ) along the coast of the continent from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Philippine Sea in the south . Part of the Pacific Ring of Fire , Japan encompasses a stratovolcanic archipelago of about 6,852 islands , with five main islands ( Hokkaido , Honshu , Kyushu , Shikoku , and Okinawa ) comprising 97% of the country 's total area of 377,975 square kilometers ( 145,937 sq mi ) . Japan is officially divided into 47 prefectures and traditionally into eight regions . Approximately two-thirds of the country 's terrain is mountainous and heavily forested , and less than one-eighth of land is suitable for agriculture . Consequently , Japan is among the most densely populated and urbanized countries in the world , with over 90% of its population living in urban areas . The largest of these is the metropolitan area centered on the capital city of Tokyo , which is the most populous in the world and home to more than 38 million people . Japan itself is the world 's eleventh most populous country with a population of 126.2 million , of which 97.8% are ethnically Japanese . The kanji ( or Chinese characters ) that make up the name of Japan in the Japanese language mean sun origin ; in the Western world , the country is often known by the sobriquet Land of the Rising Sun . Periods of influence from other regions , primarily China , followed by periods of isolation , particularly from Western Europe , have characterized the history of Japan . While archaeological evidence indicates that Japan was inhabited as early as the Upper Paleolithic period , the first written mention of the archipelago appears in Chinese texts from the first century AD . Between the fourth and ninth centuries , the kingdoms of Japan became gradually unified under an Emperor and imperial court based in Heian-kyō ( modern Kyoto ) .
37-mm trench gun M1915 ( Russian : Траншейная 37-мм пушка обр . 1915 года ) was a Russian battalion gun employed in World War I . With World War I switching into a trench warfare phase late in 1914 , a need for a highly mobile artillery system to be used against enemy machine gun emplacements and other strongpoints became apparent . In 1915 colonel M. F. Rosenberg , a member of the Artillery Committee , developed such a weapon . The gun was compact enough to fit into machine gun emplacements . It weighed only about 180 kg and could be dismantled into three pieces - barrel ( about 74 kg ) , carriage ( 82 kg ) and wheels ( 25 kg ) , making it easy to move around . To protect the crew from enemy fire , the gun was equipped with a shield 6 or 8 mm thick . The weapon was sufficiently accurate at ranges of up to roughly 1 mile or about 1.6 km - this was earlier set out as 1,000-1,200 paces , and a pace is normally the height of the person walking , so this is not a uniform measure .
The Russian Empire [ a ] was an empire that extended across Eurasia and North America from 1721 , following the end of the Great Northern War , until the Republic was proclaimed by the Provisional Government that took power after the February Revolution of 1917 . The third-largest empire in history , at its greatest extent stretching over three continents , Europe , Asia , and North America , the Russian Empire was surpassed in size only by the British and Mongol empires . The rise of the Russian Empire coincided with the decline of neighboring rival powers : the Swedish Empire , the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth , Persia and the Ottoman Empire . It played a major role in 1812-1814 in defeating Napoleon 's ambitions to control Europe and expanded to the west and south . The House of Romanov ruled the Russian Empire from 1721 until 1762 . Its matrilineal branch of patrilineal German descent , the House of Holstein-Gottorp-Romanov , ruled from 1762 to the end of the empire . At the beginning of the 19th century , the Russian Empire extended from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Black Sea in the south , from the Baltic Sea on the west into Alaska and Northern California in America on the east . With 125.6 million subjects registered by the 1897 census , it had the third-largest population in the world at the time , after Qing China and India . Like all empires , it featured great diversity in terms of economies , ethnicities , languages , and religion . There were many dissident elements that launched numerous rebellions and assassinations over the centuries . In the 19th century , they were closely watched by the imperial secret police , and thousands were exiled to Siberia . Economically , the empire was predominantly agricultural , with low productivity on large estates worked by Russian peasants , known as serfs , who were tied to the land in a feudal arrangement .
The 37 mm Infantry Gun Model 1917 was a light artillery piece produced in the United States during World War One for the French Army that was adopted by the US Army when it entered the war on the side of the Allies .
The United States of America ( USA ) , commonly known as the United States ( U.S. or US ) or America , is a country consisting of 50 states , a federal district , five major self-governing territories , and various possessions . [ g ] At 3.8 million square miles ( 9.8 million km2 ) , it is the world 's third or fourth-largest country by total area [ b ] and is slightly smaller than the entire continent of Europe . Most of the country is located in central North America between Canada and Mexico . With an estimated population of over 328 million , the U.S. is the third most populous country in the world . The capital is Washington , D.C. , and the most populous city is New York City . Paleo-Indians migrated from Siberia to the North American mainland at least 12,000 years ago . European colonization began in the 16th century . The United States emerged from the thirteen British colonies established along the East Coast . Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the colonies led to the American Revolutionary War lasting between 1775 and 1783 , leading to independence . The United States embarked on a vigorous expansion across North America throughout the 19th century - gradually acquiring new territories , displacing Native Americans , and admitting new states - until by 1848 it spanned the continent . During the second half of the 19th century , the American Civil War led to the abolition of slavery in the United States . The Spanish-American War and World War I confirmed the country 's status as a global military power .
The Hughes breech-loading cannon 38.1mm gun was designed in 1861 and used by the Confederate States of America . It was produced by the manufacturer Street & Hungerford Company . It was a breech-loading cannon ; the breech of the cannon is uniquely like a bolt-action but has no firing pin in its bolt .
The Confederate States of America ( CSA or C.S . ) - commonly referred to as the Confederacy - was an unrecognized republic in North America that existed from 1861 to 1865 . The Confederacy was originally formed by seven secessionist slave-holding states - South Carolina , Mississippi , Florida , Alabama , Georgia , Louisiana , and Texas - in the Lower South region of the United States , whose economy was heavily dependent upon agriculture , particularly cotton , and a plantation system that relied upon the labor of African-American slaves . Convinced that the institution of slavery was threatened by the November 1860 election of Republican candidate Abraham Lincoln to the U.S. presidency on a platform which opposed the expansion of slavery into the western territories , the Confederacy declared its secession in rebellion against the United States , with the loyal states becoming known as the Union during the ensuing American Civil War . Confederate Vice President Alexander H. Stephens described its ideology as being centrally based upon the great truth that the negro is not equal to the white man ; that slavery , subordination to the superior race , is his natural and normal condition . Before Lincoln took office in March , a new Confederate government was established in February 1861 which was considered illegal by the government of the United States . States volunteered militia units , and the new government hastened to form its own Confederate States Army from nothing practically overnight . After the American Civil War began in April , four slave states of the Upper South - Virginia , Arkansas , Tennessee , and North Carolina - also seceded and joined the Confederacy . The Confederacy later accepted Missouri and Kentucky as members , although neither officially declared secession nor were they ever largely controlled by Confederate forces ; Confederate shadow governments attempted to control the two states but were later exiled from them . The government of the United States ( the Union ) rejected the claims of secession , considering it illegitimate . The war began April 12 , 1861 , when the Confederates attacked Fort Sumter , a Union fort in the harbor of Charleston , South Carolina . No foreign government ever officially recognized the Confederacy as an independent country , although Great Britain and France granted it belligerent status , which allowed Confederate agents to contract with private concerns for arms and other supplies .
The 1.59-inch Breech-Loading Vickers Q.F . Gun , Mk II was a British light artillery piece designed during World War I . Originally intended for use in trench warfare , it was instead tested for air-to-air and air-to-ground use by aircraft . Although it fired shells and had no capability to launch rockets , it was widely but misleadingly known as the Vickers-Crayford rocket gun .
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland , commonly known as the United Kingdom ( UK or U.K. ) or Britain , [ note 11 ] is a sovereign country located off the north­western coast of the European mainland . Existing under its current name since 1921 , the United Kingdom includes the island of Great Britain , the north­eastern part of the island of Ireland , and many smaller islands . Northern Ireland shares a land border with the Republic of Ireland . Otherwise , the United Kingdom is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean , with the North Sea to the east , the English Channel to the south and the Celtic Sea to the southwest , giving it the 12th-longest coastline in the world . The Irish Sea separates Great Britain and Ireland . The total area of the United Kingdom is 94,000 square miles ( 240,000 km2 ) . The United Kingdom is a unitary parliamentary democracy and constitutional monarchy . [ note 12 ] The current monarch is Queen Elizabeth II , who has reigned since 1952 , making her the world 's longest-serving current head of state . The United Kingdom 's capital and largest city is London , a global city and financial centre with an urban area population of 10.3 million . Other major cities include Birmingham , Manchester , Glasgow , Leeds and Liverpool . The United Kingdom consists of four constituent countries : England , Scotland , Wales , and Northern Ireland . Their capitals are London , Edinburgh , Cardiff , and Belfast , respectively .
The Fahrpanzer was a mobile artillery piece made prior to World War I in Germany , implemented in several German fortifications from 1890 onwards and exported to several foreign military powers prior to the outbreak of hostilities .
The German Empire ( German : Deutsches Kaiserreich , officially Deutsches Reich ) , sometimes referred to as Imperial Germany , was the German nation state that existed from the unification of Germany in 1871 until the abdication of Emperor Wilhelm II in 1918 . It was founded on 1 January 1871 when the south German states , except for Austria , joined the North German Confederation and the new constitution came into force changing the name of the federal state to the German Empire and introduced the title of German Emperor for Wilhelm I , King of Prussia from the House of Hohenzollern . Berlin remained its capital , and Otto , Prince of Bismarck , Minister-President of Prussia became Chancellor , the head of government . As these events occurred , the Prussian-led North German Confederation and its southern German allies were still engaged in the Franco-Prussian War . The German Empire consisted of 26 states , most of them ruled by royal families . They included four kingdoms , six grand duchies , five duchies ( six before 1876 ) , seven principalities , three free Hanseatic cities , and one imperial territory . Although Prussia was one of several kingdoms in the realm , it contained about two thirds of Germany 's population and territory . Prussian dominance had also been established constitutionally . After 1850 , the states of Germany had rapidly become industrialized , with particular strengths in coal , iron ( and later steel ) , chemicals , and railways . In 1871 , Germany had a population of 41 million people ; by 1913 , this had increased to 68 million . A heavily rural collection of states in 1815 , the now united Germany became predominantly urban . During its 47 years of existence , the German Empire was an industrial , technological , and scientific giant , gaining more Nobel Prizes in science than any other country .
World War I ( often abbreviated as WWI or WW1 ) , also known as the First World War or the Great War , was a global war originating in Europe that lasted from 28 July 1914 to 11 November 1918 . Contemporaneously described as the war to end all wars , it led to the mobilisation of more than 70 million military personnel , including 60 million Europeans , making it one of the largest wars in history . It is also one of the deadliest conflicts in history , with an estimated nine million combatants and seven million civilian deaths as a direct result of the war , while resulting genocides and the resulting 1918 influenza pandemic caused another 50 to 100 million deaths worldwide . On 28 June 1914 , Gavrilo Princip , a Bosnian Serb Yugoslav nationalist , assassinated the Austro-Hungarian heir Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo , leading to the July Crisis . In response , on 23 July , Austria-Hungary issued an ultimatum to Serbia . Serbia 's reply failed to satisfy the Austrians , and the two moved to a war footing . A network of interlocking alliances enlarged the crisis from a bilateral issue in the Balkans to one involving most of Europe . By July 1914 , the great powers of Europe were divided into two coalitions : the Triple Entente - consisting of France , Russia , and Britain - and the Triple Alliance of Germany , Austria-Hungary , and Italy ( the Triple Alliance was only defensive in nature , allowing Italy to stay out of the war until April 1915 , when it joined the Allied Powers after its relations with Austria-Hungary deteriorated ) . Russia felt it necessary to back Serbia and , after Austria-Hungary shelled the Serbian capital of Belgrade on the 28 July , approved partial mobilisation . Full Russian mobilisation was announced on the evening of 30 July ; on the 31st , Austria-Hungary and Germany did the same , while Germany demanded Russia demobilise within twelve hours . When Russia failed to comply , Germany declared war on Russia on 1 August in support of Austria-Hungary , with Austria-Hungary following suit on 6 August ; France ordered full mobilisation in support of Russia on 2 August . German strategy for a war on two fronts against France and Russia was to rapidly concentrate the bulk of its army in the West to defeat France within six weeks , then shift forces to the East before Russia could fully mobilise ; this was later known as the Schlieffen Plan .
The 5.7 cm Maxim-Nordenfelt Canon de caponnière was a fortress gun and infantry gun developed during the 1880s in Britain which was sold to Belgium and later produced under license by the Cockerill company . It saw action during World War I in both Belgian and German hands .
The Bofors 75 mm mountain gun was a Swedish designed and built mountain gun of the interwar years that was used during the Second World War .
Sweden ( Swedish : Sverige [ ˈsvæ̌rjɛ ] ( listen ) ) , officially the Kingdom of Sweden ( Swedish : Konungariket Sverige [ ˈkôːnɵŋaˌriːkɛt ˈsvæ̌rjɛ ] ( listen ) ) , is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe . It borders Norway to the west and north and Finland to the east , and is connected to Denmark in the southwest by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund Strait . At 450,295 square kilometres ( 173,860 sq mi ) , Sweden is the largest country in Northern Europe , the third-largest country in the European Union and the fifth largest country in Europe by area . The capital city is Stockholm . Sweden has a total population of 10.3 million of which 2.5 million have a foreign background . Persons who have foreign backgrounds are defined as persons who are foreign born , or born in Sweden with foreign born parents . It has a low population density of 22 inhabitants per square kilometre ( 57/sq mi ) and the highest urban concentration is in the central and southern half of the country . Sweden is part of the geographical area of Fennoscandia . The climate is in general mild for its northerly latitude due to significant maritime influence . In spite of the high latitude , Sweden often has warm continental summers , being located in between the North Atlantic , the Baltic Sea and the vast Eurasian Russian landmass . The general climate and environment varies significantly from the south and north due to the vast latitudal difference and much of Sweden has reliably cold and snowy winters . Southern Sweden is predominantly agricultural , while the north is heavily forested and includes a portion of the Scandinavian Mountains .
In the context of the history of the 20th century , the interwar period was the period between the end of the First World War in November 1918 and the beginning of the Second World War in September 1939 . This period is also colloquially referred to as Between the Wars . Despite the relatively short period of time , this period represented an era of significant changes worldwide . Petroleum-based energy production and associated mechanisation expanded dramatically leading to the Roaring Twenties , a period of economic prosperity and growth for the middle class in North America , Europe and many other parts of the world . Automobiles , electric lighting , radio broadcasts and more became commonplace among populations in the developed world . The indulgences of this era subsequently were followed by the Great Depression , an unprecedented worldwide economic downturn which severely damaged many of the world 's largest economies . Politically , this era coincided with the rise of communism , starting in Russia with the October Revolution and Russian Civil War , at the end of World War I , and ended with the rise of fascism , particularly in Germany and in Italy . China was in the midst of a half-century of instability and civil war between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party of China . The empires of Britain , France and others faced challenges as imperialism was increasingly viewed negatively in Europe , and independence movements emerged in many colonies ; the southern part of Ireland became independent after much fighting . The Ottoman , Austro-Hungarian and German empires were dismantled , while the Ottoman and German colonies were redistributed among the Allies , chiefly Britain and France . The western parts of the Russian Empire , Estonia , Finland , Latvia , Lithuania and Poland became independent nations in their own right , while Bessarabia ( modern-day Moldova ) chose to reunify with Romania . The Russian communists managed to regain control of the other East Slavic states , Central Asia , and the Caucasus , forming the Soviet Union .
The 7,5 cm leichtes Infanteriegeschütz 18 ( 7,5 cm le.IG 18 ) was an infantry support gun of the German Wehrmacht used during World War II .
Nazi Germany is the common English name for Germany between 1933 and 1945 , when Adolf Hitler and his Nazi Party ( NSDAP ) controlled the country through a dictatorship . Under Hitler 's rule , Germany became a totalitarian state where nearly all aspects of life were controlled by the government . The official name of the state was Deutsches Reich ( German Reich ) until 1943 and Großdeutsches Reich ( Greater German Reich ) from 1943 to 1945 . Nazi Germany is also known as the Third Reich ( Drittes Reich ) , meaning Third Realm or Third Empire , the first two being the Holy Roman Empire ( 800-1806 ) and the German Empire ( 1871-1918 ) . The Nazi regime ended after the Allies defeated Germany in May 1945 , ending World War II in Europe . Hitler was appointed Chancellor of Germany by the President of the Weimar Republic , Paul von Hindenburg , on 30 January 1933 . The NSDAP then began to eliminate all political opposition and consolidate its power . Hindenburg died on 2 August 1934 and Hitler became dictator of Germany by merging the offices and powers of the Chancellery and Presidency . A national referendum held 19 August 1934 confirmed Hitler as sole Führer ( leader ) of Germany . All power was centralised in Hitler 's person and his word became the highest law . The government was not a coordinated , co-operating body , but a collection of factions struggling for power and Hitler 's favour . In the midst of the Great Depression , the Nazis restored economic stability and ended mass unemployment using heavy military spending and a mixed economy .
The 7.5 cm Infanteriegeschütz 37 ( 7.5 cm IG 37 ) was an infantry support gun , used by Germany , during World War II . The guns were originally designated 7.5 cm PaK 37 . The IG 37s were manufactured , beginning in late 1944 , from carriages of 3.7 cm Pak 36s ( and the nearly identical Soviet 3.7 cm PaK 158 ( r ) ) and a barrel designed originally for the IG 42 infantry support gun . As an anti-tank weapon it used a hollow charge shell with 0.5 kg ( 1 lb 2 oz ) of explosives to penetrate up to 85 mm ( 3.3 in ) with a velocity of 395 m/s ( 1,300 ft/s ) . The first 84 guns were delivered in June 1944 . By the end of the war 1,304 guns were operational . While the gun carriage was an old design , the gun itself was a new design created by Krupp , though the design had been shelved at the time of its conception . The gun has two distinctive features : the first is the large four-baffle muzzle brake and the second is the vertical sliding-block breech that was considered unusual for a Krupp designed gun . The breech operates in a semi-automatic fashion , in that once the gun was fired the breech block would open and eject the spent casing and remained open to allow for rapid reloading . The breech would then be closed once the next round was loaded and the gun was then ready to fire .
The 7.5 cm Infanteriegeschütz 42 ( 7.5 cm IG 42 ) was an infantry support gun , used by Germany , during World War II . The requirement for this weapon came out of combat experience in 1940 when the existing IG 18 was felt to be outdated . However , by the time Krupp had completed the design a hollow charge shell had been designed for the IG 18 and the gun was not put into production . In 1944 the requirement was raised again and the barrel from the original design was mated with the carriage from the PAW 600 gun . An order was given for 1,450 guns . The first IG 42s were delivered in October 1944 equipped with muzzle brakes . It is unclear how many were taken into service until the end of the war .
The Canon de 76 FRC was a Belgian infantry support gun , produced by the Fonderie Royale des Canons ( FRC ) . The gun was typically of 76 mm calibre ; however , an optional 47 mm barrel could be fitted instead . The gun was designed for transport via a trailer towed by a vehicle . In 1940 , the Wehrmacht redesignated these as 7.6 cm IG 260 ( b ) . At the start of World War II , 198 of these guns had been produced .
Belgium , [ A ] officially the Kingdom of Belgium , is a country in Western Europe . It is bordered by the Netherlands to the north , Germany to the east , Luxembourg to the southeast , France to the southwest , and the North Sea to the northwest . It covers an area of 30,689 km2 ( 11,849 sq mi ) and has a population of more than 11.5 million , making it the 22nd most densely populated country in the world and the 6th most densely populated country in Europe , with a density of 376 per square kilometre ( 970/sq mi ) . The capital and largest city is Brussels ; other major cities are Antwerp , Ghent , Charleroi and Liège . The sovereign state is a federal constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary system . Its institutional organization is complex and is structured on both regional and linguistic grounds . It is divided into three highly autonomous regions : the Flemish Region in the north , Wallonia in the south , and the Brussels-Capital Region . Brussels is the smallest and most densely populated region , as well as the richest region in terms of GDP per capita . Belgium is home to two main linguistic groups or communities : the Dutch-speaking Flemish Community , which constitutes about 60 percent of the population , and the French-speaking Community , which comprises about 40 percent of all Belgians . A small German-speaking Community , numbering around one percent , exists in the East Cantons . The Brussels-Capital Region is officially bilingual ( French and Dutch ) , although French is the dominant language . Belgium 's linguistic diversity and related political conflicts are reflected in its political history and complex system of governance , made up of six different governments .
The 7.62 cm Infanteriegeschütz L/16.5 was an infantry gun used by Germany in World War I. German field guns had proven too heavy to accompany the infantry in the assault and the Germans resorted to a variety of solutions in an effort to find something that could help the infantry deal with bunkers and other obstacles . Enormous numbers of Russian 7.62 cm Model 1910 Putilov fortress guns had been captured early in the war and Krupp was told to adapt them for use as infantry guns . They mounted the barrel and breech of the Russian guns on a new solid box-trail carriage with two narrow seats behind the gunshield , facing to the rear . The gun retained its extraordinary depression of -18.6° , which was a legacy of its original purpose to fire down into fortress ditches , although its limited elevation prevented it from ranging past 2.7 kilometres ( 3,000 yd ) without digging in the trail . It used captured Russian canister ammunition for short-range engagements , but Rheinmetall manufactured its HE shell . It proved to be popular with its crews , who appreciated its light weight , accuracy and good effect of the shell . Unfortunately the gun wore out quickly due to the poor-quality steel used by the Russians , and this degraded its accuracy significantly . In their desire to save weight , Krupp had lightened the carriage a bit too much and it proved to be rather fragile in normal use . The 7.7 cm Infanteriegeschütz L/20 was intended to rectify its shortcomings , but it remained in use for the remainder of the war .
The 7.7 cm Infanteriegeschütz L/20 was an infantry gun used by Germany in World War I . It was designed by Krupp to rectify the shortcomings of the 7.62 cm Infanteriegeschütz L/16.5 . Krupp mounted a shortened 7.7 cm Feldkanone 96 n.A on one of their mountain howitzer carriages . It fired the full range of ammunition of the FK 96 n.A. , but generally only with a reduced charge , although it retained the capacity to fire the old full-power charges that gave a maximum muzzle velocity of 435 m/s ( 1427 ft/s ) . It also used a new full-power anti-tank round . Generally , it broke down into two loads for transport , although it could break down into a maximum of eight loads . While generally liked by the troops , it was thought to be too heavy and slow to break down and reassemble . The German search for a better infantry gun that maximized the use of existing components continued with Krupp 's 7.7 cm Infanteriegeschütz L/27 .
The 7.7 cm Infanteriegeschütz L/27 was an infantry gun used by Germany in World War I . It was intended to replace the 7.7 cm Infanteriegeschütz L/20 , but only saw limited service . It was another variant of the 7.7 cm FK 96 n.A . using the tube , breech and carriage of the older gun . The carriage was modified with smaller wheels set closer together and lacked the crew seats and lower part of the shield . It was transported in two loads . Only enough guns for eighteen batteries had been ordered and delivered in the Spring of 1917 as the Germans continued their search for the ideal infantry gun by ordering the Austrian Skoda 7.5 cm Gebirgskanone 15 .
The 15 cm sIG 33 ( schweres Infanterie Geschütz 33 , lit . Heavy Infantry Gun ) was the standard German heavy infantry gun used in the Second World War . It was the largest weapon ever classified as an infantry gun by any nation . Sources differ on the development history , but the gun itself was of conventional design . Early production models were horse-drawn , with wooden wheels . Later production models had pressed steel wheels , with solid rubber tires and air brakes for motor towing , albeit at a low speed ( only carriages with pneumatic tires and suspension system could be towed at highway speeds ) . As with most German artillery carriages , the solid rubber tires and lack of springing meant that the gun could n't safely be towed above 10 mph , and horse-drawing was still extensively employed . The sIG 33 was rather heavy for its mission , and it was redesigned in the late 1930s to incorporate light alloys . This saved about 150 kilograms ( 330 lb ) , but the outbreak of war forced the return to the original design before more than a few hundred were made , as the Luftwaffe had a higher priority for light alloys . A new carriage , made entirely of light alloys , was tested around 1939 , but was not accepted for service .
152 mm mortar M1931 ( NM ) ( Russian : 152-мм мортира образца 1931 года ( НМ ) ) was a 152.4 mm ( 6 inch ) artillery piece originally developed by the German arms manufacturer Rheinmetall . The gun was produced in limited numbers in the Soviet Union and saw action with the Soviet Army in World War II . A modified version of the design was also adopted in Germany , as 15 cm sIG 33 .
The Soviet Union , [ b ] officially known as the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics ( USSR or СССР ) , [ c ] was a federal sovereign state in northern Eurasia that existed from 1922 to 1991 . Nominally a union of multiple national Soviet republics , [ d ] in practice its government and economy were highly centralized . The country was a one-party state , governed by the Communist Party with Moscow as its capital in its largest republic , the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic ( Russian SFSR ) . Other major urban centers were Leningrad , Kiev , Minsk , Tashkent , Alma-Ata , and Novosibirsk . It spanned over 10,000 kilometers ( 6,200 mi ) east to west across 11 time zones , and over 7,200 kilometers ( 4,500 mi ) north to south . Its territory included much of Eastern Europe , as well as part of Northern Europe and all of Northern and Central Asia . It had five climate zones : tundra , taiga , steppes , desert and mountains . The Soviet Union had its roots in the 1917 October Revolution , when the Bolsheviks , led by Vladimir Lenin , overthrew the Russian Provisional Government which had replaced the autocratic regime of Tsar Nicholas II during World War I . In 1922 , after a civil war ending in the Bolsheviks ' victory , the USSR was formed by a treaty which united the Russian , Transcaucasian , Ukrainian and Byelorussian republics . Following Lenin 's death in 1924 and a brief power struggle , Joseph Stalin came to power in the mid-1920s . Stalin formalized the Communist Party 's ideology of Marxism-Leninism and replaced the market economy with a command economy which led to a period of rapid industrialization and collectivization . During this period , rapid economic development resulted in dramatic improvements in the average standard of living , particularly in urban areas .