Based on the first true machine gun, the American-British Maxim, Germany deployed the self-developed, water-cooled MG 08 and MG 08/15 during World War I. In World War II, the MG 34 blurred the lines between light and heavy machine guns. The air-cooled MG 42 eliminated several significant drawbacks of its predecessor and was even used under a new name after the war due to its maturity. Alexander Losert describes all the important machine guns manufactured in Germany that were developed and used until the end of World War II.