NCJ Number
192088
Date Published
2002
Length
42 pages
Annotation
This chapter presents a history of chemical warfare from ancient times to the present.
Abstract
Today's chemical warfare has its precursors in ancient and medieval warfare, especially siege warfare. Perhaps the first recorded use of poison gas occurred in the wars between Athens and Sparta (431-404 B.C.). In 1813, during the "War of Liberation" from Napoleon, a pharmacist suggested that hydrocyanic acid could be applied to bayonet blades by means of small brushes. World War I was different from all earlier conflicts in that it was part of the trend toward industrialization and both reflected and benefited from the development of a chemical industry that moved science from the laboratory to the factory. There have always been expressions of moral disapproval to greet the invention of new weapons technologies, for example the introduction of flame-projecting weapons during World War I. Examples of chemical warfare include the chlorine attack at Ypres (1915) and the introduction of mustard (1924). The battlefield use of chemicals in World War II was limited to the Sino-Japanese theater of operations. More recently, Iraq has used chemical agents against the Kurds, and is believed to have stored a significant quantity of sarin nerve agent near Khamisiyah during the Gulf War. Figures, notes