The name Parabellum, which also featured in DWM's telegraphic address, comes from the Latin phrase Si vis pacem, para bellum; "If you wish for peace, prepare for war.

[22] In 1906, the United States evaluated several domestic and foreign-made semi-automatic pistols, including the Colt M1900, Steyr Mannlicher M1894, and an entry from Mauser.

At least two, and possibly three, Parabellum Model 1902/1906 pattern pistols were brought to the U.S. by Georg Luger for the 1907 trials, each chambered in .45 ACP caliber.

[1] Prior to his arrival, the U.S. Frankford Arsenal had provided Luger with 5,000 rounds of .45 ammunition for experimentation and to serve as a guide for chambering measurements.

[27] At least two .45 caliber Luger pistols were manufactured later for possible commercial or military sales; one is exhibited at the R. W. Norton Art Gallery, in Shreveport, Louisiana.

[31] The LP08 was used by the Luftstreitkräfte during the early days of the war, before planes were equipped with machine guns, although due to a lack of pre-war production, the LP08 was much less commonly used than the P08.

[30] The main user of the LP08 was the Army, who used its drum magazine to deliver a high rate of fire at a close range, a concept which would lead to the development of the Stormtroopers and the MP 18.

After a round is fired, the barrel and toggle assembly travel roughly 13 mm (0.5 in) rearward due to recoil, both locked together at this point.

The barrel strikes the frame and stops its rearward movement, but the toggle assembly continues moving, bending the knee joint upwards, extracting the spent casing from the chamber, and ejecting it.

Until 1930, DWM continued to export both P08 and commercial Parabellum pistols to nations in Europe and to overseas markets, including the United States and the Far East.

The P08 was technically replaced in service in 1938 by the Walther P38, but ever-growing wartime demands for handguns resulted in continued P08 production by Mauser until December 1943.

[45] German military authorities refused to take any more Luger pistols, leaving a large stock of parts at the factory in Oberndorf.

[46] However, during World War II, German soldiers were known to sometimes use a discarded Luger pistol to lure unsuspecting trophy hunters, rigging it to detonate land mines or hidden booby traps when disturbed.

[47] Word also spread of accidental discharges and deaths of Allied troops by users unfamiliar with the P08 and its safety mechanisms, as well as stories circulating that American soldiers were being executed if captured in possession of German weapons.

[35] Although Mauser P08 production terminated in 1943, the P08 re-appeared in postwar form because of the continuing demand for handguns for military and police requirements.

Later pistols assembled in France often carry a French arsenal/manufacturer name, such as Manufacture Française d'Armes & Cycles de St. Etienne (Manufrance).

[50] Pistols were also assembled under the direction of Soviet (and later, East German) authorities to arm military and MP units, as well as the Volkspolizei.

[45] During the immediate postwar period, complete Luger pistols were also assembled from rejected or salvaged parts with different serial numbers, then sold as souvenirs to occupation forces in Germany.

Other Luger pistols were later assembled in the United States by gunsmiths of varying aptitude using secondhand, rejected, or salvaged parts imported from Germany and other countries.

In 1969, after purchasing the Swiss 06/29 tooling, Mauser Werke in Oberndorf restarted Parabellum production, which ceased in 1986 when the last commemorative model was produced.

[49][56] On April 16, 1901, following a successful preliminary test of the Model 1900 at the Springfield Armory,[57][58] the U.S. Board of Ordnance purchased 1,000 Model 1900 Parabellum pistols with 4.75-inch barrels, marked with what appear to be standard U.S. ordnance bomb proofs, but are not,[59] and "American Eagle" stamps over the chambers, and issued them to each troop of mounted cavalry of the U.S. Army for field testing, with the remainder to the light artillery and officers at West Point.

Other nations either tested the Model 1900 or purchased small numbers for limited field service, including Austria, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Russia, Norway, Sweden, and Portugal.

[42] 'American Eagle' 7.65 Model 1900 pistols were used by a variety of buyers, including American lawmen such as Stringer Fenton, outlaws, and Texas Rangers.

Manufactured entirely at Waffenfabrik Bern, the 06/29 pistol served the Swiss Army until well after the adoption of the SIG Sauer P210 in 1949, and remained in limited service until the late 1960s.

[23] The Pistole 04 was later updated with a coil mainspring to Model 1906 pattern as Luger continued to refine and improve his design.

[64] With slight modifications, notably the addition of a stock mounting lug and a hold-open latch, the P08 would serve as the German Army's principal sidearm during World War I, augmented by Mauser C96 and Model 1914 pistols.

This P08 variation was equipped with a 200 mm (7.9 in) barrel, an 8-position tangent rear sight (calibrated to 800 meters (870 yd)) and a board-type shoulder stock with an attached leather holster.

When set for long range use the rear sight element visibly moves to the left to compensate for spin drift.

By that time, German troops had begun using the newly developed MP 18 submachine gun in place of the LP 08 for their stormtrooper assault companies.

[66] In 1916, Heinrich Senn of Bern designed and patented a modification of the standard Swiss Luger pistol to fire in single shots or in full-automatic.