Chemical weapon is one of the types. Its damaging effect is based on the use of military toxic chemicals, which include toxic substances (OS) and toxins that have a damaging effect on the human and animal body, as well as phytotoxicants used for military purposes to destroy vegetation.
Poisonous substances, their classification
poisonous substances- These are chemical compounds that have certain toxic and physical and chemical properties that ensure, during their combat use, the defeat of manpower (people), as well as the contamination of air, clothing, equipment and terrain.
Poisonous substances form the basis of chemical weapons. They are stuffed with shells, mines, missile warheads, aerial bombs, pouring aircraft devices, smoke bombs, grenades and other chemical munitions and devices. Poisonous substances affect the body, penetrating through the respiratory system, skin and wounds. In addition, lesions can occur as a result of the consumption of contaminated food and water.
Modern toxic substances are classified according to the physiological effect on the body, toxicity (severity of damage), speed and durability.
By physiological action toxic substances on the body are divided into six groups:
- nerve agents (also called organophosphates): sarin, soman, vegas (VX);
- blistering action: mustard gas, lewisite;
- general toxic action: hydrocyanic acid, cyanogen chloride;
- suffocating action: phosgene, diphosgene;
- psychochemical action: Bi-zet (BZ), LSD (lysergic acid diethylamide);
- irritant: si-es (CS), adamsite, chloroacetophenone.
By toxicity(severity of damage) modern toxic substances are divided into lethal and temporarily incapacitating. Lethal toxic substances include all substances of the first four listed groups. Temporarily incapacitating substances include the fifth and sixth groups of physiological classification.
By speed poisonous substances are divided into fast-acting and slow-acting. Fast-acting agents include sarin, soman, hydrocyanic acid, cyanogen chloride, ci-es, and chloroacetophenone. These substances do not have a period of latent action and in a few minutes lead to death or disability (combat capability). Substances of delayed action include vi-gases, mustard gas, lewisite, phosgene, bi-zet. These substances have a period of latent action and lead to damage after some time.
Depending on the resistance of damaging properties After application, toxic substances are divided into persistent and unstable. Persistent toxic substances retain their damaging effect from several hours to several days from the moment of application: these are vi-gases, soman, mustard gas, bi-zet. Unstable toxic substances retain their damaging effect for several tens of minutes: these are hydrocyanic acid, cyanogen chloride, phosgene.
Toxins as a damaging factor of chemical weapons
toxins- these are chemical substances of protein nature of plant, animal or microbial origin, which are highly toxic. Characteristic representatives of this group are butulic toxin - one of the strongest deadly poisons, which is a waste product of bacteria, staphylococcal entsrotoxin, ricin - a toxin of plant origin.
The damaging factor of chemical weapons is the toxic effect on the human and animal body, the quantitative characteristics are the concentration and toxodose.
To defeat various types of vegetation, toxic chemicals - phytotoxicants are intended. For peaceful purposes, they are used mainly in agriculture to control weeds, to remove leaves from vegetation in order to speed up the ripening of fruits and to facilitate harvesting (for example, cotton). Depending on the nature of the impact on plants and the intended purpose, phytotoxicants are divided into herbicides, arboricides, alicides, defoliants and desiccants. Herbicides are intended for the destruction of herbaceous vegetation, arboricides - tree and shrub vegetation, algicides - aquatic vegetation. Defoliants are used to remove leaves from vegetation, while desiccants attack vegetation by drying it out.
When chemical weapons are used, just as in an accident with the release of OH B, zones of chemical contamination and foci of chemical damage will be formed (Fig. 1). The zone of chemical contamination of agents includes the area of application of agents and the territory over which a cloud of contaminated air with damaging concentrations has spread. The focus of chemical destruction is the territory within which, as a result of the use of chemical weapons, mass destruction of people, farm animals and plants occurred.
The characteristics of infection zones and foci of damage depend on the type of poisonous substance, means and methods of application, and meteorological conditions. The main features of the focus of chemical damage include:
- defeat of people and animals without destruction and damage to buildings, structures, equipment, etc.;
- contamination of economic facilities and residential areas for a long time with persistent agents;
- the defeat of people over large areas for a long time after the use of agents;
- the defeat of not only people in open areas, but also those in leaky shelters and shelters;
- strong moral impact.
Rice. 1. Zone of chemical contamination and foci of chemical damage during the use of chemical weapons: Av - means of use (aviation); VX is the type of substance (vi-gas); 1-3 - lesions
As a rule, the vaporous phase of the OM affects the workers and employees of the facilities who find themselves in industrial buildings and structures at the time of a chemical attack. Therefore, all work should be carried out in gas masks, and when using agents of nerve paralytic or blistering action - in skin protection.
After World War I, despite large stocks chemical weapons, they were not widely used either for military purposes, let alone against the civilian population. During the Vietnam War, the Americans widely used phytotoxicants (to fight the guerrillas) of three main formulations: "orange", "white" and "blue". In South Vietnam, about 43% of the total area and 44% of the forest area were affected. At the same time, all phytotoxicants turned out to be toxic for both humans and warm-blooded animals. Thus, it was caused - caused enormous damage to the environment.
The ability of toxic substances to cause death of people and animals has been known since time immemorial. In the 19th century, poisonous substances began to be used during large-scale hostilities.
However, the birth of chemical weapons as a means of conducting armed struggle in the modern sense should be attributed to the time of the 1st World War.
Started in 1914, the first World War soon after the start, it acquired a positional character, which made it necessary to look for new offensive weapons. german army began to use massive attacks on enemy positions with the help of poisonous and asphyxiating gases. April 22, 1915 on Western front near the town of Ypres (Belgium), a chlorine gas attack was carried out, which for the first time showed the effect of the massive use of toxic gas as a means of warfare.
The first harbingers.
On April 14, 1915, near the village of Langemarck, not far from the then little-known Belgian city of Ypres, French units captured a German soldier. During the search, they found a small gauze bag filled with identical pieces of cotton fabric, and a bottle with a colorless liquid. It looked so much like a dressing bag that it was initially ignored.
Apparently, its purpose would have remained incomprehensible if the prisoner had not stated during interrogation that the handbag is a special means of protection against the new "crushing" weapon that the German command plans to use on this sector of the front.
When asked about the nature of this weapon, the prisoner readily replied that he had no idea about it, but it seems that this weapon is hidden in metal cylinders that are dug in no man's land between the lines of trenches. To protect against this weapon, it is necessary to soak a flap from the purse with the liquid from the vial and apply it to the mouth and nose.
The French gentlemen officers considered the story of the captured soldier gone mad and did not attach any importance to it. But soon the prisoners captured in neighboring sectors of the front reported about the mysterious cylinders.
On April 18, the British knocked out the Germans from the height of "60" and at the same time captured a German non-commissioned officer. The prisoner also spoke about an unknown weapon and noticed that the cylinders with it were dug at this very height - ten meters from the trenches. Out of curiosity, an English sergeant went on reconnaissance with two soldiers and, in the indicated place, actually found heavy cylinders of an unusual appearance and incomprehensible purpose. He reported this to the command, but to no avail.
In those days, English radio intelligence, which deciphered fragments of German radio messages, also brought riddles to the Allied command. Imagine the surprise of the codebreakers when they discovered that the German headquarters were extremely interested in the state of the weather!
An unfavorable wind is blowing ... - the Germans reported. “… The wind is getting stronger… its direction is constantly changing… The wind is unstable…”
One radiogram mentioned the name of a certain Dr. Haber. If only the British knew who Dr. Gaber was!
Dr. Fritz Gaber
Fritz Gaber was deeply civilian. At the front, he was in an elegant suit, aggravating the civilian impression with the brilliance of gilded pince-nez. Before the war, he headed the Institute of Physical Chemistry in Berlin and even at the front did not part with his "chemical" books and reference books.
Haber was in the service of the German government. As a consultant to the German War Office, he was tasked with creating an irritant poison that would force enemy troops to leave the trenches.
A few months later, he and his staff created a weapon using chlorine gas, which was put into production in January 1915.
Although Haber hated war, he believed that the use of chemical weapons could save many lives if the exhausting trench warfare on the Western Front stopped. His wife Clara was also a chemist and strongly opposed his wartime work.
April 22, 1915
The point chosen for the attack was in the north-eastern part of the Ypres salient, at the point where the French and English fronts converged, heading south, and from where the trenches departed from the canal near Besinge.
The sector of the front closest to the Germans was defended by soldiers who arrived from the Algerian colonies. Once out of their hiding places, they basked in the sun, talking loudly to each other. About five o'clock in the afternoon a large greenish cloud appeared in front of the German trenches. According to witnesses, many Frenchmen watched with interest the approaching front of this bizarre "yellow fog", but did not attach any importance to it.
Suddenly they smelled a strong smell. Everyone had a pinching in the nose, their eyes hurt, as if from acrid smoke. "Yellow fog" choked, blinded, burned the chest with fire, turned inside out. Not remembering themselves, the Africans rushed out of the trenches. Who hesitated, fell, seized by suffocation. People rushed about the trenches, screaming; colliding with each other, they fell and fought in convulsions, catching air with twisted mouths.
And the "yellow fog" rolled farther and farther to the rear of the French positions, sowing death and panic along the way. Behind the fog, German chains marched in orderly rows with rifles at the ready and bandages on their faces. But they had no one to attack. Thousands of Algerians and French lay dead in the trenches and in artillery positions.”
However, for the Germans themselves, such a result is unexpected. Their generals treated the venture of the "bespectacled doctor" as an interesting experience and therefore did not really prepare for a large-scale offensive.
When the front turned out to be actually broken, the only unit that poured into the gap was an infantry battalion, which, of course, could not decide the fate of the French defense.
The incident made a lot of noise and by the evening the world knew that a new participant had entered the battlefield, capable of competing with "His Majesty the machine gun." Chemists rushed to the front, and by the next morning it became clear that for the first time the Germans used a cloud of suffocating gas - chlorine - for military purposes. It suddenly turned out that any country that even has the makings of a chemical industry can get its hands on a powerful weapon. The only consolation was that it was not difficult to escape from chlorine. It is enough to cover the respiratory organs with a bandage moistened with a solution of soda, or hyposulfite, and chlorine is not so terrible. If these substances are not at hand, it is enough to breathe through a wet rag. Water significantly weakens the effect of chlorine, which dissolves in it. Many chemical institutions rushed to develop the design of gas masks, but the Germans were in a hurry to repeat the gas balloon attack until the allies had reliable means of protection.
On April 24, having collected reserves for the development of the offensive, they launched a strike on a neighboring sector of the front, which was defended by the Canadians. But the Canadian troops were warned about the "yellow fog" and therefore, seeing the yellow-green cloud, they prepared for the action of gases. They soaked their scarves, stockings and blankets in puddles and applied them to their faces, covering their mouths, noses and eyes from the caustic atmosphere. Some of them, of course, suffocated to death, others were poisoned for a long time, or blinded, but no one moved. And when the fog crept to the rear and the German infantry followed, the Canadian machine guns and rifles spoke, making huge gaps in the ranks of the advancing, who did not expect resistance.
Replenishment of the arsenal of chemical weapons
As the war went on, many toxic compounds in addition to chlorine were being tested for effectiveness as chemical warfare agents.
In June 1915 was applied bromine, used in mortar shells; the first tear substance also appeared: benzyl bromide combined with xylene bromide. Artillery shells were filled with this gas. The use of gases in artillery shells, which later became so widespread, was first clearly observed on June 20 in the Argonne forests.
Phosgene
Phosgene was widely used during the First World War. It was first used by the Germans in December 1915 on the Italian front.
At room temperature phosgene is a colorless gas, with the smell of rotten hay, which turns into a liquid at a temperature of -8 °. Before the war, phosgene was mined in large quantities and was used to make various dyes for woolen fabrics.
Phosgene is very poisonous and, in addition, acts as a substance that strongly irritates the lungs and causes damage to the mucous membranes. Its danger is further increased by the fact that its effect is not detected immediately: sometimes painful phenomena appear only 10-11 hours after inhalation.
Relative cheapness and ease of preparation, strong toxic properties, lingering effect and low persistence (the smell disappears after 1 1/2 - 2 hours) make phosgene a substance very convenient for military purposes.
Mustard gas
On the night of July 12-13, 1917, in order to disrupt the offensive of the Anglo-French troops, Germany used mustard gas- liquid poisonous substance of skin and blistering action. During the first use of mustard gas, 2,490 people received injuries of varying severity, of which 87 died. Mustard gas has a pronounced local effect - it affects the eyes and respiratory organs, the gastrointestinal tract and the skin. Being absorbed into the blood, it also exhibits a generally poisonous effect. Mustard gas affects the skin when exposed, both in the droplet and in the vapor state. Regular summer and winter military uniforms, like almost any type of civilian clothing, do not protect the skin from drops and vapors of mustard gas. There was no real protection of troops from mustard gas in those years, and its use on the battlefield was effective until the very end of the war.
It is amusing to note that with a certain degree of fantasy, poisonous substances can be considered a catalyst for the emergence of fascism and the initiator of the Second World War. Indeed, it was after the English gas attack near Komyn that the German corporal Adolf Schicklgruber, temporarily blinded by chlorine, lay in the hospital and began to think about the fate of the deceived German people, the triumph of the French, the betrayal of the Jews, etc. Subsequently, while in prison, he streamlined these thoughts in his book Mein Kampf (My Struggle), but the title of this book already had a pseudonym - Adolf Hitler.
Results of the First World War.
The ideas of chemical warfare have taken strong positions in the military doctrines of all the world's leading states without exception. Improving chemical weapons and building up production capacity England and France were engaged in its manufacture. Germany, defeated in the war, which was forbidden to have chemical weapons under the Treaty of Versailles, and Russia, not recovering from the civil war, agree to build a joint mustard gas plant and test samples of chemical weapons at Russian test sites. The United States met the end of the World War with the most powerful military-chemical potential, surpassing England and France combined in the production of poisonous substances.
Nerve gases
The history of nerve agents begins on December 23, 1936, when Dr. Gerhard Schroeder of the I. G. Farben laboratory in Leverkusen first obtained tabun (GA, ethyl ester of dimethylphosphoramidocyanide acid).
In 1938, the second powerful organophosphorus agent, sarin (GB, 1-methylethyl ester of methylphosphonofluoride acid), was discovered there. At the end of 1944, a structural analogue of sarin was obtained in Germany, called soman (GD, 1,2,2-trimethylpropyl ester of methylphosphonofluoric acid), which is about 3 times more toxic than sarin.
In 1940, in the city of Oberbayern (Bavaria), a large plant belonging to "IG Farben" was put into operation for the production of mustard gas and mustard compounds, with a capacity of 40 thousand tons. In total, in the pre-war and first war years in Germany, about 17 new technological installations for the production of OM were built, the annual capacity of which exceeded 100 thousand tons. In the city of Dühernfurt, on the Oder (now Silesia, Poland), there was one of the largest production facilities for organic matter. By 1945, Germany had 12 thousand tons of herd in stock, the production of which was nowhere else.
The reasons why Germany did not use chemical weapons during World War II remain unclear to this day; according to one version, Hitler did not give the command to use CWA during the war because he believed that the USSR had more chemical weapons. Churchill recognized the need to use chemical weapons only if they were used by the enemy. But the indisputable fact is the superiority of Germany in the production of poisonous substances: the production of nerve gases in Germany came as a complete surprise to the Allied forces in 1945.
Separate work on obtaining these substances was carried out in the USA and Great Britain, but a breakthrough in their production could not occur until 1945. During the years of World War II in the United States, 135 thousand tons of toxic substances were produced at 17 installations, half of the total volume was accounted for mustard gas. Mustard gas was equipped with about 5 million shells and 1 million air bombs. From 1945 to 1980, only 2 types of chemical weapons were used in the West: lachrymators (CS: 2-chlorobenzylidenemalononitrile - tear gas) and herbicides (the so-called "Orange Agent") used by the US Army in Vietnam, the consequences of which are the infamous "Yellow Rains". CS alone, 6,800 tons were used. The United States produced chemical weapons until 1969.
Conclusion
In 1974, President Nixon and General Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU Leonid Brezhnev signed a significant agreement aimed at banning chemical weapons. It was confirmed by President Ford in 1976 at bilateral talks in Geneva.
However, the history of chemical weapons did not end there...
Introduction
No weapon has been as widely condemned as this type of weapon. From time immemorial, the poisoning of wells has been regarded as a crime inconsistent with the rules of war. “War is waged with weapons, not with poison,” said Roman jurists. As the destructive power of weapons grew over time and with it the potential for widespread use chemicals steps have been taken to prohibit, through international agreements and legal means, the use of chemical weapons. The Brussels Declaration of 1874 and the Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907 banned the use of poisons and poisoned bullets, while a separate declaration of the Hague Convention of 1899 condemned "the use of projectiles the sole purpose of which is to spread asphyxiating or other poisonous gases".
Today, despite the convention on the prohibition of chemical weapons, the danger of their use still remains.
In addition, there are many possible sources of chemical hazard. It can be a terrorist act, an accident at a chemical plant, aggression by a state uncontrolled by the world community, and much more.
The aim of the work is the analysis of chemical weapons.
Work tasks:
1. Give the concept of chemical weapons;
2. Describe the history of the use of chemical weapons;
3. Consider the classification of chemical weapons;
4. Consider Protective Measures against Chemical Weapons.
Chemical weapon. Concept and history of use
The concept of chemical weapons
Chemical weapons are ammunition (a warhead of a rocket, a projectile, a mine, an aerial bomb, etc.), equipped with a chemical warfare agent (CW), with the help of which these substances are delivered to the target and sprayed in the atmosphere and on the ground and designed to destroy manpower. , contamination of the terrain, equipment, weapons. In accordance with international law (Paris Convention, 1993), chemical weapons also mean each of its constituent parts(ammunition and OV) separately. The so-called binary chemical weapon is a munition completed with two or more containers containing non-toxic components. During the delivery of ammunition to the target, the containers are opened, their contents are mixed and, as a result, chemical reaction OM is formed between the components. Poisonous substances and various pesticides can cause massive damage to people and animals, infect the area, water sources, food and fodder, and cause the death of vegetation.
Chemical weapons are one type of weapon mass destruction, the use of which leads to lesions of varying severity (from incapacitation for several minutes to death) only on manpower and does not affect equipment, weapons, property. The action of chemical weapons is based on the delivery of chemical agents to the target; transfer of OV into a combat state (steam, aerosol of various degrees of dispersion) by explosion, spray, pyrotechnic sublimation; distribution of the formed cloud and the effect of OM on manpower.
Chemical weapons are intended for use in the tactical and operational-tactical combat zone; able to effectively solve a number of tasks in strategic depth.
The effectiveness of chemical weapons depends on the physical, chemical, and toxicological properties of the chemical agents, the design features of the means of use, the provision of manpower with protective equipment, the timeliness of transfer to a combat state (the degree of achievement of tactical surprise in the use of chemical weapons), meteorological conditions (the degree of vertical stability of the atmosphere, wind speed). The effectiveness of chemical weapons under favorable conditions is significantly higher than the effectiveness of conventional weapons, especially when exposed to manpower located in open engineering structures (trenches, trenches), unsealed objects, equipment, buildings and structures. Infection of equipment, weapons, terrain leads to secondary lesions located in the infected areas of manpower, fettering its actions and exhaustion due to the need for a long time to be in protective equipment.
History of the use of chemical weapons
In the texts of the IV century BC. e. an example is given of the use of poisonous gases to combat enemy digging under the walls of a fortress. The defenders pumped smoke from burning mustard and wormwood seeds into the underground passages with the help of furs and terracotta pipes. Toxic gases caused suffocation and even death.
In ancient times, attempts were also made to use OM in the course of hostilities. Toxic fumes were used during the Peloponnesian War of 431-404 BC. e. The Spartans placed pitch and sulfur in logs, which were then placed under the city walls and set on fire.
Later, with the advent of gunpowder, they tried to use bombs filled with a mixture of poisons, gunpowder and resin on the battlefield. Released from catapults, they exploded from a burning fuse (the prototype of a modern remote fuse). Exploding bombs emitted clouds of poisonous smoke over enemy troops - poisonous gases caused bleeding from the nasopharynx when using arsenic, skin irritation, blisters.
In medieval China, a cardboard bomb stuffed with sulfur and lime was created. During a naval battle in 1161, these bombs, falling into the water, exploded with a deafening roar, spreading poisonous smoke in the air. The smoke formed from the contact of water with lime and sulfur caused the same effects as modern tear gas.
As components in the creation of mixtures for equipping bombs, the following were used: hooked mountaineer, croton oil, soap tree pods (to generate smoke), arsenic sulfide and oxide, aconite, tung oil, spanish flies.
At the beginning of the 16th century, the inhabitants of Brazil tried to fight the conquistadors by using poisonous smoke obtained from the burning of red pepper against them. This method was later repeatedly used during uprisings in Latin America.
In the Middle Ages and later, chemical agents continued to attract attention for solving military problems. So, in 1456, the city of Belgrade was protected from the Turks by influencing the attackers with a poisonous cloud. This cloud arose from the combustion of a toxic powder with which the inhabitants of the city sprinkled rats, set them on fire and released them towards the besiegers.
A range of preparations, including compounds containing arsenic and the saliva of rabid dogs, were described by Leonardo da Vinci.
The first tests of chemical weapons in Russia were carried out in the late 50s of the 19th century on the Volkovo field. Shells filled with cyanide cacodyl were blown up in open log cabins where there were 12 cats. All cats survived. The report of Adjutant General Barantsev, in which incorrect conclusions were drawn about the low effectiveness of poisonous substances, led to a disastrous result. Work on testing shells filled with explosive agents was stopped and resumed only in 1915.
During the First World War, chemicals were used in huge quantities - about 400 thousand people were affected by 12 thousand tons of mustard gas. In total, during the years of the First World War, 180 thousand tons of ammunition of various types filled with poisonous substances were produced, of which 125 thousand tons were used on the battlefield. More than 40 types of OV have passed combat testing. The total losses from chemical weapons are estimated at 1.3 million people.
The use of poisonous substances during the First World War are the first recorded violations of the Hague Declaration of 1899 and 1907 (the United States refused to support the Hague Conference of 1899.).
In 1907 Great Britain acceded to the declaration and accepted its obligations. France agreed to the 1899 Hague Declaration, as did Germany, Italy, Russia and Japan. The parties agreed on the non-use of asphyxiating and poisonous gases for military purposes.
Citing the exact wording of the declaration, Germany and France used non-lethal tear gases in 1914.
The initiative in the use of combat weapons on a large scale belongs to Germany. Already in the September battles of 1914 on the Marne and on the Ain, both belligerents felt great difficulties in supplying their armies with shells. With the transition to positional warfare in October-November, there was no hope left, especially for Germany, of overpowering the enemy, sheltered by powerful trenches, with the help of ordinary artillery shells. OVs, on the other hand, have a powerful property of hitting a living enemy in places that are not accessible to the action of the most powerful projectiles. And Germany was the first to embark on the path of widespread use of combat agents, having the most developed chemical industry.
Immediately after the declaration of war, Germany began to experiment (at the Institute of Physics and Chemistry and the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute) with cacodyl oxide and phosgene in order to be able to use them militarily.
In Berlin, the Military Gas School was opened, in which numerous depots of materials were concentrated. A special inspection was also located there. In addition, a special chemical inspection A-10 was formed under the Ministry of War, specifically dealing with issues of chemical warfare.
The end of 1914 marked the beginning of research activities in Germany to find combat agents, mainly artillery ammunition. These were the first attempts to equip shells of combat OV.
The first experiments on the use of combat agents in the form of the so-called "N2 projectile" (10.5-cm shrapnel with the replacement of bullet equipment in it with dianiside sulfate) were made by the Germans in October 1914.
On October 27, 3,000 of these shells were used on the Western Front in an attack on Neuve Chapelle. Although the irritating effect of the shells turned out to be small, but, according to German data, their use facilitated the capture of Neuve Chapelle.
German propaganda stated that such projectiles were no more dangerous than picric acid explosives. Picric acid, another name for melinitis, was not a poisonous substance. It was an explosive substance, during the explosion of which asphyxiating gases were released. There were cases when soldiers who were in shelters died of suffocation after the explosion of a shell filled with melinite.
But at that time there was a crisis in the production of shells (they were withdrawn from service), and besides, the high command doubted the possibility of obtaining a mass effect in the manufacture of gas shells.
Then Dr. Gaber suggested using gas in the form of a gas cloud. The first attempts to use combat agents were carried out on such an insignificant scale and with such an insignificant effect that no measures were taken by the allies in the line of anti-chemical defense.
Leverkusen became the center for the production of combat agents, where a large number of materials were produced, and where the Military Chemical School was transferred from Berlin in 1915 - it had 1,500 technical and command personnel and, especially, several thousand workers in production. 300 chemists worked non-stop in her laboratory in Gust. Orders for poisonous substances were distributed among various factories.
On April 22, 1915, Germany carried out a massive chlorine attack, chlorine was released from 5730 cylinders. Within 5-8 minutes, 168-180 tons of chlorine were fired at the front of 6 km - 15 thousand soldiers were defeated, of which 5 thousand died.
This gas attack was a complete surprise for the Allied troops, but already on September 25, 1915, the British troops carried out their test chlorine attack.
In further gas attacks, both chlorine and mixtures of chlorine with phosgene were used. For the first time, a mixture of phosgene and chlorine was first used as an agent by Germany on May 31, 1915, against Russian troops. At the front of 12 km - near Bolimov (Poland), 264 tons of this mixture were produced from 12 thousand cylinders. In 2 Russian divisions, almost 9 thousand people were put out of action - 1200 died.
Since 1917, the warring countries began to use gas launchers (a prototype of mortars). They were first used by the British. Mines (see the first picture) contained from 9 to 28 kg of a poisonous substance, firing from gas cannons was carried out mainly with phosgene, liquid diphosgene and chloropicrin.
German gas guns were the cause of the "miracle at Caporetto", when, after shelling from 912 gas guns with mines with phosgene of the Italian battalion, all life was destroyed in the Isonzo river valley.
The combination of gas cannons with artillery fire increased the effectiveness of gas attacks. So on June 22, 1916, for 7 hours of continuous shelling German artillery fired 125 thousand shells with 100 thousand l. suffocating agents. The mass of poisonous substances in cylinders was 50%, in shells only 10%.
On May 15, 1916, during an artillery shelling, the French used a mixture of phosgene with tin tetrachloride and arsenic trichloride, and on July 1, a mixture of hydrocyanic acid with arsenic trichloride.
On July 10, 1917, diphenylchlorarsine was first used by the Germans on the Western Front, causing a severe cough even through a gas mask, which in those years had a poor smoke filter. Therefore, in the future, diphenylchlorarsine was used together with phosgene or diphosgene to defeat enemy manpower.
New stage The use of chemical weapons began with the use of a persistent blister agent (B, B-dichlorodiethyl sulfide), which was first used by German troops near the Belgian city of Ypres. On July 12, 1917, within 4 hours, 50 thousand shells containing tons of B, B-dichlorodiethyl sulfide were fired at the Allied positions. 2,490 people received injuries of varying degrees.
The French called the new agent "mustard gas", after the place of first use, and the British called it "mustard gas" because of the strong specific smell. British scientists quickly deciphered its formula, but it was only in 1918 that it was possible to establish the production of a new OM, which is why it was possible to use mustard gas for military purposes only in September 1918 (2 months before the armistice).
In total, over the period from April 1915 to November 1918, more than 50 gas balloon attacks were carried out by German troops, by the British 150, by the French 20.
In the Russian army, the high command has a negative attitude towards the use of shells with OM. Impressed by the gas attack carried out by the Germans on April 22, 1915, on the French front in the Ypres region, as well as in May on the eastern front, it was forced to change its views.
On August 3 of the same 1915, an order appeared on the formation of a special commission under the State Agrarian University for the preparation of asphyxiants. As a result of the work of the GAU commission for the preparation of suffocating agents, in Russia, first of all, the production of liquid chlorine was established, which was brought from abroad before the war.
In August 1915, chlorine was produced for the first time. In October of the same year, phosgene production began. Since October 1915, special chemical teams began to form in Russia to carry out gas balloon attacks.
In April 1916, the Chemical Committee was formed at the GAU, which also included a commission for the preparation of suffocating agents. Thanks to the energetic actions of the Chemical Committee, an extensive network of chemical plants (about 200) was created in Russia. Including a number of plants for the manufacture of poisonous substances.
New plants for poisonous substances were put into operation in the spring of 1916. By November, the number of manufactured agents reached 3,180 tons (about 345 tons were produced in October), and the 1917 program planned to increase the monthly output to 600 tons in January and to 1,300 t in May.
The first gas balloon attack by Russian troops was carried out on September 5-6, 1916 in the Smorgon region. By the end of 1916, a tendency emerged to shift the center of gravity of chemical warfare from gas-balloon attacks to artillery firing with chemical projectiles.
Russia has taken the path of using chemical shells in artillery since 1916, manufacturing 76-mm chemical grenades of two types: asphyxiating (chloropicrin with sulfuryl chloride) and poisonous (phosgene with stannous chloride, or vensinite, consisting of hydrocyanic acid, chloroform, chlorine arsenic and tin), the action of which caused damage to the body and, in severe cases, death.
By the autumn of 1916, the army's requirements for 76-mm chemical shells were fully satisfied: the army received 15,000 shells every month (the ratio of poisonous and asphyxiating shells was 1 to 4). The supply of the Russian army with large-caliber chemical projectiles was hampered by the lack of shell cases, which were fully intended for equipping with explosives. Russian artillery began to receive chemical mines for mortars in the spring of 1917.
As for gas cannons, which were successfully used as a new means of chemical attack on the French and Italian fronts from the beginning of 1917, Russia, which withdrew from the war in the same year, did not have gas cannons.
In the mortar artillery school, formed in September 1917, it was only supposed to begin experiments on the use of gas throwers. Russian artillery was not rich enough in chemical shells to use mass shooting, as was the case with Russia's allies and opponents. She used 76 mm chemical grenades almost exclusively in a positional warfare situation, as an auxiliary tool along with firing ordinary projectiles. In addition to shelling enemy trenches immediately before an attack by enemy troops, firing chemical projectiles was used with particular success to temporarily cease fire on enemy batteries, trench guns and machine guns, to assist their gas attack - by shelling those targets that were not captured by a gas wave. Shells filled with explosive agents were used against enemy troops accumulated in a forest or in another sheltered place, his observation and command posts, sheltered message moves.
At the end of 1916, the GAU sent 9,500 hand-held glass grenades with asphyxiating liquids to the active army for combat testing, and in the spring of 1917, 100,000 hand-held chemical grenades. Those and other hand grenades were thrown at 20 - 30 m and were useful in defense and especially during retreat, in order to prevent the pursuit of the enemy. During the Brusilov breakthrough in May-June 1916, the Russian army got some front-line stocks of German OM as trophies - shells and containers with mustard gas and phosgene. Although the Russian troops were subjected to German gas attacks several times, these weapons themselves were rarely used - either due to the fact that chemical munitions from the allies arrived too late, or due to the lack of specialists. And at that time, the Russian military did not have any concept of using OV. All the chemical arsenals of the old Russian army at the beginning of 1918 were in the hands of the new government. During the Civil War, chemical weapons were used in small quantities by the White Army and the British occupation forces in 1919.
The Red Army used poisonous substances in the suppression of peasant uprisings. According to unverified data, for the first time the new government tried to use the OV during the suppression of the uprising in Yaroslavl in 1918.
In March 1919, another anti-Bolshevik Cossack uprising broke out in the Upper Don. On March 18, the artillery of the Zaamursky regiment fired on the rebels with chemical shells (most likely with phosgene).
The massive use of chemical weapons by the Red Army dates back to 1921. Then, under the command of Tukhachevsky, a large-scale punitive operation was launched in the Tambov province against Antonov's rebel army.
In addition to punitive actions - the execution of hostages, the creation of concentration camps, the burning of entire villages, they used chemical weapons in large quantities (artillery shells and gas cylinders). One can definitely talk about the use of chlorine and phosgene, but perhaps there was also mustard gas.
Own production of combat agents in Soviet Russia tried to establish since 1922 with the help of the Germans. Bypassing the Versailles agreements, on May 14, 1923, the Soviet and German sides sign an agreement on the construction of a plant for the production of poisonous substances. Technological assistance in the construction of this plant was provided by the Stolzenberg concern within the framework of a joint joint-stock company"Bersol". They decided to deploy production in Ivashchenkovo (later Chapaevsk). But for three years, nothing really was done - the Germans were clearly not eager to share technology and were playing for time.
On August 30, 1924, the production of its own mustard gas began in Moscow. The first industrial batch of mustard gas - 18 pounds (288 kg) - from August 30 to September 3 was issued by the Aniltrest Moscow Experimental Plant.
And in October of the same year, the first thousand chemical shells were already equipped with domestic mustard gas. The industrial production of organic matter (mustard gas) was first established in Moscow at the Aniltrest experimental plant.
Later, on the basis of this production, a research institute for the development of optical agents with a pilot plant was established.
Since the mid-1920s, a chemical plant in the city of Chapaevsk has become one of the main centers for the production of chemical weapons, producing military agents until the start of World War II.
During the 1930s, the production of combat agents and the supply of ammunition with them was deployed in Perm, Berezniki (Perm Region), Bobriky (later Stalinogorsk), Dzerzhinsk, Kineshma, Stalingrad, Kemerovo, Shchelkovo, Voskresensk, Chelyabinsk.
After the First World War and up to the Second World War, public opinion in Europe was opposed to the use of chemical weapons - but among the industrialists of Europe, who ensured the defense of their countries, the opinion prevailed that chemical weapons should be an indispensable attribute of warfare. At the same time, through the efforts of the League of Nations, a number of conferences and rallies were held to promote the prohibition of the use of poisonous substances for military purposes and talk about the consequences of this. The International Committee of the Red Cross supported conferences that condemned the use of chemical warfare in the 1920s.
In 1921, the Washington Conference on Arms Limitation was convened, chemical weapons were the subject of discussion by a specially created subcommittee, which had information on the use of chemical weapons during the First World War, which intended to propose a ban on the use of chemical weapons, even more than conventional weapons of war.
The subcommittee decided: the use of chemical weapons against the enemy on land and on water cannot be allowed. The opinion of the subcommittee was supported by a poll public opinion in the USA.
The treaty has been ratified by most countries, including the US and the UK. In Geneva, on June 17, 1925, the "Protocol on the Prohibition of the Use in War of Asphyxiating, Poisonous and Other Similar Gases and Bacteriological Agents" was signed. This document was subsequently ratified by more than 100 states.
However, at the same time, the United States began to expand the Edgewood arsenal.
In Britain, many perceived the possibility of using chemical weapons as a fait accompli, fearing that they would be at a disadvantage, as in 1915.
And as a consequence of this, further work continued on chemical weapons, using propaganda for the use of toxic substances.
Chemical weapons were used in large quantities in "local conflicts" of the 1920s and 1930s: by Spain in Morocco in 1925, by Japanese troops against Chinese troops from 1937 to 1943.
The study of poisonous substances in Japan began, with the help of Germany, in 1923, and by the beginning of the 1930s, the production of the most effective agents in the arsenals of Tadonuimi and Sagani was organized.
Approximately 25% of the set of artillery and 30% of the aviation ammunition of the Japanese army was in chemical equipment.
In the Kwantung Army, Manchurian Detachment 100, in addition to creating bacteriological weapons, carried out work on the research and production of chemical poisonous substances (the 6th division of the "detachment").
In 1937, on August 12, in the battles for the city of Nankou and on August 22, in the battles for the Beijing-Suyuan railway, the Japanese army used shells filled with OM.
The Japanese continued to widely use poisonous substances in China and Manchuria. The losses of Chinese troops from poisonous substances amounted to 10% of the total.
Italy used chemical weapons in Ethiopia (from October 1935 to April 1936). Mustard gas was used with great efficiency by the Italians, despite the fact that Italy acceded to the Geneva Protocol in 1925. Almost all fighting Italian units were supported by a chemical attack with the help of aircraft and artillery. Aircraft pouring devices were also used, dispersing liquid OM.
415 tons of blister agents and 263 tons of asphyxiants were sent to Ethiopia.
In the period from December 1935 to April 1936, Italian aviation carried out 19 large-scale chemical raids on the cities and towns of Abyssinia, using up 15,000 aviation chemical bombs. Of the total losses of the Abyssinian army of 750 thousand people, about a third were losses from chemical weapons. A large number of civilians also suffered. Specialists of the IG Farbenindustrie concern helped the Italians to establish the production of agents that are so effective in Ethiopia. The IG Farben concern, created for complete dominating in the dyes and organic chemistry markets, united six of the largest chemical companies in Germany.
British and American industrialists saw the concern as an empire similar to the Krupp arms empire, considering it a serious threat and made efforts to dismember it after the Second World War. The superiority of Germany in the production of poisonous substances is an indisputable fact: the well-established production of nerve gases in Germany came as a complete surprise to the Allied forces in 1945.
In Germany, immediately after the Nazis came to power, by order of Hitler, work was resumed in the field of military chemistry. Starting in 1934, in accordance with the plan of the High Command of the Ground Forces, these works acquired a purposeful offensive character, in line with the aggressive policy of the Nazi government.
First of all, at the newly created or modernized enterprises, the production of known agents began, which showed the greatest combat effectiveness during the First World War, based on the creation of their stock for 5 months of chemical warfare.
The high command of the fascist army considered it sufficient to have about 27 thousand tons of poisonous substances such as mustard gas and tactical formulations based on it: phosgene, adamsite, diphenylchlorarsine and chloroacetophenone.
At the same time, intensive work was carried out to search for new poisonous substances among the most diverse classes of chemical compounds. These works in the field of skin-abscess agents were marked by the receipt in 1935 - 1936. nitrogen mustard (N-lost) and "oxygen mustard" (O-lost).
In the main research laboratory of the concern I.G. The Farben industry in Leverkusen revealed the high toxicity of some fluorine- and phosphorus-containing compounds, a number of which were subsequently adopted by the German army.
In 1936 tabun was synthesized, which began to be produced on an industrial scale from May 1943, in 1939 sarin, more toxic than tabun, was obtained, and at the end of 1944, soman. These substances marked the emergence of a new class of deadly nerve agents in the army of fascist Germany, many times superior in their toxicity to the toxic substances of the First World War.
In 1940, in the city of Oberbayern (Bavaria), a large plant owned by IG Farben was launched for the production of mustard gas and mustard compounds, with a capacity of 40 thousand tons.
In total, in the pre-war and first war years in Germany, about 20 new technological installations for the production of OM were built, the annual capacity of which exceeded 100 thousand tons. They were located in Ludwigshafen, Hüls, Wolfen, Urdingen, Ammendorf, Fadkenhagen, Seelz and other places.
In the city of Dühernfurt, on the Oder (now Silesia, Poland), there was one of the largest production facilities for organic matter. By 1945, Germany had 12 thousand tons of herd in stock, the production of which was nowhere else.
The reasons why Germany did not use chemical weapons during World War II remain unclear to this day. According to one version, Hitler did not give the command to use chemical weapons during the war because he believed that the USSR had a larger number of chemical weapons.
Another reason could be the insufficiently effective effect of OM on enemy soldiers equipped with chemical protection equipment, as well as their dependence on weather conditions.
Separate work on obtaining tabun, sarin, soman was carried out in the USA and Great Britain, but a breakthrough in their production could not occur until 1945. During the years of World War II in the United States, 135 thousand tons of toxic substances were produced at 17 installations, half of the total volume was accounted for mustard gas. Mustard gas was equipped with about 5 million shells and 1 million air bombs. Initially, mustard gas was supposed to be used against enemy landings on the sea coast. During the period of the emerging turning point in the course of the war in favor of the Allies, serious fears arose that Germany would decide to use chemical weapons. This was the basis for the decision of the American military command to supply mustard gas ammunition to the troops on the European continent. The plan provided for the creation of stocks of chemical weapons for the ground forces for 4 months. military operations and for the Air Force - for 8 months.
Transportation by sea was not without incident. So, on December 2, 1943, German aircraft bombed ships that were in the Italian port of Bari in the Adriatic Sea. Among them was the American transport "John Harvey" with a load of chemical bombs in equipment with mustard gas. After the damage to the transport, part of the OM mixed with the spilled oil, and mustard gas spread over the surface of the harbor.
During the Second World War, extensive military biological research was also carried out in the United States. For these studies, the biological center Kemp Detrick, opened in 1943 in Maryland (later it was called Fort Detrick), was intended. There, in particular, the study of bacterial toxins, including botulinum toxins, began.
AT recent months war in Edgewood and the Army Aeromedical Laboratory Fort Rucker (Alabama), searches and tests of natural and synthetic substances that affect the central nervous system and causing a person in negligible doses of mental or physical disorders.
In close cooperation with the United States of America, work was carried out in the field of chemical and biological weapons In Great Britain. So, in 1941, at the University of Cambridge, the research group of B. Saunders synthesized a poisonous nerve agent - diisopropyl fluorophosphate (DFP, PF-3). Soon, a process plant for the production of this chemical agent began to operate at Sutton Oak near Manchester. Porton Down (Salisbury, Wiltshire), founded in 1916 as a military chemical research station, became the main scientific center of Great Britain. The production of poisonous substances was also carried out at a chemical plant in Nenskyuk (Cornwell).
According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), by the end of the war, about 35 thousand tons of poisonous substances were stored in the UK.
After the Second World War, OV was used in a number of local conflicts. The facts of the use of chemical weapons by the US army against the DPRK (1951-1952) and Vietnam (60s) are known.
From 1945 to 1980, only 2 types of chemical weapons were used in the West: lacrimators (CS: 2-- tear gas) and defoliants - chemicals from the herbicide group.
CS alone, 6,800 tons were used. Defoliants belong to the class of phytotoxicants - chemicals that cause foliage to fall off plants and are used to unmask enemy objects.
In the laboratories of the United States, the purposeful development of means for the destruction of vegetation was started back in the years of the Second World War. The level of development of herbicides reached by the end of the war, according to US experts, could allow them practical use. However, research for military purposes continued, and only in 1961 was a "suitable" test site chosen. The use of chemicals to destroy vegetation in South Vietnam was initiated by the US military in August 1961 with the authorization of President Kennedy.
All areas of South Vietnam were treated with herbicides - from the demilitarized zone to the Mekong Delta, as well as many areas of Laos and Kampuchea - anywhere and everywhere, where, according to the Americans, there could be detachments of the People's Liberation Armed Forces of South Vietnam or lay their communications.
Along with woody vegetation, fields, gardens and rubber plantations also began to be affected by herbicides. Since 1965, these chemicals have been sprayed over the fields of Laos (especially in its southern and eastern parts), and two years later - already in the northern part of the demilitarized zone, as well as in the regions of the DRV adjacent to it. Forests and fields were cultivated at the request of the commanders of the American units stationed in South Vietnam. The spraying of herbicides was carried out with the help of not only aircraft, but also special ground devices that were available in the American troops and Saigon units. Especially intensive herbicides were used in 1964-1966 to destroy the mangrove forests on the southern coast of South Vietnam and on the banks of the shipping channels leading to Saigon, as well as the forests of the demilitarized zone. Two US Air Force aviation squadrons were fully engaged in operations. The use of chemical anti-vegetative agents reached its maximum size in 1967. Subsequently, the intensity of operations fluctuated depending on the intensity of hostilities.
In South Vietnam, during Operation Ranch Hand, the Americans tested 15 different chemicals and formulations to destroy crops and plantations. cultivated plants and tree and shrub vegetation.
The total amount of chemicals for the destruction of vegetation used by the US armed forces from 1961 to 1971 amounted to 90 thousand tons, or 72.4 million liters. Four herbicidal formulations were predominantly used: purple, orange, white and blue. The formulations found the greatest use in South Vietnam: orange - against forests and blue - against rice and other crops.
War is terrible in itself, but it becomes even more terrible when people forget about respect for the enemy and begin to use such means from which it is already impossible to escape. In memory of the victims of the use of chemical weapons, we have prepared for you a selection of six of the most famous such incidents in history.
1. Second Battle of Ypres during WWI
This case can be considered the first in the history of chemical warfare. On April 22, 1915, Germany used chlorine against Russia near the city of Ypres in Belgium. On the front flank of the German positions, 8 km long, cylindrical cylinders of chlorine were installed, from which a huge cloud of chlorine was released in the evening, blown away by the wind towards the Russian troops. The soldiers did not have any means of protection, and as a result of this attack, 15,000 people received severe poisoning, of which 5,000 died. A month later, the Germans repeated the attack on the Eastern Front, this time 9000 soldiers were gassed, 1200 died on the battlefield.
These victims could have been avoided: military intelligence warned the allies of a possible attack and that the enemy had cylinders of unknown purpose. However, the command decided that the cylinders could not conceal any particular danger, and the use of new chemical weapons was impossible.
This incident can hardly be considered a terrorist attack - it nevertheless happened in the war, and there were no casualties among the civilian population. But it was then that chemical weapons showed their terrible effectiveness and began to be widely used - first during this war, and after the end - in peacetime.
Governments had to think about chemical protection means - new types of gas masks appeared, and in response to this - new types of poisonous substances.
2. The use of chemical weapons by Japan in the war with China
The next incident occurred during the Second World War: Japan used chemical weapons many times during the conflict with China. Moreover, the Japanese government, headed by the emperor, considered this method of warfare to be extremely effective: firstly, chemical weapons at a cost no more than ordinary ones, and secondly, they can do without almost no losses in their troops.
By order of the emperor were created special units for the development of new types of toxic substances. For the first time, chemicals were used by Japan during the bombing of the Chinese city of Woqu - about 1000 bombs were dropped on the ground. Later, the Japanese detonated 2,500 chemical shells during the Battle of Dingxiang. They did not stop there and continued to use chemical weapons until the final defeat in the war. In total, about 50,000 people or more died from chemical poisoning - the victims were both among the military and among the civilian population.
Later, Japanese troops did not dare to use chemical weapons of mass destruction against the advancing US and Soviet forces. Probably because of the not unfounded fear that both of these countries have their own stocks of chemicals, several times greater than the potential of Japan, so the Japanese government rightly feared a retaliatory strike on its territories.
3. US environmental war against Vietnam
The United States took the next step. It is known that in the Vietnam War, the states actively used poisonous substances. The civilian population of Vietnam, of course, had no chance to defend themselves.
During the war, starting in 1963, the United States sprayed 72 million liters of Agent Orange defoliants over Vietnam, which is used to destroy forests where Vietnamese partisans were hiding, as well as directly during the bombing settlements. Dioxin was present in the mixtures used - a substance that settles in the body and results in diseases of the blood, liver, impaired pregnancy and, as a result, deformities in newborn children. As a result, more than 4.8 million people suffered from a chemical attack in total, and some of them experienced the consequences of forest and soil poisoning after the war was over.
The bombing almost caused an ecological disaster - as a result of the action of chemicals, the ancient mangrove forests growing in Vietnam were almost completely destroyed, about 140 species of birds died, the number of fish in poisoned reservoirs sharply decreased, and the one that remained could not be eaten without risk to health. But plague rats bred in large numbers and infected ticks appeared. In some way, the consequences of the use of defoliants in the country are still being felt - from time to time children are born with obvious genetic abnormalities.
4 Sarin Attack On The Tokyo Subway
Perhaps the most famous terrorist attack in history, unfortunately a success, was carried out by the neo-religious Japanese religious sect Aum Senrikyo. In June 1994, a truck drove through the streets of Matsumoto with a heated evaporator in its back. Sarin, a poisonous substance that enters the human body through the respiratory tract and paralyzes the nervous system, was applied to the surface of the evaporator. The evaporation of sarin was accompanied by the release of a whitish fog, and fearing exposure, the terrorists quickly stopped the attack. However, 200 people were poisoned and seven of them died.
The criminals did not limit themselves to this - taking into account previous experience, they decided to repeat the attack indoors. On March 20, 1995, five unidentified people descended into the Tokyo subway carrying packets of sarin. The terrorists pierced their bags in five different subway trains, and the gas quickly spread throughout the subway. A drop of sarin the size of a pinhead is enough to kill an adult, while the perpetrators carried two liter bags each. According to official figures, 5,000 people were seriously poisoned, 12 of them died.
The attack was perfectly planned - cars were waiting for the perpetrators at the exit from the metro in the agreed places. The organizers of the attack, Naoko Kikuchi and Makoto Hirata, were only found and arrested in the spring of 2012. Later, the head of the chemical laboratory of the Aum Senrikyo sect admitted that in two years of work, 30 kg of sarin was synthesized and experiments were carried out with other toxic substances - tabun, soman and phosgene.
5. Terror attacks during the war in Iraq
During the war in Iraq, chemical weapons were used repeatedly, and both sides of the conflict did not disdain them. For example, a chlorine gas bomb exploded in the Iraqi village of Abu Saida on May 16, killing 20 people and injuring 50. Earlier, in March of the same year, terrorists detonated several chlorine bombs in the Sunni province of Anbar, injuring more than 350 people in total. Chlorine is fatal to humans - this gas causes fatal damage. respiratory system, and with a small impact leaves severe burns on the skin.
Even at the very beginning of the war, in 2004, US troops used white phosphorus as a chemical incendiary weapon. When used, one such bomb destroys all living things within a radius of 150 m from the place of impact. The American government at first denied any involvement in the incident, then declared a mistake, and finally, the representative of the Pentagon, Lt. armed forces enemy. Moreover, the US has stated that incendiary bombs are a perfectly legitimate instrument of warfare, and henceforth the US does not intend to stop using them if the need arises. Unfortunately, when using white phosphorus, civilians suffered.
6. Attack in Aleppo, Syria
The militants still use chemical weapons. For example, quite recently, on March 19, 2013, in Syria, where the opposition is now at war with the incumbent president, a rocket filled with chemicals was used. There was an incident in the city of Aleppo, as a result, the center of the city, included in the UNESCO lists, was badly damaged, 16 people died, and another 100 people were poisoned. There are still no reports in the media about what substance was contained in the rocket, however, according to eyewitnesses, when inhaled, the victims experienced suffocation and severe convulsions, which in some cases led to death.
Opposition representatives blame the Syrian government for the incident, which does not admit guilt. Given the fact that Syria is prohibited from developing and using chemical weapons, it was assumed that the UN would take over the investigation, but at present the Syrian government does not give its consent to this.
The first chemical weapons to be used were the "Greek fire" consisting of sulfur compounds thrown from pipes during naval battles, first described by Plutarch, as well as hypnotic agents described by the Scottish historian Buchanan, causing continuous diarrhea according to Greek authors and a range of drugs, including arsenic-containing compounds and the saliva of rabid dogs, which was described by Leonardo da Vinci. In Indian sources of the 4th century BC. e. there were descriptions of alkaloids and toxins, including abrin (a compound close to ricin, a component of the poison with which the Bulgarian dissident G. Markov was poisoned in 1979).
Aconitine, (alkaloid), contained in plants of the genus aconite (aconitium) had ancient history and was used by Indian courtesans for murder. They covered their lips with a special substance, and on top of it, in the form of lipstick, they applied aconitine to their lips, one or more kisses or a bite, which, according to sources, led to a terrible death, the lethal dose was less than 7 milligrams. With the help of one of the poisons mentioned in the ancient "teachings about poisons", describing the effects of their effects, brother Nero Britannicus was killed. Several clinical experimental work was carried out by Madame de "Brinville, who poisoned all her relatives claiming inheritance, she also developed a "powder of inheritance", testing it on patients in clinics in Paris to assess the strength of the drug.
In the 15th and 17th centuries, poisonings of this kind were very popular, we should remember the Medici, they were a natural phenomenon, because it was almost impossible to detect poison after opening a corpse. If the poisoners were found, then the punishment was very cruel, they were burned or forced to drink a huge amount of water. Negative attitudes towards poisoners held back the use of chemicals for military purposes until the middle of the 19th century. Until then, assuming that sulfur compounds could be used for military purposes, Admiral Sir Thomas Cochran (10th Earl of Sunderland) used sulfur dioxide as a chemical warfare agent in 1855, which was met with indignation by the British military establishment.
During the First World War, chemicals were used in huge quantities: 12,000 tons of mustard gas, which affected about 400,000 people, and a total of 113,000 tons of various substances. In total, during the years of the First World War, 180 thousand tons of various toxic substances were produced. The total losses from chemical weapons are estimated at 1.3 million people, of which up to 100 thousand were fatal. The use of poisonous substances during the First World War are the first recorded violations of the Hague Declaration of 1899 and 1907. Incidentally, the United States refused to support the 1899 Hague Conference. In 1907 Great Britain acceded to the declaration and accepted its obligations. France agreed to the 1899 Hague Declaration, as did Germany, Italy, Russia and Japan. The parties agreed on the non-use of asphyxiating and nerve-paralytic gases for military purposes. Referring to the exact wording of the declaration, on October 27, 1914, Germany used ammunition loaded with shrapnel mixed with an irritating powder, arguing that this use was not the only purpose of this shelling. This also applies to the second half of 1914, when Germany and France used non-lethal tear gases, but on April 22, 1915, Germany carried out a massive chlorine attack, as a result of which 15,000 soldiers were injured, of which 5,000 died. The Germans at the front of 6 km released chlorine from 5730 cylinders. Within 5-8 minutes, 168 tons of chlorine were released.
This perfidious use of chemical weapons by Germany was met with a powerful propaganda campaign against Germany, denouncing the use of poisonous substances for military purposes, initiated by Britain. Julian Parry Robinson examined propaganda material released after the Ypres events that drew attention to the description of Allied casualties due to the gas attack, based on information provided by credible sources. The Times published an article on April 30, 1915: "The Complete History of Events: New german weapons". This is how eyewitnesses described this event: “The faces, hands of people were of a glossy gray-black color, their mouths were open, their eyes were covered with lead glaze, everything around was rushing about, spinning, fighting for life. The sight was frightening, all those terrible blackened faces, wailing and begging for help.
The effect of the gas is to fill the lungs with a watery mucous liquid, which gradually fills all the lungs, because of this, suffocation occurs, as a result of which people die within 1 or 2 days. German propaganda answered its opponents thus: "These shells * are no more dangerous than the poisonous substances used during the English unrest (meaning the Luddite explosions, which used explosives based on picric acid)." This first gas attack came as a complete surprise to the Allied troops, but on September 25, 1915, the British troops carried out their trial chlorine attack. In further gas attacks, both chlorine and mixtures of chlorine with phosgene were used.
For the first time, a mixture of phosgene and chlorine was first used as an agent by Germany on May 31, 1915, against Russian troops. At the front of 12 km - near Bolimov (Poland), 264 tons of this mixture were produced from 12 thousand cylinders. Despite the lack of means of protection and surprise, the German attack was repulsed. Almost 9 thousand people were put out of action in 2 Russian divisions. Since 1917, the warring countries began to use gas launchers (a prototype of mortars). They were first used by the British. The mines contained from 9 to 28 kg of a poisonous substance, firing from gas guns was carried out mainly with phosgene, liquid diphosgene and chloropicrin. German gas guns were the cause of the “miracle at Caporetto”, when, after shelling from 912 gas guns with mines with phosgene of the Italian battalion, all life was destroyed in the Isonzo river valley. Gas cannons were capable of suddenly creating high concentrations of agents in the target area, so many Italians died even in gas masks.
Gas cannons gave impetus to the use of artillery, the use of poisonous substances, from the middle of 1916. The use of artillery increased the effectiveness of gas attacks. So on June 22, 1916, for 7 hours of continuous shelling, German artillery fired 125 thousand shells from 100 thousand liters. suffocating agents. The mass of poisonous substances in cylinders was 50%, in shells only 10%. On May 15, 1916, during an artillery shelling, the French used a mixture of phosgene with tin tetrachloride and arsenic trichloride, and on July 1, a mixture of hydrocyanic acid with arsenic trichloride. On July 10, 1917, diphenylchlorarsine was first used by the Germans on the Western Front, causing a severe cough even through a gas mask, which in those years had a poor smoke filter. Therefore, in the future, diphenylchlorarsine was used together with phosgene or diphosgene to defeat the enemy’s manpower. Used for the first time by German troops near the Belgian city of Ypres.
On July 12, 1917, within 4 hours, 50 thousand shells containing 125 tons of B, B-dichlorodiethyl sulfide were fired at the Allied positions. 2,490 people received injuries of varying degrees. The French called the new agent "mustard gas", after the place of first use, and the British called it "mustard gas" because of the strong specific smell. British scientists quickly deciphered its formula, but they managed to establish the production of a new OM only in 1918, which is why it was possible to use mustard gas for military purposes only in September 1918 (2 months before the armistice). In this period from April 1915 Until November 1918, more than 50 gas balloon attacks were carried out by German troops, 150 by the British, and 20 by the French.
After World War I and up until World War II, public opinion in Europe was opposed to the use of chemical weapons. After the end of the First World War and until 1934, the movement of pacifists was very active in Europe, including the group “Poets of War”, who described the deaths that occurred as a result of the use of poisonous substances, occupied a special place. After the First World War, among the industrialists of Europe, who ensured the defense of their countries, the opinion prevailed that chemical weapons should be an indispensable attribute of warfare, the rest were considered either sick or crazy. At the same time, through the efforts of the League of Nations, a number of conferences and rallies were held to promote the prohibition of the use of poisonous substances for military purposes and talk about the consequences of this. The International Committee of the Red Cross supported conferences that condemned the use of chemical warfare in the 1920s. The Committee also undertook a number of works in the field of protection of the civilian population from toxic substances. In 1929, The Times announced an award for the invention of the best instrument for determining the concentration of organic matter. In the USSR in 1928, a chemical attack was simulated using 30 airplanes over Leningrad. The Times reported that the application of the powder was not effective for the public.
In 1921, the Washington Conference on Arms Limitation was convened, chemical weapons were the subject of discussion by a specially created subcommittee that had information on the use of chemical weapons during the First World War, which intended to prohibit the use of chemical weapons, even more than conventional weapons of warfare. The subcommittee decided: the use of chemical weapons against the enemy on land and on water cannot be limited. The opinion of the subcommittee was supported by a public opinion poll in the United States. The treaty has been ratified by most countries, including the US and the UK. However, the United States simultaneously began to expand the Edgewood arsenal. Lewisite or was one of the main objects of repeated condemnation, it was even called "Death Dew". In Britain, some accepted the use of chemical weapons as a fait accompli, fearing that they would be at a disadvantage, as in 1915. And as a consequence of this, further work continued on chemical weapons, using propaganda for the use of toxic substances. One of the leading experts in the field of IA was J.B.S. Haldon, who had experience in conducting chemical attacks as an officer of the Black Watch (Black Guard), who was called from France to help his father, Professor Haldon, for research in the field of chemical warfare agents. Haldon was often exposed to chlorine, all kinds of lacrimators and irritants. In 1925 he gave a series of lectures on chemical weapons entitled "Callinicus, Defense Against Chemical Weapons".
He named it after the Syrian Callinicus, who invented a special tar and sulfur mixture called "Greek fire". In it, he wrote: Chemical warfare requires effort to understand. She's different than ever sports entertainment, which are similar to firing from various types of weapons, even with the use of armored vehicles. Also, chemical weapons were used in large quantities: by Spain in Morocco in 1925, by Italian troops in Ethiopia (from October 1935 to April 1936). Mustard gas was used with great efficiency by the Italians, despite the fact that Italy acceded to the Geneva Protocol in 1925. 415 tons of blister agents and 263 tons of asphyxiating gases were sent to the Ethiopian front. Of the total losses of the Abyssinian army (about 750,000 people), one-third were losses from chemical weapons. And this is without counting the losses of the civilian population, who suffered during the 19 largest air raids. Japan used chemical weapons against Chinese troops in the 1937-1943 war. The losses of Chinese troops from poisonous substances amounted to 10% of the total. In 1913, Germany produced 85.91% of the dyes produced in the world, Britain - 2.54%, the USA - 1.84%.
The six largest chemical companies in Germany have united in the IG Farben concern, created for complete dominance in the dyes and organic chemistry markets. The famous inorganic chemist Fritz Haber (Nobel Prize winner in 1918), was the initiator combat use OV Germany during the First World War, his colleague Schroeder, who developed nerve gases in the early 1930s, was one of the most prominent chemists of his time. British and American sources saw in IG Farben an empire similar to the Krupp armaments empire, considering it a serious threat and made efforts to dismember it after the Second World War, and it was not for nothing that the specialists of this concern helped the Italians to establish the production of OV so effective in Ethiopia. Which led to dominance in the markets of the Allied countries. And in the rest of Europe, there were quite a few chemists who believed that it was much more “humane” to use chemical weapons in hostilities than to wait until others used them. The reasons why Germany did not use chemical weapons during World War II remain unclear to this day; according to one version, Hitler did not give the command to use CWA during the war because he believed that the USSR had more chemical weapons.
Churchill recognized the need to use chemical weapons only if they were used by the enemy. But the indisputable fact is the superiority of Germany in the production of poisonous substances: the production of nerve gases in Germany came as a complete surprise to the Allied forces in 1945. In 1935-1936. in Germany, nitrogen and "oxygen" mustards were obtained, tabun was synthesized in 1936, more toxic sarin in 1939, and soman at the end of 1944. In 1940, in the city of Oberbayern (Bavaria), a large plant owned by IG Farben was launched for the production of mustard gas and mustard compounds, with a capacity of 40 thousand tons. In total, in the pre-war and first war years in Germany, about 17 new technological installations for the production of OM were built, the annual capacity of which exceeded 100 thousand tons.
In the city of Dühernfurt, on the Oder (now Silesia, Poland), there was one of the largest production facilities for organic matter. By 1945, Germany had 12 thousand tons of herd in stock, the production of which was nowhere else. Separate work on obtaining these substances was carried out in the USA and Great Britain, but a breakthrough in their production could not occur until 1945. During the years of World War II in the United States, 135 thousand tons of toxic substances were produced at 17 installations, half of the total volume was accounted for mustard gas. Mustard gas was equipped with about 5 million shells and 1 million air bombs. From 1945 to 1980, only 2 types of chemical weapons were used in the West: lachrymators (CS: 2-chlorobenzylidenemalononitrile - tear gas) and herbicides (the so-called "Orange Agent") used by the US Army in Vietnam, the consequences of which are the infamous "Yellow Rains".
CS alone, 6,800 tons were used. The United States produced chemical weapons until 1969. In 1974, President Nixon and General Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU Leonid Brezhnev signed a significant agreement aimed at banning chemical weapons. It was confirmed by President Ford in 1976 at bilateral talks in Geneva. From 1963 to 1967, Egyptian forces used chemical weapons in Yemen. During the 1980s, mustard gas was widely used by Iraq, and later nerve gas (presumably tabun) during the Iran-Iraq conflict. In the incident near Halabja, about 5,000 Iranians and Kurds were injured in a gas attack. In Afghanistan, Soviet troops, according to Western journalists, also used chemical weapons. In 1985, chemical weapons were used in Angola by the Cuban or Vietnamese military, resulting in hard-to-explain effects on environment. Libya produced chemical weapons at one of its enterprises, which was recorded by Western journalists in 1988.
