page_title: MP 18
section_title: Service history
hierarchical_section_title: MP 18 / History / Service history
caption_attribution_description: English: Soldier of a German stormtrooper assault group with his Bergmann MP18.1 and a Parabellum P08, Northern France, Spring 1918.
context_page_description: The MP 18 manufactured by Theodor Bergmann Abteilung Waffenbau was the first submachine gun used in combat. It was introduced into service in 1918 by the German Army during World War I as the primary weapon of the Sturmtruppen, assault groups specialized in trench combat. Although MP 18 production ended in the 1920s, its design formed the basis of most submachine guns manufactured between 1920 and 1960.
context_section_description: The MP 18 served in the final stages of World War I in 1918, especially in the Kaiserschlacht offensive. More than 25,000 were produced, until the Treaty of Versailles banned production of military SMG in 1920.
  The MP 18 proved to be an excellent weapon. Its concept was well-proven in trench fighting. The basic design directly influenced later submachine gun designs and showed its superiority over the regular infantry rifle in urban, mobile, and guerrilla warfare. The MP 18 served with German police and paramilitary forces after the end of the war. It was widely used in combat by the Freikorps Von Epp against the Spartacus League in Bavaria and by other Freikorps in Berlin, where its efficiency in urban combat was demonstrated.
  All the limited conflicts between 1920 and 1940 saw an increasing use of this new class of weapons, first in South America during the Chaco War, then in Europe during the Spanish Civil War, and in China during the Warlord Era and the Japanese invasion, where its use by well-trained Chinese troops was costly for the invaders as in the Battle of Shanghai. It was also used during World War II by various partisans and resistance forces.
  Since the treaty allowed the Weimar Republic to keep a small quantity of submachine guns for police use, a few hundred MP 18.1s were modified to accept Schmeisser's original 20-round magazine design. This modification, conducted by Haenel Waffenfabrik, required removal of the existing magazine well collar, and replacement with a different one. These weapons were overstamped with the date "1920" on the receiver and magazine well to show they were legitimate weapons owned by the Weimar Republic and not war bringbacks or clandestine weapons.
  Bergmann sold the licence of the MP 18. 1 to SIG Switzerland; the Swiss made model was known as SIG Bergmann 1920. It existed in .30 Luger and 7.63 mm Mauser. The Bergmann MP 18.1 represents a milestone both in terms of armament technology and warfare tactics. It opened the way for a whole new class of weapons and triggered the research for lighter automatic firearms to be used by mobile troops. Its first direct competitors did not see service in World War I, but most of them saw use in all the limited conflicts taking place in the inter-war period.
caption: A German soldier with an MP 18 in Northern France, 1918
exif: {}