For the first time in that war, tear gas ethyl bromoacetate was used by the French in August 1914, grenades were filled with poisonous filling. Then they also used chloroacetone. In the spring of the following year, the Germans in the battles for the French village of Neuve Chapelle used shells, partly filled with a chemical destroyer, but due to the low concentration of the gas, the damaging effect of this attack was minimal.
The first shelling of Russian positions with xylyl bromide shells was carried out by the Germans in January 1915 in the battle near the Polish city of Bolimov. There was a severe frost, so the gas did not evaporate, and it was not possible to achieve a damaging effect.
In April 1915, the Germans sprayed over 160 tons of chlorine against the Entente troops near the Belgian city of Ypres, and then, in 1917, mustard gas was used there for the first time in history. The losses of the Entente were colossal - 250 thousand people were killed, a fifth of whom did not even have time to bury.
In August 1915, on the Eastern Front, during the defense of the Osovets fortress (Poland) by the Russians, a counterattack of the defenders took place, which in history was called the “attack of the dead”. The Germans, along with conventional shells, bombarded the fortress with chloropicrin charges. Over one and a half thousand defenders of Osovets were out of order as a result. The remnants of the Russian units launched a counterattack. The Germans, seeing the gassed, mutilated, furious defenders of the fortress, fled in panic, not accepting the battle.
The first gas attack in World War I was, in short, organized by the French. But poisonous substances were first used by the German military.
For various reasons, in particular the use of new types of weapons, the First World War, which was planned to end in a few months, quickly escalated into a positional, "trench" conflict. Similar fighting could go on for as long as you like. In order to somehow change the situation and lure the enemy out of the trenches and break through the front, all kinds of chemical weapons began to be used.
It was gases that became one of the reasons for the huge number of victims in the First World War.
First experience
Already in August 1914, almost in the first days of the war, the French in one of the battles used grenades filled with ethyl bromoacetate (tear gas). They did not cause poisoning, but for some time they were able to disorient the enemy. In fact, this was the first combat gas attack.
After the reserves of this gas were depleted, the French troops began to use chloroacetate.
The Germans, who very quickly adopted best practices and what could contribute to the implementation of their plans, took this method of fighting the enemy into service. In October of the same year, they tried to use chemical irritant shells against the British military near the village of Neuve Chapelle. But the low concentration of the substance in the shells did not give the expected effect.
From annoying to poisonous
April 22, 1915. This day, in short, went down in history as one of the darkest days of the First World War. It was then that the German troops carried out the first mass gas attack using not an irritant, but a poisonous substance. Now their goal was not to disorientate and immobilize the enemy, but to destroy him.
It happened on the banks of the river Ypres. 168 tons of chlorine were released by the German military into the air, towards the location of the French troops. A poisonous greenish cloud, followed by German soldiers in special gauze bandages, horrified the Franco-English army. Many fled, giving up their positions without a fight. Others, inhaling the poisoned air, fell dead. As a result, more than 15,000 people were injured that day, 5,000 of whom died, and a gap more than 3 km wide was formed in the front. True, the Germans could not take advantage of the advantage gained. Afraid to advance, having no reserves, they allowed the British and French to re-fill the gap.
After that, the Germans repeatedly tried to repeat their so successful first experience. However, none of the subsequent gas attacks brought such an effect and so many victims, since now all troops were supplied with personal protective equipment against gases.
In response to Germany's actions at Ypres, the entire world community immediately protested, but it was no longer possible to stop the use of gases.
On the Eastern Front, the Germans also did not fail to use their new weapons against the Russian army. It happened on the river Ravka. As a result of the gas attack, about 8 thousand soldiers of the Russian imperial army were poisoned here, more than a quarter of them died from poisoning in the next day after the attack.
It is noteworthy that at first sharply condemning Germany, after some time almost all Entente countries began to use chemical poisonous substances.
Chemical weapons are one of three types weapons of mass destruction (the other 2 types are bacteriological and nuclear weapons). Kills people with the help of toxins in gas cylinders.
History of chemical weapons
Chemical weapons began to be used by man a very long time ago - long before the Copper Age. Then people used a bow with poisoned arrows. After all, it is much easier to use poison, which will surely slowly kill the beast, than to run after it.
The first toxins were extracted from plants - a person received it from varieties of the acocanthera plant. This poison causes cardiac arrest.
With the advent of civilizations, prohibitions on the use of the first chemical weapons began, but these prohibitions were violated - Alexander the Great used all the chemicals known at that time in the war against India. His soldiers poisoned water wells and food stores. AT ancient greece used the roots of ground earth to poison wells.
In the second half of the Middle Ages, alchemy, the forerunner of chemistry, began to develop rapidly. Acrid smoke began to appear, driving away the enemy.
First use of chemical weapons
The French were the first to use chemical weapons. This happened at the beginning of the First World War. They say safety rules are written in blood. Safety rules for the use of chemical weapons are no exception. At first, there were no rules, there was only one piece of advice - when throwing grenades filled with poisonous gases, it is necessary to take into account the direction of the wind. There were also no specific, tested substances that were 100% killing people. There were gases that did not kill, but simply caused hallucinations or mild suffocation.
April 22, 1915 German armed forces mustard gas was used. This substance is very toxic: it severely injures the mucous membrane of the eye, respiratory organs. After the use of mustard gas, the French and Germans lost about 100-120 thousand people. And during the entire First World War, 1.5 million people died from chemical weapons.
In the first 50 years of the 20th century, chemical weapons were used everywhere - against uprisings, riots and civilians.
The main poisonous substances
Sarin. Sarin was discovered in 1937. The discovery of sarin happened by accident - German chemist Gerhard Schrader was trying to create a stronger chemical against pests in agriculture. Sarin is a liquid. Acts on nervous system.
Soman. Soman was discovered by Richard Kunn in 1944. Very similar to sarin, but more poisonous - two and a half times more than sarin.
After the Second World War, the research and production of chemical weapons by the Germans became known. All research classified as "secret" became known to the allies.
VX. In 1955, VX was opened in England. The most poisonous chemical weapon created artificially.
At the first sign of poisoning, you need to act quickly, otherwise death will occur in about a quarter of an hour. Protective equipment is a gas mask, OZK (combined arms protective kit).
VR. Developed in 1964 in the USSR, it is an analogue of the VX.
In addition to highly toxic gases, gases were also produced to disperse crowds of rioters. These are tear and pepper gases.
In the second half of the twentieth century, more precisely from the beginning of 1960 to the end of the 1970s, there was a flourishing of discoveries and developments of chemical weapons. During this period, gases began to be invented that had a short-term effect on the human psyche.
Chemical weapons today
Currently, most chemical weapons are prohibited by the 1993 Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on Their Destruction.
The classification of poisons depends on the danger posed by the chemical:
- The first group includes all the poisons that have ever been in the arsenal of countries. Countries are prohibited from storing any chemicals from this group in excess of 1 ton. If the weight is more than 100g, the control committee must be notified.
- The second group is substances that can be used both for military purposes and in peaceful production.
- The third group includes substances that are used in large quantities in productions. If the production produces more than thirty tons per year, it must be registered in the control register.
First aid for poisoning with chemically hazardous substances
The use of poisonous gases in World War I was a major military innovation. Poisons ranged from the merely harmful (such as tear gas) to the deadly poisonous, such as chlorine and phosgene. Chemical weapons are one of the main ones in the First World War and in total throughout the 20th century. The lethal potential of the gas was limited - only 4% of deaths from the total number of those affected. However, the proportion of non-fatal cases was high, and the gas remained one of the main hazards to soldiers. Since it became possible to develop effective countermeasures against gas attacks, unlike most other weapons of this period, its effectiveness began to decline in the later stages of the war, and it almost fell out of circulation. But due to the fact that toxic substances were first used in the First World War, it was also sometimes called the "war of chemists."
History of Poison Gases 1914
At the beginning of use chemical substances the weapons were lachrymal irritants, not lethal ones. During the First World War, the French became the first to use gas using 26 mm grenades filled with tear gas (ethyl bromoacetate) in August 1914. However, the Allied stocks of ethyl bromoacetate quickly ran out, and the French administration replaced it with another agent, chloroacetone. In October 1914, German troops opened fire with shells partially filled with a chemical irritant against British positions on the Neuve Chapelle, despite the concentration achieved being so low as to be barely noticeable.
1915: widespread deadly gases
Germany was the first to use gas as a weapon of mass destruction on a large scale during World War I against Russia.
The first poison gas used by the German military was chlorine. The German chemical companies BASF, Hoechst and Bayer (which formed the IG Farben conglomerate in 1925) produced chlorine as a by-product of dye production. In collaboration with Fritz Haber of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute in Berlin, they began developing methods for applying chlorine against enemy trenches.
By April 22, 1915, the German army had sprayed 168 tons of chlorine near the Ypres River. At 17:00 a weak east wind blew and the gas began to spray, it moved towards the French positions, forming clouds yellowish green color. It should be noted that the German infantry also suffered from the gas and, lacking sufficient reinforcements, could not use the advantage gained until the arrival of British-Canadian reinforcements. The Entente immediately declared that Germany had violated the principles of international law, but Berlin countered this statement by saying that the Hague Convention prohibits only the use of poisonous projectiles, but not gases.
After the Battle of Ypres, poison gases were used by Germany several more times: on April 24 against the 1st Canadian Division, on May 2 near the Mousetrap Farm, on May 5 against the British and on August 6 against the defenders of the Russian fortress of Osovets. On May 5, 90 people immediately died in the trenches; of the 207 admitted to field hospitals, 46 died on the same day, and 12 after prolonged torment. Against the Russian army, the action of gases, however, was not effective enough: despite serious losses, the Russian army threw the Germans back from Osovets. The counterattack of the Russian troops was called in European historiography as an "attack of the dead": according to many historians and witnesses of those battles, Russian soldiers by their appearance alone (many were disfigured after shelling with chemical shells) plunged the German soldiers into shock and total panic:
“Every living thing in the open air on the bridgehead of the fortress was poisoned to death,” recalled a member of the defense. - All the greenery in the fortress and in the nearest area along the path of the gases was destroyed, the leaves on the trees turned yellow, curled up and fell off, the grass turned black and lay on the ground, the flower petals flew around. All copper objects on the bridgehead of the fortress - parts of guns and shells, washbasins, tanks, etc. - were covered with a thick green layer of chlorine oxide; food items stored without hermetic sealing - meat, butter, lard, vegetables, turned out to be poisoned and unfit for consumption.
“The half-poisoned wandered back,” this is another author, “and, tormented by thirst, bent down to the sources of water, but here the gases lingered in low places, and secondary poisoning led to death.”
In the early April morning of 1915, a light breeze blew from the side of the German positions that opposed the line of defense of the Entente troops twenty kilometers from the city of Ypres (Belgium). Together with him, a dense yellowish-green cloud suddenly appeared in the direction of the Allied trenches. At that moment, few people knew that it was the breath of death, and, in the stingy language of front-line reports, the first use of chemical weapons on Western front.
Tears before death
To be absolutely precise, the use of chemical weapons began in 1914, and the French came up with this disastrous initiative. But then ethyl bromoacetate, which belongs to the group of chemicals of an irritant effect, and not a lethal one, was put into use. They were filled with 26-mm grenades, which fired at the German trenches. When the supply of this gas came to an end, it was replaced with chloroacetone, similar in effect.
In response to this, the Germans, who also did not consider themselves obliged to comply with the generally accepted legal norms enshrined in the Hague Convention, at the Battle of Neuve Chapelle, held in October of the same year, fired at the British with shells filled with a chemical irritant. However, at that time they failed to reach its dangerous concentration.
Thus, in April 1915, there was not the first case of the use of chemical weapons, but, unlike the previous ones, the lethal chlorine gas was used to destroy the enemy's manpower. The result of the attack was stunning. One hundred and eighty tons of sprayed killed five thousand soldiers of the allied forces and another ten thousand became disabled as a result of the resulting poisoning. By the way, the Germans themselves suffered. The death-bearing cloud touched their position with its edge, the defenders of which were not fully provided with gas masks. In the history of the war, this episode was designated "a black day at Ypres."
Further use of chemical weapons in World War I
Wanting to build on success, the Germans repeated a chemical attack in the Warsaw region a week later, this time against Russian army. And here death got a plentiful harvest - more than a thousand two hundred killed and several thousand left crippled. Naturally, the Entente countries tried to protest against such a gross violation of the principles of international law, but Berlin cynically declared that the 1896 Hague Convention only mentions poisonous projectiles, and not gases per se. To them, to admit, they did not try to object - the war always crosses out the works of diplomats.
The specifics of that terrible war
As military historians have repeatedly emphasized, in the First world war positional tactics were widely used, in which solid front lines were clearly marked, distinguished by stability, density of troop concentration and high engineering and technical support.
This largely reduced the effectiveness of offensive operations, since both sides met with resistance from the powerful defense of the enemy. The only way out of the impasse could be an unconventional tactical solution, which was the first use of chemical weapons.
New war crimes page
The use of chemical weapons in World War I was a major innovation. The range of its influence on a person was very wide. As can be seen from the episodes of the First World War cited above, it ranged from harmful, which was caused by chloracetone, ethyl bromoacetate and a number of others that had an irritant effect, to deadly - phosgene, chlorine and mustard gas.
Despite the fact that statistics show the relatively limited lethal potential of the gas (of the total number of those affected - only 5% of deaths), the number of dead and maimed was enormous. This gives the right to assert that the first use of chemical weapons opened a new page of war crimes in the history of mankind.
In the later stages of the war, both sides managed to develop and put into use enough effective means protection against enemy chemical attacks. This made the use of poisonous substances less effective, and gradually led to the abandonment of their use. However, it was the period from 1914 to 1918 that went down in history as the "war of chemists", since the first use of chemical weapons in the world took place on its battlefields.
The tragedy of the defenders of the Osovets fortress
However, let us return to the chronicle of military operations of that period. At the beginning of May 1915, the Germans launched a target against the Russian units defending the Osovets fortress, located fifty kilometers from Bialystok (present-day Poland). According to eyewitnesses, after a long shelling with deadly substances, among which several of their types were used at once, all life was poisoned at a considerable distance.
Not only people and animals that fell into the shelling zone died, but all vegetation was destroyed. The leaves of the trees turned yellow and crumbled before our eyes, and the grass turned black and fell to the ground. The picture was truly apocalyptic and did not fit into the consciousness of a normal person.
But, of course, the defenders of the citadel suffered the most. Even those of them who escaped death, for the most part, received severe chemical burns and were terribly mutilated. It is no coincidence that they appearance inspired such horror on the enemy that the counterattack of the Russians, who eventually threw the enemy back from the fortress, entered the history of the war under the name "attack of the dead".
Development and use of phosgene
The first use of chemical weapons revealed a significant number of their technical shortcomings, which were eliminated in 1915 by a group of French chemists led by Victor Grignard. The result of their research was a new generation of deadly gas - phosgene.
Absolutely colorless, in contrast to the greenish-yellow chlorine, it betrayed its presence only with a barely perceptible smell of moldy hay, which made it difficult to detect. Compared to its predecessor, the novelty had greater toxicity, but at the same time had certain disadvantages.
Symptoms of poisoning, and even the death of the victims, did not occur immediately, but a day after the gas entered the respiratory tract. This allowed the poisoned and often doomed soldiers to participate in hostilities for a long time. In addition, phosgene was very heavy, and to increase mobility it had to be mixed with the same chlorine. This infernal mixture was called the "White Star" by the Allies, since it was with this sign that the cylinders containing it were marked.
Devilish novelty
On the night of July 13, 1917, in the area of the Belgian city of Ypres, which had already won notoriety, the Germans made the first use of a chemical weapon of skin-blister action. In the place of its debut, it became known as mustard gas. Its carriers were mines, which sprayed a yellow oily liquid when they exploded.
The use of mustard gas, like the use of chemical weapons in World War I in general, was another diabolical innovation. This "achievement of civilization" was created to damage the skin, as well as the respiratory and digestive organs. Neither soldier's uniforms, nor any types of civilian clothing saved from its impact. It penetrated through any fabric.
In those years, any reliable means of protection against its contact with the body were not yet produced, which made the use of mustard gas quite effective until the end of the war. Already the first use of this substance disabled two and a half thousand enemy soldiers and officers, of which a significant number died.
Gas that does not creep on the ground
German chemists took up the development of mustard gas not by chance. The first use of chemical weapons on the Western Front showed that the substances used - chlorine and phosgene - had a common and very significant drawback. They were heavier than air, and therefore, in atomized form, they fell down, filling trenches and all kinds of depressions. The people who were in them were poisoned, but those who were on the hills at the time of the attack often remained unharmed.
It was necessary to invent a poison gas with a lower specific gravity and capable of hitting its victims at any level. They became mustard gas, which appeared in July 1917. It should be noted that British chemists quickly established its formula, and in 1918 launched a deadly weapon into production, but the truce that followed two months later prevented large-scale use. Europe breathed a sigh of relief - the First World War, which lasted four years, ended. The use of chemical weapons became irrelevant, and their development was temporarily stopped.
The beginning of the use of poisonous substances by the Russian army
The first case of the use of chemical weapons by the Russian army dates back to 1915, when, under the leadership of Lieutenant General V.N. Ipatiev, a program for the production of this type of weapon in Russia was successfully implemented. However, its use was then in the nature of technical tests and did not pursue tactical goals. Only a year later, as a result of work on the introduction into production of developments created in this area, it became possible to use them on the fronts.
The full-scale use of military developments that came out of domestic laboratories began in the summer of 1916 during the famous It is this event that makes it possible to determine the year of the first use of chemical weapons by the Russian army. It is known that during the period of the combat operation, artillery shells were used, filled with asphyxiating gas chloropicrin and poisonous - vensinite and phosgene. As is clear from the report sent to the Main Artillery Directorate, the use of chemical weapons rendered "a great service to the army."
The grim statistics of war
The first use of the chemical was a disastrous precedent. In subsequent years, its use not only expanded, but also underwent qualitative changes. Summing up the sad statistics of the four war years, historians state that during this period the warring parties produced at least 180 thousand tons of chemical weapons, of which at least 125 thousand tons were used. On the battlefields, 40 types of various poisonous substances were tested, which brought death and injury to 1,300,000 military personnel and civilians who found themselves in the zone of their application.
A lesson left unlearned
Did humanity learn a worthy lesson from the events of those years and did the date of the first use of chemical weapons become a black day in its history? Hardly. And today, despite the international legal acts banning the use of poisonous substances, the arsenals of most states of the world are full of their modern developments, and more and more press reports of its use in various parts of the world appear. Humanity is stubbornly moving along the path of self-destruction, ignoring the bitter experience of previous generations.
