Forged in Fire: 5 Inventions from World War One

2- Chemical Weapons

If the tank was the weapon that would affect how wars were fought in the future, then chemical weapons were perhaps the ones that had the most effect at the time. The tanks were negligible for the majority of the war, with every advance that they made being followed by a setback, but the mass use of chemical weapons would be something that only increased as the war went on. Biological and chemical weapons were hardly new to war in the early 20th century – Sun Tzu mentions them in 200 BC and the Spartans were known to have created acrid smoke that affected their enemies, to give an insight into how far back they were used – but the technological advances in industrial chemistry, the specific conditions of the trenches and the psychological effects of their use would help them reach previously untold heights.

Again, chemical weapons, and their use on a mass scale, were not new to the average First World War soldier. There were existing international conventions that had set out how, when and the extent to which chemical weapons were to be used in warfare, although by the time that the first international – indeed, global – conflict broke out in 1914, they would quickly be disregarded. The gases used were often in lockstep with the advances in the industrial sector. With the concept of total war (in which the entire economy of an industrialized nation is turned to the war effort) in full effect, the industrial kitchens that had fuelled the factories of France and Great Britain were able to create some concoctions that were ideal for military use. In 1914, a tear gas based on industrial alcohol and chloroacetone was first used against the German lines and by the middle of 1915, the Germans had responded with their chlorine-based gas that was produced as a byproduct in dye manufacturing for uniforms.

The effects of the gases were compounded by their tactical use. In a war dominated by trench fighting and close-quarters living, chemical warfare was an ideal way in which to make your enemy’s life very difficult and to spread nagging, constant fear across the lines. They could be delivered on the back of the wind, let loose from canisters and left to drift on the breeze towards enemy lines. They could be fired with artillery, particularly useful for the practically odorless, colorless phosgene gas that was used later on in the war – even the shells used to fire them would land almost silently. The resultant effect was that soldiers lived in fear of attack from something that they couldn’t detect. One soldier described the “gas shock” as being akin to shell shock, claiming that it was just as frequently cited too.

Gas masks were available, but if one didn’t know that one was under attack until it was too late, then it made no difference. Masks were similarly ineffective against the famed mustard gas. While most gases were designed to choke or to attack the sinuses, mustard gas was an irritant that attacked the skin, causing boils and sore eyes. It could fire and would remain on the ground for several days until disturbed. It would burn any exposed skin and if inhaled, the insides of bronchial tubes and lungs. The rate of death was low – estimated at around 2% of all wounded – but the effects on troop effectiveness and moments catastrophic.

The total number of people killed in World War One as a result of chemical weapons is thought to be around 1.3m. As mentioned, it was not the war in which chemical weapons were first used, but it was the conflict in which its use became standard. One could no longer plan for war without factoring it in, or devise battle tactics without utilizing it as an option.