The Man Who Armed the World: How a Wounded Soldier's Hospital Sketch Became History's Deadliest Rifle
The Weight of What He Made
Mikhail Kalashnikov was a young Soviet tank commander when the war turned his life upside down. In 1941, his tank got hit and he was badly injured. Whilst he was laid up in hospital, he heard other soldiers moaning about their rifles. They were clunky, kept breaking down, and jammed up when you needed them most. Meanwhile, the Germans had guns that were lighter and actually worked properly.
Kalashnikov had always been good with his hands – the sort of bloke who liked taking things apart and putting them back together. Now he felt he owed it to his mates to do something. He started drawing up plans for a rifle that would be simple, tough, and easy for any soldier to handle. He wasn't trying to create some weapon of terror – he just wanted to give ordinary blokes a decent chance in a fight. By 1947, the Soviet military accepted his design. It became known as the AK-47, and before long it had spread way beyond Russia.
For years, Kalashnikov defended what he'd made. He insisted he'd built it for defence, not attack, and that he couldn't be blamed for what people did with it. But as the rifle became the go-to weapon for guerrillas, terrorists, and even child soldiers, it started getting to him. He sometimes joked that he wished he'd invented a lawnmower instead.
In 2013, near the end of his life, he wrote a letter to the Russian Orthodox Church. In it, he admitted he was in "spiritual pain" and asked whether he was to blame for all the deaths linked to his gun. It was a rare glimpse of doubt from a man whose creation had shaped conflicts all over the world.
The Point: Even things made with good intentions and loyalty can end up doing harm you never imagined. Just because you invent something doesn't mean your responsibility ends there – it matters what people do with it afterwards.