The MAS-38 was a French submachine gun designed prior to the Second World War and used by French and German forces. It derived from a small arms development program that took place between 1918 and 1922 under the control of the Service Technique de l'Armement. A submachine gun, a light machine gun and a semi automatic rifle were developed to replace all the existing small arms. Budgetary constraints due to choices like building the Maginot Line led to the delay of adoption of these new arms except for the LMG 1924.