A submachine gun (SMG) is a magazine-fed, automatic carbine designed to fire handgun cartridges. The term "submachine gun" was coined by John T. Thompson, the inventor of the Thompson submachine gun, to describe its design concept as an automatic firearm with notably less firepower than a machine gun (hence the prefix "sub-"). As a machine gun must fire rifle cartridges to be classified as such, submachine guns are not considered machine guns. The submachine gun was developed during World War I (1914–1918) as a close quarter offensive weapon, mainly for trench raiding. At its peak during World War II (1939–1945), millions of SMGs were made for use by regular troops, clandestine commandos, and partisans alike. After the war, new SMG designs appeared frequently. However, by the 1980s and 1990s, SMG usage decreased. Today, submachine guns have been largely replaced by assault rifles, which have a longer effective range and are capable of penetrating the helmets and body armor used by modern infantry. However, submachine guns are still used by military special forces and police tactical units for close-quarters combat because they are "a pistol-caliber weapon that's easy to control, and less likely to overpenetrate the target". Name There are some inconsistencies in the classification of submachine guns. British Commonwealth sources often refer to SMGs as "machine carbines". Other sources refer to SMGs as "machine pistols" because they fire pistol-caliber ammunition, for example, the MP-40 and MP5, where "MP" stands for Maschinenpistole ("Submachine gun" in German, but cognate with the English term "Machine pistol"). However, the term "machine pistol" is also used to describe a handgun-style firearm capable of fully automatic or burst fire, such as the Stechkin, Beretta 93R and the H&K VP70. Also, personal defense weapons such as the FN P90 and H&K MP7 are often called submachine guns. In addition, some compact assault rifles, such as the Colt XM177 and HK53, have been historically referred to as submachine guns as they served in the latter's role. History In 1895 Hiram Maxim produced the 'miniature Maxim' which was a 27 pound pistol-calibre Maxim which was sold in small quantities to various countries and tested by the US military but not adopted. In 1896 a select-fire pistol was patented by the British inventor Hugh Gabbett-Fairfax. World War I During World War I, Austria-Hungary introduced the world's first machine pistol: the Steyr Repetierpistole M1912/P16, and in addition, the Standschütze Hellriegel M1915