Gas! Gas! Quick, Boys! How Chemistry Changed the First World

摘要

The universal abhorrence of chemical weapons as manifestly inhumane is surprisingly recent and so is their classification as weapons of mass destruction. While the latter is a concept of the nuclear age, the former is not ... At the time of their use in the First World War, the perverse-sounding notion that chemical weapons were in fact humane had been a part of the vocabulary of munitions and war experts of the Central Powers and the Entente alike, including, e.g., that of the U.S. Assistant Secretary of War and Director of Munitions, Benedict Crowley: "The methods of manufacturing toxic gases, the use of such gases, and the tactics connected with their use were new developments of this war; yet during the year 1918 from 20 to 30 per cent of all American battle casualties were due to gas, showing that toxic gas is one of the most powerful implements of war. The records show, however, that when armies were supplied with masks and other defensive appliances, only about 3 or 4 per cent of the gas casualties were fatal. This indicates that gas can be made not only one of the most effective implements of war, but one of the most humane."