Fritz Haber Monologue

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.

In many ways, this passage from the book All Quiet on the Western Front depicts war in a way that puts you right into the carnage. It is common knowledge that WWI brought with it new and catastrophic levels of violence, with battles that lasted for months on end and amazing advancements in weaponry, such as the machine gun, flamethrower, and poison gas. With the introduction of the poison gas came the need for masks that could be worn over the face to deter inhalation of what would prove to be fatal air. The soldiers still use caution when breathing with the masks since they have seen the horrors that follow if the mustard gas enters their lungs. "These first minutes with the mask decide between life and death: is it tightly woven? I remember

It was a war like no other, with the use of gas and other new technology which allowed opposing sides to kill each other in large numbers with incredible speed. Joseph Boyden's use of vivid and expressive language gave the reader every tool they needed in order to really feel as though they were experiencing the war for themselves. At Verdun, Germans would cut barbed wire and use flamethrowers to clear out enemy machine-gun posts. These flamethrowers were easy targets due to the large tank on their back. (http://online.wsj.com/ww1/flamethrowers) Boyden used this small piece of information which could have easily been looked past; as a result, it only helped build the story and really allow the reader to experience what it might have been like to witness this type of weapon. "Before I can get off the ground and aim at the fire shooter, a couple of men in the trench do it. One of them hits the tank… A fiery explosion shoots up into an orange-and-black ball of flame. He is unrecognizable lying there, gasping, the pink inside his mouth the only colour that stands out against the oozing and charred black of his body." As I continued to read the book, the more I realized how much of a struggle it must have been to get up each and every day and muster up the will to keep fighting. If it wasn't the Germans, than it was the environment. With harsh rains, cold nights, wet trenches, and almost useless equipment. Private Donald Fraser of the Canadian

On April 24, I managed to drift off to sleep, but a scream awoke me. Ahead of us, an unbroken wall of gas crawled towards the trenches at ground level. Someone down the line had fallen, clutching his chest. Bullets whizzed, shells roared and soldiers fell. Screams were cut off as the gas sucked the life out of the victims. They struggled to suck oxygen into their corrupt lungs. Attacking their bronchial tubes, the chlorine leaked fluid into their bloodstreams. The victims suffocated, drowning in their own fluids. The Algerians' eyeballs were white, coughing until glue came out from their mouths. The gas roamed the ground, giving the German snipers and machine gunners a clear aim at the sprinting soldiers. While the alley men opened fire at our backs, I bolted away from that hell containing abyss. I dragged myself off the muddy battlefield. My lungs burned with chlorine and my hip was torn by shrapnel. To neutralize and protect me from the gas, I urinated on my handkerchief and shielded it to my face. This is not civilization, it is madness.

I just came back from a battle near the city of Ypres. The German forces launched 5700 canisters of chlorine gas at the Allied forces. You could see the yellow-green clouds of gas rolling towords our lines. It was devastating. The gas affected over 10,000 people, killing half of them. The cause of death was asphyxiation. The Algerian forces retreated, and the Germans moved forward to fill the gaps, albeit cautiously. They stopped after only 3.25 kilometres and dug in. That allowed us soldiers to recover. We fought all night to try and close the gap. Then came another gas attack. Their target was us, the Canadian line. We were suffocating, so we covered our faces with urine-covered handkerchiefs.

World War I was one of the greatest tragedies in modern European history. According to History.com, 16 million people were killed – both soldiers and civilians – and many of those killed did not have a quick, painless death. While the majority of the deaths in the film happen off camera, most of those that are shown are quite tragic. Franz Kimmerich's death ends over a day of suffering, an unnamed member of the platoon breathes in mustard gas after dropping his gun in a pit, and Katczinsky, Paul’s platoon leader, dies while Paul carries him to the hospital tents. The horrors of mustard gas and the realities of battle are accurately depicted especially since so many soldiers died, and no one dies in this movie doing anything greatly heroic. However, back home there was a great deal of information that was not shared.

Leese’s article, “Casualties: On the Western Front,” was about how the military did not recognize non organic injuries as real injuries until 1915. The soldiers on the frontline, understood the psychological injury, sometimes called “shell shock,” better than anyone. During the war, mental health and illness were determined by the military’s nee for man power so the army rejected the ideal and simply called it hysteria. That was until the French army realized that there was more to it than hysteria and the search for answers began. The article also contains stories about the experiences of the soldier on the frontline. The author’s main points were convincing because of the many details the article contained as well as the numerous stories.

I was wrong about Catherine- and I’m not embarrassed to say that in any way. But regardless of first impressions, and regardless of whatever is at work in this universe, I’m thankful for what kept us together.

Fritz Haber was a contested recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for developing a process using atmospheric nitrogen for ammonia synthesis, primarily due to his wartime efforts on behalf of Germany. The Haber Process was used by the Germans to make explosives during World War I after access to nitrates were cut off by Allied blockades (The Nobel Foundation, 2014). Additionally, Haber developed chemical weapons used against Allied forces. Later controversy was surely stirred by the fact that Haber developed the poisonous gas, Zyklon B, used at Auschwitz. In an ironic twist of fate, Haber was Jewish by birth (Manchester, 2002).

If this gas got into the trench it would cause painful blisters on the skin and if there was a prolonged interaction with mustard gas these blisters would form in the nose and throat which ultimately caused death. But the only time chemical weapons could be used was when the wind could carry the gas toward the trench. Last, how trench warfare impacted soldiers and their families during WWI. Soldiers had contact with their families using letters but they were censored since the Canadian government did not want their families to know the harsh reality about WWI.

Because of Fritz Haber this world is a better place. His discoveries helped feed Germany and had many good intentions despite the later events. In order to feed Germany Haber figured out how to make nitrogen out of the air in order to make the soil fertile for food growth. This new discovery helped increase the population and stopped the starvation in Germany. He later received the Nobel Peace Prize for his great accomplishments. His discoveries later led to terrible things done in the war, such as gas and bombs used to kill others. The gas he used to grow food was used to create a “chlorine wall” to kill all soldiers in the trenches. Haber was very proud of what he was able to do for his country, but his sense of nationalism overpowered his

The deadly fume that intoxicated its victims with the intent to kill is now known as poison gas. After first being introduced in 1915 when the Germans used the gas during an attack in Flanders, Belgium, knowing the enemy would put their masks on, many soldiers threw gas into trenches not only to kill a soldier without a gas mask, but to also obscure the vision of the ones with masks (“WWI: Technology and Weapons of War”). More than one million soldiers were injured and over one-hundred thousand soldiers died from mustard gas, the most common form of poisonous gas, by the end of the war (Briggs2). Finding a way to break the stalemate between the two opposing sides, many soldiers of the infantry worked together using large tanks to break enemy lines. Having been brought in by the Entente, tanks seemed unstoppable to many German soldiers who almost

Fritz Haber was a Jewish scientist that used his knowledge of science in ways that effected our world. He led the push for inventing chemicals that he thought would be beneficial for Germany to use during WWI. He is known as the “father of chemical warfare”, “scientist of death” or the “immoral scientist” due to the tremendous amount of pain, suffering and death that he caused. Haber’s immense sense of nationalism led him to making many ambiguous decisions. The long-term effects of Haber’s inventions were negative and many people lost their lives because of him.

Upon the battlefield of World War One, soldiers huddle in trenches, faces veiled behind gas masks. These bulky facial coverings were designed to protect the soldiers from deadly gases used by the enemy. The use of chemical agents in World War One led to the need for the production of better protection from the deadly effects of the agents. Chlorine gas could be dropped from cylinders above the victims, its high density causing it to flow downwards onto its unsuspecting foe (Fire 121). Also, the British Authorities struggled to decide whether or not to approve the use of gas for offensive use, and whether a large scale chemical war was something to be avoided at all costs (Girard 107).

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.