Hotchkiss Mle 1914 Machine Gun

The Hotchkiss modele 1914, known as the Mitrailleuse Automatique Hotchkiss, became the standard machine gun of the French Army during the second half of the First World War. Manufactured by Hotchkiss et Cie, a French arms company founded by the American industrialist Benjamin Hotchkiss, it evolved from earlier Hotchkiss designs of 1897, 1900 and 1909 with improvements from the American engineer Laurence Benet and his French assistant Henri Mercie. It became the French infantry standard in late 1917, replacing the unreliable Saint-Etienne Mle 1907, and American forces purchased about 7,000 units chambered for 8mm Lebel for use in 1917 and 1918; more than 47,000 had been delivered to the French military by 1918 alone.