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A Note from History
Chemical Weapons in World War I

French soldiers making a gas and flame attack on German trenches in Flanders, Belgium, 1917. Image courtesy of www.Archives.gov.

"It was Thursday evening, April 22, 1915. . . . As we gazed in the direction of the bombardment, where our line joined the French, six miles away, we could see in the failing light the flash of shrapnel with here and there the light of a rocket. But more curious than anything was a low cloud of yellow-grey smoke or vapour, and, underlying everything, a dull confused murmuring. Suddenly down the road from the Yser Canal came a galloping team of horses, the riders goading on their mounts in a frenzied way; then another and another, till the road became a seething mass with a pall of dust over all. Plainly something terrible was happening. . . ."

The above is an excerpt from a memoir written by Anthony R. Hossack, a British soldier who served during World War I and participated in the Second Battle of Ypres in April 1915. This battle marked the first successful, large-scale use of a poison gas as a tactical weapon on the battlefield. In this instance, chlorine gas was used by German troops against the Allies. Though the military outcome of this particular attack was not a decisive victory for Germany, the effects of the chemical attack on Allied soldiers were nonetheless severe. Victims suffered choking attacks due to the damage caused to their respiratory systems within seconds of inhalation. A Pandora’s Box of chemical warfare had also been opened.

British soldier and horse during WWI wearing gas masks. Image courtesy of Image courtesy of www.gwpda.org.

Though various attempts at using chemical substances for harm have taken place throughout history, the modern concept of chemical warfare has its origins in World War I. Prior to the “Great Conflict,” the use of chemical weapons was generally considered uncivilized. In 1899, the First Hague Peace Conference banned the use of poison arms. This ban was ratified by the United States and other countries, including Germany, France, Russia, Austria-Hungary, and Great Britain. When the trench warfare led to a stalemate in World War I, however, armies on both sides were driven to seek new methods of overcoming their enemies. Some time after the end of the War, German General von Deimling, who commanded German troops at Ypres, made these comments about chemical warfare:

“I must confess that the commission for poisoning the enemy, just as one poisons rats, struck me as it must any straight-forward soldier: it was repulsive to me. If, however, these poison gases would lead to the fall of Ypres, we would perhaps win a victory which might decide the entire war. In view of such a high goal, personal susceptibilities had to be silent.”

Following the Second Battle at Ypres, both France and Great Britain sought to retaliate against Germany with chemical weapons. Both nations had investigated and tested some chemical weapons. France had even employed tear-gas filled grenades against the Germans prior to the battles at Ypres. The Second Battle of Ypres, however, marked the beginning of a race to develop better protective equipment, more potent chemicals, and more efficient delivery systems. Chlorine was replaced by phosgene and, in 1917, the Germans introduced mustard gas. By 1918, mustard agent was widely used by both sides. Whereas the effects of chlorine and phosgene come from inhaling those chemicals, mustard gas is a vesicant, or skin agent, that can attack unprotected parts of the body. Mustard agent, or yperite, also lingers on surfaces, including soil, for weeks after its release. This makes it difficult for armies to capture contaminated territory.

When U.S. forces entered World War I in 1917, they found themselves unprepared for chemical warfare. Before the War, the U.S. Government had given little thought or attention to preparing for the possibility of a chemical attack. During the early years of the conflict, even though the United State remained a neutral party, the chemical warfare taking place in Europe did not go unnoticed. In May 1915, President Woodrow Wilson proposed that Germany cease engaging in chemical warfare in exchange for the British ending their blockade of neutral ports. Both Germany and Britain refused this proposal.

In the fall of that year, 1915, the U.S. War Department began investigating gas masks, but no high importance was placed on this project since this country was not at war at that time. There was also some talk among a few key government civilians concerning what could be done in the event the United States was drawn into the War. However, it was not until the U.S. declared war on Germany in April 1917 that the Subcommittee on Noxious Gases was created. In June 1918, the War Department formally established the Chemical Warfare Service (CWS) as part of the wartime army, which finally brought control of offensive chemical production, training, testing, basic research, and a new chemical warfare unit under one organization. Although the CWS made a significant contribution to the Allied victory, much of its work was not completed by the War’s end.

Of the approximately 26 million casualties suffered on both sides during World War I, around one million were from toxic gas. In his final report to Congress concerning the events of World War I, U.S. General John J. Pershing assessed the magnitude of the advancement of chemical warfare that had taken place during the War by saying, "Whether or not gas will be employed in future wars is a matter of conjecture, but the effect is so deadly to the unprepared that we can never afford to neglect the question."