The Parabellum pistole was developed by Georg Luger in Germany in 1898. The Parabellum name comes from the ancient Latin saying "Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum" - if you want Peace, prepare for war. The Lugers' design is based on an earlier Hugo Borchard idea, but Luger re-designed Borchards' locking system into much smaller package. Most pre-WW II Parabellums were developed by the DWM company in Germany, with some being manufactured under license in other countries. During WW II, many companies, such as Waffenfabrik Mauser and others, also produced Lugers. The first country to adopt Lugers was Switzerland - they adopted the model 1900 Lugers, chambered in 7.65mm Luger/Para[bellum] round. In 1902 the DWM, along with Luger, by request of German Navy developed new round, 9x19mm Luger/Para[bellum], one of the most common pistol cartridges of the world, by re-necking the case of the 7.65mm Luger round. The Luger model 1904, in 9mm, was adopted by German Navy, followed by the German Army (Reichswehr) in 1908. Since then, the Lugers were adopted by many countries and served until probably the 1950's or so.