The 7.65×25mm Borchardt cartridge was designed by Georg Johann Luger for use in Hugo Borchardt's Borchardt C-93 pistol. It was the first successful rimless pistol cartridge.

With a rimless, bottlenecked case using smokeless powder, the 7.65×25mm Borchardt adapted features of the 7.92 mm cartridge used in the 1888 pattern M/88 rifle, essentially scaling it down for use in a pistol.

The Feederle brothers (Fidel, Friedrich, and Josef) used the Borchardt cartridge in their design for the Mauser C96 pistol. The Borchardt cartridge thus was the basis for the 7.63×25mm Mauser cartridge, which used the same dimensions but was eventually loaded with a stronger powder charge. By extension, the Borchardt cartridge was also the basis for the 7.62×25mm Tokarev cartridge, which was developed directly from the Mauser round using an even stronger powder charge.

The 7.65×25mm Borchardt was also the basis of the 7.65×21mm Parabellum and 9×19mm Parabellum cartridges developed for the Luger pistol. The shorter case length of the 7.65×21mm Parabellum allowed for improvements in the Luger pistol, including a shorter stroke in the toggle mechanism as well as a smaller grip. The same shorter length of cartridge was maintained when the design transitioned to the 9×19mm Parabellum.

The 7.65×25mm Borchardt was manufactured by DWM in Germany, Eley Brothers and Kynoch in Great Britain, and Remington Arms - Union Metallic Cartridge Co. and Winchester in the United States. In many instances, the ammunition was packaged in boxes that read "For Borchardt and Mauser Automatic Pistols".

The 7.65×25mm Borchardt was one of the chamberings of the Maxim-Silverman 1896 Pistol, a self-loading pistol designed and patented by Hiram Maxim and his assistant Louis Silverman.^[1][2]