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. Though biological weapons have been available for under a century, there is a long history of their use between 1914 and 1972. Chemical warfare was first introduced in 1914 at the beginning of World War I. Because of the new style of warfare with automatic weapons, trenches were dug out from the ground to defend against a slaughter. The introduction of this issue caused us to invent weapons such as the grenade, flame thrower, and finally, biological weapons. Biological weapons were distributed by hoses, grenades, and aerial attacks. By doing this, we eliminated many enemy trenches and saved a large amount of Ally lives. (Menace) 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) After many years, people began to see many long term effects that w... ... middle of paper ... ...ive and more powerful if these weapons were in action. With these facts stated, I believe that chemical warfare should be un-ban and affectively used in today’s warfare. Works Cited "Chemical Warfare." Spartacus Educational. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 May 2010. "Chemical Warfare Agents - Resources on the health effects from chemical weapons, emergency response & treatment, counterterrorism, and emergency preparedness.au.af." Specialized Information Services - Reliable information on toxicology, environmental health, chemistry, HIV/AIDS, and minority health. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 May 2010. "Federation of American Scientists :: Types of Chemical Weapons." Federation of American Scientists. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 May 2010.
Looking back at how the chemical weaponry expanded starting in the beginning of World War 1, it all began with Tear gas which was used by the French in August of 1914. Those techniques have been used in ancient times. Moving forward eight months in to the war the Germans have been giving great study in to the development of chemical weapons due to the first usage from the French and witnessed its great effectiveness and were the first to use it in a large scale.
Trueman, Chris. "Chemical Warfare and World War Two." Chemical Warfare and World War Two. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Nov. 2013. .
Chemical Warfare in WWI World War I was beginning to invent 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 of their country if they had new ways of 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.
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...
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.
Chemical warfare has been used in war for thousands of years as a means to lethally fight the battle. Just to give a few examples of the devastation, chlorine and phosgene gases were used during World War I and were dispensed from canisters causing around 90,000 deaths and over one million casualties during war (Mass, 2013). Apparatus for dispensing these weapons developed tremendously during the first half of the twentieth century, increasing these weapons’ alarming ability to kill. The United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War maintained massive stockpiles of chemical weapons enough to eliminate a large amount of the human race and animal life on Earth. In 1980, Iraq used chemical weapons on Iran during war and in 1988; Iraq used mustard gas and nerve agents on the Kurdish civilians in Northern Iraq. Pictures of the horrific attack on the Kurdish civilians were released and the world was stunned by the horrendous devastation.
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.
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
Chemical weapons date back the Peloponnesian war of 428-424 BC when they were used against the Spartans; the chemicals used were incendiary devices and sulfur-based gases that were blown by the wind onto besieged cities. The chemical weapons used then aren't nearly as deadly as those used in more recent times such as mustard gas, they were more to cause there enemies to retreat. There have been many incidents in history in which chemical weapons have been used as I have found in two articles on the history of chemical weapons. The articles I found are "A Short History of Chemical Weapons", and "Creating the Faith: The Canadian Gas Services in the First World War".
Vogel, Lauren. "WHO Releases Guidelines for Treating Chemical Warfare Victims after Possible Syria Attacks." CMAJ: Canadian Medical Association Journal 1 Oct. 2013: E665. Science in Context. Web. 3 Apr. 2
In conclusion, it is clear that a biological weapon is wrong. When Saddam Hussein threatened to turn the Persian Gulf War into “the mother of all wars” the world shook with the possible implications. The United States managed to divert the course of the war such as this did not happen. In other situation these results have not been as successful, unfortunately, and many people have suffered and died. I hope that civilization is moving towards total illumination of biological weaponry.
The impact of the war was soon to leave a mark in history. The use of chemical weapons adversel...
Most biological agents are dispersed in aerosol form. They can be sprayed from a small cylinder with compressed air, spread by guided missiles, dispersed as a powder from aircraft, or used in a cluster of bombs. The danger is the potential for these biological agents, if successful in infecting a population, can be spread quickly. The U.S. Navy tested the effectiveness of Biological weapons on a metropolis in November of 1950. They released harmless bacteria off the California coast, sufficient to contaminate 117 squar...