The term weapons (atomic, biological, chemical) has in English largely been superseded by weapons of mass destruction, and before that by NBC weapons where the N stands for nuclear. The term ABC weapons is still used in many other languages. Image File history File links Radiation and biohazard symbols. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... Weapons of mass destruction (WMD) generally include nuclear, biological, chemical and, increasingly, radiological weapons. ... -1... The mushroom cloud of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, Japan, 1945, rose some 18 km (11 mi) above the hypocenter. ...

ABC weapons represents the nontraditional weapons of the 20th century: The bayonet, still used in war as both knife and spearpoint. ... (19th century - 20th century - 21st century - more centuries) Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s As a means of recording the passage of time, the 20th century was that century which lasted from 1901–2000 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar (1900–1999 in the...

• atomic weapons (including radiological weapons)
• biological weapons
• chemical weapons

ABC weapons are designed to kill large numbers of people, chiefly civilians but potentially also unprotected military personnel. The threat of ABC attacks forces military troops to use protection limiting their battle endurance. The mushroom cloud of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, Japan, in 1945 lifted nuclear fallout some 18km (60,000 feet) above the epicenter. ... A radiological weapon (or radiological dispersion device, RDD) is any weapon that is designed to spread radioactive contamination, either to kill, or to deny the use of an area (a modern version of salting the earth) and consists of a device (such as a nuclear or conventional explosive) which spreads... Biological warfare, also known as germ warfare, is the use of any organism (bacteria, virus or other disease_causing organism) or toxin found in nature, as a weapon of war. ... Dressing the wounded during a gas attack by Austin O. Spare, 1918. ...

The acronym ABC was deemed fit when large numbers of troops and civilians were to be educated about these new weapons, and how to protect against them, in the mid-20th century. The term was found to be less advantageous after the post-1968 radicalization, when the word Atomic seemingly was considered negatively charged after forceful left-wing campaigns against Atomic Power and the Atom Bomb. Acronyms and initialisms are abbreviations formed from the initial letter or letters of words, such as NATO and XHTML, and are pronounced in a way that is distinct from the full pronunciation of what the letters stand for. ... In politics, left-wing, political left, leftism, or simply the left, are terms which refer (with no particular precision) to the segment of the political spectrum typically associated with any of several strains of socialism, social democracy, or liberalism (especially in the American sense of the word), or with opposition... Switzerland. ... The mushroom cloud of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, Japan, in 1945 lifted nuclear fallout some 18 km (60,000 feet) above the epicenter. ...

For more, see weapons of mass destruction. Weapons of mass destruction (WMD) generally include nuclear, biological, chemical and, increasingly, radiological weapons. ...