were also used in the Spanish Civil War by both sides. At the beginning of World War II some Gewehr 88 rifles were still in use, by second line units or paramilitary organizations (or partisans) in Poland and Yugoslavia. Some of the ex-UVF rifles were used by Home Guard in the United Kingdom in 1940. Ethiopean rifles (some ex-UVF rifles also found their way there) also saw action during the East African Campaign. These rifles were also used by the German Volkssturm in 1944–1945. China also used this rifle extensively during the Qing dynasty and the Republican era. China first bought Gewehr 88 rifles for the First Sino-Japanese War in 1894–1895 and after that started production of the unlicensed Hanyang 88 copy. In the beginning of the 20th century China bought for a second time a large number of original Gewehr 88 rifles. During the following 50 years, the rifle and its Hanyang 88 copy were used in the Xinhai Revolution, the Chinese Civil War and the War of Resistance against Japan and proved more than adequate against the Japanese Arisaka Type 38 rifle, though the latter was newer by 30 years. The last time they saw action in Chinese service was during the Korean War, where some of them were captured and taken to the US as souvenirs. The rifle was adopted during a period of rapid development in firearms technology, and marked Germany's shift to a smokeless powder. This explains why its period as the primary German service rifle was just over a dozen years, but it remained in limited service for much longer. In 1898 a Mauser design was adopted, the Gewehr 98, which was the culmination of a series of Mauser models in the 1890s. It was a superior replacement using the same ammunition with a stronger powder charge. However, this rifle soon had to be converted to fire the new Spitzer round that Germany adopted after the turn of the century. With these modifications the newer design remained in use until the end of World War II. The Gewehr 88 was also sometimes made into very elegant sporting rifles by gunsmiths in Germany. Examples of these usually show first-class workmanship and special features such as folding sights and altered bolt handles. Some Karabiner 88 carbines are known to have been produced in 7×57mm Mauser instead of the usual M/88 or the 7.92×57mm Mauser chambering. These