what was the first use of chemical warfare

What country was first to use chemical weapons?

WW I, Belgium in 1915 was the first MAJOR use of chemical weapons in warfare. However, the use of poisons against an enemy is almost as old as mankind's ability to extract them from plants, animals and minerals. 25 insanely cool gadgets selling out quickly in 2021.

What chemical warfare was like during the First World War?

The types of weapons employed ranged from disabling chemicals, such as tear gas, to lethal agents like phosgene, chlorine, and mustard gas. This chemical warfare was a major component of the first global war and first total war of the 20th century.

How many people died from chemical warfare?

How many people have died from chemical warfare? An estimated 100,000–260,000 civilian casualties were caused by chemical weapons during the conflict and tens of thousands (along with military personnel) died from scarring of the lungs, skin damage, and cerebral damage in the years after the conflict ended.

What was true of the use of chemical warfare?

The use of weaponized chemicals is a method that dates back essentially as early as we can trace mankind. Chemical warfare is rooted in the realization that humans can use external compounds and pathogens to cause incapacitation and death in each other. In the 14 century BCE, the Hittites sent infected rams to enemy groups to infect and weaken ...

When was the first chemical warfare used?

22 April 1915Despite these measures, the world witnessed the use of toxic chemicals in warfare to an unprecedented extent during World War I, with the first large-scale attack using chemical weapons taking place at Ieper, Belgium, on 22 April 1915.

What was the first type of chemical warfare used in WWI?

The first significant gas attack occurred at Ypres in April 1915, when the Germans released clouds of poisonous chlorine. The gas inflicted significant casualties among the British and Canadian forces at Ypres and caused widespread panic and confusion amongst the French colonial troops.

Who introduced chemical warfare first?

The German gas warfare program was headed by Fritz Haber (1868 – 1934) whose first try for a weapon was chlorine, which he debuted at Ypres in April 1915. Chlorine is a diatomic gas, about two and a half times denser than air, pale green in color and with an odor which was described as a 'mix of pineapple and pepper'.

When was the use of chemical weapons in warfare introduced?

On April 22, 1915, German forces shock Allied soldiers along the western front by firing more than 150 tons of lethal chlorine gas against two French colonial divisions at Ypres, Belgium.

Who used poison gas first in ww1?

the GermansThe first large-scale use of lethal poison gas on the battlefield was by the Germans on 22 April 1915 during the Battle of Second Ypres.

When was the last time chemical weapons were used?

April 4, 2017: Chemical weapons were used in an attack that killed dozens of people in Syria's northern Idlib province. Initial reports suggest the attack used sarin gas, a nerve agent. The attack is believed to have been perpetrated by the Syrian government, due to the type of aircraft in the area at the time.

What is the deadliest chemical weapon?

VX is the most potent of all nerve agents. Compared with the nerve agent sarin (also known as GB), VX is considered to be much more toxic by entry through the skin and somewhat more toxic by inhalation.

What toxic gas is yellow?

When liquid phosgene is released, it quickly turns into a gas that stays close to the ground and spreads rapidly. Phosgene gas may appear colorless or as a white to pale yellow cloud.

Why was mustard gas banned?

At the dawn of the 20th century, the world's military powers worried that future wars would be decided by chemistry as much as artillery, so they signed a pact at the Hague Convention of 1899 to ban the use of poison-laden projectiles "the sole object of which is the diffusion of asphyxiating or deleterious gases."

Which country has the most chemical weapons?

RussiaState declaration: Russia possessed the world's largest chemical weapons stockpile: approximately 40,000 metric tons of chemical agent, including VX, sarin, soman, mustard, lewisite, mustard-lewisite mixtures, and phosgene. Russia has declared its arsenal to the OPCW and commenced destruction.

Does urine neutralize chlorine gas?

Lacking gas masks, they improvised by urinating on cloths and holding them to their faces. The ammonia in the urine neutralized the chlorine gas.

What does nerve agent do to the body?

What do they do to the body? Nerve agents disrupt normal messaging from the nerves to the muscles. This causes muscles to become paralysed and can lead to the loss of many bodily functions. Agents will act within seconds or minutes if inhaled and slightly more slowly if exposure is the result of skin contamination.

What is the oldest chemical warfare?

We often think of World War I as the start-point for the use of chemical warfare, but the earliest known case of a chemical incendiary being used to create a poison gas took place in 429BC. During the siege of Plataea1, Spartan soldiers built a substantial woodpile outside the city wall.

What was first introduced in ww1?

World War I has also been referred to as “the first modern war.” Many of the technologies now associated with military conflict—machine guns, tanks, aerial combat and radio communications—were introduced on a massive scale during World War I.

How was poison gas used in World war 1?

On April 22, 1915 at 5 p.m. a wave of asphyxiating gas released from cylinders embedded in the ground by German specialist troops smothered the Allied line on the northern end of the Ypres salient, causing panic and a struggle to survive a new form of weapon.

What kind of gas was used in WWI?

The Deadly Toll of Phosgene and Mustard Gas 1915. While chlorine gas could kill in concentrated amounts, it was more or less neutralized with the widespread deployment of gas masks by 1917. By that point, however, both sides had discovered far more fatal and crueler chemicals: phosgene and mustard gas.

Ancient and medieval times

Ancient Greek myths about Hercules poisoning his arrows with the venom of the Hydra monster are the earliest references to toxic weapons in western literature. Homer's epics, the Iliad and the Odyssey, allude to poisoned arrows used by both sides in the legendary Trojan War ( Bronze Age Greece).

Early modern era

Christoph Bernhard von Galen tried to use toxic fumes during the siege of the city of Groningen in 1672.

Industrial era

Lyon Playfair proposed the industrial manufacture of cyanide artillery shells for use during the Crimean War.

World War I

The Hague Declaration of 1899 and the Hague Convention of 1907 prohibit the firing of any projectiles "the sole object of which is the diffusion of asphyxiating or deleterious gases." Germany exploited this loophole by opening canisters filled with poison gas into the wind and letting it carry it towards the enemy lines, instead of launching it in artillery rounds..

Interwar years

Between World War I and World War II, chemical agents were occasionally used to subdue populations and suppress rebellion.

World War II

Despite the 1899 Hague Declaration IV, 2 – Declaration on the Use of Projectiles the Object of Which is the Diffusion of Asphyxiating or Deleterious Gases, Article 23 (a) of the 1907 Hague Convention IV – The Laws and Customs of War on Land, and a resolution adopted against Japan by the League of Nations on May 14, 1938, the Imperial Japanese Army frequently used chemical weapons.

Post-World War II

After World War II, the Allies recovered German artillery shells containing the three German nerve agents of the day ( tabun, sarin, and soman ), prompting further research into nerve agents by all of the former Allies.

When did chemical warfare begin?

Simple chemical weapons were used sporadically throughout antiquity and into the Industrial age. It was not until the 19th century that the modern conception of chemical warfare emerged, as various scientists and nations proposed the use of asphyxiating or poisonous gasses.

Where were chemical weapons used?

The study of chemicals and their military uses was widespread in China and India. The use of toxic materials has historically been viewed with mixed emotions and moral qualms in the West. The practical and ethical problems surrounding poison warfare appeared in ancient Greek myths about Hercules' invention of poison arrows and Odysseus's use of toxic projectiles. There are many instances of the use of chemical weapons in battles documented in Greek and Roman historical texts; the earliest example was the deliberate poisoning of Kirrha's water supply with hellebore in the First Sacred War, Greece, about 590 BC.

How many chemical weapons depots were destroyed in 2012?

As of 2012, stockpiles have been eliminated at 7 of the 9 chemical weapons depots and 89.75% of the 1997 stockpile has been destroyed by the treaty deadline of April 2012. Destruction will not begin at the two remaining depots until after the treaty deadline and will use neutralization, instead of incineration.

Why was chlorine used in the trenches?

The development of chlorine gas, among others, was used by both sides to try to break the stalemate of trench warfare. Though largely ineffective over the long run, it decidedly changed the nature of the war. In many cases the gasses used did not kill, but instead horribly maimed, injured, or disfigured casualties.

Why was napalm used in the Korean War?

Incendiary or explosive chemicals (such as napalm, extensively used by the United States during the Korean War and the Vietnam War, or dynamite) because their destructive effects are primarily due to fire or explosive force, and not direct chemical action. Their use is classified as conventional warfare.

How many chemicals were used in the 20th century?

See also: List of chemical warfare agents. The chemical used in warfare is called a chemical warfare agent ( CWA ). About 70 different chemicals have been used or stockpiled as chemical warfare agents during the 20th and 21st centuries. These agents may be in liquid, gas or solid form.

Why are chemical agents volatile?

Many chemical agents are made volatile so they can be dispersed over a large region quickly. The earliest target of chemical warfare agent research was not toxicity, but development of agents that can affect a target through the skin and clothing, rendering protective gas masks useless.

Who started the chemical warfare?

Fritz Haber originally started the Chemical Warfare in 1914. This article discusses how it proceeded from there into the World War I, what chemicals were used, and how it affected the soldiers. The history of Chemical Warfare traces down to Fritz Haber , who used it for Germany during the First World War. A world-famous chemist, Haber used his ...

When did the chemical war begin?

The Beginning of Chemical Warfare: Important Events of World War 1. Fritz Haber originally started the Chemical Warfare in 1914. This article discusses how it proceeded from there into the World War I, what chemicals were used, and how it affected the soldiers. Home / Uncategorized / The Beginning of Chemical Warfare: Important Events ...

What was the chemical used in the war?

So, Haber began experimenting with various toxins and chemicals suitable for use in the war, and focused on the chlorine gas (diatomic chlorine), which was used in the dye industries.

What gas did the Germans use to attack the British?

Use of Phosgene. On 9 December, 1915, with the winds again in their favor, the Germans launched another gas attack on the Allied lines, this time against the British at Ypres, in Belgium. They used chlorine and a new gas, “phosgene”. Phosgene was another toxic chemical initiated by Haber and his company.

What is the chemical name for mustard gas?

2) Blistering agents, consisting of several different forms of mustard gas. The original German chemical agent was “sulfur mustard”, but after the war, “nitrogen mustard” agents were synthesized and manufactured as well. Nitrogen mustard was easier to manufacture and more persistent than sulfur mustard.

How long did it take for a German prisoner to die from phosgene?

There is a story of a German prisoner who had been attacked with phosgene and mocked his captors for the ineffectiveness of their gases. He was dead within 24 hours. Fortunately, the British were ready for phosgene and prepared a new and improved Phelmet, which decreased their own casualties tremendously.

How many classes of agents were created during the war?

However, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1919 for his prewar development of the Haber process. To summarize, we can say that four classes of agents were created during the war.

When did the Germans use chemical weapons?

The first massive use of chemical weapons in that conflict came when the Germans released chlorine gas from thousands of cylinders along a 6-km (4-mile) front at Ypres, Belgium, on April 22, 1915 , creating a wind-borne chemical cloud that opened a major breach in the lines of the unprepared French and Algerian units.

Why are chemical weapons used?

Chemical weapons are chemical agents, whether gaseous, liquid, or solid, that are employed because of their direct toxic effects on humans, animals, and plants. They inflict damage when inhaled, absorbed through the skin, or ingested in food or drink. Chemical agents become weapons when they are placed into artillery shells, land mines, aerial bombs, missile warheads, mortar shells, grenades, spray tanks, or any other means of delivering the agents to designated targets.

What are the types of chemical weapons?

These include choking agents, blister agents, blood agents, nerve agents, incapacitants, riot-control agents, and herbicides.

How long does it take for a gas mask to work?

The effect of the chemical agent, once an individual is exposed to the vapour, may be immediate or can take up to three hours. A good protective gas mask is the best defense against choking agents. trench warfare. French troops wearing gas masks await attack in a trench on the Western Front during World War I.

What must a chemical be able to withstand?

Furthermore, the chemical must be able to withstand the heat developed when delivered in a bursting shell, bomb, mine, or warhead. Finally, it must be resistant to water and oxygen in the atmosphere in order to be effective when dispersed.

What happened during the Cold War?

The United States and the Soviet Union, during their decades of confrontation in the Cold War (1945–91), built up enormous stockpiles of chemical weapons. The end of the Cold War enabled those former adversaries to agree to ban all chemical weapons of the types that had been developed during World War I (first generation), ...

Can poisonous substances be used as weapons?

Subscribe Now. Not all poisonous substances are considered suitable for weaponization, or use as chemical weapons. Thousands of such chemical compounds exist, but only a few dozen have been used as chemical warfare agents since 1900. The compounds of most utility must be highly toxic but not too difficult to handle.

When were chemical weapons first used?

The use of toxic chemicals as weapons dates back thousands of years, but the first large scale use of chemical weapons was during World War I. They were primarily used to demoralize, injure, and kill entrenched defenders, against whom the indiscriminate ...

How many wars have chemical weapons been used in?

Chemical weapons have been used in at least a dozen wars since the end of the First World War; they were not used in combat on a large scale until Iraq used mustard gas and the more deadly nerve agents in the Halabja chemical attack near the end of the 8-year Iran–Iraq War.

What was the first chemical used to kill?

Instead of vaporizing, the chemical froze and failed to have the desired effect. The first killing agent was chlorine, used by the German military. Chlorine is a powerful irritant that can inflict damage to the eyes, nose, throat and lungs.

What were the weapons used in the first global war?

The types of weapons employed ranged from disabling chemicals, such as tear gas, to lethal agents like phosgene, chlorine, and mustard gas . This chemical warfare was a major component of the first global war and first total war of the 20th century.

How did the gas cloud affect the war?

The distribution of gas cloud casualties was not limited to the front. Nearby towns were at risk from winds blowing the poison gases through. Civilians rarely had a warning system to alert their neighbours of the danger and often did not have access to effective gas masks. When the gas came to the towns it could easily get into houses through open windows and doors. An estimated 100,000–260,000 civilian casualties were caused by chemical weapons during the conflict and tens of thousands (along with military personnel) died from scarring of the lungs, skin damage, and cerebral damage in the years after the conflict ended. Many commanders on both sides knew that such weapons would cause major harm to civilians as wind would blow poison gases into nearby civilian towns but nonetheless continued to use them throughout the war. British Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig wrote in his diary: "My officers and I were aware that such weapon would cause harm to women and children living in nearby towns, as strong winds were common on the battlefront. However, because the weapon was to be directed against the enemy, none of us were overly concerned at all."

How many people died in the Iranian war?

The full conflict's use of such weaponry killed around 20,000 Iranian troops (and injured another 80,000), around a quarter of the number of deaths caused by chemical weapons during the First World War.

What was the chemist's war?

The widespread use of these agents of chemical warfare, and wartime advances in the composition of high explosives, gave rise to an occasionally expressed view of World War I as "the chemist's war" and also the era where weapons of mass destruction were created. The use of poison gas by all major belligerents throughout World War I constituted war ...

When did chemical warfare start?

But though proposals to use newly produced chemicals like chlorine, sulfur and cyanide in warfare abounded—and the non-American attendees of the Hague Convention were worried enough about its destructive potential to forbid it in 1899 and 1907—industrial chemical warfare didn’t make its debut until the First World War.

What chemical warfare agents were used in the Vietnam War?

The international community was shocked by the Holocaust and seemingly committed to halting the use of chemical warfare agents. However, innovation and testing continued during the 20th century. Over the years, the U.S. developed and stockpiled nerve agents like ricin and used herbicides like Agent Orange —most notoriously in the Vietnam War —in defiance of the Geneva Protocol.

How long does it take for a chemical weapon to be confirmed?

It can take months for investigators to confirm the use of a nerve agent or poison gas, and investigations in Syria have been ongoing since the first attack in 2013. “Chemical weapons are really shifty from an evidence standpoint,” says Fitzgerald. Because they dissipate quickly and must be confirmed via autopsy, gases like chlorine provide plausible deniability for the leaders who choose to use them. And despite international outcries against their use, today their most successful use is against civilians who have no idea they’re coming.

What president said that chemical warfare was outlawed?

“Use of such weapons has been outlawed by the general opinion of civilized mankind,” said President Franklin D. Roosevelt in a 1943 address in response to a report that the Axis powers were contemplating the use of poison gas. “I state categorically that we shall ...

Why did medieval warriors use sulfur?

Medieval warriors used substances like sulfur to distract and disgust their enemies, but a lack of technological prowess made it impossible to manufacture or amass a consistent stockpile of effective chemical weapons. pinterest-pin-it.

What weapons did Iraq use in the 1980s?

In the 1980s, Iraq used tabun, a nerve agent, and other chemical weapons against Iran and Iraqi Kurds during the Iran-Iraq War. pinterest-pin-it. A mother and father weep over their child’s body who was killed in a suspected chemical weapons attack on the Damascus suburb of Ghouta, in August 21, 2013.

What chemical weapons were used in the 1980s?

In the 1980s, Iraq used tabun, a nerve agent, and other chemical weapons against Iran and Iraqi Kurds during ...

Why was chemical warfare a battlefield reality?

Once chemical warfare was a battlefield reality, to protect our Military Forces on the battlefield and to ensure they had the capabilities needed to defeat our nation’s adversaries , the United States developed several research and development facilities, chemical and filling plants, proving grounds, and chemical training areas. ...

What was the Army's name for the chemical warfare organization?

The Army did continue some Technical Services, including the CWS, as part of the post-war Regular Army. One recognition of the need for a chemical warfare organization with the Army was Public Law 607, enacted on August 2, 1946, changing the name of the CWS to the U.S. Army Chemical Corps. Production and Disposal.

What was the major challenge faced by the United States in 1917?

The United States faced major challenges in establishing large-scale production facilities for chemical agents, chemical-filled shells, and the machinery for filling the shells. In February 1917, the U.S. Bureau of Mines offered assistance to the War Department (predecessor to DoD).

Where were the CWS facilities built?

The CWS built new arsenals in Huntsville, Alabama; Pine Bluff, Arkansas; and Denver, Colorado, and established the Dugway Proving Ground in western Utah. In addition to military facilities, the CWS set up many commercial suppliers, including, factories in Columbus, Ohio, Kansas City, Missouri, and New Cumberland, Pennsylvania, which made protective clothing; plants at Zanesville and Fostoria, Ohio, produced charcoal-filters; and impregnate (used to make clothing impermeable to chemical agents) factories were set up at East St. Louis, Illinois, Midland, Michigan, and Niagara Falls, New York.

When was the CWC ratified?

In 1997 , the U.S. Senate ratified the CWC, subject to a series of specific limitations. Complete details on the U.S. ratification, the implementing statutes and regulations, and the requirements for reporting and verification are available at the United States Chemical Weapons Convention Website.

When was the M1 mortar invented?

In 1928 , the United States introduced the model M1 4.2-inch Chemical Mortar. The M1 mortar projectiles could be filled with any one of a number of compounds including high explosive (HE) (trinitrotoluene [TNT]), a chemical agent (e.g., distilled mustard (HD) and smoke/obsurant (e.g., WP) variants.

When was tear gas first used?

The concentrations achieved in the field were reportedly so small that the use of the chemicals went largely unnoticed. The Battle of Bolimóv on January 31, 1915, saw the first large-scale use of tear gas, when German forces fired some 18,000 shells containing liquid xylyl bromide tear gas at Russian positions.

Know Your World War I Chemical Weapons

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Timeline

Terrible Ingenuity

The Dark Side of British Chemical-Weapons Research

Overview

Chemical weapons have been a part of warfare in most societies, although their use has been particularly controversial since the 20th century.

Ancient and medieval times

Early modern era

Industrial era

World War I

Interwar years

World War II

Post-World War II

Overview

Definition

History

Technology

Sociopolitical climate

Chemical weapons destruction

Anti-agriculture

See also

Introducing The Gas to The Germans

Maiden Usage

Effects of The Gas

Retaliation

Use of Phosgene

• On 9 December, 1915, with the winds again in their favor, the Germans launched another gas attack on the Allied lines, this time against the British at Ypres, in Belgium. They used chlorine and a new gas, “phosgene”. Phosgene was another toxic chemical initiated by Haber and his company. It had a specific destructive interaction with the lung tissu...

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The Livens Projector

Effects of The Projector

Finally, The End