Indeed, the chemical compound was used by both sides and caused huge physical pains (burns, asphyxia, blindness, skin reactions, breathing system infections and death). Among the most commonly known (and used) gases during WW1, the mustard gas - also known as Yperite – was particularly devastating. The various devices that soldiers could use as a WW1 gas mask were not always efficient enough to protect the soldiers.ĭuring the whole WW1 period, as chemical weapons were being developed, soldiers felt pain, cough up blood, were asphyxiated, suffered from chemical burns, became blind and died from these assaults. WW1 chemical weapons effectsįrom 1914, different chemical weapons used – such as tear gas – released harmful substances that would cause irritations (particularly eye pain), temporary disability, internal and external lesions and could also lead to death. This kind of weapons caused more than 90,000 deaths during the conflict. It is estimated that more than 130,000 tons of chemical weapons were used during WW1. Starting in July 1917, the mustard gas used by the Germans – and then re-synthesized by the French army – caused many casualties on both sides of the front lines until the end of the war.Īll along the First World War, hydrogen cyanide, arsine, bromine, chlorine, phosgene and other chemical elements composed increasingly deadly chemical weapons. In 1916 French shells filled with phosgene provoked heavy losses in German trenches. In September 1915, France launched their first massive gas assault using shells filled with carbon disulfide (highly toxic at high concentration, this product rapidly lost its effectiveness once dispersed in the air). German chemists pursued their researches and conceived a new bromine based substance. In May 1915, assaults using phosgene, chlorine and carbon monoxide mixtures caused more than 600 deaths on the Russian front. And providing a WW1 gas mask to every soldier became a priority. Following this date, research and usage of chemical weapons increased from both sides of the front line. The gas cloud intoxicated about 15,000 soldiers and this chemical attack caused more than 1,000 deaths.
Over 150 tons of pressured chlorine were released and drifted to Allied trenches. Yet, on April 22nd 1915 in Flanders and particularly in the Ypres area, Germany launched the first large scale gas attack. This German attack failed because of the very cold temperature on the Polish front which stifled gas spreading and effects. The escalation of the chemical war is launched in 1915 with the use on East front of gas shells on January 31th. For its part, Germany used its chemical industry to develop weapons with chlorine. WW1 chemical weaponsįrom the beginning of the First World War, chemical weapons were used: in August 1914, the French army used new grenades filled with tear gas (actually created for the Parisian police). Thus the conception of an efficient WW1 gas mask was extremely important. Despite the signature of the Hague Convention in 18, France, Germany and many other countries did not stop their research and did not give up on using these weapons during the First World War. In the early 20th century, the German Empire chemical industry was very developed and this country quickly became a world leader for chemistry and could swiftly develop the chemical weapons that evolved all along the war. Before WW1 started, France also created a suffocating grenade. Yet, at that time, chemical weapons are also being developed and shells filled with sulfur oxide, picric acid or chlorine were used by headquarters. At the end of 19th century, wars – particularly the Crimean War and the American Civil War – privileged production of artillery weapons such as canons. Historians report that poisons (rye ergot, hellebore root, curare) were used in most of wars and military conflicts that occurred through the ages. Since the antiquity, chemical – and biological – weapons have been used in combat.
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