The Maxim machine gun is the first functioning portable automatic weapon. It owes its name to American inventor Hiram Maxim, who invented it in 1885. The first portable automatic weapon (which in its first version required 4-6 men to operate) demonstrated in initial tests a maximum fire capacity of 500 rounds per minute, making it a devastating weapon. Unlike other models like the Gatling gun, it used recoil to eject the spent cartridge and chamber a new one, rather than requiring a man to operate the crank mechanism. The weapon was adopted by the British Army in 1889 and had its baptism of fire in 1894 in the Matabele War, a Zulu rebel tribe. In one battle, 50 men managed to route 5,000 warriors with just four Maxims. It was quickly adopted by nearly all European military forces and contributed to the rapid colonization of Africa at the end of the 19th century. On the Western Front of World War I it was estimated that 90% of bullet wounds were inflicted by Maxim-type machine guns.
