The successful production of 4 four-pound cannons and two short howitzers on October 27, 1853 is by many considered to have marked the founding of the Zastava Arms manufacturing company. During World War II the Kragujevac weapons factory was seized by the Wehrmacht and was put to use by Nazi authorities in order to produce additional arms and munitions for the German war machine. In June 1942 the weapons factory was disassembled and put out of commission. When Kragujevac was liberated in 1944, the weapons factory was put back into working order within months and production began shortly after, with the M1944 submachine gun developed during the same year.