The MG34 (German: Maschinengewehr 34) is a German 7.92mm light machine gun from the Second World War. The first prototypes of this weapon were made in 1934, and serial production began in 1934 and continued until 1945. The initial velocity of the missile was up to 755 m / s, and the theoretical rate of fire - 900 rounds per minute. Scooters firing range from a gun mounted on a tripod was up to 1,800 meters. The weight of the weapon without a base or tripod is 11.5 kilograms.
The MG34 was developed by the Mauser company as a new, universal, light machine gun of the German army, intended to replace the MG 08 and the LMG 08/15 from the World War I times. The work on the weapon progressed very quickly and already in 1934, i.e. a few months after its commencement, it was completed. As a result, however, a highly innovative weapon was created that could be fed with ammunition from both a drum magazine and an ammunition belt, could be mounted on a tripod (acting as a heavy machine gun), and be used based on a bipod. What's more - the MG34 could fire both single and continuous fire. In terms of performance, reliability and ballistic properties, it was one of the best weapons in its class in the world, but it was also time-consuming to manufacture and required careful handling. Hence, the MG42 rifle was developed, which was largely based on the MG34, but was simpler to use and manufacture, and cheaper. The MG34 machine gun was the staple rifle of the German army from the beginning of World War II, and despite being put into production in 1943, the MG42 was still manufactured and used as a secondary weapon on German armored vehicles and tanks.
The decisive influence on the shaping of the organization and tactics of the German infantry before the outbreak of World War II was, on the one hand, the experience of the previous World War, but also theoretical works created in the 1920s and 1930s, which often emphasized the need to perceive the German infantry as a tool waging an offensive war. This affected both the equipment and the organization of the German infantry division, which during the September campaign of 1939 consisted of 3 infantry regiments, each of which was divided into 3 infantry battalions, an artillery company and an anti-tank company. In addition, there were numerous support units, including: an artillery regiment with 4 artillery squadrons (including one heavy), an anti-tank battalion, a sapper battalion and a communications battalion. In total, the so-called infantry division In the first mobilization wave, there were approximately 17,700 people and had a significant artillery component, but also was abundantly equipped with machine guns. It also had modern and efficient - for those times - means of communication and command. In the course of the war, infantry divisions underwent transformation - in 1943 some of them were transformed into armored grenadier divisions. However, from 1943, the standard division of the "traditional" infantry consisted of approx. 12,500 men (and not approx. 17,700 as in 1939), and its artillery component - especially heavy artillery - was also reduced in it, while its anti-tank defense was significantly improved. It is assumed that during the entire Second World War, about 350 infantry divisions served in the Wehrmacht.