Cases of the use of chemical weapons in recent history. The Germans were the first to use chemical weapons. Trials in Nazi Germany

Chemical weapons are one of three types weapons of mass destruction (the other 2 types are bacteriological and nuclear weapon). Kills people with the help of toxins in gas cylinders.

History of chemical weapons

Chemical weapons began to be used by man a very long time ago - long before the Copper Age. Then people used a bow with poisoned arrows. After all, it is much easier to use poison, which will surely slowly kill the beast, than to run after it.

The first toxins were extracted from plants - a person received it from varieties of the acocanthera plant. This poison causes cardiac arrest.

With the advent of civilizations, prohibitions began on the use of the first chemical weapons, but these prohibitions were violated - Alexander the Great used all the chemicals known at that time in the war against India. His soldiers poisoned water wells and food stores. IN ancient greece used the roots of ground earth to poison wells.

In the second half of the Middle Ages, alchemy, the forerunner of chemistry, began to develop rapidly. Acrid smoke began to appear, driving away the enemy.

First use of chemical weapons

The French were the first to use chemical weapons. This happened at the beginning of the First World War. They say safety rules are written in blood. Safety rules for use chemical weapons not an exception. At first, there were no rules, there was only one piece of advice - when throwing grenades filled with poisonous gases, it is necessary to take into account the direction of the wind. There were also no specific, tested substances that were 100% killing people. There were gases that did not kill, but simply caused hallucinations or mild suffocation.

April 22, 1915 German armed forces mustard gas was used. This substance is very toxic: it severely injures the mucous membrane of the eye, respiratory organs. After the use of mustard gas, the French and Germans lost about 100-120 thousand people. And during the entire First World War, 1.5 million people died from chemical weapons.

In the first 50 years of the 20th century, chemical weapons were used everywhere - against uprisings, riots and civilians.

The main poisonous substances

Sarin. Sarin was discovered in 1937. The discovery of sarin happened by accident - German chemist Gerhard Schrader was trying to create a stronger chemical against pests. agriculture. Sarin is a liquid. Acts on the nervous system.

Soman. Soman was discovered by Richard Kunn in 1944. Very similar to sarin, but more poisonous - two and a half times more than sarin.

After the Second World War, the research and production of chemical weapons by the Germans became known. All research classified as "secret" became known to the allies.

VX. In 1955, VX was opened in England. The most poisonous chemical weapon created artificially.

At the first sign of poisoning, you need to act quickly, otherwise death will occur in about a quarter of an hour. Protective equipment is a gas mask, OZK (combined arms protective kit).

VR. Developed in 1964 in the USSR, it is an analogue of the VX.

In addition to highly toxic gases, gases were also produced to disperse crowds of rioters. These are tear and pepper gases.

In the second half of the twentieth century, more precisely from the beginning of 1960 to the end of the 1970s, there was a flourishing of discoveries and developments of chemical weapons. During this period, gases began to be invented that had a short-term effect on the human psyche.

Chemical weapons today

Currently, most chemical weapons are prohibited by the 1993 Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on Their Destruction.

The classification of poisons depends on the danger posed by the chemical:

• The first group includes all the poisons that have ever been in the arsenal of countries. Countries are prohibited from storing any chemicals from this group in excess of 1 ton. If the weight is more than 100g, the control committee must be notified.
• The second group is substances that can be used both for military purposes and in peaceful production.
• The third group includes substances that are used in large quantities in industries. If the production produces more than thirty tons per year, it must be registered in the control register.

First aid for poisoning with chemically hazardous substances

As A. Fries says: "The first attempt to defeat the enemy by releasing poisonous and asphyxiating gases, as it seems, was made during the war of the Athenians with the Spartans (431 - 404 BC), when, during the siege of the cities of Plataea and Belium, the Spartans impregnated wood with pitch and sulfur and burned it under the walls of these cities, in order to suffocate the inhabitants and facilitate their siege.A similar use of poisonous gases is mentioned in the history of the Middle Ages.Their action was similar to the action of modern suffocating shells, they were thrown with syringes or in bottles, like hand grenades. Legends say that Praeter John (about the 11th century) filled copper figures with explosive and combustible substances, the smoke of which escaped from the mouth and nostrils of these phantoms and made great havoc in the ranks of the enemy. "

The idea of ​​fighting the enemy by using a gas attack was outlined in 1855 during the Crimean campaign by the English Admiral Lord Dandonald. In his memorandum dated August 7, 1855, Dandonald proposed to the British government a project to take Sevastopol with the help of sulfur vapor. This document is so curious that we reproduce it in its entirety:

Brief preliminary remark.

"When examining the sulfur furnaces in July 1811, I noticed that the smoke that is released during the rough process of melting sulfur, at first, due to heat, rises upwards, but soon falls down, destroying all vegetation and being destructive to everyone over a large area. living creature. It turned out that there was an order forbidding people to sleep in the region of 3 miles in a circle from furnaces during smelting. "

"This fact I decided to apply to the needs of the army and navy. Upon mature reflection, I submitted a memorandum to His Royal Highness the Prince Regent, who deigned to transmit it (April 2, 1812) to the Commission, consisting of Lord Cates, Lord Exmouths and General Congreve (later Sir William), who gave him a favorable report, and His Royal Highness deigned to order that the whole matter be kept in perfect secrecy.

Signed (Dandonald).

Memorandum.
"Materials necessary for the expulsion of the Russians from Sevastopol: experiments have shown that one part of sulfur is released from 5 parts of coal. The composition of mixtures of coal and sulfur for use in the field service, in which the weight ratio plays a very important role, can be indicated by prof. Faraday, since I had little interest in land operations.400 or 500 tons of sulfur and 2,000 tons of coal would suffice.

“In addition to these materials, it is necessary to have a certain amount of tar coal and two thousand barrels of gas or other tar in order to make a smoke screen in front of the fortifications that are to be attacked or that go to the flank of the attacked position.

"It is also necessary to prepare a certain amount of dry firewood, chips, shavings, straw, hay and other easily flammable materials, so that at the first favorable, steady wind, a fire can be quickly started."

(signed) Dandonald.

"Note: due to the special nature of the task, the entire responsibility for success rests with those who manage its implementation."

"Assuming that Malakhov Kurgan and Redan are the target of the attack, it is necessary to fumigate Redan with the smoke of coal and tar lit in a quarry so that it can no longer fire at Mamelon, from where an attack with sulfur dioxide should be opened to remove the garrison of Malakhov Kurgan. All Mamelon cannons should be directed against the undefended positions of the Malakhov Kurgan."

"There is no doubt that smoke will envelop all the fortifications from Malakhov Kurgan to Baraki and even to the line of the warship "12 Apostles" anchored in the harbor."

"The two outer Russian batteries, located on either side of the port, are to be fumigated with sulphurous gas by means of fire-ships, and their destruction will be completed by warships that will approach and anchor under the cover of a smoke screen."

Lord Dandonald's memorandum, together with explanatory notes, was transmitted by the English government of the time to a committee in which leading role played by Lord Playfar. This Committee, having seen all the details of Lord Dandonald's project, was of the opinion that the project was quite feasible, and the results it promised could certainly be achieved; but in themselves the results are so terrible that no honest enemy should use this method. Therefore, the committee decided that the project could not be accepted, and Lord Dandonald's note should be destroyed. In what way the information was obtained by those who so carelessly published it in 1908, we do not know; they were probably found among Lord Panmuir's papers.

"The smell of lemon became poison and smoke,

And the wind drove the smoke on the troops of soldiers,

Suffocation from poison is unbearable to the enemy,

And the siege will be lifted from the city."

"He tears to pieces this strange army,

Heavenly fire turned into an explosion,

There was a smell from Lausanne, suffocating, persistent,

And people do not know its source.

Nastrodamus on the first use of chemical weapons

The use of poisonous gases during the World War dates back to April 22, 1915, when the Germans made the first gas attack, using cylinders of chlorine, a long and well-known gas.

On April 14, 1915, near the village of Langemarck, not far from the then little-known Belgian city of Ypres, French units captured a German soldier. During the search, they found a small gauze bag filled with identical pieces of cotton fabric, and a bottle with a colorless liquid. It looked so much like a dressing bag that it was initially ignored. Apparently, its purpose would have remained incomprehensible if the prisoner had not stated during interrogation that the handbag is a special means of protection against the new "crushing" weapon that the German command plans to use on this sector of the front.

When asked about the nature of this weapon, the prisoner readily replied that he had no idea about it, but it seems that this weapon is hidden in metal cylinders that are dug in no man's land between the lines of trenches. To protect against this weapon, it is necessary to soak a flap from the purse with the liquid from the vial and apply it to the mouth and nose.

The French gentlemen officers considered the story of the captured soldier gone mad and did not attach any importance to it. But soon the prisoners captured in neighboring sectors of the front reported about the mysterious cylinders. On April 18, the British knocked out the Germans from the height of "60" and at the same time captured a German non-commissioned officer. The prisoner also spoke about an unknown weapon and noticed that the cylinders with it were dug at this very height - ten meters from the trenches. Out of curiosity, an English sergeant went on reconnaissance with two soldiers and, in the indicated place, actually found heavy cylinders of an unusual appearance and incomprehensible purpose. He reported this to the command, but to no avail.

In those days, English radio intelligence, which deciphered fragments of German radio messages, also brought riddles to the Allied command. Imagine the surprise of the codebreakers when they discovered that the German headquarters were extremely interested in the state of the weather!

- ... An unfavorable wind is blowing ... - the Germans reported. “… The wind is getting stronger… its direction is constantly changing… The wind is unstable…”

One radiogram mentioned the name of a certain Dr. Haber.

- ... Dr. Gaber does not advise ...

If only the British knew who Dr. Gaber was!

Fritz Haber was deeply civilian. True, he once completed a year of service in the artillery and by the beginning of the "Great War" had the rank of reserve non-commissioned officer, but at the front he was in an elegant civilian suit, aggravating the civilian impression with the brilliance of gilded pince-nez. Before the war, he headed the Institute of Physical Chemistry in Berlin and even at the front did not part with his "chemical" books and reference books.

It was especially surprising to observe the respect with which the gray-haired colonels, hung with crosses and medals, listened to his orders. But few of them believed that, with a wave of the hand of this clumsy civilian, thousands of people would be killed in a matter of minutes.

Haber was in the service of the German government. As a consultant to the German War Office, he was tasked with creating an irritant poison that would force enemy troops to leave the trenches.

A few months later, he and his staff created a weapon using chlorine gas, which was put into production in January 1915.

Although Haber hated war, he believed that the use of chemical weapons could save many lives if the exhausting trench warfare on the Western Front stopped. His wife Clara was also a chemist and strongly opposed his wartime work.

The point chosen for the attack was in the north-eastern part of the Ypres salient, at the point where the French and English fronts converged, heading south, and from where the trenches departed from the canal near Besinge.

"It was a wonderful clear spring day. A light breeze was blowing from the northeast ...

Nothing foreshadowed an imminent tragedy, the equal of which until then mankind had not yet known.

The sector of the front closest to the Germans was defended by soldiers who arrived from the Algerian colonies. Once out of their hiding places, they basked in the sun, talking loudly to each other. About five o'clock in the afternoon a large greenish cloud appeared in front of the German trenches. It smoked and swirled, behaving like the "heaps of black gas" from the "War of the Worlds" and at the same time slowly moving towards the French trenches, obeying the will of the northeast breeze. According to witnesses, many Frenchmen watched with interest the approaching front of this bizarre "yellow fog", but did not attach any importance to it.

Suddenly they smelled a strong smell. Everyone had a pinching in the nose, their eyes hurt, as if from acrid smoke. "Yellow fog" choked, blinded, burned the chest with fire, turned inside out.

Not remembering themselves, the Africans rushed out of the trenches. Who hesitated, fell, seized by suffocation. People rushed about the trenches, screaming; colliding with each other, they fell and fought in convulsions, catching air with twisted mouths.

And the "yellow fog" rolled farther and farther to the rear of the French positions, sowing death and panic along the way. Behind the fog, German chains marched in orderly rows with rifles at the ready and bandages on their faces. But they had no one to attack. Thousands of Algerians and French lay dead in the trenches and in artillery positions.

Naturally, the first feeling inspired by the gas method of war was horror. A stunning description of the impression of a gas attack is found in an article by O. S. Watkins (London).

“After the bombardment of the city of Ypres, which lasted from April 20 to 22,” writes Watkins, “poisonous gas suddenly appeared in the midst of this chaos.

When we got to Fresh air in order to rest for a few minutes from the stuffy atmosphere of the trenches, our attention was attracted by very heavy shooting in the north, where the French were occupying the front. Obviously, there was a heated fight, and we energetically began to explore the area with our field glasses, hoping to pick up something new in the course of the battle. Then we saw a sight that made our hearts stop, the figures of people running in confusion through the fields.

"The French have broken through," we cried. We could not believe our eyes ... We could not believe what we heard from the fugitives: we attributed their words to a frustrated imagination: a greenish-gray cloud, descending on them, turned yellow as it spread and scorched everything in its path, to which touched, causing the plants to die. No most courageous man could resist such a danger.

French soldiers staggered among us, blinded, coughing, breathing heavily, with dark purple faces, silent with suffering, and behind them in the gassed trenches were, as we learned, hundreds of their dying comrades. The impossible turned out to be only just."

"This is the most villainous, most criminal act that I have ever seen."

But for the Germans, this result was no less unexpected. Their generals treated the venture of the "bespectacled doctor" as an interesting experience and therefore did not really prepare for a large-scale offensive. And when the front turned out to be actually broken, the only unit that poured into the resulting gap was an infantry battalion, which, of course, could not decide the fate of the French defense. The incident made a lot of noise and by the evening the world knew that a new participant had entered the battlefield, capable of competing with "His Majesty the machine gun." Chemists rushed to the front, and by the next morning it became clear that for the first time the Germans used a cloud of suffocating gas - chlorine - for military purposes. Suddenly it turned out that any country that even has the makings chemical industry, can get our hands on most powerful weapon. The only consolation was that it was not difficult to escape from chlorine. It is enough to cover the respiratory organs with a bandage moistened with a solution of soda, or hyposulfite, and chlorine is not so terrible. If these substances are not at hand, it is enough to breathe through a wet rag. Water significantly weakens the effect of chlorine, which dissolves in it. Many chemical institutions rushed to develop the design of gas masks, but the Germans were in a hurry to repeat the gas balloon attack until the Allies had reliable means of protection.

On April 24, having collected reserves for the development of the offensive, they launched a strike on a neighboring sector of the front, which was defended by the Canadians. But the Canadian troops were warned about the "yellow fog" and therefore, seeing a yellow-green cloud, they prepared for the action of gases. They soaked their scarves, stockings and blankets in puddles and applied them to their faces, covering their mouths, noses and eyes from the caustic atmosphere. Some of them, of course, suffocated to death, others were poisoned for a long time, or blinded, but no one moved. And when the fog crept into the rear and the German infantry followed, Canadian machine guns and rifles spoke, making huge gaps in the ranks of the advancing, who did not expect resistance.

Despite the fact that April 22, 1915 is considered the day of the "premiere" of poisonous substances, separate facts of its use, as already mentioned above, took place earlier. So back in November 1914, the Germans fired several artillery shells at the French, filled with irritating poisonous substances), but their use went unnoticed. In January 1915, in Poland, the Germans used some kind of tear gas against the Russian troops, but the scale of its use was limited, and the effect was smoothed out due to the wind.

The first of the Russians to undergo a chemical attack were units of the 2nd Russian Army, which, with its stubborn defense, blocked the path to Warsaw of the persistently advancing 9th Army of General Mackensen. In the period from May 17 to May 21, 1915, the Germans installed 12,000 cylinders of chlorine in the advanced trenches for 12 km and waited for ten days for favorable weather conditions. The attack began at 3 o'clock. 20 minutes. May 31. The Germans released chlorine, opening at the same time a hurricane of artillery, machine-gun and rifle fire on Russian positions. The complete surprise of the enemy's actions and the unpreparedness on the part of the Russian troops led the soldiers to be more surprised and curious when a cloud of chlorine appeared than they were alarmed. Mistaking the greenish cloud for attack camouflage, the Russian troops reinforced the forward trenches and pulled up support units. Soon the trenches, which here represented a maze of solid lines, turned out to be places filled with corpses and dying people. By 4.30 chlorine penetrated 12 km deep into the defense of the Russian troops, forming "gas swamps" in the lowlands and destroying spring and clover shoots on its way.

At about 4 o'clock, the German units, supported by artillery chemical fire, attacked the Russian positions, counting on the fact that, as in the battle at Ypres, there was no one to defend them. In this situation, the unparalleled stamina of the Russian soldier was manifested. Despite the incapacitation of 75% of the personnel in the 1st defensive lane, the German attack by 5 o'clock in the morning was repulsed by strong and well-aimed rifle and machine-gun fire from the soldiers remaining in the ranks. During the day, 9 more German attacks were thwarted. The losses of the Russian units from chlorine were huge (9138 poisoned and 1183 dead), but the German offensive was still repulsed.

However, chemical warfare and the use of chlorine against the Russian army continued. On the night of July 6-7, 1915, the Germans repeated a gas balloon attack in the Sukha-Volya-Shidlovskaya section. There is no exact information about the losses suffered by the Russian troops during this attack. It is known that the 218th Infantry Regiment lost 2608 people during the retreat, and the 220th Infantry Regiment, which carried out a counterattack in the area rich in "gas swamps", lost 1352 people.

In August 1915, the German troops used a gas-balloon attack during the assault on the Russian fortress Osaovets, which they had previously unsuccessfully tried to destroy with the help of heavy artillery. Chlorine spread to a depth of 20 km, having an amazing depth of 12 km and a cloud height of 12 m. It flowed even into the most closed rooms of the fortress, incapacitating its defenders. But here, too, the fierce resistance of the surviving defenders of the fortress did not allow the enemy to succeed.

In June 1915, another suffocating substance was used - bromine, used in mortar shells; the first tear-producing substance also appeared: benzyl bromide combined with xylylene bromide. Artillery shells were filled with this gas. The use of gases in artillery shells, which later became so widespread, was first clearly observed on June 20 in the Argonne forests.

Phosgene was widely used during the First World War. It was first used by the Germans in December 1915 on the Italian front.

At room temperature, phosgene is a colorless gas, with the smell of rotten hay, which turns into a liquid at a temperature of -8 °. Before the war, phosgene was mined in large quantities and was used to make various dyes for woolen fabrics.

Phosgene is very poisonous and, in addition, acts as a substance that strongly irritates the lungs and causes damage to the mucous membranes. Its danger is further increased by the fact that its effect is not detected immediately: sometimes painful phenomena appear only 10-11 hours after inhalation.

Relative cheapness and ease of preparation, strong toxic properties, lingering effect and low resistance (the smell disappears after 1 1/2 - 2 hours) make phosgene a substance very convenient for military purposes.

The use of phosgene for gas attacks was proposed as early as the summer of 1915 by our marine chemist N. A. Kochkin (the Germans used it only in December). But this proposal was not accepted by the tsarist government.

At first, gas was produced from special cylinders, but by 1916, artillery shells filled with toxic substances began to be used in battle. Suffice it to recall the bloody battle near Verdun (France), where up to 100,000 chemical shells were fired.

The most common gases in combat were: chlorine, phosgene and diphosgene.

Among the gases used in the war, it should be noted the gases of the skin-diving action, against which the gas masks adopted by the troops were invalid. These substances, penetrating through shoes and clothing, caused burns on the body, similar to burns from kerosene.

It has already become a tradition to describe chemical weapons in the World War on what light it is worth inclining the Germans. They, they say, launched chlorine against the French on the Western Front and against the Russian soldiers near Przemysl, and they are so bad that there is nowhere else to go. But the Germans, being pioneers in the use of chemistry in combat, lagged far behind the Allies in the scale of its use. Less than a month had passed since the "Chlorine Premiere" near Ypres, when the allies began, with equally enviable composure, to flood the positions of German troops on the outskirts of the said city with various muck. Russian chemists also did not lag behind their Western counterparts. It is the Russians who have priority in the most successful use of artillery shells filled with irritating poisonous substances against German and Austro-Hungarian troops.

It is amusing to note that with a certain degree of fantasy, poisonous substances can be considered a catalyst for the emergence of fascism and the initiator of the Second World War. Indeed, it was after the English gas attack near Komyn that the German corporal Adolf Schicklgruber, temporarily blinded by chlorine, lay in the hospital and began to think about the fate of the deceived German people, the triumph of the French, the betrayal of the Jews, etc. Subsequently, while in prison, he streamlined these thoughts in his book Mein Kampf (My Struggle), but the title of this book already had a pseudonym that was destined to become famous - Adolf Hitler.

During the war years, more than a million people were affected by various gases. The gauze bandages that so easily found their place in the soldier's shoulder bags became almost useless. Radical new means were needed to protect against toxic substances.

The gas war uses all sorts of actions produced on the human body by various kinds of chemical compounds. Depending on the nature of physiological phenomena, these substances can be divided into several categories. At the same time, some of them can be simultaneously assigned to different categories, combining various properties. Thus, according to the action produced, gases are divided into:

1) suffocating, coughing, irritating to the respiratory organs and capable of causing death by suffocation;

2) poisonous, penetrating the body, affecting one or another important organ and, as a result, producing a general lesion of any area, for example, some of them affect the nervous system, others - red blood cells, etc .;

3) lachrymal, causing profuse lacrimation and blinding a person for a more or less long time;

4) suppurating, causing reaction or itching, or deeper skin ulcerations (eg, watery blisters), passing to the mucous membranes (especially the respiratory organs) and causing serious damage;

5) sneezing, acting on the nasal mucosa and causing increased sneezing, accompanied by such physiological phenomena as throat irritation, tearing, nose and jaw pain.

Asphyxiating and poisonous substances were united under the general name "poisonous" during the war, since all of them can cause death. The same can be said about some other deadly substances, although their main physiological action was manifested in a suppurating or sneezing reaction.

Germany used during the war all the physiological properties of gases, thus continuously increasing the suffering of the combatants. The gas war began on April 22, 1915 with the use of chlorine, which was placed in liquid form in a cylinder, and from the latter, when a small tap was opened, it came out already in the form of gas. At the same time, a significant number of gas jets, released simultaneously from numerous cylinders, formed a thick cloud, which was given the name "waves".

Every action causes a reaction. The gas war caused the gas defense. At first, they fought with gases by putting on special masks (respirators) for the fighters. But for a long time the mask system has not been improved.

However, the conditions of war make us remember also about collective defense.

During the war, about 60 different chemicals and elements were noted in various compounds that killed a person or made him completely incapable of continuing the battle. Among the gases used in the war, irritating gases should be noted, i.e. causing lacrimation and sneezing, against which gas masks adopted by the troops were invalid; then suffocating, poisonous and poisonous-burning gases, which, penetrating through shoes and clothes, caused burns on the body, similar to burns from kerosene.

The area shelled and impregnated with these gases did not lose its burning properties for whole weeks, and woe to the person who got into such a place: he came out of there stricken with burns, and his clothes were so saturated with this terrible gas that just touching it struck the touched person. particles of the released gas and caused the same burns.

The so-called mustard gas (mustard gas) possessing such properties was called by the Germans the "king of gases".

Especially effective are shells stuffed with mustard gas, the action of which, under favorable conditions, lasts up to 8 days.

It was first used by the German side on April 22, 1915 near Ypres. The result of a chemical gas attack with chlorine is 15 thousand human victims. After 5 weeks, 9 thousand soldiers and officers of the Russian army died from the action of phosgene. Diphosgene, chloropicrin, arsenic-containing agents of irritating action are being "tested". In May 1917, again on the Ypres sector of the front, the Germans used mustard gas - an agent of strong blistering and general toxic action.

During the First World War, the opposing sides used 125,000 tons of chemical agents, which claimed 800,000 human lives. At the very end of the war, not having time to prove themselves in a combat situation, adamsite and lewisite get a "ticket" to a long life, and later - nitrogen mustards.

In the 1940s, nerve agent agents appeared in the west: sarin, soman, tabun, and later the "family" of VX (VX) gases. The effectiveness of OV is growing, the methods of their use (chemical munitions) are being improved ...

Chemical weapon- this is OV in conjunction with the means of their application. It is intended for mass destruction of people and animals, as well as contamination of the terrain, weapons, equipment, water and food.

History has preserved many examples of the use of poisons for military purposes. But even the episodic use of toxic substances in wars, the contamination of water sources, the abandonment of besieged fortresses poisonous snakes severely condemned in the laws of the Roman Empire.

For the first time, chemical weapons were used on the western front in Belgium by the Germans against the Anglo-French troops on April 22, 1915. On a narrow section (width of 6 km.), 180 tons of chlorine were released in 5-8 minutes. As a result of the gas attack, about 15 thousand people were defeated, of which over 5 thousand died on the battlefield.

This attack is considered the beginning of chemical warfare, it showed the effectiveness of a new type of weapon in its sudden massive use against unprotected manpower.

New stage The development of chemical weapons in Germany began with the adoption of b, b 1 dichlorodiethyl sulfide, a liquid substance with a general toxic and blistering effect. It was first used on June 12, 1917 near Ypres in Belgium. Within 4 hours, 50 thousand shells containing 125 tons of this substance were fired at the positions. 2500 people were defeated. The French called this substance after the place of application "mustard gas", the British because of its characteristic smell - "mustard gas".

In total, during the First World War, 180,000 tons of various agents were produced, of which about 125,000 tons were used. At least 45 different chemicals were combat tested, including 4 blistering, 14 asphyxiating and at least 27 irritating.

Modern chemical weapons have an extremely high damaging effect. For several years, the United States used chemical weapons on a large scale in the war against Vietnam. At the same time, more than 2 million people were affected, vegetation was destroyed on 360 thousand hectares of cultivated land and 0.5 million hectares of forest.

Great importance is attached to the development of a new type of chemical weapon - binary chemical munitions intended for massive combat use in various theaters of military operations.

There are 4 periods in the development of chemical weapons:

I. World War I and next decade. Combat OVs were received, which have not lost their significance in our time. These include sulfur mustard, nitrogen mustard, lewisite, phosgene, hydrocyanic acid, cyanogen chloride, adamsite, chloroacetophenone. A certain role in expanding the range of used agents was played by the adoption of gas cannons. The first gas throwers with a firing range of 1-3 km. were loaded with mines containing from 2 to 9 kg of suffocating agents. Gas cannons gave the first impetus to the development of artillery means of using explosive agents, which drastically reduced the preparation time for a chemical attack, made it less dependent on meteorological conditions, and the use of explosive agents in any state of aggregation. At this time, most countries concluded an interstate treaty, which went down in history as the "Geneva Protocol on the Prohibition of the Use in War of Asphyxiating, Poisonous or Similar Gases and bacteriological means". The treaty was signed on June 17, 1925, including by a representative of the US government, but it was ratified in this country only in 1975. Naturally, the protocol, due to the prescription of its compilation, does not indicate agents of nerve paralytic and psychotomimetic action, military herbicides and other toxic agents that appeared after 1925. That is why the USSR and the USA concluded in 1990. an agreement on a significant reduction in available stocks of OM. By December 31, 2002, almost 90% of the chemical arsenal should be destroyed in both countries, leaving no more than 5,000 tons of chemical agents on each side.

II. 1930s - World War II.
In Germany, studies were carried out to find highly toxic OPs. The production of FOV was received and launched - tabun (1936), sarin (1938), soman (1944). In accordance with the Barbarossa plan, preparations for chemical warfare were carried out in the Nazi Reich. However, Hitler did not dare to use chemical weapons in combat, in connection with a possible retaliatory chemical attack on the deep rear of the Reich (Berlin) by our aircraft.
Tabun, sarin and hydrocyanic acid were used in the death camps for the mass destruction of prisoners.

III. fifties.
In 1952, mass production of sarin began. In 1958, a highly toxic FOV was synthesized - V-gases (5-7 lethal doses in 1 drop). The study of natural poisons and toxins was carried out.

IV. Modern period .
In 1962, a synthetic CNS agent, BZ, was investigated. CS and CR super-irritating agents were adopted, which were used in the Vietnam War and the DPRK. A toxin weapon has appeared - a kind of chemical weapon based on the use of the damaging properties of toxic substances of protein origin produced by microorganisms, some species of animals and plants (tetroidotoxin - the poison of a ball fish, batrachotoxin - the poison of a cocoi frog, etc.). Since the beginning of the 80s, large-scale production of binary chemical munitions has begun.

A hundred years have passed since the end of the First World War, remembered mainly for the horrors of the mass use of chemical weapons. Its colossal reserves, which remained after the war and multiplied many times in the interwar period, should have led to an apocalypse in the Second. But it passed. Although there were still local cases of the use of chemical weapons. Real plans for its massive use by Germany and Great Britain were made public. Probably, there were such plans in the USSR with the USA, but nothing is known for certain about them. We will tell you all about this in this article.

However, in the beginning, let us recall what a chemical weapon is. This is a weapon of mass destruction, the action of which is based on the toxic properties of poisonous substances (S). Chemical weapons are classified according to the following characteristics:

- the nature of the physiological effects of OM on the human body;

- tactical purpose;

- the speed of the oncoming impact;

- resistance of the used agent;

— means and methods of application.

According to the nature of the physiological effects on the human body, six main types of toxic substances are distinguished:

- Nerve agents that affect the nervous system and cause death. These agents include sarin, soman, tabun, and V-gases.

- Agents of blistering action, causing damage mainly through the skin, and when applied in the form of aerosols and vapors - also through the respiratory system. The main OM of this group are mustard gas and lewisite.

- OS of general toxic action, which, getting into the body, disrupt the transfer of oxygen from the blood to the tissues. This is an instantaneous OV. These include hydrocyanic acid and cyanogen chloride.

- Asphyxiating agents, affecting mainly the lungs. The main OMs are phosgene and diphosgene.

- OV of psychochemical action, capable of incapacitating the enemy's manpower for some time. These agents, acting on the central nervous system, disrupt the normal mental activity of a person or cause such disorders as temporary blindness, deafness, a sense of fear, and limitation of motor functions. Poisoning with these substances in doses that cause mental disorders does not lead to death. OBs from this group are quinuclidyl-3-benzilate (BZ) and lysergic acid diethylamide.

— OV irritating action. These are fast-acting agents that stop their action after leaving the infected area, and the signs of poisoning disappear after 1-10 minutes. This group of agents includes lachrymal substances that cause profuse lacrimation, and sneezing substances that irritate the respiratory tract.

According to the tactical classification, toxic substances are divided into groups according to combat mission: deadly and temporarily incapacitating manpower. According to the speed of exposure, high-speed and slow-acting agents are distinguished. Depending on the duration of the preservation of the damaging ability, agents are divided into substances of short-term action and long-term action.

Substances are delivered to the place of their application: artillery shells, rockets, mines, aviation bombs, gas cannons, balloon gas launch systems, VAPs (pouring aviation devices), grenades, checkers.

The history of combat OV has more than one hundred years. To poison enemy soldiers or temporarily disable them, various chemical compositions. Most often, such methods were used during the siege of fortresses, since it is not very convenient to use poisonous substances during a maneuver war. However, talking about any mass use toxic substances, of course, were not necessary. Chemical weapons began to be considered by the generals as one of the means of warfare only after poisonous substances began to be obtained in industrial quantities and they learned how to store them safely.

It also required certain changes in the psychology of the military: back in the 19th century, poisoning your opponents like rats was considered an ignoble and unworthy deed. The use of sulfur dioxide as a chemical warfare agent by British Admiral Thomas Gokhran was met with indignation by the British military elite. Curiously, chemical weapons became banned even before the start of mass use. In 1899, the Hague Convention was adopted, it spoke about the prohibition of weapons that use strangulation or poisoning to defeat the enemy. However, this convention did not prevent either the Germans or the rest of the participants in the First World War (including Russia) from massively using poison gases.

So, Germany was the first to violate the existing agreements and, first, in the small Bolimovsky battle of 1915, and then in the second battle near the town of Ypres, it used its chemical weapons. On the eve of the planned offensive, German troops installed more than 120 batteries equipped with gas cylinders along the front. These actions were carried out late at night, secret from enemy intelligence, which naturally knew about the impending breakthrough, but neither the British nor the French had any idea about the forces with which it was supposed to be carried out. In the early morning of April 22, the offensive began not with a cannonade characteristic of this, but with the fact that the Allied troops suddenly saw green fog crawling towards them from the side where the German fortifications were supposed to be located. At that time, ordinary masks were the only means of chemical protection, but due to the complete surprise of such an attack, most of the soldiers did not have them. The first ranks of the French and English detachments literally fell down dead. Despite the fact that the chlorine-based gas used by the Germans, later called mustard gas, mainly spread at a height of 1-2 meters above the ground, its amount was enough to hit more than 15 thousand people, and among them were not only the British and French, but also the Germans . At one moment, the wind blew on the positions of the German army, as a result of which many soldiers who were not wearing protective masks were injured. While the gas corroded the eyes and suffocated the enemy soldiers, the Germans, dressed in protective suits, followed him and finished off the unconscious people. The army of the French and British fled, the soldiers, ignoring the orders of the commanders, abandoned their positions without having time to fire a single shot, in fact, the Germans got not only the fortified area, but also most of the abandoned provisions and weapons. To date, the use of mustard gas in the Battle of Ypres is recognized as one of the most inhuman actions in world history, as a result of which more than 5 thousand people died, while the rest of the survivors, who received a different dose of deadly poison, remained crippled for life.

Already after the Vietnam War, scientists have identified another detrimental effect of the effects of OM on the human body. Quite often, those affected by chemical weapons gave inferior offspring, i.e. freaks were born in both the first and second generations.

Thus, Pandora's box was opened, and the howling countries began to poison each other everywhere with poisonous substances, although the effectiveness of their action hardly exceeded the mortality from artillery fire. The possibility of application was extremely dependent on the weather, direction and strength of the wind. In some cases, suitable conditions for massive use had to be expected for weeks. When chemical weapons were used during offensives, the side using them itself suffered losses from its own chemical weapons. For these reasons, the belligerents mutually "quietly renounced the use of weapons of mass destruction" and in subsequent wars of massive combat use chemical weapons have not been observed. An interesting fact is that among those injured as a result of the use of chemical agents was Adolf Hitler, who was poisoned by English gases. In total, during the First World War, about 1.3 million people suffered from the use of chemical agents, of which about 100 thousand died.

During the interwar years chemical substances periodically used to destroy individual nationalities and suppress rebellions. Thus, the Soviet government of Lenin used poison gas in 1920 during the assault on the village of Gimry (Dagestan). In 1921, he poisoned the peasants during the Tambov uprising. The order, signed by military commanders Tukhachevsky and Antonov-Ovseenko, read: “The forests in which the bandits are hiding must be cleared with poison gas. This must be carefully calculated so that a layer of gas penetrates into the forests and kills everything hiding there.” In 1924, the Romanian army used OV during the suppression of the Tatarbunary uprising in Ukraine. During the Rif War in Spanish Morocco from 1921-1927, combined Spanish and French troops dropped mustard gas bombs in an attempt to put down a Berber uprising.

In 1925, 16 countries of the world with the greatest military potential signed the Geneva Protocol, thereby pledging never again to use gas in military operations. Notably, while the United States delegation, led by the President, signed the Protocol, it languished in the US Senate until 1975, when it was finally ratified.

In violation of the Geneva Protocol, Italy used mustard gas against Senussi forces in Libya. Poison gas was used against the Libyans as early as January 1928. And in 1935, Italy used mustard gas against the Ethiopians during the Second Italo-Abyssinian War. The chemical weapons dropped by military aircraft "proved to be very effective" and were used "on a massive scale against civilians and troops, and for pollution and water supplies." The use of OV continued until March 1939. By some estimates, up to one-third of Ethiopian war casualties were caused by chemical weapons.

It is not clear how the League of Nations behaved in this situation, people were dying from the most barbaric weapons, and she was silent, as if encouraging him to continue to use it. Perhaps for this reason, in 1937, Japan began to use tear gas in hostilities: the Chinese city of Woqu was bombed - about 1,000 bombs were dropped on the ground. Later, the Japanese detonated 2,500 chemical shells during the Battle of Dingxiang. Authorized by Japanese Emperor Hirohito, toxic gas was used during the 1938 Battle of Wuhan. It was also used during the invasion of Changde. In 1939, mustard gas was used against both Kuomintang and Communist Chinese troops. They did not stop there and continued to use chemical weapons until the final defeat in the war.

The Japanese army was armed with up to ten types of chemical warfare agents - phosgene, mustard gas, lewisite and others. It is noteworthy that in 1933, immediately after the Nazis came to power, Japan secretly purchased equipment for the production of mustard gas from Germany and began to produce it in Hiroshima Prefecture. Subsequently, military chemical plants appeared in other cities of Japan, and then in China, where a special school was also organized for the training of specialized military units operating in China.

It should be noted that chemical weapons were tested on living prisoners in the infamous "731" and "516" detachments. Due to fear of retribution, however, this weapon was never used against Western countries. Asian psychology did not allow "bullying" against the powers that be. According to various estimates, the Japanese used OV more than 2 thousand times. In total, about 90 thousand Chinese soldiers died from the use of Japanese chemicals, there were civilian casualties, but they were not counted.

It should be noted that by the beginning of World War II, Great Britain, Germany, the USSR and the United States had very significant stocks of various chemical warfare agents filled into ammunition. In addition, each country was actively preparing not only to use its own weapons, but also developed active protection against them, if used by the enemy.

Ideas about the role of chemical weapons in the course of warfare were mainly based on an analysis of the experience of their use in operations in 1917–1918. Artillery remained the main means of using explosive weapons to destroy the enemy's location to a depth of 6 km. Beyond this limit, the use of chemical weapons was assigned to aviation. Artillery was used to infect the area with persistent agents such as mustard gas and to exhaust the enemy with irritating agents. For the use of chemical weapons in the armies of the leading countries, chemical troops were created that were armed with chemical mortars, gas launchers, gas cylinders, smoke devices, ground contamination devices, chemical land mines and mechanized means for degassing the area ... However, let's return to the chemical weapons of individual countries.

The first known case of the use of agents in World War II occurred on September 8, 1939, during the Wehrmacht's invasion of Poland, when a Polish battery fired a battalion of German chasseurs trying to capture the bridge with poison mines. It is not known how effectively the Wehrmacht soldiers used gas masks, but their losses in this incident amounted to 15 people.

After the "evacuation" from Dunkirk (May 26 - June 4, 1940) in England there was no equipment or weapons for the land army - everything was abandoned on the French coast. IN total, was left 2 472 artillery pieces, almost 65 thousand cars, 20 thousand motorcycles, 68 thousand tons of ammunition, 147 thousand tons of fuel and 377 thousand tons of equipment and military equipment, 8 thousand machine guns and about 90 thousand rifles, including all heavy weapons and vehicles of 9 British divisions. And although the Wehrmacht did not have the opportunity to force the English Channel and finish off the British on the island, it seemed to the latter in fear that this would happen any day. Therefore, Great Britain was preparing for the last battle with all its might and means.

On June 15, 1940, the Chief of the Imperial Staff, Sir John Dill, proposed the use of chemical weapons on the coast, during the German landing. Such actions could significantly slow down the advance of the landing force into the interior of the island. It was supposed to spray mustard gas from special tank trucks. Other types of OM were recommended to be used from the air, and with the help of special throwing devices, which were buried on the coast by several thousand.

Sir John Dill attached detailed instructions for the use of each type of agent and calculations of the effectiveness of their use to his note. He also mentioned possible casualties among his civilian population. The British industry increased the production of OV, and the Germans were dragging everything out with the landing. When the supply of OM was significantly increased, and military equipment appeared in Britain under Lend-Lease, incl. and a huge number of bombers, by 1941 the concept of using chemical weapons had changed. Now they were preparing to use it exclusively from the air with the help of aerial bombs. This plan was valid until January 1942, when the British command already ruled out an attack on the island from the sea. Since that time, the OV was planned to be used already in German cities if Germany had used chemical weapons. And although after the start of shelling the UK with rockets, many parliamentarians advocated the use of OV in response, Churchill categorically rejected such proposals, arguing that these weapons are applicable only in cases mortal danger. However, the production of OV in England continued until 1945.

Since the end of 1941, Soviet intelligence began to receive data on an increase in the production of OM in Germany. In 1942, there was reliable intelligence about the mass deployment of special chemical weapons, about their intensive training. In February-March 1942, the troops on the Eastern Front began to receive new improved gas masks and anti-algae suits, stockpiles of chemical agents (shells and aerial bombs), and chemical units began to be transferred closer to the front. Such parts were found in the cities of Krasnogvardeysk, Priluki, Nezhin, Kharkov, Taganrog. In anti-tank units, chemical training was intensively carried out. Each company had a non-commissioned officer as a chemical instructor. The headquarters of the Civil Code was sure that in the spring Hitler intended to use chemical weapons. The Stavka also knew that Germany had developed new types of OM, against which the gas masks in service were powerless. There was no time for the production of a new, modeled on the German gas mask of 1941. And the Germans at that time produced 2.3 million pieces. per month. Thus, the Red Army turned out to be defenseless against the German OVs.

Stalin could have made an official statement about a retaliatory chemical attack. However, it could hardly have stopped Hitler: the troops were more or less protected, and the territory of Germany was not to be reached.

Moscow decided to turn to Churchill for help, who understood that if chemical weapons were used against the USSR, Hitler would later be able to use them against Great Britain. After consultations with Stalin, on May 12, 1942, Churchill, speaking on the radio, said that “... England will consider the use of poisonous gases against the USSR by Germany or Finland in the same way as if this attack were carried out against England itself, and that England will respond to this with the use of gases against the cities of Germany ... ".

It is not known what Churchill would actually have done, but already on May 14, 1942, one of the residents of Soviet intelligence, who had a source in Germany, reported to the Center: “... The German civilian population was greatly impressed by Churchill’s speech about the use of gases against Germany in if the Germans use them on the Eastern Front. In German cities, there are very few reliable gas shelters that can cover no more than 40% of the population ... According to German experts, in the event of a retaliatory strike, about 60% of the German population would die from British gas bombs. In any case, Hitler did not in practice check whether Churchill was bluffing or not, since he saw the results of conventional Allied bombing in German cities. The order for the massive use of chemical weapons on the Eastern Front was never issued. Moreover, remembering Churchill's statement, after the defeat at the Kursk Bulge, stockpiles of chemical weapons were taken from the eastern front, because Hitler feared that some general, driven to despair by defeats, might give the command to use chemical weapons.

Despite the fact that Hitler was no longer going to use chemical weapons, Stalin was really scared, and until the end of the war did not rule out chemical attacks. A special department (GVKhU) was created as part of the Red Army, appropriate equipment for detecting VO was developed, decontamination and degassing techniques appeared ... The seriousness of Stalin's attitude to chemical protection was determined by a secret order issued on January 11, 1943, in which commanders threatened with a military tribunal.

At the same time, having abandoned the massive use of chemical weapons on the Eastern Front, the Germans did not hesitate to use them on a local scale on the Black Sea coast. So, gas was used in the battles for Sevastopol, Odessa, Kerch. Only in the Adzhimushkay catacombs about 3 thousand people were poisoned. It was planned to use OV in the battles for the Caucasus. In February 1943, German troops received two carloads of antidotes for toxins. But the Nazis were quickly driven away from the mountains.

The Nazis did not disdain to use chemical agents in concentration camps, where they used carbon monoxide and hydrogen cyanide (including Zyklon B) to kill millions of prisoners.

After the Allied invasion of Italy, the Germans also withdrew chemical weapons from the front, relocating them to Normandy to defend the Atlantic Wall. When interrogated by Goering why nerve gas was not used in Normandy, he replied that many horses were used to supply the army, and the production of appropriate gas masks for them was not established. It turns out that German horses saved thousands of Allied soldiers, although the veracity of this explanation is highly doubtful.

By the end of the war, for two and a half years of production at the plant in Dürchfurt, Germany had accumulated 12,000 tons of the latest nerve agents - Tabun. 10 thousand tons were loaded into aerial bombs, 2 thousand into artillery shells. The personnel of the plant, in order not to give out the formulation of OV, was destroyed. However, the Red Army managed to capture the ammunition and production and take it to the territory of the USSR. As a result, the Allies were forced to unleash a whole world-wide hunt for German specialists and scientists in the field of chemical agents in order to fill the gap in their chemical arsenals. Thus began the "two worlds" race for chemical weapons, which lasted for decades, in parallel with nuclear weapons.

Only in 1945 did the United States put into service for the M9 and M9A1 Bazooka rocket-propelled grenade launchers M26 warheads with combat agents - cyanogen chloride. They were intended for use against Japanese soldiers who had settled in caves and bunkers. It was believed that there was no protection against this gas, but in combat conditions, the agents were never used.

Summing up the topic of chemical weapons, we note that its mass use was not allowed for several factors: fear of a retaliatory strike, low efficiency of use, dependence of use on weather factors. However, during the pre-war years and during the war, colossal stocks of OM were accumulated. So the reserves of mustard gas (mustard gas) in Britain amounted to 40.4 thousand tons, in Germany - 27.6 thousand tons, in the USSR - 77.4 thousand tons, in the USA - 87 thousand tons. can be judged by the fact that the minimum dose that causes the formation of abscesses on the skin is 0.1 mg / cm². There is no antidote for mustard gas poisoning. A gas mask and OZK lose their protective functions after 40 minutes, being in the affected area.

Regrettably, numerous conventions banning chemical weapons are constantly violated. The first post-war use of OV was recorded already in 1957 in Vietnam, i.e. 12 years after the end of World War II. And then the gaps in the years of ignoring it become smaller and smaller. It seems that humanity has firmly embarked on the path of self-destruction.

Based on materials from sites: https://ru.wikipedia.org; https://en.wikipedia.org; https://thequestion.ru; http://supotnitskiy.ru; https://topwar.ru; http://magspace.ru; https://news.rambler.ru; http://www.publy.ru; http://www.mk.ru; http://www.warandpeace.ru; https://www.sciencehistory.org http://www.abc.net.au; http://pillboxes-suffolk.webeden.co.uk.

The first chemical weapons to be used were the "Greek fire", composed of sulfur compounds, thrown from pipes during naval battles, first described by Plutarch, as well as hypnotic agents described by the Scottish historian Buchanan, causing continuous diarrhea according to Greek authors and a range of drugs, including arsenic-containing compounds and the saliva of rabid dogs, which was described by Leonardo da Vinci. In Indian sources of the 4th century BC. e. there were descriptions of alkaloids and toxins, including abrin (a compound close to ricin, a component of the poison with which the Bulgarian dissident G. Markov was poisoned in 1979).

Aconitine, (alkaloid), contained in plants of the genus aconite (aconitium) had an ancient history and was used by Indian courtesans for murder. They covered their lips with a special substance, and on top of it, in the form of lipstick, they applied aconitine to their lips, one or more kisses or a bite, which, according to sources, led to a terrible death, the lethal dose was less than 7 milligrams. With the help of one of the poisons mentioned in the ancient "teachings about poisons", describing the effects of their effects, brother Nero Britannicus was killed. Several clinical experimental work was carried out by Madame de "Brinville, who poisoned all her relatives claiming inheritance, she also developed a "powder of inheritance", testing it on patients in clinics in Paris to assess the strength of the drug.

In the XV and XVII centuries poisoning of this kind was very popular, we should remember the Medici, they were a natural phenomenon, because it was almost impossible to detect the poison after the autopsy of the corpse. If the poisoners were found, then the punishment was very cruel, they were burned or forced to drink a huge amount of water. Negative attitudes towards poisoners held back the use of chemicals for military purposes until the middle of the 19th century. Until then, assuming that sulfur compounds could be used for military purposes, Admiral Sir Thomas Cochran (10th Earl of Sunderland) used sulfur dioxide as a chemical warfare agent in 1855, which was met with indignation by the British military establishment.

During the First World War, chemicals were used in huge quantities: 12,000 tons of mustard gas, which affected about 400,000 people, and a total of 113,000 tons of various substances. In total, during the years of the First World War, 180 thousand tons of various toxic substances were produced. The total losses from chemical weapons are estimated at 1.3 million people, of which up to 100 thousand fatal. The use of poisonous substances during the First World War are the first recorded violations of the Hague Declaration of 1899 and 1907. Incidentally, the United States refused to support the 1899 Hague Conference. In 1907 Great Britain acceded to the declaration and accepted its obligations. France agreed to the 1899 Hague Declaration, as did Germany, Italy, Russia and Japan. The parties agreed on the non-use of asphyxiating and nerve-paralytic gases for military purposes. Referring to the exact wording of the declaration, on October 27, 1914, Germany used ammunition loaded with shrapnel mixed with an irritating powder, arguing that this use was not the only purpose of this shelling. This also applies to the second half of 1914, when Germany and France used non-lethal tear gases, but on April 22, 1915, Germany carried out a massive chlorine attack, as a result of which 15,000 soldiers were injured, of which 5,000 died. The Germans at the front of 6 km released chlorine from 5730 cylinders. Within 5-8 minutes, 168 tons of chlorine were released.

This perfidious use of chemical weapons by Germany was met with a powerful propaganda campaign against Germany, denouncing the use of poisonous substances for military purposes, initiated by Britain. Julian Parry Robinson examined propaganda material released after the Ypres events that drew attention to the description of Allied casualties due to the gas attack, based on information provided by credible sources. The Times published an article on April 30, 1915: "The Complete History of Events: New german weapons". This is how eyewitnesses described this event: “The faces, hands of people were of a glossy gray-black color, their mouths were open, their eyes were covered with lead glaze, everything around was rushing about, spinning, fighting for life. The sight was frightening, all those terrible blackened faces, wailing and begging for help.

The effect of the gas is to fill the lungs with a watery mucous liquid, which gradually fills all the lungs, because of this, suffocation occurs, as a result of which people die within 1 or 2 days. German propaganda answered its opponents thus: "These shells * are no more dangerous than the poisonous substances used during the English unrest (meaning the Luddite explosions, which used explosives based on picric acid)." This first gas attack came as a complete surprise to the Allied troops, but on September 25, 1915, the British troops carried out their trial chlorine attack. In further gas attacks, both chlorine and mixtures of chlorine with phosgene were used.

For the first time, a mixture of phosgene and chlorine was first used as an agent by Germany on May 31, 1915, against Russian troops. At the front of 12 km - near Bolimov (Poland), 264 tons of this mixture were produced from 12 thousand cylinders. Despite the lack of means of protection and surprise, the German attack was repulsed. Almost 9 thousand people were put out of action in 2 Russian divisions. Since 1917, the warring countries began to use gas launchers (a prototype of mortars). They were first used by the British. The mines contained from 9 to 28 kg of a poisonous substance, firing from gas guns was carried out mainly with phosgene, liquid diphosgene and chloropicrin. German gas guns were the cause of the “miracle at Caporetto”, when, after shelling from 912 gas guns with mines with phosgene of the Italian battalion, all life was destroyed in the Isonzo river valley. Gas cannons were capable of suddenly creating high concentrations of agents in the target area, so many Italians died even in gas masks.

Gas cannons gave impetus to the use of artillery, the use of poisonous substances, from the middle of 1916. The use of artillery increased the effectiveness of gas attacks. So on June 22, 1916, for 7 hours of continuous shelling, German artillery fired 125 thousand shells from 100 thousand liters. suffocating agents. The mass of poisonous substances in cylinders was 50%, in shells only 10%. On May 15, 1916, during artillery shelling, the French used a mixture of phosgene with tin tetrachloride and arsenic trichloride, and on July 1, a mixture of hydrocyanic acid with arsenic trichloride. On July 10, 1917, diphenylchlorarsine was first used by the Germans on the Western Front, causing a severe cough even through a gas mask, which in those years had a poor smoke filter. Therefore, in the future, diphenylchlorarsine was used together with phosgene or diphosgene to defeat the enemy’s manpower. Used for the first time by German troops near the Belgian city of Ypres.

On July 12, 1917, within 4 hours, 50 thousand shells containing 125 tons of B, B-dichlorodiethyl sulfide were fired at the Allied positions. 2,490 people received injuries of varying degrees. The French called the new OM "mustard gas", after the place of first use, and the British "mustard gas" because of the strong specific smell. British scientists quickly deciphered its formula, but they managed to establish the production of a new OM only in 1918, because of which it was possible to use mustard gas for military purposes only in September 1918 (2 months before the armistice). In this period from April 1915 Until November 1918, more than 50 gas balloon attacks were carried out by German troops, by the British 150, by the French 20. In Russia, chemical weapons were used in small volumes in the years civil war White Army and British occupying forces in 1919.

After World War I and up until World War II, public opinion in Europe was opposed to the use of chemical weapons. After the end of the First World War and until 1934, the movement of pacifists was very active in Europe, including the “Poets of War” group, which described the deaths that occurred as a result of the use of poisonous substances. After the First World War, among the industrialists of Europe, who ensured the defense of their countries, the opinion prevailed that chemical weapons should be an indispensable attribute of warfare, the rest were considered either sick or crazy. At the same time, through the efforts of the League of Nations, a number of conferences and rallies were held to promote the prohibition of the use of poisonous substances for military purposes and talk about the consequences of this. The International Committee of the Red Cross supported conferences that condemned the use of chemical warfare in the 1920s. The Committee also undertook a number of works in the field of protection of the civilian population from toxic substances. In 1929, The Times announced an award for the invention of the best instrument for determining the concentration of organic matter. In the USSR in 1928, a chemical attack was simulated using 30 airplanes over Leningrad. The Times reported that the application of the powder was not effective for the public.

In 1921, the Washington Conference on Arms Limitation was convened, chemical weapons were the subject of discussion by a specially created subcommittee, which had information on the use of chemical weapons during the First World War, which intended to prohibit the use of chemical weapons, even more than conventional warfare. The subcommittee decided: the use of chemical weapons against the enemy on land and on water cannot be limited. The opinion of the subcommittee was supported by a poll public opinion in USA. The treaty has been ratified by most countries, including the US and the UK. However, the United States simultaneously began to expand the Edgewood arsenal. Lewisite or was one of the main objects of repeated condemnation, it was even called "Death Dew". In Britain, some accepted the use of chemical weapons as a fait accompli, fearing that they would be at a disadvantage, as in 1915. And as a consequence of this, further work continued on chemical weapons, using propaganda for the use of toxic substances. One of the leading experts in the field of IA was J.B.S. Haldon had experience in conducting chemical attacks as an officer of the Black Watch (Black Guard), who was called from France to help his father Professor Haldon, for research in the field of chemical warfare agents. Haldon was often exposed to chlorine, all kinds of lacrimators and irritants. In 1925 he gave a series of lectures on chemical weapons entitled "Callinicus, Defense Against Chemical Weapons".

He named it after the Syrian Callinicus, who invented a special tar and sulfur mixture called "Greek fire". In it, he wrote: Chemical warfare requires effort to understand. It is more than ever different from those sports entertainments, which are similar to shooting from various types of weapons, even with the use of armored vehicles. Also, chemical weapons were used in large quantities: by Spain in Morocco in 1925, by Italian troops in Ethiopia (from October 1935 to April 1936). Mustard gas was used with great efficiency by the Italians, despite the fact that Italy acceded to the Geneva Protocol in 1925. 415 tons of blister agents and 263 tons of asphyxiating gases were sent to the Ethiopian front. Of the total losses of the Abyssinian army (about 750,000 people), one-third were losses from chemical weapons. And this is without counting the losses of the civilian population, who suffered during the 19 largest air raids. Japan used chemical weapons against Chinese troops in the 1937-1943 war. The losses of Chinese troops from poisonous substances amounted to 10% of the total. In 1913, Germany produced 85.91% of the dyes produced in the world, Britain - 2.54%, the USA - 1.84%.

The six largest chemical companies in Germany have merged into the IG Farben concern, created for complete dominance in the dyes and organic chemistry markets. The famous inorganic chemist Fritz Haber (winner Nobel Prize 1918), was the initiator of the combat use of agents by Germany during the First World War, his colleague Schroeder, who developed nerve gases in the early 1930s, was one of the most prominent chemists of his time. British and American sources saw in IG Farben an empire similar to the Krupp armaments empire, considering it a serious threat and made efforts to dismember it after the Second World War, and it was not for nothing that the specialists of this concern helped the Italians to establish the production of OV so effective in Ethiopia. Which led to dominance in the markets of the Allied countries. And in the rest of Europe there were quite a few chemists who believed that it was much more "humane" to use chemical weapons in military operations than to wait until others used them. The reasons why Germany did not use chemical weapons during World War II remain unclear to this day; according to one version, Hitler did not give the command to use CWA during the war because he believed that the USSR had more chemical weapons.

Churchill recognized the need to use chemical weapons only if they were used by the enemy. But the indisputable fact is the superiority of Germany in the production of poisonous substances: the production of nerve gases in Germany came as a complete surprise to the Allied forces in 1945. In 1935-1936. in Germany, nitrogen and "oxygen" mustards were obtained, tabun was synthesized in 1936, more toxic sarin in 1939, and soman at the end of 1944. In 1940, in the city of Oberbayern (Bavaria), a large plant owned by IG Farben was put into operation for the production of mustard gas and mustard compounds, with a capacity of 40,000 tons. In total, in the pre-war and first war years in Germany, about 17 new technological installations for the production of OM were built, the annual capacity of which exceeded 100 thousand tons.

In the city of Dühernfurt, on the Oder (now Silesia, Poland), there was one of the largest production facilities for organic matter. By 1945, Germany had 12 thousand tons of herd in stock, the production of which was nowhere else. Separate work on obtaining these substances was carried out in the USA and Great Britain, but a breakthrough in their production could not occur until 1945. During the years of World War II in the United States, 135 thousand tons of toxic substances were produced at 17 installations, half of the total volume was accounted for mustard gas. Mustard gas was equipped with about 5 million shells and 1 million air bombs. From 1945 to 1980, only 2 types of chemical weapons were used in the West: lachrymators (CS: 2-chlorobenzylidenemalononitrile - tear gas) and herbicides (the so-called "Orange Agent") used by the US Army in Vietnam, the consequences of which are the infamous "Yellow Rains".

CS alone, 6,800 tons were used. The United States produced chemical weapons until 1969. In 1974, President Nixon and General Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU Leonid Brezhnev signed a significant agreement aimed at banning chemical weapons. It was confirmed by President Ford in 1976 at bilateral talks in Geneva. From 1963 to 1967, Egyptian forces used chemical weapons in Yemen. During the 1980s, mustard gas was widely used by Iraq, and later nerve gas (presumably tabun) during the Iran-Iraq conflict. In the incident near Halabja, about 5,000 Iranians and Kurds were injured in a gas attack. In Afghanistan Soviet troops, according to Western journalists, also used chemical weapons. In 1985, chemical weapons were used in Angola by the Cuban or Vietnamese military, resulting in hard-to-explain effects on environment. Libya produced chemical weapons at one of its enterprises, which was recorded by Western journalists in 1988.