for self-defense, and the stiletto was used by anarchists as well as by members of various Black Hand organizations to assassinate Italian-Americans and others who either opposed the Black Hand or ignored its demands for blackmail. The Black Hand even established schools for training its members in the use of the stiletto. First World War The emergence of fierce hand-to-hand combat in the trenches of World War I created a new need for stabbing weapons, resulting in the reappearance of the dagger and the stiletto. Many versions of these stabbing knives exist, some individually made by soldiers, while others were government-procured and authorized. On the Allied side, the French Lebel M1886 épée (needle sword) bayonet was frequently cut down and converted into a stiletto or thrusting knife (Poignard-Baïonnette Lebel). The French Nail were locally fabricated and converted bayonets, knives and stabbing weapons for use in the First World War. The Mark I trench knife is an American trench knife designed by officers of the American Expeditionary Force (AEF) for use in the First World War. The M1917 bayonet was designed to be used with the US M1917 Enfield .30 caliber rifle, as well as with the seven different U.S. trench shotguns. The German Nahkampfmesser (translated: close combat knife) was the standard issue German combat knife during the First World War, which remained in service in modified form through the end of the Second World War. These weapons were used to eliminate sentries in trench raids as well as for personal defense. As a class, these daggers, knives, and stilettos were given the title trench knife. Second World War World War II saw a resurgence of the stiletto in the form of combat knives for commando raiding forces and other troops who needed a weapon for silent killing. In late 1940, the famed British hand-to-hand combat instructors William E. Fairbairn and Eric A. Sykes designed the Fairbairn–Sykes fighting knife, a double-edged dagger with a long narrow point designed to optimize the blade for thrusting, though it was also capable of slashing strokes if the cutting edges were sharpened. Other variations of the F-S knife soon emerged, including the United States Marine Raider Stiletto, which was based upon the Fairbairn–Sykes knife, and the U.S. V-42 stiletto, designed from the outset to emphasize thrusting over cutting. The 1950s: folding knives and stiletto switchblades During the 1950s, large numbers of folding switchblade or automatic