Chemical Warfare is not the same as nuclear warfare, or the same as biological warfare. Chemical warfare involves using the deadly properties of chemical substances as weapons.Most weapons used in chemical warfare are considered to be“weapons of mass destruction” or, WMDs, and are not considered to be conventional weapons. Chemical warfare does not depend upon explosive force to neutralize targets; it depends on the chemical properties of a chemical agent weaponized. Defoliants are an example.They are used to kill off vegetation and deny its use of cover by the enemy. “Defoliants can also be used against agriculture and livestock to promote hunger and starvation but with protective equipment, and decontamination measures, the effects of …show more content…
A discovery of Chinese writing dating from the same period contained hundreds of recipes for the production of toxic or irritating smokes for use in war, along with numerous accounts of their uses. (Adrienne Mayor).
In the West, the earliest recorded use of gas warfare dates all the way back to the 5th century, during the Peloponnesian War between Athens and Sparta. The Spartan army placed a burning mixture of wood and sulfur under the walls, hoping that the noxious smoke would impair the Athenians so that they could not resist the assault planed. (Syed, Tanya) Chemical weapons are dangerous agents that come in four categories: choking, blister, blood and nerve. The agents are categorized by their effects on the body. Nerve agents “Inactivate enzyme acetylcholinesterase, preventing the breakdown of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine in the victim's synapses and causing both muscularity and nicotine effects” the signs and symptoms of nerve agents are, miosis (pinpoint pupils), blurred/dim vision, headache, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, twitching/fasciculations, dyspepsia, seizures, and loss of consciousness. Symptoms of blood agent poisoning depend on the concentration and the exposure time.
The next type of agent is called blood agents. People killed by blood agents have bright red blood because
Poison Gas/Chemical Warfare usage, while not harming physical structures preventing the collateral damage of homes and buildings, causes a high casualty rate in all living things. It is indescriminate and robs life equally be they related or not to a target of military or strategic importance. Gas usage has been widely considered uncivilized, but the French resorted to its usage in August, 1914 during the first World War in an attempt to rout the Germans. Unfortunately, the Germans were the first to give gas warfare serious development and it became used extensively before the war was over. On the battlefield it prooved effective in eliminating hostile threats in an inhumane way, but this does not make it morally acceptable. In more recent times ISIS has been reported to using Poison Gas in Syria against both military and civilians in an indescriminate manner. This sort of attack ignores international laws as well as inhumanely cause widespread harm. In this day and age, this sort of attack is unnecessary and is why it was outlawed in the first place even back during the first World War.
Chemical warfare, while horrible, proved to be unwieldy and unpredictable, and relatively easy to counter. After some limited successes against unprepared opponents, the use of chemical gas had very little tactical benefit; the recognition of this limited utility is that after widespread use in 1915 - except for the short-lived effects of the introduction of mustard gas in 1917 - gas was abandoned by both sides as an effective tactic.
Gunpowder was used in guns, canyons. The charcoal came from a common gas that people used to cook on, it's called lit stove, you have to turn the nozzle all the way down to light it and then put you gas to the tempature you want it at. When all these ingriediants are. MIxed together they can make gunpowder. The invention of gunpowder was used into many things it was used into fire works, then Chinese realized it could be used in a war
Most famously used in the incineration of 64 Japanese cities in the1940’s, napalm scorched more to death than in the atomic explosions in Nagasaki and Hiroshima (Bernard). Many still pose the question, why napalm instead of atomic weapons? During the destruction of the Japanese landscape, each atomic detonation had a price tag of $13.5 billion while each napalm destruction was only a slim $83,000 per metropolis (Norris). Most recently, during the siege of Aleppo, the Russian and Syrian governments alike, have been accused of using these incendiary bombs in the rebel occupied area. During this siege, when civilians “see barrels falling from the sky they hope they are explosives and not napalm”
One of the new weapons used in WWI was poison gas. Poison gas was first used by the french in 1914, they used them to fight against the germans. After the french the germans started to study it and we the first to use it in a big scale. They used chlorine gas caused irritation and aggressive sneezing. There are many types of poisonous gas like chlorine gas, phosgene (causes violent coughing, choking and eventually death), and Mustard gas (nearly odorless chemical that causes internal and external blisters for hours). The total amount of casualties for poison gases are 1,240,853 people and total deaths are 91,198 people.
Poison gas was used throughout WW1. Chlorine gas, phosgene gas and mustard gas were the types of poison gas used in WW1. Chlorine gas effects a person within seconds of inhaling its vapor. It destroyed the victim's respiratory organs, bringing on choking attacks. Chlorine is a yellow-green gas with a strong, bleach like odour.it smells as a mix of pepper and pineapple. Phosgene is a colorless gas with a mustly odor comparable to newly cut hay or grass. Phosgene gas reacts with proteins in lung alveoli, causing suffocation. Cause
There was not a great acceptance of tobacco smoking in 1628, Shah Sefi of Persia punished two merchants by pouring hot lead down their throats. In 1634, Czar Alexis of Russia created new punishments for smoking. The first offense was whipping and the second was execution. The Chinese’s regulation for the use or distribution of tobacco was punishable by decapitation. By the 1650s snuff became popular and remained until the early 20th century. In the 1800s cigars became popular in Europe and America.
France was the first to introduce a chemical component for warfare called tear gas. It was utilized on the German Army in August, 1914. Although, it was not used to kill the enemy, it did incapacitate them and left them unable to defend their positions. Tear gas caused irritation in the mouth, eyes, and throat. The use of tear gas in trench warfare was not very effective.
Trench warfare was done by opposing army’s creating trenches. In between those trenches was an area known as “no man's land” and was the most dangerous place to be. This tactic lead to many standoffs and also extremely high numbers of casualties in a short period of time. One of the most efficient ways of winning these battles was chemical warfare. All that needed to happen was to throw a chemical bomb into the enemy's trench and then wait.
Agent Orange contained a chemical that was very toxic called dioxin. Dioxin enters human tissue by direct contact with skin inhalation through the lungs and through direct contact with food and water supplies. Experiments have shown that dioxin affects a number of organs and systems once they enter your body they last a very long time that is estimated to be about 7 to 15 years with a possibility of lasting up to 20 years because its stays in the body’s fat cells. (World Health Organization)
The purpose of this essay is to deal with the fact that chemical warfare should be brought back to modern warfare strategies. As Warren Rudman said, “And they will tell you unequivocally that if we have a chemical or biological attack or a nuclear attack anywhere in this country, they are unprepared to deal with it today, and that is of high urgency.” Rudman’s words are true in what they say and that we should do everything to counter-act his statement. Biological weapons are a key to outstanding success in war and therefore, I strongly suggest that chemical warfare is an effective and producible weapon tactic that can be used on today’s battlefield.
There are many types of chemical agents that can be used for a variety of effects. Most are not meant to be lethal, but most chemicals at high concentrations can be lethal.
Chemical weapons are toxic gases, which use in the wars such as World War 1. Chemical weapons used in First World War and they killed a lot of people even children. In addition, chemical weapons are unless color, so people can’t see them. Also, most of people who died through the First World War were civilians. Therefore, who were responsible about them? In addition, people who survived had dangerous and permanent diseases such as cancer, asthma … etc. Even people’s genes effected by these toxic gases and they cause a lot of genetic problems that appeared in a second generation. Even soldiers who were pushed to this war. Then, they died or effected who were responsible about their families. In addition chemical weapons burned a lot of trees and they changed plant characteristics. Also, these gases can react with others to change air and weather characteristics. Therefore, chemical weapons effect on our
There are several different types of chemical weapons and they all have different effects on their victims. All the effects being extremely
Are Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD’s) able to be used ethically in time of war without consequences? A question with many different answers from all over the world, from children, adults, and elders alike. Today, we will review quite a few things about WMD’s, such as what uniquely defines the ability of WMD’s from that of the average weapons. We will also view who created them, and why they created them in the first place. Furthermore, we will look into what was stated earlier: Are WMD’s able to be used ethically in time of war without consequence? We’ll answer this and more, with the paragraphs ahead.