The focus and the item discussed today will be about Chemical Weapons. The chemical weapon is a device that uses chemicals formulated to inflict death or harm to human beings. The following are some of the questions that will be answered in my paper. What was society like before the discovery of chemical weapons? How did natural resources limit or advance chemical weapons? How are chemical weapons affecting society today? Lastly, what impact will chemical weapons have on the future of the world?
In this paragraph, I will be answering the question what was society like before the discovery of chemical weapons? The use of chemical compounds as well as biological materials dates back to biblical times. Greek historian, Thucydides recorded the use of arsenic smoke by the Spartans against the Athenin city of Delium. During the Peloponnesian war in 425A.D, the use of poisons fell out of favor in the 18th and 19th century. The British in the Crimean war rejected the use of cacodyl and cyanide shells dismissing them as a bad mode of warfare as they poison the lives of the enemy. In 1862, New York school teacher, John W. Doushty wrote to the US Secretary of war suggesting methods of how to use poisonous gas on the enemy.
The next question that will be answered is how did natural resources limit the use of chemical weapons? The most significant development is the revolution in the life science and related technologies including a growing overlap between Chemistry and Biology. There is an increased understanding of the foundations of biological systems as a result, the mapping of the human and other genomes as well as the advances of the structural biology and the study of proteins. The intersection between Ch...
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...s and the harm they can have on mankind and how they are bad for the world. I talked about some of the history of chemical weapons and how that had impact on the wars back in history and the problems that they incurred back then. I also talked about what the government and organizations are doing to keep chemical weapons out of the picture of warfare and to kill the world and people who live on it.
To keep a chemical war from starting and using weapons of mass destruction from ever happening. This paper also talked about some of the medical breakthroughs with the form of chemical weapons on the people that are sick and to help cure them in ways that the chemical was made to do so. We all hope that the world will not come to us using chemical weapons on each other this is why we try so hard to keep them out of the hands of people that want to cause destruction.
3Brophy, L. (1959). The Chemical Warfare Service (1st ed.). Washington: Office of the Chief of
History has proven the use of chemical weapons ranging back for decades. From the Greeks in ancient Europe using Greek fire to South American tribes using a form of tear gas made of grounded up hot chili peppers to scare away enemy tribes. As well as dipping the tips of spear heads with a poisonous toxin. Poisonous toxins used from live reptiles like frogs and venom from the snakes found from whichever region had enough potency venom to exterminate. The past has proven, that in order for Armies to survive and win, it relied on out smarting the enemy. New technologies and the evolution of weaponry were left to the brightest minds from those eras to develop.
In the years leading to World War II, the United States had a significant concern that the axis forces would likely use toxic gases just as they had during World War I. This fear drove the CWS to begin analyzing and adjusting the stockpiles of chemicals in their facilities. They came to the realization that they would need to have an aggressive plan in order to produce enough chemical weapons to initiate a significant retaliation if the time came. As the timeline progressed, CWS would reorganize their assets to meet the growing needs in production and distribution of chemical weapons.
Though chemical warfare was proven effective and easily produced, the world council decided that it was inhumane to use. In 1972, chemical warfare was ban at the Biological Weapons Convention. At this convention, many country’s leaders voted that it was not right to use these weapons as a way to kill people. The leaders felt that a biological weapon was too dangerous to release. (opbw.org)
Lyell, Lord. "CHEMICAL AND BIOLOGICAL WEAPONS:THE POOR MAN'S BOMB." North Atlantic Assembly AN 255 STC(96) 10. North Atlantic Assembly, 04 Oct. 1996. Web. 26 May 2014.
The French were the first to start experimenting on chemical agents in 1912. They first used it on their people as riot control to capture criminals that who had robbed a bank. They used 26 millimeter grenades filled with chemical agents into the center of the group criminals they were attempting to apprehend. It was not said if it was effective but continued to look into using it for other means. However, the Germans at this time had not been interested in producing any kinds of chemical weapons.
Chemical warfare is the use of chemical agents to injure, incapacitate, or kill enemy combatants. First seen during World War I (WWI), the devastating effects of widespread chemical warfare were eventually deemed inhumane by an international consensus and chemical agents were subsequently banned from use. Still, despite the tendency of the modern warrior to overlook antiquated tactics, the threat of chemical agents in the theater of war cannot be entirely discounted by today's Soldier. By analyzing the application, evolution, and overall legacy of chemical weapons in the Great War we can work to minimize the danger they pose in current conflicts and those of the near future. For it is only by understanding the past that we can understand the present and shape tomorrow.
The swift development of these programs helped prevent the use of chemical weapons in WWII. In 1946 the Chemical War Service was changed to the Chemical Corps and began to refining programs such as smoke and flame. After the United States pledged to destroy its chemical and biological stocks the Chemical Corps had to give itself a new meaning and purpose. So they developed themselves to their final form which changed the mission solely to chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear defense.
Mustard gas was not the only example of chemical weaponry used during World War I. The first example of this was the Germans use of a gas called phosgene in mid-1915, which caused drastic damage to the lungs (Mack 2). The Germans began using mustard gas in 1916 and soon both sides began to use poison gas as a weapon. At a lab at American University, which at its peak employed over 1,200 scientists specifically to create chemical weapons for the war, a new gas called Lewisite was developed. Lewisite poisoned its victims through the skin and rendered gas masks useless against it. During the war as many as 50 different gases were used by both sides (Mack 2). When the war e...
Tu, Anthony. “Chemical Weapons Abandoned by the Imperial Army in Japan and China at the End of World War II.” Toxin Reviews 30.1 (2001): 1-5 Environmental Complete. Web. 15 Apr. 2014.
Chemical weapons have been used throughout the world dating back to 430 BC, when they were used against the Spartans in the Peloponnesian War. Although they were not nearly as harmful as they are now, they still had devastating effects. Very little good has ever come from the use of chemical ...
The use of chemicals in weapons dates back thousands of years, from poison arrows to poisonous fumes. However chemical warfare took a new approach during World War I. The first large scale attack was chlorine in april 1915. World War II brought on a entire new spectrum of chemical weapons and many countries obtained large stockpiles.1There are four different categories in which chemical weapons are organized based on what the effects are. The first category is blister agents which cause blistering of the skin. The second category is choking agents which cause the airway passages in the victim's throat to close resulting in death. The third category is nerve agents which causes damages to the victims nerves. The most recent uses of chemical weapons was on august 21, 2013 in Damascus ,Syria which resulted in numerous casualties.2
Millions have died. Billions are afraid that they may be next. War is the last thing that anyone needs and chemical warfare is todays age. Countries have developed thousands of different chemical weapons, such as adamsite, a sickening agent, tear gas, and malodorants, things that smell so bad that can literally knock you unconscious. There are many downsides to chemical warfare, and even though chemical warfare may have helpful attributes, it will bring the downfall of the human race. This will happen by sickness, terrorism, rebellion, total destruction, and inevitably death. Many believe the same that I do, that if chemical warfare breaks out the whole world could be destroyed.
Pita, R. (2009). Toxin weapons: From World War I to jihadi terrorism. Toxin Reviews, 28(4), 219-237. doi:10.3109/1556950903246136
In the beginning of the 20th century, scientists were experimenting with a wide range of chemicals to develop a method that may affect several diseases in hopes of producing a cure. A German chemist, Paul Ehrlich, who was experimenting treatments of syphilis with chemical methods, created the term “chemotherapy” (Bonander, 2011). It wasn’t until 1943 when the United State’s secret chemical weapon program discovered that nitrogen mustard, also know...