Chemical Warfare in WWI
World War I was beginning of inventing new ways to produce more casualties to the enemy’s force and reduce the probability of losing Soldiers from their own line of defense or offense. They did this by conducting extensive research in chemical warfare. At the same time, it will motivate the troops and win the hearts and minds of the people from their country if they had new ways on ending the war quickly. Chemical warfare affected tactics and techniques of warfare and almost changed the outcome of World War I. (LTG Carl E. Vuono)
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.
On 28 July 1914, the war began with the Allies and Central Powers in Europe. The Allied Powers primarily consisted of Britain, France, Russia, Serbia, Turkey, and later the US and Italy. The Central Powers consisted of Austria-Hungary, Germany, the Ottoman Empire, and Bulgaria.
No one in Europe wanted this war to last because they felt and shared a common belief that the economies of the European nations would not be able to survive a war of this scale. (MAJ (P) Charles E. Heller, USAR) Therefore, Germany started looking into using gas a weapon within keeping in mind of the Declaration on the Use of Projectiles the Object of Which is the Diffusion of Asphyxiating or Deleterious Gases; Ju...
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...d was mustard gas and it is still produced this day in third world countries. There are more lethal chemical weapons today and every country in the world continues to produce, secretly, a more powerful chemical or biological weapon for their own purpose. At the same time, we are continuously trying to improve our protective posture and equipment to handle any situation or mission that is given to us for the greater good of our nation.
Works Cited
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Fries, A. A., & West, C. J. (1921). Chemical warfare,. New York [etc.: McGraw-Hill book company, inc..
Heller, C. E. (1985). Chemical warfare in World War I: the American experience, 1917-1918. Fort Leavenworth, Kan.: Combat Studies Institute, U.S. Army Command and General Staff College ;.
3Brophy, L. (1959). The Chemical Warfare Service (1st ed.). Washington: Office of the Chief of
Trueman, Chris. "Chemical Warfare and World War Two." Chemical Warfare and World War Two. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Nov. 2013. .
B”Heller, C.E (1984). Leavenworth papers No 10. Chemical warfare in world war I. Combat studies institute”.
When we think of weapons that the soldiers used in War World I we think of them as defense. But what is sort of ironic is that the same weapons the soldiers used to protect them selves were the same weapons that killed them. "The development of poison gases took on a new urgency during 1914-18." (http://www.firstworldwar.com/weaponry/index.htm) Poison gas was a lethal or incapacitating gas used as a weapon in warfare. It was used extremely between the years of 1914-1918 in order to torture enemies during war. Another major weapon used during the war was the machine gun. "The machine gun was a fairly primitive device when general war began in August 1914." (http://www.firstworldwar.com/weaponry/index.htm) The machine gun is an automatic weapon that fires rapidly and repeatedly without requiring separate squeezes on the trigger each time. This weapon was one of the most affective weapons and murdered the most enemies. These weapons were similar to the weapons that Remarque described in the novel All Quiet on the Western Front.
Warwick, Hugh. “Agent Orange: The Poisoning of Vietnam.” The Ecologist v28 no. 5. 1998: 264-265.
The two chemical weapons that were used were: nerve agent and mustard gas. Nerve agent has two main classes that are Class G and Class V. Class V is more new, however less fatal. The specific nerve agent used by the Iraqis is Cyclosarin. Cyclosarin is an extremely toxic substance used as a chemical weapon, which is a member of Class G. Cyclosarin is the most dangerous gas out of both classes. It is known to have a sweet smell and is also flammable unlike other nerve gases. Mustard gas on the other hand is yellow and smells like garlic. Both gases cause death in minutes and have long lasting effects. These can include diseases and other horrible problems. Many of these diseases cannot be cured, for the cells have been damaged and cannot be repaired.
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.
Chemical Warfare in WW1: The American Experience, 1917-1918, 10. Retrieved May 18, 2014 from http://www.worldwar1.com/dbc/pdf/chemwarfare.pdf Namazi, S., Niknahad, H., & Razmkhah, H. (2009). Long-term complications of sulphur mustard poisoning in intoxicated Iranian veterans. Journal of Medical Toxicology, 5(4), 191–192. Retrieved from http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA231350837&v=2.1&u=40mwrlib&it=r&p=AONE&sw=w.
Pita, R. (2009). Toxin weapons: From World War I to jihadi terrorism. Toxin Reviews, 28(4), 219-237. doi:10.3109/1556950903246136
Some of these smaller weapons include pistols and rifles. The majority of weapons used in World War II were improved weapons from World War II. Most guns increase in power and abilities. In World War II people thought that pistols were useless, but this was proved wrong due to the fact that the U.S. Military spent a lot of time into making a better sidearm. Pistols were mainly used in emergencies or whenever a soldier ran out of ammunition....
Poison gas was perhaps the most feared weapon out of all. Created to overcome the long stalemate style of trench warfare, its purpose was to draw out soldiers hiding in the trenches. One side would throw the poison gas into the enemy trenches and they would either wait for their enemy to come out into open fire or perish in the trenches. The first poison gas used in battle was chlorine at the start of the Second Battle of Ypres on April 22, 1915 by the Germans. Shortly after, followed the phosgene. The effects of these gases were ghastly. Chlorine was the most deadly as "within seconds of inhaling its vapor, it destroys the victim's respiratory organs, bringing on choking attacks" (Duffy). Phosgene had similar effects, except the fact that the effects started kicking in after 48 hours of inhalation. In September 1917, the Germans introduced the mustard gas or Yperite which was contained in artillery shells against the Russians at Riga. Those exposed t...
From 1914 to 1918, the major powers in Europe were at the war. The war was Germany and Austria- Hungary against France, English, Russia, and later the United States joined. After 4 years of intense war, it finally ended with the Germans surrender. After the war has ended, the countries agreed to sign a peace treaty in 1919. However the treaty contained some major flaws that would eventually result World War 2.
To begin, during World War one Germans first developed poisonous gas and brought them into war by 1915. Chlorine was the first gas brought into trench warfare as a grenade-like projectile. In the beginning of poisonous gas usage, soldiers didn’t know that the poisonous gas existed so the gas cloud unknowingly forming put soldiers into fear and would cause a few casualties. Soon after, France developed phosgene gases that is 18 times more powerful than chlorine gas. In the first appearance of phosgene gas, which was at Ypres, soldiers would get blinded. Germans further developed another gas, mustard gas. Mustard gas was the most brutal and more developed. It was produced in 75 or 105 shells rather than the regular grenade-like projectiles. Mustard gas caused painful blisters internally and externally, burns skin and more. The introduction to mustard gas brought the most disabled soldiers, deaths, terror and overall brought emotional and physical pain to those affected.
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 ...