Dressing the wounded during a gas attack by Austin O. Spare, 1918.

Chemical warfare is warfare (and associated military operations) using the toxic properties of chemical substances to kill, injure or incapacitate the enemy. Download high resolution version (700x950, 122 KB)Pastel drawing by Austin Osman Spare, 1918, showing a wounded British soldier being dressed during a gas attack. ... Download high resolution version (700x950, 122 KB)Pastel drawing by Austin Osman Spare, 1918, showing a wounded British soldier being dressed during a gas attack. ... Austin Osman Spare (December 30, 1886 _ May 15, 1956) was an English artist and magician. ... For other uses of War, see War (disambiguation). ... A toxin, in a scientific context, is a biologically produced substance that causes injury to the health of a living thing on contact or absorption, typically by interacting with biological macromolecules such as enzymes and receptors. ... The phrase Chemical property is context driven, but generally refers to the materials behaviour at standard conditions ( room temperature, 1 atmosphere pressure, oxygen bearing atmosphere). ... ...

Chemical warfare is different from the use of conventional weapons or nuclear weapons because the destructive effects of chemical weapons are not primarily due to any explosive force. The offensive use of living organisms (such as anthrax) is considered to be biological warfare rather than chemical warfare. However, the use in war of toxic products produced by living organisms (e.g., toxins such as botulinum toxin, ricin, or saxitoxin) is considered as chemical warfare under the provisions of the Chemical Weapons Convention. Under this Convention, any toxic chemical, regardless of its origin, is considered as a chemical weapon unless it is used for purposes that are not prohibited (an important legal definition, known as the General Purpose Criterion). A conventional weapon is a weapon that does not incorporate chemical, biological or nuclear payloads. ... The mushroom cloud of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, Japan, 1945, rose some 18 km (11 mi) above the epicenter. ... Gasoline explosions, simulating bomb drops at an airshow. ... In biology and ecology, an organism (in Greek organon = instrument) is an assembly of molecules that influence each other in such a way that they function as a more or less stable whole and have properties of life. ... 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. ... A toxin, in a scientific context, is a biologically produced substance that causes injury to the health of a living thing on contact or absorption, typically by interacting with biological macromolecules such as enzymes and receptors. ... Botulin toxin or botox is the toxic compound produced by the bacterium Clostridium botulinum. ... Castor beans The protein ricin (pronounced rye-sin) is a poison manufactured from the castor bean (Ricinus communis). ... Saxitoxin (STX), is a neurotoxin found in marine dinoflagellates. ... Chemical Weapons Convention Opened for signature January 13, 1993 at Paris Entered into force April 29, 1997 Conditions for entry into force Ratification by 50 states and the convening of a Preperatory Commission Parties 170 The Chemical Weapons Convention is an arms control agreement which outlaws the production, stockpiling and...

Chemical weapons are classified as weapons of mass destruction by the United Nations, and their production and stockpiling was outlawed by the Chemical Weapons Convention of 1993. Weapons of Mass Destruction is also the name of rapper Xzibits 2004 album. ... The United Nations, or UN, is an international organization established in 1945 and now made up of 191 states. ... Chemical Weapons Convention Opened for signature January 13, 1993 at Paris Entered into force April 29, 1997 Conditions for entry into force Ratification by 50 states and the convening of a Preperatory Commission Parties 170 The Chemical Weapons Convention is an arms control agreement which outlaws the production, stockpiling and... 1993 is a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar and marked the Beginning of the International Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination (1993-2003). ...

Chemical warfare technology

Although crude chemical warfare has been employed in many parts of the world for thousands of years, "modern" chemical warfare began during World War I. Initially, only well-known commercially available chemicals and their variants were used. These included chlorine and phosgene gas. The methods of dispersing these agents during battle were relatively unrefined and inefficient. Events and Trends Technology Lawrence Hargrave makes the first stable wing design for a heavier-than-air aircraft Orville and Wilbur Wright make the first documented flight in a powered heavier-than-air aircraft Mass production of automobile Wide popularity of home phonograph Panama Canal is built by the United... // Events and trends Technology Gideon Sundback patents the first modern zipper Harry Brearley invents stainless steel Charles P. Strite invents first pop-up bread toaster Science Einsteins theory of general relativity Max von Laue discovers the diffraction of x-rays by crystals Alfred Wegener puts forward his theory of... Sometimes referred to as the Jazz Age or primarily in North America as the Roaring Twenties. // Events and trends Technology John T. Thompson invents Thompson submachine gun, also known as Tommy gun John Logie Baird invents the first working television system (1925) Charles Lindbergh becomes the first person to fly... // Events and trends The 1930s were spent struggling for a solution to the global depression. ... // Events and trends The 1940s were dominated by World War II, the most destructive armed conflict in history. ... // Events and trends The 1950s in Western society was marked with a sharp rise in the economy for the first time in almost 30 years and return to the 1920s-type consumer society built on credit and boom-times, as well as the height of the baby-boom from returning... The 1960s, or The Sixties, in its most obvious sense refers to the decade between 1960 and 1969, but the expression has taken on a wider meaning over the past twenty years. ... This article provides extensive lists of events and significant personalities of the 1970s. ... // Events and trends The 1980s marked an abrupt shift towards more conservative lifestyles after the momentous cultural revolutions which took place in the 60s and 70s and the definition of the AIDS virus in 1981. ... // Events and trends The 1990s are generally classified as having moved slightly away from the more conservative 1980s, but keeping the same mind-set. ... World War I was a basically European conflict with many facets: immense human sacrifice, stalemate trench warfare, and the use of new, devastating weapons - tanks, aircraft, machineguns, and poison gas. ... General Name, Symbol, Number chlorine, Cl, 17 Chemical series halogens Group, Period, Block 17, 3, p Appearance yellowish green Atomic mass 35. ... Phosgene (also known as carbonyl chloride, COCl2) is a highly toxic gas or refrigerated liquid that was used as a chemical weapon in World War I. It has no color, but is detectable in air by its odor, which resembles moldy hay. ...

Germany, the first side to employ chemical warfare on the battlefield, simply opened canisters of chlorine upwind of the opposing side and let the prevailing winds do the dissemination. Soon after, the French modified artillery munitions to contain phosgene – a much more effective method that became the principal means of delivery. Historically, artillery refers to any engine used for the discharge of projectiles during war. ... Munition is often defined as a synonyn for ammunition. ...

Since the development of modern chemical warfare in World War I, nations have pursued research and development on chemical weapons that falls into four major categories: new and more deadly agents; more efficient methods of delivering agents to the target (dissemination); more reliable means of defense against chemical weapons; and more sensitive and accurate means of detecting chemical agents.

Chemical warfare agents

A chemical used in warfare is called a chemical warfare agent (CWA), and is usually gaseous at room temperature or is a liquid that evaporates quickly. Such liquids are said to be volatile or have a high vapor pressure. The resulting fumes are toxic, hence the phrase "poison gas" used to describe a chemical weapon deployed in gaseous form. Many chemical agents are made volatile so they can be dispersed over a large region quickly. Gas (actually, as), the GNU assembler, is the default GCC back-end. ... The vapor pressure is the pressure (if the vapor is mixed with other gases, the partial pressure) of a vapor. ...

The earliest target of chemical weapon agent research was not toxicity, but development of agents that can affect a target through the skin and clothing, rendering protective gas masks useless. In July 1917, the Germans first employed mustard gas, the first agent that circumvented gas masks. Mustard easily penetrates leather and fabric to inflict painful burns on the skin. A gas mask is a mask worn on the face to protect the body from airborne pollutants and toxic materials. ... 1917 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... Chemical Structure of Mustard Gas Compound Mustard gas (HD) is a chemical compound that was first used as a chemical weapon in World War I. In pure form, it is a colorless, odorless, viscous liquid at room temperature and causes blistering of the skin. ...

Persistency

All chemical weapon agents are classified according to their persistency, a measure of the length of time that a chemical agent remains effective after dissemination. Chemical agents are classified as persistent or nonpersistent.

Agents classified as nonpersistent lose effectiveness after only a few minutes or hours. Purely gaseous agents such as chlorine are nonpersistent, as are highly volatile agents such as sarin and most other nerve agents. Tactically, nonpersistent agents are very useful against targets that are to be taken over and controlled very quickly. Generally speaking, nonpersistent agents present only an inhalation hazard. Sarin or GB (O-Isopropyl methylphosphonofluoridate) is an extremely toxic substance that is one of the worlds most dangerous weapons of war. ...

By contrast, persistent agents tend to remain in the environment for as long as a week, complicating decontamination. Defense against persistent agents requires shielding for extended periods of time. Non-volatile liquid agents, such as blister agents and the oily VX nerve agent, do not easily evaporate into a gas, and therefore present primarily a contact hazard. The VX nerve agent is the most well-known of the V-series of nerve agents. ...

Classes of chemical warfare agents

Chemical warfare agents are organized into several categories according to the manner in which they affect the human body. The names and number of categories varies slightly from source to source, but in general, types of chemical warfare agents are as follows:

There are other chemicals used militarily that are not technically considered to be "chemical weapon agents," such as: A nerve agent or nerve gas is a highly toxic chemical substance that poisons the nervous system and disrupts bodily functions necessary for life. ... Sarin or GB (O-Isopropyl methylphosphonofluoridate) is an extremely toxic substance that is one of the worlds most dangerous weapons of war. ... The VX nerve agent is the most well-known of the V-series of nerve agents. ... Neurotransmitters are chemicals that are used to relay, amplify and modulate electrical signals between two neurons: the presynaptic neuron and the postsynaptic neuron. ... The chemical compound acetylcholine, often abbreviated as ACh, was the first neurotransmitter to be identified. ... Synapses allow nerve cells to communicate with one another through axons and dendrites, converting electrical signals into chemical ones. ... A blood agent (also called a cyanogen agent) is a compound that prevents the normal transfer of oxygen from the blood to the body tissues, resulting in chemical asphyxiation. ... Hydrogen cyanide is a chemical compound with chemical formula H-C≡N. A solution of hydrogen cyanide in water is called hydrocyanic acid or prussic acid. ... A cyanide is any chemical compound that contains the group C≡N, with the carbon atom triple bonded to the nitrogen atom. ... A vesicant (also known as a blister agent) is a chemical agent that causes blistering of the skin. ... Chemical Structure of Mustard Gas Compound Mustard gas (HD) is a chemical compound that was first used as a chemical weapon in World War I. In pure form, it is a colorless, odorless, viscous liquid at room temperature and causes blistering of the skin. ... Chemical structure of Lewisite Lewisite is a chemical compound from a chemical family called arsines. ... A blister or bulla is a defense mechanism of the human body. ... Categories: Chemical weapons | Stub ... Phosgene (also known as carbonyl chloride, COCl2) is a highly toxic gas or refrigerated liquid that was used as a chemical weapon in World War I. It has no color, but is detectable in air by its odor, which resembles moldy hay. ... Suffocation can mean two things: Suffocation, or Asphyxia, is a medical condition where the body is depraved of oxygen. ... Categories: Stub | Chemical weapons ... A riot control agent is a type of lachrymatory agent (or lacrimatory agent). ... Pepper spray is a non-lethal chemical agent which is used in riot control, crowd control and personal self-defense, including defense against dogs. ... A riot control agent is a type of lachrymatory agent (or lacrimatory agent). ... The term incapacitating agent is defined by the U.S. Department of Defense as An agent that produces temporary physiological or mental effects, or both, which will render individuals incapable of concerted effort in the performance of their assigned duties. ... QNB redirects here. ... Confusion can have the following meanings: Unclarity, e. ... Confabulation is the confusion of imagination as memory, and true memories as false ones. ... A hallucination is a false sensory perception in the absence of an external stimulus, as distinct from an illusion, which is a misperception of an external stimulus. ... The chemical compound acetylcholine, often abbreviated as ACh, was the first neurotransmitter to be identified. ... The peripheral nervous system or PNS, is part of the nervous system, and consists of the nerves and neurons that reside or extend outside the central nervous system--to serve the limbs and organs, for example. ...

• Defoliants that destroy vegetation, but are not immediately toxic to human beings. (Agent Orange, for instance, used by the United States in Vietnam, contained dioxins and is known for its long-term cancer effects and for causing genetic damage leading to serious birth deformities.)
• Incendiary or explosive chemicals (such as napalm, extensively used by the United States in Vietnam, or dynamite) because their destructive effects are primarily due to fire or explosive force, and not direct chemical action.
• Viruses, bacteria, or other organisms, or their toxic products. Their use is classified as biological warfare.

A defoliant is a name for any chemical sprayed or dusted on plants to destroy, partly or totally, specific forms of vegetation or all forms of vegetation. ... Agent Orange is the code name for a powerful herbicide and defoliant used widely by the U.S. military during the Vietnam War. ... Dioxins form a family of toxic chlorinated organic compounds that bioaccumulate in humans and wildlife due to their fat solubility. ... When normal cells are damaged or old they undergo apoptosis; cancer cells, however, avoid apoptosis. ... An incendiary device is a device or weapon designed to create a fire. ... This article is concerned solely with chemical explosives. ... A napalm airstrike during the Vietnam War Napalm is a flammable, gasoline-based weapon invented in 1943. ... Dynamite is an explosive based on the explosive potential of nitroglycerin using diatomaceous earth (Kieselguhr) as an absorbent. ... Three types of viruses: a bacterial virus, otherwise called a bacteriophage (left center); an animal virus (top right); and a retrovirus (bottom right). ... Phyla/Divisions Actinobacteria Aquificae Bacteroidetes/Chlorobi Chlamydiae/Verrucomicrobia Chloroflexi Chrysiogenetes Cyanobacteria Deferribacteres Deinococcus-Thermus Dictyoglomi Fibrobacteres/Acidobacteria Firmicutes Fusobacteria Gemmatimonadetes Nitrospirae Omnibacteria Planctomycetes Proteobacteria Spirochaetes Thermodesulfobacteria Thermomicrobia Thermotogae Bacteria (singular, bacterium) are a major group of living organisms. ... A biotoxin is any toxin produced by a living organism (plant, animal, fungus, bacteria). ... 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. ...

Chemical weapon designations

Most chemical weapons are assigned a one- to three-letter "NATO weapon designation" in addition to, or in place of, a common name. Binary munitions, in which precursors for chemical weapon agents are automatically mixed in shell to produce the agent just prior to its use, are indicated by a "-2" following the agent's designation (for example, GB-2 and VX-2). The flag of NATO NATO 2002 Summit The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), sometimes called North Atlantic Alliance, Atlantic Alliance or the Western Alliance, is an international organisation for defence collaboration established in 1949, in support of the North Atlantic Treaty signed in Washington, D.C., on April 4, 1949. ... Binary Chemical Weapons are chemical weapons wherein the toxic agent is not contained within the weapon in its active state, but in the form of two chemical precursors, physically separated within the weapon. ...

Some examples are given below:

Categories: Stub | Chemical weapons ... Hydrogen cyanide is a chemical compound with chemical formula H-C≡N. A solution of hydrogen cyanide in water is called hydrocyanic acid or prussic acid. ... Chemical structure of Lewisite Lewisite is a chemical compound from a chemical family called arsines. ... Chemical Structure of Mustard Gas Compound Mustard gas (HD) is a chemical compound that was first used as a chemical weapon in World War I. In pure form, it is a colorless, odorless, viscous liquid at room temperature and causes blistering of the skin. ... Phosgene (also known as carbonyl chloride, COCl2) is a highly toxic gas or refrigerated liquid that was used as a chemical weapon in World War I. It has no color, but is detectable in air by its odor, which resembles moldy hay. ... BZ may stand for: 3-quinuclidinyl benzilate, an odorless military incapacitating agent Belize (ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 country code) Benzodiazepines Bz - benzoyl group () C6H5-CO- . The functional group - acyl derived from benzoic acid bzip2 This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise... Pepper spray is a non-lethal chemical agent which is used in riot control, crowd control and personal self-defense, including defense against dogs. ... A riot control agent is a type of lachrymatory agent (or lacrimatory agent). ... Sarin or GB (O-Isopropyl methylphosphonofluoridate) is an extremely toxic substance that is one of the worlds most dangerous weapons of war. ... The VX nerve agent is the most well-known of the V-series of nerve agents. ...

Chemical agent delivery

The most important factor in the effectiveness of chemical weapons is the efficiency of its delivery, or dissemination, to a target. The most common techniques include munitions (such as bombs, projectiles, warheads) that allow dissemination at a distance and spray tanks which disseminate from low-flying aircraft. Developments in the techniques of filling and storage of munitions have also been important.

Although there have been many advances in chemical weapon delivery since World War I, it is still difficult to achieve effective dispersion. The dissemination is highly dependent on atmospheric conditions because many chemical agents act in gaseous form. Thus, weather observations and forecasting are essential to optimize weapon delivery and reduce the risk of injuring friendly forces.

Dispersion

Dispersion of chlorine in World War I

Dispersion is the simplest technique of delivering an agent to its target. It consists of placing the chemical agent upon or adjacent to a target immediately before dissemination, so that the material is most efficiently used. Use of poison gas in World War I This image has been released into the public domain by the copyright holder, its copyright has expired, or it is ineligible for copyright. ... Use of poison gas in World War I This image has been released into the public domain by the copyright holder, its copyright has expired, or it is ineligible for copyright. ...

World War I saw the earliest implementation of this technique, when German forces simply opened canisters of chlorine and allowed the wind to carry the gas across enemy lines. While simple and easy, this technique had numerous disadvantages. Delivery depended greatly on wind speed and direction. If the wind was fickle, as at Loos, the gas could blow back, causing friendly casualties. Gas clouds gave plenty of warning, allowing the enemy time to protect themselves, though many soldiers found the sight of a creeping gas cloud unnerving. Also gas clouds had limited penetration, capable only of affecting the front-line trenches before dissipating. Although it produced limited results in World War I, this technique shows how simple chemical weapon dissemination can be. World War I was a basically European conflict with many facets: immense human sacrifice, stalemate trench warfare, and the use of new, devastating weapons - tanks, aircraft, machineguns, and poison gas. ... The Battle of Loos was one of the major British offensives mounted on the Western Front in 1915 during World War I. The battle was the British component of the combined Anglo-French offensive known as the Second Battle of Artois. ...

Shortly after this "open canister" dissemination, French forces developed a technique for delivery of phosgene in a non-explosive artillery shell. This technique overcame many of the risks of dealing with gas in cylinders. First, gas shells were independent of the wind and increased the effective range of gas, making any target within reach of guns vulnerable. Second, gas shells could be delivered without warning, especially the clear, nearly odorless phosgene — there are numerous accounts of gas shells, landing with a "plop" rather than exploding, being initially dismissed as dud high explosive or shrapnel shells, giving the gas time to work before the soldiers were alerted and took precautions. Phosgene (also known as carbonyl chloride, COCl2) is a highly toxic gas or refrigerated liquid that was used as a chemical weapon in World War I. It has no color, but is detectable in air by its odor, which resembles moldy hay. ... Historically, artillery refers to any engine used for the discharge of projectiles during war. ... This article is concerned solely with chemical explosives. ... Shrapnel is the collective term for fragments and debris thrown out by an exploding shell or landmine. ...

The major drawback of artillery delivery was the difficulty of achieving a killing concentration. Each shell had a small gas payload and an area would have to be subjected to saturation bombardment to produce a cloud to match cylinder delivery.

Over the years, there were some refinements in this technique. In the 1950s and early 1960s, chemical artillery rockets contained a multitude of submunitions, so that a large number of small clouds of the chemical agent would form directly on the target. // Events and trends The 1950s in Western society was marked with a sharp rise in the economy for the first time in almost 30 years and return to the 1920s-type consumer society built on credit and boom-times, as well as the height of the baby-boom from returning... The 1960s, or The Sixties, in its most obvious sense refers to the decade between 1960 and 1969, but the expression has taken on a wider meaning over the past twenty years. ...

Thermal dissemination

An American-made MC-1 gas bomb

Thermal dissemination is the use of explosives or pyrotechnics to deliver chemical agents. This technique, developed in the 1920s, was a major improvement over earlier dispersal techniques, in that it allowed significant quantities of an agent to be disseminated over a considerable distance. Thermal dissemination remains the principal method of disseminating chemical agents today. An MC-1 gas bomb File links The following pages link to this file: Chemical warfare Categories: U.S. military images ... An MC-1 gas bomb File links The following pages link to this file: Chemical warfare Categories: U.S. military images ... The M117 is an air-dropped general-purpose bomb used by United States military forces. ... This article is concerned solely with chemical explosives. ... The word pyrotechnic (literally meaning fire technology) refers to any chemical explosive device, but especially fireworks. ... Sometimes referred to as the Jazz Age or primarily in North America as the Roaring Twenties. // Events and trends Technology John T. Thompson invents Thompson submachine gun, also known as Tommy gun John Logie Baird invents the first working television system (1925) Charles Lindbergh becomes the first person to fly...

Most thermal dissemination devices consist of a bomb or projectile shell that contains a chemical agent and a central "burster" charge; when the burster detonates, the agent is expelled laterally. Massive ordinance air-burst bomb. ... A shell is a projectile, which, as opposed to a bullet, is not solid but contains an explosive or other filling, though modern usage includes large projectiles without a filling. ...

Thermal dissemination devices, though common, are not particularly efficient. First, a percentage of the agent is lost by incineration in the initial blast and by being forced onto the ground. Second, the sizes of the particles vary greatly because explosive dissemination produces a mixture of liquid droplets of variable and difficult to control sizes.

The efficacy of thermal detonation is greatly limited by the flammability of some agents. For flammable aerosols, the cloud is sometimes totally or partially ignited by the disseminating explosion in a phenomenon called flashing. Explosively disseminated VX will ignite roughly one third of the time. Despite a great deal of study, flashing is still not fully understood, and a solution to the problem would be a major technological advance. http://visibleearth. ... The VX nerve agent is the most well-known of the V-series of nerve agents. ...

Despite the limitations of central bursters, most nations use this method in the early stages of chemical weapon development, in part because standard munitions can be adapted to carry the agents.

Aerodynamic dissemination

Aerodynamic dissemination is the non-explosive delivery of a chemical agent from an aircraft, allowing aerodynamic stress to disseminate the agent. This technique is the most recent major development in chemical agent dissemination, originating in the mid-1960s. The 1960s, or The Sixties, in its most obvious sense refers to the decade between 1960 and 1969, but the expression has taken on a wider meaning over the past twenty years. ...

This technique eliminates many of the limitations of thermal dissemination by eliminating the flashing effect and theoretically allowing precise control of particle size. In actuality, the altitude of dissemination, wind direction and velocity, and the direction and velocity of the aircraft greatly influence particle size. There are other drawbacks as well; ideal deployment requires precise knowledge of aerodynamics and fluid dynamics, and because the agent must usually be dispersed within the boundary layer (less than 200–300 ft above the ground), it puts pilots at risk. Aerodynamics is a branch of fluid dynamics concerned with the study of gas flows, first analysed by George Cayley in the 1800s. ... This article or section should be merged with Fluid mechanics Fluid dynamics is the study of fluids (liquids and gases) in motion, and the effect of the fluid motion on fluid boundaries, such as solid containers or other fluids. ... The boundary layer is the layer of fluid in the immediate vicinity of a bounding surface. ...

Significant research is still being applied toward this technique. For example, by modifying the properties of the liquid, its breakup when subjected to aerodynamic stress can be controlled and an idealized particle distribution achieved, even at supersonic speed. Additionally, advances in fluid dynamics, computer modeling, and weather forecasting allow an ideal direction, speed, and altitude to be calculated, such that weapon agent of a predetermined particle size can predictably and reliably hit a target. A computer simulation or a computer model is a computer program which attempts to simulate an abstract model of a particular system. ... If youre looking for the revolutionary communist Weather Underground Organization, see Weathermen Weather forecasting is the science (or some argue that it is an art) of predicting the state of the atmosphere for a future time and location. ...

Sociopolitical climate of chemical warfare

While the study of chemicals and their military uses was widespread in China, the use of toxic materials has historically been viewed with mixed emotions and some disdain in the West.

One of the earliest reactions to the use of chemical agents was from Rome. Struggling to defend themselves from the Roman legions, Germanic tribes poisoned the wells of their enemies, with Roman jurists having been recorded as declaring "armis bella non venenis geri", meaning "war is fought with weapons, not with poisons." Soldiers reenacting the Roman Army on manoeuvres Rome was a militarized state whose history was often closely entwined with its military history over the 1228 years that the Roman state is traditionally said to have existed. ... The Roman legion (from the Latin legio, meaning levy) was the basic military unit of ancient Rome. ... The bayonet, still used in war as both knife and spearpoint. ... The skull and crossbones symbol traditionally used to label a poisonous substance. ...

It is perhaps because of this view that in Europe before World War I, the use of poisonous chemicals in battle was typically the result of local initiative, and not the result of an active chemical weapons program. There are many reports of the isolated use of chemical agents in individual battles or sieges, but there was no true tradition of their use outside of incendiaries and smoke. Despite this tendency, there have been several attempts to initiate large-scale implementation of poison gas in several wars, but with the notable exception of World War I, the responsible authorities generally rejected the proposals for ethical reasons. Europe - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ... World War I was a basically European conflict with many facets: immense human sacrifice, stalemate trench warfare, and the use of new, devastating weapons - tanks, aircraft, machineguns, and poison gas. ... For the Boston area punk band see Siege (band). ... An incendiary device is a device or weapon designed to create a fire. ... Smoke is a suspension in air of small particles resulting from incomplete combustion of a fuel. ... Ethics is a general term for what is often described as the science (study) of morality. In philosophy, ethical behavior is that which is good or right. ...

For example, in 1854 Lyon Playfair, a British chemist, proposed using a cyanide-filled artillery shell against enemy ships during the Crimean War. The British Ordnance Department rejected the proposal as "as bad a mode of warfare as poisoning the wells of the enemy." 1854 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... A cyanide is any chemical compound that contains the group C≡N, with the carbon atom triple bonded to the nitrogen atom. ... Historically, artillery refers to any engine used for the discharge of projectiles during war. ... The Crimean War lasted from 28 March 1854 to 1856. ...

This general concern over the use of poison gas manifested itself in 1899 at the Hague Conference with a proposal prohibiting shells filled with asphyxiating gas. The proposal was passed, despite a single dissenting vote from the United States. The American representative, Naval Capt. Alfred Thayer Mahan, justified voting against the measure on the grounds that "the inventiveness of Americans should not be restricted in the development of new weapons." 1899 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... The Hague Conventions were international treaties negotiated at the First and Second Peace Conferences at The Hague, Netherlands in 1899 and 1907, respectively, and were, along with the Geneva Conventions, among the first formal statements of the laws of war and war crimes in the nascent body of international law. ... Alfred Thayer Mahan Rear Admiral Alfred Thayer Mahan (27 September 1840 - 1 December 1914) was a United States Navy officer, naval strategist, and educator, widely considered the worlds foremost theorist of military sea power. ...

After extensive use of chemical weapons in World War I, the popular view of chemical weapons grew from distaste to disgust, such that their use had become the ultimate atrocity in the minds of most people at the time. So much so, in fact, that in 1925, sixteen of the world's major nations signed the Geneva Protocol, thereby pledging never to use gas biological methods of warfare again. Notably, in the United States, the Protocol languished in the Senate until 1975, when it was finally ratified. 1925 was a common year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar). ... The Protocol for the Prohibition of the Use in War of Asphyxiating, Poisonous or other Gases, and of Bacteriological Methods of Warfare, usually called the Geneva Protocol, is a treaty to ban the use of chemical and biological weapons. ... Seal of the Senate The United States Senate is one of the two houses of the Congress of the United States, the other being the House of Representatives. ... 1975 was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1975 calendar). ...

Efforts to eradicate chemical weapons

• August 27, 1874: The Brussels Declaration Concerning the Laws and Customs of War is signed, specifically forbidding the "employment of poison or poisoned weapons."
• September 4, 1900: The Hague Conference, which includes a declaration banning the "use of projectiles the object of which is the diffusion of asphyxiating or deleterious gases," enters into force.
• February 6, 1922: After World War I, the Washington Arms Conference Treaty prohibited the use of asphyxiating, poisonous or other gases. It was signed by the United States, Britain, Japan, France, and Italy, but France objected to other provisions in the treaty and it never went into effect.
• September 7, 1929: The Geneva Protocol enters into force, prohibiting the use of poison gas and bacteriological methods of warfare. As of 2004, there are 132 signatory nations.
• May 1991: President George H.W. Bush unilaterally commits the United States to destroying all chemical weapons and to renounce the right to chemical weapon retaliation.
  • The U.S. Congress has since passed legislation requiring the destruction of the entire stockpile by December 31, 2004. Official U.S. policy is to support the Chemical Weapons Convention as a means to achieve a global ban on this class of weapons and to halt their proliferation.
• April 29, 1997: The Chemical Weapons Convention enters into force, augmenting the Geneva Protocol of 1925 by outlawing the production, stockpiling and use of chemical weapons.

August 27 is the 239th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (240th in leap years), with 126 days remaining. ... 1874 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... September 4 is the 247th day of the year (248th in leap years). ... 1900 is a common year starting on Monday. ... The Hague Conventions were international treaties negotiated at the First and Second Peace Conferences at The Hague, Netherlands in 1899 and 1907, respectively, and were, along with the Geneva Conventions, among the first formal statements of the laws of war and war crimes in the nascent body of international law. ... February 6 is the 37th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1922 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... September 7 is the 250th day of the year (251st in leap years). ... 1929 was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... The Protocol for the Prohibition of the Use in War of Asphyxiating, Poisonous or other Gases, and of Bacteriological Methods of Warfare, usually called the Geneva Protocol, is a treaty to ban the use of chemical and biological weapons. ... 2004 is a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... This article is about the month of May. ... 1991 is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Order: 41st President Vice President: Dan Quayle Term of office: January 20, 1989 – January 20, 1993 Preceded by: Ronald Reagan Succeeded by: Bill Clinton Date of birth: June 12, 1924 Place of birth: Milton, Massachusetts First Lady: Barbara Pierce Bush Political party: Republican George Herbert Walker Bush, KBE (born June... Seal of the Congress. ... December 31 is the 365th day of the year (366th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 2004 is a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Chemical Weapons Convention Opened for signature January 13, 1993 at Paris Entered into force April 29, 1997 Conditions for entry into force Ratification by 50 states and the convening of a Preperatory Commission Parties 170 The Chemical Weapons Convention is an arms control agreement which outlaws the production, stockpiling and... The word proliferation can refer to: Nuclear proliferation Chemical weapon proliferation the spread in use of other weapons systems Cell proliferation According to Gloria Anzaldúa (1990), the difference between appropriation and proliferation is that the first steals and harms; the second helps heal breaches of knowledge. ... April 29 is the 119th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (120th in leap years). ... 1997 is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 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October 28 is the 301st day of the year (302nd in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 64 days remaining. ... 1997 is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... January 13 is the 13th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1993 is a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar and marked the Beginning of the International Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination (1993-2003). ... November 5 is the 309th day of the year (310th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 56 days remaining. ... 1997 is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Serbia and Montenegro (Serbian: Србија и Црна Гора, Srbija i Crna Gora, often abbreviated as SCG) is the name of the union of Serbia and Montenegro, two former Yugoslav republics united since 2003 in a loose confederation. ... April 20 is the 110th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (111th in leap years). ... This article is about the year 2000. ... 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Chemical weapon proliferation

Main article: Chemical weapon proliferation Despite numerous efforts to reduce or eliminate them, many nations continue to research and/or stockpile chemical weapon agents. ...

Despite numerous efforts to reduce or eliminate them, some nations continue to research and/or stockpile chemical weapon agents. To the right is a summary of the nations that have either declared weapon stockpiles or are suspected of secretly stockpiling or possessing CW research programs. Notable examples include China and Israel.

According to the testimony of Assistant Secretary of State for Intelligence and Research Carl W. Ford before the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, it is very probable that China has an advanced chemical warfare program, including research and development, production, and weaponization capabilities. Furthermore, there is considerable concern from the US regarding China's contact and sharing of chemical weapons expertise with other states of proliferation concern, including Syria and Iran.

As of December 2004, Israel has signed but not ratified the Chemical Weapons Convention, and according to the Russian Federation Foreign Intelligence Service, Israel has significant stores of chemical weapons of its own manufacture. It possesses a highly developed chemical and petrochemical industry, skilled specialists, and stocks of source material, and is capable of producing several nerve, blister and incapacitating agents. In 1974, in a hearing before the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee, General Almquist stated that Israel had an offensive chemical weapons capability. 1974 is a common year starting on Tuesday (click on link for calendar). ...

History

Chemical warfare in ancient and classical times

Chemical weapons have been used for millennia in the form of poisoned arrows, but evidence can be found for the existence of more advanced forms of chemical weapons in ancient and classical times. Archers in Competition Archery is the practice of using a bow to shoot arrows. ...

A good example of early chemical warfare was the late Stone Age (10 000 BC) hunter-gatherer societies in Southern Africa, known as the San. They used poisoned arrows, tipping the wood, bone and stone tips of their arrows with poisons obtained from their natural environment. These poisons were mainly derived from scorpion or snake venom, but it is believed that some poisonous plants were also utilised. The arrow was fired into the target of choice, usually an antelope (the favourite being an Eland), with the hunter then tracking the doomed animal until the poison caused its collapse. Stone Age fishing hook. ... Africa is the worlds second-largest continent and 3rd most populous. ... A scorpion is an invertebrate animal with eight legs belonging to the order Scorpiones in the class Arachnida. ... Superfamilies and Families Henophidia Aniliidae Anomochilidae Boidae Bolyeriidae Cylindrophiidae Loxocemidae Pythonidae Tropidophiidae Uropeltidae Xenopeltidae Typhlopoidea Anomalepididae Leptotyphlopidae Typhlopidae Xenophidia Acrochordidae Atractaspididae Colubridae Elapidae Hydrophiidae Viperidae Snakes are cold blooded legless reptiles closely related to lizards, which share the order Squamata. ... Wasp stinger, with droplet of venom Venom is a general term for the poisons used by several groups of animal species, for the purpose of defense and hunting prey. ... Genera Aepyceros Alcelaphus Antidorcas Antilope Cephalophus Connochaetes Damaliscus Gazella Hippotragus Kobus Madoqua Neotragus Oreotragus Oryx Ourebia Pantholops Procapra Sylvicapra Taurotragus Tragelaphus and others The antelope are a group of herbivorous African animals of the family Bovidae, distinguished by a pair of hollow horns on their heads. ...

Dating from the 4th century BC, writings of the Mohist sect in China describe the use of bellows to pump smoke from burning balls of mustard and other toxic vegetables into tunnels being dug by a besieging army. Even older Chinese writings dating back to about 1000 BC contain hundreds of recipes for the production of poisonous or irritating smokes for use in war along with numerous accounts of their use. From these accounts we know of the arsenic-containing "soul-hunting fog", and the use of finely divided lime dispersed into the air to suppress a peasant revolt in AD 178. (5th century BC - 4th century BC - 3rd century BC - other centuries) (2nd millennium BC - 1st millennium BC - 1st millennium AD) Events Invasion of the Celts into Ireland Gauls sack Rome Kingdom of Macedon conquers Persian empire The Scythians are beginning to be absorbed into the Sarmatian people. ... Founded by Mo Zi (whose actual surname was Di, and whose given name was Mo), Mohism (墨家), or Moism, is a Chinese philosophy that evolved at the same time as Confucianism, Taoism and Legalism (Hundred Schools of Thought). ... Species See text For the Multi Unit Space Transport And Recovery Device, see the MUSTARD article. ... (Redirected from 1000 BC) Centuries: 12th century BC - 11th century BC - 10th century BC Decades: 1050s BC 1040s BC 1030s BC 1020s BC 1010s BC - 1000s BC - 990s BC 980s BC 970s BC 960s BC 950s BC Events and Trends 1006 BC - David becomes king of the ancient Israelites (traditional... General Name, Symbol, Number arsenic, As, 33 Chemical series metalloids Group, Period, Block 15, 4, p Appearance metallic gray Atomic mass 74. ... Events First condemnation of the Montanist heresy Last (7th) year of Xiping era and start of Guanghe era of the Chinese Han Dynasty. ...

The earliest recorded use of gas warfare in the West dates back to the 5th century BC, during the Peloponnesian War between Athens and Sparta. Spartan forces besieging an Athenian city placed a lighted mixture of wood, pitch, and sulfur under the walls hoping that the noxious smoke would incapacitate the Athenians, so that they would not be able to resist the assault that followed. Sparta wasn't alone in its use of unconventional tactics during these wars: Solon of Athens is said to have used hellebore roots to poison the water in an aqueduct leading from the Pleistrus River around 590 BC during the siege of Cirrha. Also, after the Third Punic war, Roman soldiers poured salt all over the city of Carthage, so nothing would grow there and Carthage could never regain power. (6th century BC - 5th century BC - 4th century BC - other centuries) (2nd millennium BC - 1st millennium BC - 1st millennium AD) The 5th and 6th centuries BC are a period of philosophical brilliance among advanced civilizations. ... Map of the Greek world at the start of the Peloponnesian War Temple of Apollo at Corinth The Peloponnesian War began in 431 BC between the Athenian Empire (or The Delian League) and the Peloponnesian League which included Sparta and Corinth. ... The Acropolis in central Athens, one of the most important landmarks in world history. ... Sparta (Grk. ... Solon Solon (Greek: Σόλων, ca. ... Hellebore (Ranunculaceae helleborus) is a white flower often grown in gardens for decorative purposes, as well as for purported medicinal abilities and uses in witchcraft. ... Centuries: 7th century BC - 6th century BC - 5th century BC Decades: 640s BC 630s BC 620s BC 610s BC 600s BC - 590s BC - 580s BC 570s BC 560s BC 550s BC 540s BC Events and Trends 598 BC - Jehoaichin succeeds Jehoiakim as King of Judah 598 BC - Babylonians capture Jerusalem...

The rediscovery of chemical warfare

During the Renaissance, people again considered using chemical warfare. One of the earliest such references is from Leonardo da Vinci, who proposed a powder of sulfide of arsenic and verdigris in the 15th century: By Region: Italian Renaissance Northern Renaissance *French Renaissance *German Renaissance *English Renaissance The Renaissance was an influential cultural movement which brought about a period of scientific revolution and artistic transformation, at the dawn of modern European history. ... Leonardo da Vinci Leonardo da Vinci (April 15, 1452 – May 2, 1519) was an Italian Renaissance architect, musician, anatomist, inventor, engineer, sculptor, geometer, and painter. ... Verdigris is the common name for the chemical Cu(CH3COO)2. ... (14th century - 15th century - 16th century - other centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 15th century was that century which lasted from 1401 to 1500. ...

throw poison in the form of powder upon galleys. Chalk, fine sulfide of arsenic, and powdered verdegris may be thrown among enemy ships by means of small mangonels, and all those who, as they breathe, inhale the powder into their lungs will become asphyxiated.

It is unknown whether this powder was ever actually used. A mangonel was a type of medieval catapult or siege engine used in the medieval period to throw projectiles at a castles walls. ...

In the 17th century during sieges, armies attempted to start fires by launching incendiary shells filled with sulphur, tallow, rosin, turpentine, saltpeter, and/or antimony. Even when fires were not started, the resulting smoke and fumes provided a considerable distraction. Although their primary function was never abandoned, a variety of fills for shells were developed to maximize the effects of the smoke. (16th century - 17th century - 18th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 17th century was that century which lasted from 1601-1700. ... For the Boston area punk band see Siege (band). ... An incendiary device is a device or weapon designed to create a fire. ... Historically, artillery refers to any engine used for the discharge of projectiles during war. ... General Name, Symbol, Number sulfur, S, 16 Chemical series nonmetals Group, Period, Block 16, 3, p Appearance lemon yellow Atomic mass 32. ... Tallow is rendered beef or mutton fat (suet). ... Rosin is a solid form of resin obtained from pines and some other plants, mostly conifers, produced by heating fresh liquid resin to vapourise the volatile liquid terpene components. ... Turpentine is a fluid obtained by distillation from resin obtained from trees, mainly various species of pine (Pinus). ... Saltpeter is variously: potassium nitrate (niter); or sodium nitrate (soda niter) ... General Name, Symbol, Number antimony, Sb, 51 Chemical series metalloids Group, Period, Block 15, 5, p Appearance silvery lustrous gray Atomic mass 121. ...

In 1672, during his siege of the city of Groningen, Christoph Bernhard van Galen (the Bishop of Münster) employed several different explosive and incendiary devices, some of which had a fill that included belladonna, intended to produce toxic fumes. Just three years later, August 27, 1675, the French and the Germans concluded the Strasbourg Agreement, which included an article banning the use of "perfidious and odious" toxic devices. Groningen is a municipality and a city in the north of the Netherlands, and the capital of the Groningen province. ... For information on the erotic actress Belladonna see: Belladonna. ... August 27 is the 239th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (240th in leap years), with 126 days remaining. ... Events January 5 - The Battle of Turckeim August 10 - Building of the Royal Greenwich Observatory began November 11 - Guru Gobind Singh becomes the Tenth Guru of the Sikhs. ...

In 1854, Lyon Playfair, a British chemist, proposed a cacodyl cyanide artillery shell for use against enemy ships as way to solve the stalemate during the siege of Sevastopol. The proposal was backed by Admiral Thomas Cochrane of the Royal Navy. It was considered by the Prime Minister, Lord Palmerston, but the British Ordnance Department rejected the proposal as "as bad a mode of warfare as poisoning the wells of the enemy." Playfair’s response was used to justify chemical warfare into the next century: Lord Playfair Lyon Playfair, 1st Baron Playfair, GCB, FRS (May 1, 1818) - (May 29, 1898) was a Scottish scientist and Parliamentarian. ... A blood agent (also called a cyanogen agent) is a compound that prevents the normal transfer of oxygen from the blood to the body tissues, resulting in chemical asphyxiation. ... Sevastopol (Севастополь, Sevastopol’ in Russian and Ukrainian; Aqyar in Crimean Tatar), formerly known as Sebastopol, is a port city in Ukraine, located on the Black Sea coast of Crimean peninsula. ... Thomas Cochrane, 10th Earl of Dundonald Thomas Cochrane, 10th Earl of Dundonald (14 December 1775–31 October 1860), styled Lord Cochrane between 1778 and 1831, was a politician and naval adventurer. ... The Royal Navy of the United Kingdom is the senior service of the armed services, being the oldest of its three branches. ... Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston (October 20, 1784 - October 18, 1865) was a British Liberal statesman who served twice as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom in the mid-19th century. ...

There was no sense in this objection. It is considered a legitimate mode of warfare to fill shells with molten metal which scatters among the enemy, and produced the most frightful modes of death. Why a poisonous vapor which would kill men without suffering is to be considered illegitimate warfare is incomprehensible. War is destruction, and the more destructive it can be made with the least suffering the sooner will be ended that barbarous method of protecting national rights. No doubt in time chemistry will be used to lessen the suffering of combatants, and even of criminals condemned to death.

Later, during the American Civil War, New York school teacher John Doughty proposed the offensive use of chlorine gas, delivered by filling a 10 inch (254 millimeter) artillery shell with 2 to 3 quarts (2 to 3 liters) of liquid chlorine, which could produce many cubic feet (a few cubic meters) of chlorine gas. Doughty’s plan was apparently never acted on, as it was probably presented to Brigadier General James W. Ripley, Chief of Ordnance, who was described as being congenitally immune to new ideas. The American Civil War was fought in the United States from 1861 until 1865 between the United States – forces coming mostly from the 23 northern states of the Union – and the newly-formed Confederate States of America, which consisted of 11 southern states that had declared their secession. ... State nickname: Empire State Other U.S. States Capital Albany Largest city New York Governor George Pataki (R) Official languages None (English is de facto) Area 141,205 km² (27th)  - Land 122,409 km²  - Water 18,795 km² (13. ... General Name, Symbol, Number chlorine, Cl, 17 Chemical series halogens Group, Period, Block 17, 3, p Appearance yellowish green Atomic mass 35. ... Mid-19th century tool for converting between different standards of the inch An inch is an Imperial and U.S. customary unit of length. ... A millimetre (American spelling: millimeter), symbol mm is an SI unit of length that is equal to one thousandth of a metre. ... A quart is a unit of measurement for volume. ... The litre (or liter in US) is a metric unit of volume. ... metre or meter, see meter (disambiguation) The metre is the basic unit of length in the International System of Units. ...

A soldier with mustard gas burns, ca. 1914-1918.

This image has been released into the public domain by the copyright holder, its copyright has expired, or it is ineligible for copyright. ... This image has been released into the public domain by the copyright holder, its copyright has expired, or it is ineligible for copyright. ...

Chemical warfare in World War I

Main article: Use of poison gas in World War I A poison gas attack in World War I. The use of poison gas was a major military innovation of the First World War. ...

The French were the first to use chemical weapons during the First World War, using tear gas. The first full-scale deployment of chemical warfare agents was during World War I, originating in the Second Battle of Ypres, April 22, 1915, when the Germans attacked France, Canadian and Algerian troops with chlorine gas. Deaths were light, though casualities relatively heavy. A total 50,965 tons of pulmonary, lachrymatory, and vesicant agents were deployed by both sides of the conflict, including chlorine, phosgene and mustard gas. Official figures declare about 1,176,500 non-fatal casualties and 85,000 fatalities directly caused by chemical warfare agents during the course of the war. A poison gas attack in World War I. The use of poison gas was a major military innovation of the First World War. ... The Second Battle of Ypres was the first time Germany used chemical weapons on a large scale on the Western Front in World War I and the first time a colonial force (Canadians) forced back a major European power (Germans) on European soil. ... April 22 is the 112th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (113th in leap years). ... 1915 was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... General Name, Symbol, Number chlorine, Cl, 17 Series halogens Group, Period, Block 17 (VIIA), 3, p Density, Hardness 3. ... Phosgene (also known as carbonyl chloride, COCl2) is a highly toxic gas or refrigerated liquid that was used as a chemical weapon in World War I. It has no color, but is detectable in air by its odor, which resembles moldy hay. ... Chemical Structure of Mustard Gas Compound Mustard gas (HD) is a chemical compound that was first used as a chemical weapon in World War I. In pure form, it is a colorless, odorless, viscous liquid at room temperature and causes blistering of the skin. ...

To this day unexploded WWI-era chemical ammunition is still frequently uncovered when the ground is dug in former battle or depot areas and continues to pose a threat to the civilian population in Belgium and France. The French and Belgian governments have had to launch special programs for treating discovered ammunition.

After the war, most of the unused German chemical warfare agents were dropped into the Baltic Sea. Over time, the salt water causes the shell casings to corrode, and mustard gas occasionally leaks from these containers and washes onto shore as a wax-like solid resembling amber. Even in this solidified form, the agent is active enough to cause severe contact burns to anybody handling it. The Baltic Sea is located in Northern Europe, bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainlands of Northern Europe, Eastern Europe, Central Europe, and the Danish islands. ... Chemical Structure of Mustard Gas Compound Mustard gas (HD) is a chemical compound that was first used as a chemical weapon in World War I. In pure form, it is a colorless, odorless, viscous liquid at room temperature and causes blistering of the skin. ... This is about the material called amber. ...

Chemical warfare in the interwar years

After World War I, the United States and many of the European powers attempted to take advantage of the opportunities that the war created by attempting to establish and hold colonies. During this interwar period, chemical agents were occasionally used to subdue populations and suppress rebellion. Europe - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ...

Following the defeat of the Ottoman Empire in 1917, the Ottoman government collapsed completely, and the former empire was divided amongst the victorious powers in the Treaty of Sèvres. The British occupied Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq) and established a colonial government. The Ottoman Empire at the height of its power Imperial motto El-Muzaffer Daima (Ottoman Turkish for the Ever Victorious) Official language Ottoman Turkish Capital Constantinople (Ä°stanbul) Imperial anthem Ottoman imperial anthem Sovereigns Padishah of the Osmanli Dynasty Population ca 40 million Area 6. ... 1917 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... The Treaty of Sèvres of August 10, 1920, was a peace treaty between the Allied and Associated Powers1 and the Ottoman Empire after World War I. The treaty was signed by the Ottoman Sultan Mehmed VI, who was trying to save his throne but it was rejected by the... Mesopotamia [mesuputāmÄ“u] (Greek: Μεσοποταμία, translated from Old Persian Miyanrudan the Land between the Rivers or the Aramaic name Beth-Nahrin House of Two Rivers) is a region of Southwest Asia. ... World map of colonialism circa 1945. ...

In 1920, the Arab and Kurdish people of Mesopotamia revolted against the British occupation, which cost the British dearly. As the Mesopotamian resistance gained strength, the British resorted to increasingly repressive measures, and Winston Churchill himself, in his role as Colonial Secretary, authorized the use of chemical agents, mostly mustard gas, on the Mesopotamian resistors. Mindful of the financial cost of suppressing the dissidents, Churchill was confident that chemical weapons could be inexpensively employed against the Mesopotamian tribes, saying "I do not understand this squeamishness about the use of gas. I am strongly in favour of using poison gas against uncivilised tribes." [1] Opposition to the use of gas and technical difficulties may have prevented the gas from being used in Mesopotamia (historians are currently divided on the issue)[2]. Chemical weapons had caused so much misery and revulsion in World War I that their use had become the ultimate atrocity in the minds of most people at the time. So much so, in fact, that in 1925, sixteen of the world's major nations signed the Geneva Protocol, thereby pledging never to use gas or bacteriological methods of warfare. While the United States signed the protocol, the Senate did not ratify it until 1975. 1920 is a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar) // Events January January 7 - Forces of Russian White admiral Kolchak surrender in Krasnoyarsk. ... The Arabs (Arabic: عرب ʻarab) are an originally Arabian ethnicity widespread in the Middle East and North Africa. ... Kurds are one of the Iranian peoples and speak Kurdish, a north-Western Iranian language related to Persian. ... Mesopotamia [mesuputāmēu] (Greek: Μεσοποταμία, translated from Old Persian Miyanrudan the Land between the Rivers or the Aramaic name Beth-Nahrin House of Two Rivers) is a region of Southwest Asia. ... The Right Honourable Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, KG, OM, CH, FRS (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British statesman, best known as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. ... 1925 was a common year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar). ... The Protocol for the Prohibition of the Use in War of Asphyxiating, Poisonous or other Gases, and of Bacteriological Methods of Warfare, usually called the Geneva Protocol, is a treaty to ban the use of chemical and biological weapons. ...

During the Rif War in Spanish-occupied Morocco in 1921-1927, combined Spanish and French forces dropped mustard gas bombs in an attempt to put down the Berber rebellion. (See also: Rif, Abd el-Krim) 1921 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... 1927 was a common year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... The Berbers (also called Imazighen, free men, singular Amazigh) are an ethnic group indigenous to Northwest Africa, speaking the Berber languages of the Afroasiatic family. ... This is about a region in Morocco: RIF is also an acronym/initialism. ... Time Magazine, August 17, 1925 Abd el-Krim (c. ...

In 1935 Fascist Italy used mustard gas during the invasion of Ethiopia. Ignoring the Geneva Protocol, which it signed seven years earlier, the Italian military dropped mustard gas in bombs, sprayed it from airplanes, and spread it in powdered form on the ground. 15,000 chemical casualties were reported, mostly from mustard gas. 1935 was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... Fascism (in Italian, fascismo), capitalized, was the authoritarian political movement which ruled Italy from 1922 to 1943 under the leadership of Benito Mussolini. ... Chemical Structure of Mustard Gas Compound Mustard gas (HD) is a chemical compound that was first used as a chemical weapon in World War I. In pure form, it is a colorless, odorless, viscous liquid at room temperature and causes blistering of the skin. ... The Protocol for the Prohibition of the Use in War of Asphyxiating, Poisonous or other Gases, and of Bacteriological Methods of Warfare, usually called the Geneva Protocol, is a treaty to ban the use of chemical and biological weapons. ...

Chemical warfare in World War II

The chemical structure of sarin nerve gas, discovered by Germany in 1938.

During World War II, chemical warfare was revolutionized by Nazi Germany's accidental discovery of the nerve agents tabun, sarin and soman. The Nazis developed and manufactured large quantities of several agents, but chemical warfare was not extensively used by either side. Recovered Nazi documents suggest that German intelligence incorrectly thought that the Allies also knew of these compounds, interpreting their lack of mention in the Allies' scientific journals as evidence that information about them was being suppressed. Germany ultimately decided not to use the new nerve agents, fearing a potentially devastating Allied retaliatory nerve agent deployment. Sarin structural diagram. ... Sarin or GB (O-Isopropyl methylphosphonofluoridate) is an extremely toxic substance that is one of the worlds most dangerous weapons of war. ... Nerve agents (also known as nerve gases, though these chemicals are liquid at room temperature) are a class of phosphorus-containing organic chemicals (organophosphates) that inhibit the acetylcholinesterase enzyme in animals. ... 1938 was a common year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... World War II was a truly global conflict with many facets: immense human suffering, fierce indoctrinations, and the use of new, extremely devastating weapons like the atom bomb. ... Nazi Germany, or the Third Reich, commonly refers to Germany in the years 1933–1945, when it was under the firm control of the totalitarian and fascist ideology of the Nazi Party, with the Führer Adolf Hitler as dictator. ... A nerve agent or nerve gas is a highly toxic chemical substance that poisons the nervous system and disrupts bodily functions necessary for life. ... Tabun or GA (Ethyl N,N-dimethylphosphoramidocyanidate) is an extremely toxic substance that is one of the worlds most dangerous weapons of war. ... Sarin or GB (O-Isopropyl methylphosphonofluoridate) is an extremely toxic substance that is one of the worlds most dangerous weapons of war. ... Soman or GD (O-Pinacolyl methylphosphonofluoridate) is an extrememly toxic substance that is one of the worlds most dangerous weapons of war. ... The Abwehr was the common name for the German military foreign information and counterintelligence department, during both World War I and World War II. Abwehr is a German word, which is commonly translated to the English defence. The head of the Abwehr during World War II was Admiral Wilhelm Canaris. ... When spelt with a capital A, Allies usually denotes the countries that fought together against the Central Powers in World War I and against the Axis Powers in World War II. // Other uses In general, allies are people or groups that have joined an alliance and are working together to...

Although chemical weapons were not deployed on a large scale during World War II, there were some recorded uses of them by the Axis Powers, when retaliation wasn't feared: The Axis Powers is a term for those participants in World War II opposed to the Allies. ...

• The Japanese used mustard gas and the recently-developed blister agent Lewisite against Chinese troops. During these attacks, the Japanese also employed biological warfare by intentionally spreading cholera, dysentery, typhoid, plague, and anthrax. As of 2005, 60 years after the end of the war, canisters that were abandoned by Japan in their hasty retreat are still being dug up in construction sites, causing many injuries and deaths.
• In 1944, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Haj Amin el-Husseini, the senior Islamic religious authority of the Palestinian Arabs and close ally of Adolf Hitler, sponsored an unsuccessful chemical warfare assault on the Jewish community in Palestine. Five parachutists were supplied with maps of Tel Aviv, canisters of a German–manufactured "fine white powder," and instructions from the Mufti to dump chemicals into the Tel Aviv water system. District police commander Fayiz Bey Idrissi later recalled, "The laboratory report stated that each container held enough poison to kill 25,000 people, and there were at least ten containers." [3]
• The Italian army used poison gas against Ethiopian troops in the Second Italo-Abyssinian War
• The Nazis used the insecticide Zyklon B, which contains hydrogen cyanide, to kill large numbers of victims in concentration camps such as Auschwitz and Majdanek during the Holocaust.

Chemical Structure of Mustard Gas Compound Mustard gas (HD) is a chemical compound that was first used as a chemical weapon in World War I. In pure form, it is a colorless, odorless, viscous liquid at room temperature and causes blistering of the skin. ... Categories: Stub | Chemical weapons ... Chemical structure of Lewisite Lewisite is a chemical compound from a chemical family called arsines. ... 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. ... Distribution of cholera Cholera (also called Asiatic cholera) is an infectious disease of the gastrointestinal tract caused by the Vibrio cholerae bacterium. ... Dysentery is a severe diarrhea illness often associated with blood in the feces. ... This is about the disease typhoid fever. ... Plague is usually understood as a generic term for Bubonic plague, the mortal disease caused by the bacillus Yersinia pestis, which is spread by fleas from rats to human beings. ... 2005 is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar and is the current year. ... The Second Sino-Japanese War was a major invasion of eastern China by Japan preceding and during World War II. It ended with the surrender of Japan in 1945. ... 1944 was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... The title Grand Mufti refers to the highest official of religious law in a Sunni Muslim country. ... Jerusalem (31°46′ N 35°14′ E; Hebrew: יְרוּשָׁלַיִם Yerushalayim; Arabic: القدس al-Quds; see also names of Jerusalem) is an ancient Middle Eastern city of key importance to the religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. ... Islam   listen? (Arabic: al-islām) the submission to God is a monotheistic faith, one of the Abrahamic religions, and the worlds second largest religion. ... The Palestinians are a mainly Arabic-speaking people with family origins in Palestine. ... Adolf Hitler (April 20, 1889–April 30, 1945) was the Chancellor of Germany from 1933, and Führer und Reichskanzler (Leader and chancellor) of Germany from 1934, to his death. ... The word Jew (Hebrew: יהודי) is used in a wide number of ways, but generally refers to a follower of the Jewish faith, a child of a Jewish mother, or someone of Jewish descent with a connection to Jewish culture or ethnicity and often a combination of these attributes. ... Palestine (region) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ... Tel Aviv at night Dizengof Center Allenby Street Tel Aviv-Yafo (Hebrew תל אביב-יפו; Arabic تل ابيب-يافا Tal Abīb-Yāfā) is an Israeli city on the coast of the Mediterranean sea. ... For the pioneering virtual community, see The WELL. A well is commonly a pipe or tube installed in an artificial boring in the earth through which water, oil or gas can be obtained. ... The Second Italo-Abyssinian War, also called the Rape of Ethiopia, lasted seven months in 1935-1936. ... Insecticide application by crop spraying An insecticide is a pesticide whose purpose is to kill or to prevent the multiplication of insects. ... Zyklon B label — Note that “Gift” translates as “poison” Zyklon B was the tradename of a pesticide ultimately used by Nazi Germany in some Holocaust gas chambers. ... Hydrogen cyanide is a chemical compound with chemical formula H-C≡N. A solution of hydrogen cyanide in water is called hydrocyanic acid or prussic acid. ... A concentration camp is a large detention center created for political opponents, aliens, specific ethnic or religious groups, civilians of a critical war-zone, or other groups of people, often during a war. ... Auschwitz is the name loosely used to identify three main Nazi German concentration camps and 45-50 sub-camps. ... Monument at Majdanek Memorial. ... Concentration camp inmates during the Holocaust The Holocaust was Nazi Germanys systematic genocide (ethnic cleansing) of various ethnic, religious, national, and secular groups during World War II. Early elements include the Kristallnacht pogrom and the T-4 Euthanasia Program. ...

Chemical warfare during the Cold War

After World War II, the Allies recovered German artillery shells containing the three German nerve agents of the day (tabun, sarin, and soman), prompting further research into nerve agents by all of the former Allies. Although the threat of global thermonuclear annihilation was foremost in the minds of most during the Cold War, both the Soviet and Western governments put enormous resources into developing chemical and biological weapons. When spelt with a capital A, Allies usually denotes the countries that fought together against the Central Powers in World War I and against the Axis Powers in World War II. // Other uses In general, allies are people or groups that have joined an alliance and are working together to... Tabun or GA (Ethyl N,N-dimethylphosphoramidocyanidate) is an extremely toxic substance that is one of the worlds most dangerous weapons of war. ... Sarin or GB (O-Isopropyl methylphosphonofluoridate) is an extremely toxic substance that is one of the worlds most dangerous weapons of war. ... Soman or GD (O-Pinacolyl methylphosphonofluoridate) is an extrememly toxic substance that is one of the worlds most dangerous weapons of war. ... A nerve agent or nerve gas is a highly toxic chemical substance that poisons the nervous system and disrupts bodily functions necessary for life. ... At the end of the 20th century, Thermonuclear has came to imply anything which has to do with fusion nuclear reactions which are triggered by particles of thermal energy. ... This map shows two essential global spheres during the Cold War up until 1959. ... The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) (Russian: (СССР)   listen?; tr. ...

Developments by the Western governments

In 1952 the U.S. Army patented a process for the "Preparation of Toxic Ricin", publishing a method of producing this powerful toxin. 1952 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ... The Army is the branch of the United States armed forces which has primary responsibility for land-based military operations. ... Castor beans The protein ricin (pronounced rye-sin) is a poison manufactured from the castor bean (Ricinus communis). ... A toxin, in a scientific context, is a biologically produced substance that causes injury to the health of a living thing on contact or absorption, typically by interacting with biological macromolecules such as enzymes and receptors. ...

Also in 1952, researchers in Porton Down, England, invented the VX nerve agent but soon abandoned the project. In 1958 the British government traded their VX technology with the United States in exchange for information on thermonuclear weapons; by 1961 the U.S. was producing large amounts of VX and performing its own nerve agent research. This research produced at least three more agents; the four agents (VE, VG, VM, VX) are collectively known as the "V-Series" class of nerve agents. 1952 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ... Defence Science and Technology Laboratory, Porton Down, or often known more simply as Porton Down, is a United Kingdom government facility for military bio-chemical research. ... Royal motto: Dieu et mon droit (French: God and my right) Englands location within the UK Official language English de facto Capital London de facto Largest city London Area  - Total Ranked 1st UK 130,395 km² Population  - Total (2001)  - Density Ranked 1st UK 49,138,831 377/km² Ethnicity... The VX nerve agent is the most well-known of the V-series of nerve agents. ... 1958 was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The mushroom cloud of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, Japan, in 1945 lifted nuclear fallout some 18 km (60,000 feet) above the epicenter. ... 1961 was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... VE (S-(Diethylamino)ethyl O-ethyl ethylphosphonothioate) is a V-series nerve agent closely related to the better-known VX nerve gas. ... VG (also called Amiton or Tetram) is a V-series nerve agent closely related to the better-known VX nerve gas. ... VM (Phosphonothioic acid, methyl-, S-(2-(diethylamino)ethyl) O-ethyl ester) is a V-series nerve agent closely related to the better-known VX nerve gas. ...

During the 1960s, the U.S. explored the use of anticholinergic deleriant incapacitating agents. One of these agents, assigned the weapon designation BZ, was allegedly used experimentally in the Vietnam War. These allegations inspired the 1990 fictional film Jacob's Ladder. The 1960s, or The Sixties, in its most obvious sense refers to the decade between 1960 and 1969, but the expression has taken on a wider meaning over the past twenty years. ... The term incapacitating agent is defined by the U.S. Department of Defense as An agent that produces temporary physiological or mental effects, or both, which will render individuals incapable of concerted effort in the performance of their assigned duties. ... QNB redirects here. ... The Vietnam War was fought from 1957 to 1975 between Soviet and Chinese-supported Vietnamese nationalist and Communist forces and an array of Western and pro-Western forces, most notably the United States. ... 1990 is a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Jacobs Ladder DVD Jacobs Ladder is a 1990 thriller film directed by Adrian Lyne based on a screenplay by Bruce Joel Rubin. ...

Between 1967 and 1968, the U.S. decided to dispose of obsolete chemical weapons in an operation called Operation CHASE, which stood for "cut holes and sink 'em." CHASE disposal operations also included several shiploads of conventional munitions. As the name implies, the weapons were put aboard old Liberty ships that were sunk at sea. 1967 was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1968 was a leap year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1968 calendar). ...

In 1969, 23 U.S. servicemen and one U.S. civilian stationed in Okinawa, Japan, were exposed to low levels of the nerve agent sarin while repainting the depots' buildings. The weapons had been kept secret from Japan, sparking a furor in that country and an international incident. These munitions were moved in 1971 to Johnston Atoll under Operation Red Hat. 1969 was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1969 calendar). ... Okinawa Prefecture (Japanese 沖縄県; Okinawan Uchinā) is Japans southernmost prefecture, and consists of hundreds of islands known as The Ryūkyū Islands or Ryūkyūs, in an island chain over 1,000 km long, which extends southwest from Kyūshū (the southwesternmost of Japans main four islands) to...

A UN working group began work on chemical disarmament in 1980. On April 4, 1984, U.S. President Ronald Reagan called for an international ban on chemical weapons. U.S. President George H.W. Bush and Soviet Union leader Mikhail Gorbachev signed a bilateral treaty on June 1, 1990, to end chemical weapon production and start destroying each of their nation's stockpiles. The multilateral Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) was signed in 1993 and came into effect in 1997. The United Nations, or UN, is an international organization established in 1945 and now made up of 191 states. ... April 4 is the 94th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (95th in leap years). ... 1984 is a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Order: 40th President Vice President: George H.W. Bush Term of office: 20 January 1981 – 20 January 1989 Preceded by: Jimmy Carter Succeeded by: George H.W. Bush Date of birth: 6 February 1911 Place of birth: Tampico, Illinois Date of death: 5 June 2004 Place of death: Bel-Air... Order: 41st President Vice President: Dan Quayle Term of office: January 20, 1989 – January 20, 1993 Preceded by: Ronald Reagan Succeeded by: Bill Clinton Date of birth: June 12, 1924 Place of birth: Milton, Massachusetts First Lady: Barbara Pierce Bush Political party: Republican George Herbert Walker Bush, KBE (born June... Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachyov (Gorbachev)   listen? (Russian: ; pronunciation: ) (born March 2, 1931), was leader of the Soviet Union from 1985 until 1991. ... A treaty is a binding agreement under international law concluded by subjects of international law, namely states and international organizations. ... June 1 is the 152nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (153rd in leap years), with 213 days remaining. ... 1990 is a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Chemical Weapons Convention Opened for signature January 13, 1993 at Paris Entered into force April 29, 1997 Conditions for entry into force Ratification by 50 states and the convening of a Preperatory Commission Parties 170 The Chemical Weapons Convention is an arms control agreement which outlaws the production, stockpiling and...

Developments by the Soviet government

Due to the secrecy of the Soviet Union's government, very little information was available about the direction and progress of the Soviet chemical weapons until relatively recently. After the fall of the Soviet Union, Russian chemist Vil Mirzayanov published articles revealing illegal chemical weapons experimentation in Russia. In 1993, Mirzayanov was imprisoned and fired from his job at the State Research Institute of Organic Chemistry and Technology, where he had worked for 26 years. In March of 1994, after a major campaign by U.S. scientists on his behalf, Mirzayanov was released. // The Third World and nonalignment in the 1960s and 1970s Decolonization As colonial empires disappeared, newly independent states that gained nationhood after World War II still found themselves economically dependent on the industrialized, wealthier Western states and caught between the tensions of great-power rivalry. ... 1993 is a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar and marked the Beginning of the International Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination (1993-2003). ... 1994 was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International year of the Family. ...

Among the information related by Vil Mirzayanov was the direction of Soviet research into the development of even more toxic nerve agents, which saw most of its success during the mid-1980s. Several highly toxic agents were developed during this period; the only unclassified information regarding these agents is that they are known in the open literature only as "Foliant" agents (named after the program under which they were developed) and by various code designations, such as A-230 and A-232. // Events and trends The 1980s marked an abrupt shift towards more conservative lifestyles after the momentous cultural revolutions which took place in the 60s and 70s and the definition of the AIDS virus in 1981. ...

According to Mirzayanov, the Soviets also developed agents that were safer to handle, leading to the development of the so-called binary weapons, in which precursors for the nerve agents are mixed in a munition to produce the agent just prior to its use. Because the precursors are generally significantly less hazardous than the agents themselves, this technique makes handling and transporting the munitions a great deal simpler. Additionally, precursors to the agents are usually much easier to stabilize than the agents themselves, so this technique also made it possible to increase the shelf life of the agents a great deal. During the 1980s and 1990s, binary versions of several Soviet agents were developed and are designated as "Novichok" agents (after the Russian word for "newcomer"). Shelf-life is the length of time that corresponds to a tolerable loss in quality of a processed food. ... // Events and trends The 1980s marked an abrupt shift towards more conservative lifestyles after the momentous cultural revolutions which took place in the 60s and 70s and the definition of the AIDS virus in 1981. ... // Events and trends The 1990s are generally classified as having moved slightly away from the more conservative 1980s, but keeping the same mind-set. ... Novichok was developed by the Soviets as allegedly the most deadly binary nerve gas ever made. ...

Chemical warfare in the Iran-Iraq War

The Iran-Iraq War began in 1980 when Iraq attacked Iran. Early in the conflict, Iraq began to employ mustard gas and tabun delivered by bombs dropped from airplanes; approximately 5% of all Iranian casualties are directly attributable to the use of these agents. Iraq and the U.S. government alleged that Iran was also using chemical weapons, but independent sources were unable to confirm these allegations. Wikisource has original text related to this article: Iran-Iraq War The Iran-Iraq War, also called the First Persian Gulf War, or the Imposed War (جنگ تحمیلی) in Iran, was a war between the armed forces of Iraq and Iran lasting from September 1980 to August 1988. ... 1980 is a leap year starting on Tuesday. ...

About 100,000 Iranian soldiers were victims of Iraq's chemical attacks. Many were hit by mustard gas. The official estimate does not include the civilian population contaminated in bordering towns or the children and relatives of veterans, many of whom have developed blood, lung and skin complications, according to the Organization for Veterans. Nerve gas agents killed about 20,000 Iranian soldiers immediately, according to official reports. Of the 80,000 survivors, some 5,000 seek medical treatment regularly and about 1,000 are still hospitalized with severe, chronic conditions. [4][5][6]

Despite the removal of Saddam and his regime by Coalition forces, there is deep resentment and anger in Iran that it was Western companies based in West Germany, France, and the U.S. that helped Iraq develop its chemical weapons arsenal in the first place, and that the world did nothing to punish Iraq for its use of chemical weapons throughout the war.

Shortly before war ended in 1988, the Iraqi Kurdish village of Halabja was exposed to multiple chemical agents, killing about 5,000 of the town's 50,000 residents. After the incident, traces of mustard gas and the nerve agents sarin, tabun and VX were discovered. While it appears that Iraqi government forces are to blame, some debate continues over the question of whether Iraq was really the responsible party, and whether this was a deliberate or accidental act. (see Halabja poison gas attack) 1988 is a leap year starting on a Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Kurds are one of the Iranian peoples and speak Kurdish, a north-Western Iranian language related to Persian. ... Halabja village cemetery Halabja is a town in Iraq, located about 150 miles northeast of Baghdad and 8-10 miles from the Iranian border. ... The Halabja poison gas attack was an incident on 15 March-19 March 1988 during a major battle in the Iran-Iraq war when chemical weapons were used, allegedly by Iraqi government forces, to kill a number of people in the Iraqi Kurdish town of Halabja (population 80,000). ...

During the Persian Gulf War in 1991, Coalition forces began a ground war in Iraq. Despite the fact that they did possess chemical weapons, Iraq did not use any chemical agents against coalition forces. The commander of the Allied Forces, Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf, suggested this may have been due to Iraqi fear of retaliation with nuclear weapons. See also: 2003 invasion of Iraq and Gulf War (disambiguation) C Company, 1st Battalion, The Staffordshire Regiment, 1st UK Armoured Division The Persian Gulf War was a conflict between Iraq and a coalition force of 34 nations led by the United States. ... 1991 is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... This article is about the Gulf War General, for his father who investigated the Lindburgh kidnapping see Norman Schwarzkopf, Sr. ... The mushroom cloud of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, Japan, 1945, rose some 18 km (11 mi) above the epicenter. ...

Chemical weapons and terrorism

For many terrorist organizations, chemical weapons might be considered an ideal choice for a mode of attack, if they are available: they are cheap, relatively accessible, and easy to transport. A skilled chemist can readily synthesize most chemical agents if the precursors are available. The term terrorism is controversial and has many definitions, none of which are universally accepted. ...

Some political commentators dispute the practicality of chemical and biological weapons as tools of terrorism, however, stating that the effective use of such weapons is much more difficult than the use of conventional explosives, and that they are more useful in the fear that they generate. [7]

The earliest successful use of chemical agents in a non-combat setting was in 1946, motivated by a desire to obtain revenge on Germans for the Holocaust. Three members of a Jewish group calling themselves Dahm Y'Israel Nokeam ("Avenging Israel's Blood") hid in a bakery in the Stalag 13 prison camp near Nuremberg, Germany, where several thousand SS troops were being detained. The three applied an arsenic-containing mixture to loaves of bread, sickening more than 2,000 prisoners, of whom more than 200 required hospitalization. 1946 was a common year starting on Tuesday. ... Concentration camp inmates during the Holocaust The Holocaust was Nazi Germanys systematic genocide (ethnic cleansing) of various ethnic, religious, national, and secular groups during World War II. Early elements include the Kristallnacht pogrom and the T-4 Euthanasia Program. ... The word Jew (Hebrew: יהודי) is used in a wide number of ways, but generally refers to a follower of the Jewish faith, a child of a Jewish mother, or someone of Jewish descent with a connection to Jewish culture or ethnicity and often a combination of these attributes. ... This article is about the city in Germany. ... SS or ss or Ss may be: The Schutzstaffel, a Nazi paramilitary force Steamship (SS) (ship prefix) The United States Secret Service A submarine not powered by nuclear energy (SS) (United States Navy designator), see SSN A Soviet/Russian surface-to-surface missile, as listed by NATO reporting name Shortstop...

In July of 1974, a group calling themselves the Aliens of America successfully firebombed the houses of a judge, two police commissioners, and one of the commissioner’s cars, burned down two apartment buildings, and bombed the Pan Am Terminal at Los Angeles International Airport, killing three people and injuring eight. The organization, which turned out to be a single resident alien named Muharem Kurbegovic, claimed to have developed and possessed a supply of sarin, as well as 4 unique nerve agents named AA1, AA2, AA3, and AA4S. Although no agents were found at the time he was arrested in August of 1974, he had reportedly acquired "all but one" of the ingredients required to produce a nerve agent. A search of his apartment turned up a variety of materials, including precursors for phosgene and a drum containing 25 pounds of sodium cyanide [8]. 1974 is a common year starting on Tuesday (click on link for calendar). ... Pan American World Airways (Pan Am) was the United States principal international airline from the 1930s until its collapse in 1991, and was credited with many innovations that shaped the international airline industry. ... This article is the most common use of LAX. For other uses, see LAX (disambiguation). ... Phosgene (also known as carbonyl chloride, COCl2) is a highly toxic gas or refrigerated liquid that was used as a chemical weapon in World War I. It has no color, but is detectable in air by its odor, which resembles moldy hay. ... Sodium cyanide is a highly toxic chemical compound, also known as sodium salt of hydrocyanic acid and cyanogran. ...

The first successful use of chemical agents by terrorists against a general civilian population was on March 20, 1995. Aum Shinrikyo, an apocalyptic group based in Japan that believed it necessary to destroy the planet, released sarin into the Tokyo subway system killing 12 and injuring over 5,000. The group had attempted biological and chemical attacks on at least 10 prior occasions, but managed to affect only cult members. The group did manage to successfully release sarin outside an apartment building in Matsumoto in June 1994; this use was directed at a few specific individuals living in the building and was not an attack on the general population. March 20 is the 79th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (80th in Leap years). ... 1995 was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Aum Shinrikyo (also spelled Om Shin Rikyo) was a religious group which mixed Buddhist and Hindu beliefs and was based in Japan. ... The Sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway, usually referred to in the Japanese media as the 地下鉄サリン事件 (chikatetsu sarin jiken subway sarin incident) was an act of domestic terrorism perpetrated by members of the religious group Aum Shinrikyo on March 20, 1995. ... 1994 was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International year of the Family. ...

In 2001, after carrying out the attacks in New York City on September 11, the organization Al Qaeda announced that they were looking to acquire radiological, biological and chemical weapons. This threat was lent a great deal of credibility when a large archive of videotapes was obtained by the cable television network CNN in August of 2002 showing, among other things, the killing of three dogs by an apparent nerve agent. 2001: A Space Odyssey 2001 2001 is a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The September 11, 2001 attacks were a series of coordinated attacks carried out in the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. ... Midtown Manhattan, looking north from the Empire State Building, 2005 New York City (officially named the City of New York) is the most populous city in the United States, and is at the center of international finance, politics, communications, music, fashion, and culture. ... September 11 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ... Osama bin Laden Ayman al-Zawahiri Al-Qaeda (Arabic: - al-Qā‘idah, the foundation or the base) is the name given to an international alliance of Islamist organizations. ... CNN or Cable News Network is a cable television network that was founded in 1980 by Ted Turner & Reese Schonfeld [1] [2] (although he currently is not recognized in CNNs official history). ... 2002 is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Songs

• Chemical Warfare by The Dead Kennedys
• Chemical Warfare by Slayer
• Chemical Warfare by Aghast View
• VX Gas Attack by Skinny Puppy

This page is about the band; see Kennedy family for the political dynasty, or The Kennedy Curse, which inspired the name Dead Kennedys The Dead Kennedys, from San Francisco, California are widely considered to be one of the greatest punk rock bands of all time. ... Slayer in Augusta, Maine on July 11, 2004. ... Skinny Puppy (left to right, cEvin Key, Nivek Ogre, Dwane R. Goettel), Circa 1992 Skinny Puppy is an influential industrial band, which formed in Vancouver, BC, Canada during the early 1980s. ...

See also

• Area denial weapons
• Biological warfare
• Chemical Weapons Convention
• List of environment topics
• Pollution
• Stink bomb
• USAMRICD
• War Memorial Saint Julien
• Weapons of mass destruction

Area denial weapons are used to prevent an adversary from occupying or traversing an area of land. ... 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. ... Chemical Weapons Convention Opened for signature January 13, 1993 at Paris Entered into force April 29, 1997 Conditions for entry into force Ratification by 50 states and the convening of a Preperatory Commission Parties 170 The Chemical Weapons Convention is an arms control agreement which outlaws the production, stockpiling and... This page aims to list articles related to the environment. ... Pollution is the release of harmful environmental contaminants, or the substances so released. ... A stink bomb is a device designed to create an unpleasant smell. ... Categories: Stub ... The War Memorial of St. ... Weapons of mass destruction (WMD) generally include nuclear, biological, chemical and, increasingly, radiological weapons. ...

References

• CBWInfo.com (2001). A Brief History of Chemical and Biological Weapons: Ancient Times to the 19th Century. Retrieved Nov. 24, 2004.
• Chomsky, Noam (Mar. 4, 2001). Prospects for Peace in the Middle East, page 2. Lecture.
• Cordette, Jessica, MPH(c) (2003). Chemical Weapons of Mass Destruction. Retrieved Nov. 29, 2004.
• E-Medicine. (Jun. 30, 2004). eMedicine Health – Types of Chemical Weapon Agents. Retrieved Oct. 23, 2004.
• Heller, MAJ(P) Charles E., U.S. Army. (September 1984). Chemical Warfare in World War I: The American Experience, 1917 - 1918. Retrieved Nov. 24, 2004
• Informationwar.org. (Mar. 9, 2003). State Terrorism: Documents. Retrieved Nov. 29, 2004.
• Korn, Benyamin (Mar. 2003). Arab Chemical Warfare Against Jews – in 1944. The David S. Wyman Institute for Holocaust Studies.
• Robertson, Nic (Aug. 19, 2002). Disturbing scenes of death show capability with chemical gas. CNN.
• Robertson, Nic (Aug. 19, 2002). Tapes shed new light on bin Laden's network. CNN.
• Smart, Jeffery K., M.A. (1997). History of Biological and Chemical Warfare. Retrieved Nov. 24, 2004.
• T Is for Terror (July 9, 2003). MSNBC News.
• U.S. National Library of Medicine. (Sep. 30, 2004). Classes of Chemical Agents. Retrieved Nov. 6, 2004.
• United States Senate, 103d Congress, 2d Session. (May 25, 1994). The Riegle Report. Retrieved Nov. 6, 2004.

External links

• Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry