World War I: Chemical Warfare

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.

The first World War has been reported to be one of the most brutal wars in the history of time for many reasons. One of those reasons was strategic usage of chemical warfare. Chemical gas was used on both sides of the line, which turned out to be fatal for many. World War I was mostly fought in the trenches, where soldiers lived in deep, v-shaped holes or underground bunkers. Both sides would occupy these trenches in order to escape from the constant stream of bullets. These battles often ended in a standoff, or tie, which helped the introduction of a different, brand new style of fighting that included the use of chemicals. These chemicals had a range of

The types of weapons employed in World War 1 included poison gas, that killed many. Chlorine gas was one of the gases first used by the Germans at the Second Battle of Ypres in April 1915, killing hundreds of French troops. The British also deployed chlorine gas, and later developments in the war included the deadlier phosgene and mustard gas, which blinded those it came in contact with. By 1917, poison gas could be delivered with greater accuracy by chemical shells, and there were an estimated one million gas casualties on all sides throughout World War I.

World War 1 was know as “the chemists war” so they are many chemicals going in the air that it cause deaths. The usage of poison gas was war crime and it prohibited the usage of poison or poisoned weapons. The most effective gas was mustard gas. Mustard gas was used to trouble and disable the enemy and contaminate the front. The gas also caused internal and external bleeding, leaving. Poison gas blinded eyes, i can see the victims fighting for breath saying their throats are closing and they know they're going to die of choking.

There are many examples why gas was a necessary weapon in World War I. One example is using clouds of toxic gas on the enemy. Since this gas is so dangerous and unstoppable they would release the clouds of gas on the enemy to scare them away from their area or to kill off the remaining enemies. This toxic gas was also refereed to as Tear Gas. Because Tear Gas was so affective, eventually both sides would use it on the enemy in wars because there was no way of avoiding it unless you leave the area. Another example is the incurable things the gas does. Tear Gas could give you first-degree burns to having your eyes and face being rotted away. The things the gas could do to you was endless. It could burn out your lungs to the point not even the

In all wars after and including World War I, on 9/11, and on many more instances the gas mask saved many lives. The first version of the gas mask was used to save a group of miners from a collapsing steel mine under Lake Erie. The first gas attack on January 31, 1915 caused a great demand for the gas masks. The gas mask sparked the beginning of chemical warfare because it was then safer to use dangerous chemicals. Over time the gas mask had many changes to it. It originally was not very safe, only consisting of a hood worn over the face and two tubes, one to breath in from and one to exhale from. The tube to inhale from reached all the way to the ground on the original model but as time went along, the gas mask began to become more compact.

CW’s were already banned before WW1 in the 1899 Hague Convention Respecting the Laws and Customs and War on Land. The Hague convention banded poison and poisoned weapons. Trench warfare quickly became the main form of warfare, this combined with machine guns being introduced, lead to a stalemate. German High Commanders decided that they needed to find something to gain more land and get out of the stalemate. The first time Germany decided to use chemical weapons they used Xylyl Bromide against Russia. The Germans filled explosive shells with the chemical at russian lines with almost zero effect due to the chemical not vaporizing in the sub-zero temperatures. The german scientist responsible for most of germany's chemical weapons advancement was Fritz Haber. Haber had the idea to use chlorine to sweep out the trenches. They planned to release the gas from canisters and use the wind to carry the gas toward enemy trenches. (move description of blister agents here) They carried out this plan in April 22, 1915 at the Ypres Salient, releasing almost 170 tons of chlorine. The chlorine had devastating effects against the French troops, thousands of soldiers died. Britain shortly created a chemical weapons division named Porton Down. British scientist quickly designed a gas helmets that had great success in protecting against the Chlorine. Phosgene then started to be used in the battlefield. Phosgene is very hard to detect as it is odourless and colourless. Phosgene had annoying effects immediately after exposure but also had more lethal effect up to 48 hours after exposure, such as difficulty breathing, coughing up white and pink fluid, low blood pressure, and heart failure. Chemical weapons advancements continued at a fast past and new gases were constantly being

“I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought with, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones” (Albert Einstein). For centuries people have been using biological and chemical warfare, but no person could’ve predicted what it has become today, except possibly Albert Einstein. His famous quoted stated above, is what will happen if we continue to develop these weapons of mass destruction. Our civilization will be reduced to nothing. Biological and chemical weapons have been some of the most feared methods of destruction since their primary introduction in World War One. However, even though these weapons are as devastating as (if not more devastating than) nuclear weapons, they have received little attention and all that is keeping a chemical war from breaking out is an old document and a lot of trust. It’s

Fritz was born in Breslau, Germany on December 9th, 1868 into a Jewish family. Fritz studied chemistry from 1886 to 1891 at the university of Heidelberg. He was most famous for his research on ammonia. He was able to find out a way of acquiring it without having to extract it naturally. During WWI, Fritz worked with Germany on creating a toxic gas which was capable of killing thousands of people. That's exactly what ended up happening. Throughout WWI chemical warfare was being used to commit lots of murders. Since Fritz was the mastermind behind the chemical warfare, he became known as the “father of chemical warfare”. After Fritz’s toxic gas was a success, he got promoted to captain of the German army. Once the war ended, Fritz gained popularity

There are many different types of gas, each is unique to producing its own symptoms and effects. “The primary gases of World War I were Mustard, Phosgene, Chlorine, and a mix of Chlorine and Phosgene gases” (“Research”). Mustard gas is probably the most commonly known. Mustard gas was really painful because it caused the soldiers skin to blister. However, its symptoms did not always appear right away. Some soldiers did not even realize they had been infected with it until up to twelve hours later! One of the reasons it was so nasty was because it could transfer through material onto the skin. It was given the nickname “King of Gases” because of how commonly it was used. Another commonly used gas was Chlorine. Chlorine caused many deaths. Even those who survived the original dose usually ended up dying later due to pneumonia. The Chlorine gas caused acute bronchitis, and slowly suffocated those exposed to it.

The images are haunting: soldiers in gas masks rapid firing through dusky vapours, people contorted with a pain that comes from within. Chemical warfare has long been acknowledged as a devastating tactical weapon, but the origin of this impression is now being debated. While it is a common held belief that chemical warfare is a form of modern warfare and that the First World War is recognised for introducing this type of combat, recent archaeological finds show this may prove otherwise. According to accepted definitions of chemical warfare, newly discovered battle tactics used by humanity’s ancestors may not be so different from those of modern warfare. In the opposite way, while advancements in science have aided in making chemical

They supposedly spread the bubonic plague in St. Petersburg, Russia, infected mules with Glanders disease in Mesopotamia, and attempted to do the same with the horses of the French Cavalry. The allied forces even experimented with chemical weapons during World War 1, with agents such as mustard gas. Mustard gas is a substance that, when inhaled causes the victim to asphyxiate and perish. When the substance makes contact with the eyes it causes a burning sensation, the deadly gas can even cause blindness if the eyes are exposed to it long enough. (Wiggins, 2009)

Chemical attacks involve the use of chemical agents that are man-made gases, liquids, or powders that can have incapacitating or lethal effects on humans. Most chemical weapons fall into five broad categories: blister, nerve, choking, blood, and incapacitating (Forest & Howard, 2013). Chemical agents will vary in their degree of potency and volatility. Depending on how volatile or potent the agent is, the stronger the effects of agent will be on humans.

soldiers face today. But just how much do most of us know about them? The