Chemical weapons - means mass destruction, the use of which is prohibited in most countries of the world. Today we will try to talk in as much detail as possible about this terrifying means of warfare.

15 Terrifying Facts About Chemical Weapons

The news has been filled with reports of chemical weapons due to the use of such weapons in Syria. This gave the US a reason to take retaliatory measures, such as bombing Syria, measures whose consequences are poorly predictable. We can argue all we want about whether President Trump was justified in bombing a country with which he was not at war because of a crime against humanity, but to debate this we must understand what kind of weapon it is. Therefore, we decided to post a brief summary of chemical weapons, their history and the current situation on the world stage.
People may not know what types of chemical weapons there are or how they work, but even the most uneducated person knows the damage they can cause. If you've seen the videos coming out of Khan Sheikhoun, rebel-held territory in Syria, you have some idea of ​​how horrific a chemical weapons attack can be. There are many examples of the use of chemical weapons: its history begins before the First World War, and since then chemical weapons have undergone significant development. You may not agree with Sean Spicer, the White House press secretary, on any issue, but his view that chemical weapons attacks are “not something any civilized country can let go without consequences” is entirely reasonable, provided that there really was an attack. Here's everything you need to know about chemical weapons and their role in the current crisis.

15. What are chemical weapons?

A chemical weapon is a device that uses chemicals to cause suffering, pain and death to people. It is different from biological weapons, which are microbes designed to cause disease. There are many chemicals that could be used for military purposes in this way, and we know that most of them were created and stockpiled during the 20th century.
According to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), “The term chemical weapon can also be applied to any toxic chemical or its precursor that can cause death, injury, temporary incapacitation, or sensory irritation through its chemical action. Ammunition or other delivery devices designed to employ a chemical weapon, whether filled or unfilled, are also considered to be the weapon itself.”
They are considered weapons of mass destruction, but they are not nuclear weapons. This is the main difference you need to be aware of.

14. Chemicals that can be used as weapons

There are many chemicals that have potential military uses. It is both horrifying and a worthy insight into the dual nature of scientific development. Chemical weapons are divided into several groups, depending on the effect they have on victims. For example, nerve agents such as sarin and cyclosarin act collectively on the entire human nervous system. Strangely enough, some of them smell like fruit. There are also vesicants, or blister agents, such as sulfur or phosgene, which are used more for the purpose of causing panic in the enemy ranks, but they are as deadly as any other weapon. These weapons cause abscesses on your skin, lungs, blood-forming organs, and even your eyes. Finally, there are asphyxiants, such as chlorine, which attack lung tissue and make it impossible to breathe. Asphyxiants are the cause of 80% of deaths caused by chemical weapons during the First World War.

13. Lethal doses of VX

VX is a nerve agent that many people don't even know exists. Its effects are quite unusual for known types of chemical weapons. While the effects of mustard gas can be noticed immediately after a victim is exposed to it, VX works more subtly, which is what makes this chemical so dangerous. VX attacks your tonsils and muscles by blocking a certain enzyme that allows them to relax. Without this enzyme, your muscles will experience severe spasms. This seems painful enough, but things get even worse when you realize that it also affects the organs that control your breathing, causing you to die. As if all this wasn't enough, lethal dose VX is approximately ten milligrams, which is a ridiculous amount. Depending on the dose received, you can die anywhere between a few minutes and several hours after exposure. VX is so dangerous that some military forces receive auto-injectors of anti-anxiety drugs in case they become exposed to the substance.

12. All about sarin

Sarin is a colorless, odorless liquid that is considered a weapon of mass destruction due to its potential as a nerve agent. You can no longer store sarin thanks to the 1993 Chemical Weapons Commission agreement, and for good reason. Sarin gas can kill you within minutes, and even one minute can be fatal. Even if you survive exposure to sarin, you will face serious neurological damage. On the plus side, sarin is relatively easy to detect and its concentration does not last long. This is not much consolation, considering that sarin gas can kill within minutes, and the clothing of an exposed person can release sarin within thirty minutes, poisoning the surrounding area and making it dangerous to be around. Sarin gas is 26 times more lethal than cyanide, and 543 times more lethal than chlorine.

11. First World War

Many chemical weapons were used during the First World War. Chemical weapons had existed for a long time before, but World War I showed what they were capable of when used on a larger scale. These weapons were used to kill, wound, or even demoralize the enemy. The problem was that chemistry does not choose who to kill, and an army using chemical weapons could easily suffer no less than the target of the attack, for example as a result of the wind. Fortunately, the men were prepared and had gas masks, making chemical weapons tactically useful on the battlefield. However, of the 1.2 million people who were victims of chemical weapons in World War I, 90,000 died. Sure, the deaths are a small fraction of the deaths of that war, but when guns kill 90,000 people who should not have died in a war that many historians consider pointless, even 90,000 deaths are too many.

10. All about mustard gas

Mustard gas, also known as sulfur mustard, is probably one of the most powerful, and deadliest materials on the planet. It devastated the trenches of World War I, killing more soldiers than any chemical weapon in history. He literally burned the bodies of his victims from the inside. We've touched on this before, but it's worth emphasizing just how terrible this stuff is. This substance used to be called “LOST” after the names of the people who invented it, but I think it is a self-explanatory name because anyone who felt the effects of this substance was lost to themselves forever. Scientists have conducted tests on people to see the effects of mustard gas, and if you find this material, you will be able to see that people's bodies show horrific reactions to the tiniest, insignificant amounts of the gas. It was not the deadliest substance used in World War I, but you can be sure that it was the most painful in its effects. The use of mustard gas was fiercely condemned, but by then countless soldiers had already died.

9. World War II

Chemical weapons were also used during World War II. In those days, sarin was used for the first time (it was invented several years before the start of the war, during the Great Depression). Japan was the only country to use chemical weapons on the battlefield, and they put a lot of effort into trying to artificially spread diseases.
Adolf Hitler did not actually use chemical weapons on the battlefield, despite committing literally every crime against humanity during his leadership of Germany. The reason for this may be the fact that while serving as a corporal in the Kaiser's army in 1918, Hitler himself came under a gas attack by British troops. That personal experience, of course, did not prevent him from using chemical weapons to kill millions of people in concentration camps. There are photographs of rooms in those camps, the iron walls of which are covered with a blue coating all over, due to the fact that hydrogen cyanide was used in them. The pictures are horrific, so we didn't include them here, but believe me, these rooms are very, very blue.
While Hitler never deployed chemical weapons on the battlefield, Germany stockpiled them in insane quantities. After the war, they dumped them in the ocean, and now they are a constant threat to modern Europe due to the chemicals gradually leaking to the seabed. Even when chemical weapons are not used to kill soldiers, they are still dangerous.

8. World reserves

It is worth touching on such a topic as the world's stockpiles of chemical weapons. You may not have heard of the Chemical Weapons Convention before, but once you hear about it, you're sure to support it. In 2000, the convention was tasked with disposing of 72,524 cubic tons of chemicals, 8.67 million chemical munitions and containers, and 97 production facilities that were related to chemical weapons. All empty ammunition was to be depleted by 2002, and 100% of the substances were to be depleted by 2007. As of October 2016, 67,098 of the 72,524 (93%) tons of chemicals, and more than 57% (4.97 million) of chemical munitions, were gone. However, as we have all recently learned, decreasing stockpiles does not mean that chemical weapons can no longer be used.

7. World population

The world's population lives under the law of the Chemical Weapons Convention. Well, at least that's what 98% of the population does. There are four countries that have not yet ratified the agreement, but one country, Israel, recently signed it. Each country signed and ratified the agreement at a different time, and it took decades, but at least they did it and are working to stop the use of chemical weapons. There are some countries that have joined the convention more recently, such as Myanmar and Angola, but better late than never. As for the other three, they are not on the list, and the names of these countries will not surprise you. The three countries that have not yet ratified or signed the Chemical Weapons Convention are Egypt, North Korea and South Sudan. Syria is on the list, having joined the convention in 2013, and Assad has said he would comply with the agreement immediately rather than wait 30 days after signing the agreement.

6. Chemical Weapons Convention

We've spent some time talking about the Chemical Weapons Ban, but we've neglected the convention itself. The Chemical Weapons Convention is an agreement much more difficult to reach than the 1925 Geneva Convention. The Chemical Weapons Convention began in 1980 and was signed into law in 1993, which went into effect in 1997. The organization that implements the ban is called the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW). It is an enterprise to which countries that have signed the convention have declared their chemical weapons. They are the people who investigate who is following the agreement and who is not.

5. Syria and chemical weapons

One country that is allegedly not following the rules is Syria. If you believe Western news, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad organized a chemical attack on the residents of the city of Khan Sheikin, which at that time was under the control of the al-Nusra Front. The attack (probably using sarin gas) killed 74 people, injured at least 557 and is probably the most lethal use chemical weapons in the Syrian civil war to date. Assad's government has said they did not do it, but both British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson and US President Donald Trump have attributed the attack to him.

4. Obama's Red Line

Since the Syrian civil war, the United States has pursued rather inconsistent policies. President Obama, for his part, maintained a hands-off policy during his time in the White House, giving one highly controversial speech in 2012 about the red line. “We must not allow a situation where chemical or biological weapons fall into the hands of the wrong people,” Obama told reporters at the White House. “We have made it very clear to the Assad regime - as well as to other players - that the red line for us is where we start to see chemical weapons moving or being used in another country. Until then, we do not interfere in the internal affairs of other countries.” When chemical weapons were later used in Syria, Obama backed down. This has led many people to say that Obama allowed the events in Syria to happen through his inaction.

3. Trump's red line

Now in America new president, and this is Donald Trump. When Obama resigned, Donald Trump repeatedly declared non-interference in the affairs of Syria, especially against the backdrop of the presence of a contingent of Russian troops there. Everything changed when chemical weapons were used. The reports Trump received left him deeply shocked and frightened. Assad's attack forced Trump into action. A missile strike was carried out on the area from which the attack was allegedly carried out. It can be argued that his change of opinion on the issue of Syria stems from the fact that he now has more information on this issue and more responsibility on his shoulders.

2. Consequences

This caused panic in the US due to unanswered questions. Is the US going to enter Syria and the war? Will Russia, an ally of Syria, fire back? Was Trump trying to distract the media and people from the controversy surrounding his presidency? How constitutional was the attack? Is the President simply dragging the country into war? Only Congress can declare war, after all. The country was divided. It is believed that this was the first real Presidential decision that Donald Trump made on his own, and that this action alone should exonerate him from any charges of colluding with the Russians, because he had just bombed their ally. Others thought that the measures taken were reckless and dangerous, and could potentially drag the United States into a war in which it should not be involved. On top of that, US-Russia relations are at their worst since the end cold war. According to Vladimir Putin, rebels fighting against Assad staged the attack for provocative purposes, and the US responded to the fake attack.

1.What happens next

It's hard to predict what will happen next. Trump made an announcement on April 11th in which he stated that the United States was not entering Syria and that he blamed the previous administration for their inaction. “When I see people using terrible, terrible chemical weapons that they agreed not to use under the Obama administration, but they violated it,” he told Business FOX reporter Maria Bartiromo, “what I did should have been done by the Obama administration.” a long time ago. And I think the situation in Syria would be much more stable than it is now.”
Although we can now breathe out and relax, knowing that at this stage the United States will not enter the war, it is completely unknown what will happen next. This conflict in Syria has been a shadow on the world stage for six years, and there is no doubt that the crisis is still very far from being resolved. No matter what you think of former President Obama and President Trump's response to the situation, you have to agree that chemical weapons in any form are a truly horrific way to hurt people on a massive scale. We must get rid of chemical weapons in a way that does not harm our environment.

What are chemical weapons? Something terrifying and frightening. This is a weapon of extremely high destructive power, capable of causing massive losses over vast areas. It can take thousands of lives, and in the most inhumane way. After all, the action of chemical weapons is based on toxic substances that, when they enter people’s bodies, destroy them from the inside.

A little history

Before delving into the question of what chemical weapons are, it is worth doing short excursion to the past.

Even before our era it was known - certain toxic substances can cause death of animals and people. They knew this and used it for personal purposes. However, in the 19th century, these substances began to be used during large-scale military operations.

But, nevertheless, the “official” appearance of chemical weapons, like the most dangerous means fighting, date back to the First World War (1914-1918).

The battle was of a positional nature, and this forced the combatants to look for new types of weapons. The German army decided to massively attack enemy positions through the use of asphyxiating and poisonous gases. This was in 1914. Then, in April 1915, the army repeated the attack, but used chlorine poisoning.

More than a hundred years have passed, but the principle of operation of this type of weapon is the same - people are simply inhumanely and cruelly poisoned.

"Delivery" of shells

When talking about the use of chemical weapons, it is worth noting how the process itself occurs. To “deliver” it to targets, media, devices and control devices are used.

Means of use include rockets, gas launchers, artillery shells, aircraft bombs, mines, balloon gas release systems, aircraft pour-out devices, checkers, grenades. In principle, everything is the same as what helps to use nuclear weapons. Chemical and biological are delivered in exactly the same way. So they are similar not only in their strength.

Classification by physiological effects

Types of chemical weapons are distinguished by several characteristics. And the method of influence on the human body is the main one. Toxic substances released:

• With a nerve-paralytic effect. Affects the nervous system. Goal: rapid and massive incapacitation of personnel. Substances include: V-gases, tabun, soman and sarin.
• With vesicant action. Hit through skin. They come in aerosols and sprays - then they also act through the respiratory organs. For these purposes, lewisite and mustard gas are used.
• With a generally poisonous effect. They enter the body and disrupt oxygen metabolism. Substances of this type are among the fastest-acting. These include cyanogen chloride and hydrocyanic acid.
• With a suffocating effect. The lungs are affected. For this purpose, diphosgene and phosgene are used.
• With psychochemical action. Aimed at disabling enemy manpower. They affect the central nervous system, cause temporary deafness, blindness, and limit motor functions. The substances include quinuclidyl-3-benzilate and lysergic acid diethylamide. They damage the psyche, but do not lead to death.
• With an irritating effect. They are also called irritants. They act quickly, but not for long. Maximum - 10 minutes. These include tear-producing substances, sneezing agents, and respiratory tract irritants. There are also those in which several functions are combined.

It should be noted that irritants in many countries are used by the police. So they are classified as special equipment not lethal action. A striking example is a gas canister.

Tactical classification

There are only two types of chemical weapons:

• Fatal. Substances of this type include agents that destroy living force. They have suffocating, generally poisonous, vesicant and nerve-paralytic effects.
• Temporarily incapacitating. Substances of this type include irritants and incapacitants (psychotropic drugs). They incapacitate the enemy for a certain period of time. At least for a couple of minutes. At most - for a few days.

But it is important to note that non-lethal substances can cause death. It is worth remembering the Vietnam War (1957-1975). The US Army did not hesitate to use various gases, including orthochlorobenzylidene malononitrile, bromoacetone, adamsite, etc. The US military claims that they used non-lethal concentrations. But, according to other information, the gas was used in conditions in which it leads to death. In a confined space, that is.

Impact speed

Two more criteria according to which chemical weapons are classified. According to the speed of impact it can be:

• Fast-acting. These are irritating substances, generally poisonous, nerve-paralytic and psychotropic.
• Slow acting. These include suffocating, skin-tearing and some psychotropic.

Durability of impact

Here, too, there are two types of chemical weapons. Substances may have:

• Short-term action. That is, to be volatile or unstable. Their damaging effect is calculated in minutes.
• Long-term action. It lasts at least several hours. The effect of particularly strong substances can last for weeks.

It should be noted that the damaging factors of chemical weapons still have to work. Toxic substances do not always work. For example, during the First World War, in order to use them, it was necessary to wait for weeks for the onset of suitable weather conditions.

And this, of course, is a plus. Historian and member of the Scientific Council of the RGVIA Sergei Gennadievich Nelipovich said that it was the low efficiency of this weapon that led to the so-called “quiet” refusal to use it.

Binary ammunition

It is impossible not to mention them when talking about what chemical weapons are. Binary munitions are a variation of this.

Such a weapon is an ammunition in which several (usually two) precursors are stored. This is the name of the components whose reaction leads to the formation of the target substance. They are stored separately in the ammunition, and react (synthesize) after being released.

At this moment, when the two components are mixed, a chemical reaction occurs, resulting in the formation of a toxic substance.

Like the use of the notorious chemical weapons, such munitions are prohibited internationally. In some countries it is even prohibited to produce reagents with which such a weapon could be created. It is logical, because binary munitions are aimed at destroying vegetation, hitting people, and also hindering the work of institutions and facilities.

Phytotoxicants

This is a chemical weapon that attacks vegetation. And again recalling the topic of the Vietnam War, it is worth noting that the American army used as many as three recipes. They used "blue", "white" and "orange" phytotoxicants.

The latter type of substances were the most dangerous. Dioxin, a polychlorinated dibenzodioxin, was used in their production. This substance has a delayed and cumulative effect. It is dangerous because signs of poisoning appear over several days, sometimes months, and sometimes even after many years.

By using phytotoxicants, the US Army greatly facilitated the process of aerial reconnaissance. Agricultural crops and vegetation along roads, power lines and canals were destroyed, making it easy to hit Vietnamese targets.

Naturally, the use of phytotoxicants caused irreparable harm to the ecological balance of the region and the health of the local population. Of course, almost 50% of forests and cultivated areas were destroyed.

Mustard gas

There are a lot of substances related to chemical weapons. It’s impossible to list everything. But some of them deserve special attention.

Mustard gas is a dark brown oily liquid with an odor reminiscent of mustard and garlic. Its vapors affect the lungs and respiratory tract, and when ingested, it burns the digestive organs.

Mustard gas is dangerous because it does not appear immediately - only after some time. All this time it has a hidden effect. If, for example, a drop of mustard gas hits the skin, it will instantly be absorbed into it without pain or any other sensations. But after a couple of hours, the person will feel itching and notice redness. And after a day, the skin will be covered with small blisters, which will then merge into huge blisters. They will break through in 2-3 days and expose sores that will take months to heal.

Hydrocyanic acid

A dangerous substance that, in high concentrations, smells of a deceptively pleasant smell of bitter almonds. It evaporates easily and exerts its deadly effect only in a vapor state.

A person who inhales hydrocyanic acid first feels a metallic taste in the mouth. Then throat irritation, weakness, nausea, and dizziness appear. These manifestations are quickly replaced by painful shortness of breath. The pulse begins to slow down, the person loses consciousness. His body is constrained by convulsions, which are quickly replaced by complete relaxation of the muscles, which by that time had already lost sensitivity. Body temperature drops, breathing is suppressed, and eventually stops. Cardiac activity stops after 3-7 minutes.

There is an antidote. But you still need to have time to apply it. The use of colloidal sulfur, aldehydes, methylene blue, salts and esters of nitrous acid, as well as ketones and polythionates can save lives.

Chemical weapons as a method of terrorism

One of the most famous terrorist attacks can be considered what happened on March 20, 1995 in Tokyo. But before you remember this creepy story, for a better understanding of the topic, you should tell what sarin is.

This nerve agent has already been mentioned above. Sarin is of organophosphate origin. This is the third most powerful G-series toxic substance after soman and cyclosarin.

Sarin is a colorless liquid with a faint odor of apple blossoms. At high blood pressure it evaporates and after 1-2 minutes affects everyone who inhales it.

So, on March 20, 1995, five unknown people, each of whom had a bag of sarin in their hands, went down to the subway. They distributed themselves among the trains and pierced them, releasing the sarin out. The fumes quickly spread throughout the metro. One tiny droplet is enough (0.0005 mg/l) to kill an adult. And each terrorist had two 1 liter bags with him.

That is 10 liters of sarin. Unfortunately, the terrorist attack was well planned. The terrorists knew exactly what chemical weapons were and how they worked. According to official data, 5,000 people fell ill with severe poisoning, 12 of them died.

Anti-chemical protection

It is also necessary to say a few words about it. The use of chemical weapons is destructive, so various sets of measures carried out to reduce (or better yet prevent) its effects on people are necessary. Here are the main tasks:

• Identify signs of chemical contamination promptly.
• Notify the population of the danger.
• Protect people, animals, food, drinking water, cultural and material assets.
• Eliminate the consequences of infection.

Means are used to save people personal protection. If the situation is emergency, everyone is collected and removed from the zone of chemical contamination. Monitoring is ongoing. For this purpose, chemical reconnaissance devices are used. Everything is aimed at preventing an emergency of this nature from occurring.

Even if suddenly at any facility (at a factory, for example) there is a threat of an accident, the effect of which is comparable to a chemical weapon, the first thing that is done in such a situation is to notify the personnel and the population, followed by evacuation.

Elimination of consequences

The damaging factors of chemical weapons are very difficult to eliminate. Elimination of consequences is a complex and time-consuming process. To implement it they resort to:

• Carrying out urgent restoration work aimed at stopping the release of toxic substances (TS).
• Localization of areas where liquid agents were applied. This usually happens by bunding them. Or the liquid is collected in special traps.
• Installation of water curtains in places where chemical agents are distributed.
• Installation of fire curtains.

Naturally, if chemical weapons factors were discovered, then rescuers must provide assistance to people. Skillfully put gas masks on them, remove the victims from the affected areas, perform artificial respiration or chest compressions, neutralize traces of chemical agents on the skin, and rinse the eyes with water. In general, provide all possible assistance.

Chemical weapons are a type of weapon of mass destruction, the main principle of which is the impact of toxic substances on the environment and humans. Types of chemical weapons are divided according to the type of damage to biological organisms.

Chemical weapons - history of creation (briefly)

Date	Event
B.C	The first use of similar chemical weapons by the Greeks, Romans and Macedonians
15th century	The use of chemical weapons based on sulfur and oil by the Turkish army
XVIII century	Creation artillery shells with an internal chemical component
19th century	Mass production of various types of chemical weapons
1914–1917	The use of chemical weapons by the German army and the beginning of the production of chemical protection
1925	Strengthening the work of scientists on the development of chemical weapons and the creation of Cyclone B
1950	The creation of Agent Orange by US scientists and the continuation of the development of scientists around the world to create weapons of mass destruction

The first semblance of chemical weapons was used before our era, by the Greeks, Romans and Macedonians. Most often it was used during sieges of fortresses, which forced the enemy to surrender or die.

In the 15th century, the Turkish army used a kind of chemical weapon on the battlefield, which consisted of sulfur and oil. The resulting substance disabled enemy armies and provided a significant advantage. Further in the 18th century, artillery shells were created in Europe, which, after hitting the target, emitted toxic smoke, which acted like poison on the human body.

Since the mid-19th century, many countries began to produce chemical weapons, the types of which became an integral part of army ammunition, on an industrial scale. After the use of chemical weapons by the British Admiral Gokhran T., which included sulfur dioxide, caused a wave of indignation and the leadership of more than 20 countries massively condemned such an act. The consequences of using such weapons were catastrophic.

In 1899, the Hague Convention was held, which prohibited the use of any chemical weapons. But during the First World War, the German army used chemical weapons en masse, which led to many deaths.

After which the production of gas masks began, which could provide protection from exposure to chemicals. Gas masks were used not only for people, but also for dogs and horses.

From 1914 to 1917, German scientists worked to improve the means of delivering chemicals to the enemy and methods of protecting the population from their effects. After the end of the First World War, all projects were curtailed, but protective equipment continued to be manufactured and distributed.

this year at the Geneva Convention a pact was signed banning the use of any toxic substances

The Geneva Convention took place in 1925 , at which all parties signed a pact banning the use of any toxic substances. But in short, the history of chemical weapons continued with new strength and work on creating chemical weapons only intensified. Scientists around the world created many types of chemical weapons in laboratories, which had many types of effects on living organisms.

During World War II, neither side dared to use chemicals. The only ones who distinguished themselves were the Germans, who actively “Zyklon B” in the concentration camps.

Zyklon B was developed by German scientists in 1922. This substance consisted of hydrocyanic acid and other additional substances; 4 kg of this substance was enough to destroy up to 1 thousand people.

After the end of World War II and the condemnation of all actions of the German army and command, countries around the world continued to develop various types of chemical weapons.

A striking example of the use of chemical weapons is the United States, which used Agent Orange in Vietnam. The action of chemical weapons is based on dioxin, which was stuffed into bombs; it is extremely toxic and mutagenic.

The effects of chemical weapons were demonstrated by the United States in Vietnam.

According to the US government, their target was not people, but vegetation. The consequences of using such a substance were catastrophic in terms of deaths and mutations of the civilian population. These types of chemical weapons have caused mutations in people that occur at the genetic level and are passed on from generation to generation.

Before the signing of the convention banning the use and storage of chemical weapons, the United States and the USSR were actively producing and storing these substances. But even after the signing of the ban agreement, repeated evidence of the use of chemicals in the Middle East was revealed.

Types of chemical weapons and names

Modern chemical weapons have many types, which differ in purpose, speed and effect on the human body.

Chemical weapons can be divided into several types according to the speed at which their destructive abilities are retained:

• persistent– substances containing lewisite and mustard gas. The effectiveness after using such substances can last up to several days;
• volatile– substances containing phosgene and hydrocyanic acid. The effectiveness after using such substances is up to half an hour.

There are also types of poisonous gases, which are divided according to their use:

• combat– used for the rapid or slow destruction of manpower;
• psychotropic (non-lethal)– used for temporary failure of the human body.

There are six types of chemicals, the division of which is based on the effects on the human body:

Nerve weapons

This type of weapon is one of the most dangerous in terms of its impact on the human body. A type of such weapon is a gas that affects the nervous system and leads to death in any concentration. The composition of nerve weapons includes gases:

• soman;
• V – gas;
• sarin;
• herd.

The gas is odorless and colorless, making it very dangerous.

Poison weapon

This type of weapon poisons the human body through exposure to the skin, after which it enters the body and destroys the lungs. It is impossible to protect yourself from this type of weapon with conventional protection. The composition of poisonous weapons includes gases:

• lewisite;
• mustard gas.

General poison weapons

They are deadly substances that act quickly on the body. Toxic substances, after use, immediately affect red blood cells and block the supply of oxygen to the body. General toxic substances include the following gases:

• cyanogen chloride;
• hydrocyanic acid.

Choking weapon

An asphyxiant weapon is a gas that, once used, instantly reduces and blocks the supply of oxygen to the body, which contributes to a long and painful death. Gases used in asphyxiating weapons include:

• chlorine;
• phosgene;
• diphosgene.

Psychochemical weapon

This type of weapon is a substance that has a psychotropic and psychochemical effect on the body. After use, the gas affects the nervous system, which causes short-term disturbances and incapacitation. Psychochemical weapons are endowed with a damaging effect, as a result of which a person develops:

• blindness;
• deafness;
• incapacity of the vestibular apparatus;
• mental insanity;
• disorientation;
• hallucinations.

The composition of psychochemical weapons mainly includes the substance quinuclidyl-3-benzilate.

Poisonous irritant weapon

This type of weapon is a gas that, after use, causes nausea, coughing, sneezing and eye irritation. Such a gas is volatile and fast-acting. Often, poisonous weapons or tear guns are used by law enforcement agencies.

The composition of poisonous-irritant weapons includes gases:

• chlorine;
• sulfur dioxide;
• hydrogen sulfide;
• nitrogen;
• ammonia.

Military conflicts using chemical weapons

The history of the creation of chemical weapons is briefly noted by the facts of its combat use on the battlefield and against civilians.

Date	Description
April 22, 1915	The first major use of chemical weapons containing chlorine by the German army near the city of Ypres. The number of victims was more than 1000 people
1935–1936	During the Italo-Ethiopian War, the Italian army used chemical weapons that included mustard gas. The number of victims was more than 100 thousand people
1941–1945	The use by the German army in concentration camps of the chemical weapon “Zyklon B”, which included the substance hydrocyanic acid. The exact number of victims is unknown, but according to official data more than 110 thousand people
1943	During the Sino-Japanese War, the Japanese army used bacteriological and chemical weapons . The chemical weapons included lewisite gas and mustard gas. The bacterial weapon was fleas infected with bubonic plague. The exact number of victims remains unknown
1962–1971	During the Vietnam War, the US Army used many types of chemical weapons, thereby conducting experiments and studies on the effects on the population. The main chemical weapon was Agent Orange gas, which included the substance dioxin. Agent Orange caused genetic mutations, cancer and death. The number of victims is 3 million people, of which 150 thousand are children with mutated DNA, abnormalities and various diseases
March 20, 1995	In the Japanese subway, members of the Aum Shinrikyo sect used a nerve gas, which included sarin. The number of victims amounted to 6 thousand people, 13 people died
2004	The American army used chemical weapons in Iraq - white phosphorus, as a result of the decay of which deadly toxic substances which lead to a slow and painful death. The number of victims is carefully hidden
2013	In Syria, the Syrian army used air-to-ground missiles with a chemical composition that contained sarin gas. Information about the dead and injured is carefully hidden, but according to the Red Cross

Types of chemical weapons for self-defense

There is a psychochemical type of weapon that can be used for self-defense. Such gas causes minimal harm to the human body and can disable it for some time.

Evgeny Pavlenko, Evgeny Mitkov

The reason for writing this brief review was the appearance of the following publication:
Scientists have found that the ancient Persians were the first to use chemical weapons against their enemies. British archaeologist Simon James from the University of Leicester discovered that the troops Persian Empire used poisonous gases during the siege of the ancient Roman city of Dura in eastern Syria in the 3rd century AD. His theory is based on the study of the remains of 20 Roman soldiers discovered at the base of the city wall. The British archaeologist presented his find at the annual meeting of the American Archaeological Institute.

According to James's theory, to capture the city, the Persians dug under the surrounding fortress wall. The Romans dug their own tunnels to counterattack their attackers. When they entered the tunnel, the Persians set fire to bitumen and sulfur crystals, resulting in a thick, poisonous gas. After a few seconds the Romans lost consciousness, after a few minutes they died. The Persians stacked the bodies of the dead Romans one on top of the other, thus creating a protective barricade, and then set the tunnel on fire.

“The archaeological excavations at Dura indicate that the Persians were no less skilled in the art of siege than the Romans, and used the most brutal methods,” says Dr James.

Judging by the excavations, the Persians also hoped to collapse the fortress wall and watchtowers as a result of the undermining. And although they failed, they eventually captured the city. However, how they entered Dura remains a mystery - the details of the siege and assault were not preserved in historical documents. The Persians then abandoned Dura, and its inhabitants were either killed or driven to Persia. In 1920, the well-preserved ruins of the city were excavated by Indian troops, who dug defensive trenches along the buried city wall. Excavations were carried out in the 20s and 30s by French and American archaeologists. As the BBC reports, in recent years they have been re-studied using modern technology.

As a matter of fact, there are a great many versions about priority in the development of chemical agents, probably as many as there are versions about gunpowder priority. However, a word from a recognized authority on the history of BOV:

DE-LAZARI A.N.

“CHEMICAL WEAPONS ON THE FRONTS OF THE WORLD WAR 1914-1918.”

The first chemical weapons used were "Greek fire", consisting of sulfur compounds thrown from chimneys during naval battles, first described by Plutarch, as well as hypnotics described by the Scottish historian Buchanan, causing continuous diarrhea as described by Greek authors, and a whole 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 abrine (a compound close to ricin, a component of the poison with which the Bulgarian dissident G. Markov was poisoned in 1979). Aconitine, an alkaloid found in plants of the genus aconitium, has 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 of poisons”, which described the effects of their influence, Nero’s brother Britannicus was killed. Several clinical experimental work carried out by Madame de Brinville, who poisoned all her relatives claiming to inherit, she also developed an “inheritance powder”, testing it on patients in clinics in Paris to assess the strength of the drug. In the 15th and 17th centuries, poisonings of this kind were very popular, we should remember the Medici, they were a natural phenomenon, because it was almost impossible to detect poison after opening a corpse. If poisoners were discovered, the punishment was very cruel, they were burned or forced to drink huge amounts of water. Negative attitudes towards poisoners restrained the use of chemicals for military purposes until the middle of the 19th century. Until, assuming that sulfur compounds could be used for military purposes, Admiral Sir Thomas Cochran (tenth 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 thousand tons of mustard gas, which affected about 400 thousand people, and a total of 113 thousand tons of various substances.

In total, during 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 were fatal. The use of chemical agents during the First World War are the first recorded violations of the Hague Declaration of 1899 and 1907. By the way, the United States refused to support the Hague Conference of 1899. 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 gases for military purposes. Referring to the exact wording of the declaration, Germany, on October 27, 1914, used ammunition filled with shrapnel mixed with irritant powder, citing the fact that this use was not the sole purpose of this attack. This also applies to the second half of 1914, when Germany and France used non-lethal tear gases,

A German 155 mm howitzer shell ("T-shell") containing xylylbromide (7 lb - about 3 kg) and a bursting charge (trinitrotoluene) in the nose. Figure from F. R. Sidel et al (1997)

But on April 22, 1915, Germany carried out a massive chlorine attack, as a result of which 15 thousand soldiers were defeated, of which 5 thousand died. The Germans released chlorine from 5,730 cylinders at a 6 km front. Within 5-8 minutes, 168 tons of chlorine were released. This treacherous use of chemical weapons by Germany was met with a powerful propaganda campaign against Germany, spearheaded by Britain, against the use of chemical weapons for military purposes. Julian Parry Robinson examined propaganda materials produced 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: “ Full story events: New German weapons." This is how eyewitnesses described this event: “People’s faces and hands were glossy gray-black, their mouths were open, their eyes were covered with lead glaze, everything was rushing around, spinning, fighting for life. The sight was frightening, all these terrible blackened faces, moaning and begging for help... The effect of the gas is to fill the lungs with a watery mucous liquid that gradually fills the entire lungs, because of this suffocation occurs, as a result of which people died within 1 or 2 days " German propaganda responded to its opponents in the following way: “These shells are no more dangerous than the poisonous substances used during the English riots (meaning the Luddite explosions, using explosives based on picric acid).” This first gas attack was a complete surprise to the Allied forces, but already on September 25, 1915, British troops carried out their test chlorine attack. In further gas attacks, both chlorine and mixtures of chlorine and phosgene were used. A mixture of phosgene and chlorine was first used as a chemical agent by Germany on May 31, 1915, against Russian troops. At the 12 km front - near Bolimov (Poland), 264 tons of this mixture were released from 12 thousand cylinders. Despite the lack of protective equipment and surprise, the German attack was repulsed. Almost 9 thousand people were put out of action in 2 Russian divisions. Since 1917, 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 toxic substances; gas launchers were fired mainly with phosgene, liquid diphosgene and chloropicrin. German gas launchers were the cause of the “miracle at Caporetto”, when, after shelling an Italian battalion with phosgene mines from 912 gas launchers, all life in the Isonzo River valley was destroyed. Gas launchers were capable of suddenly creating high concentrations of chemical agents in the target area, so many Italians died even while wearing gas masks. Gas launchers gave impetus to the use of artillery weapons and the use of toxic substances from mid-1916. The use of artillery increased the effectiveness of gas attacks. So on June 22, 1916, during 7 hours of continuous shelling, German artillery fired 125 thousand shells with 100 thousand liters. asphyxiating agents. The mass of toxic substances in the cylinders was 50%, in the shells only 10%. On May 15, 1916, during an artillery bombardment, 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, the Germans on the Western Front first used diphenylchloroarsine, which caused severe coughing even through a gas mask, which in those years had a poor smoke filter. Therefore, in the future, diphenylchloroarsine was used together with phosgene or diphosgene to defeat enemy personnel. A new stage in the use of chemical weapons began with the use of a persistent toxic substance with blister action (B, B-dichlorodiethylsulfide). 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 Allied positions. 2,490 people were injured to varying degrees. The French called the new agent “mustard gas”, after the place of its first use, and the British called it “mustard gas” because of its strong specific odor. British scientists quickly deciphered its formula, but they managed to establish the production of a new agent only in 1918, which is why it was possible to use mustard gas for military purposes only in September 1918 (2 months before the armistice). In total, for the period from April 1915. Until November 1918, German troops carried out more than 50 gas attacks, the British 150, the French 20.

The first anti-chemical masks of the British army:
A - soldiers of the Argyllshire Sutherland Highlander Regiment demonstrate the latest gas protection equipment received on May 3, 1915 - eye protection goggles and a fabric mask;
B - soldiers of the Indian troops are shown in special flannel hoods moistened with a solution of sodium hyposulfite containing glycerin (to prevent it from drying out quickly) (West E., 2005)

Understanding of the danger of using chemical weapons in war was reflected in the decisions of the Hague Convention of 1907, which prohibited toxic substances as a means of warfare. But already at the very beginning of the First World War, the command of the German troops began to intensively prepare for the use of chemical weapons. The official date of the beginning of the large-scale use of chemical weapons (namely as weapons of mass destruction) should be considered April 22, 1915, when the German army in the area of ​​​​the small Belgian town of Ypres used a chlorine gas attack against the Anglo-French Entente troops. A huge poisonous yellow-green cloud of highly toxic chlorine, weighing 180 tons (out of 6,000 cylinders), reached the enemy’s advanced positions and struck 15 thousand soldiers and officers within a matter of minutes; five thousand died immediately after the attack. Those who survived either died in hospitals or became disabled for life, having received silicosis of the lungs, severe damage to the visual organs and many internal organs. The "stunning" success of chemical weapons in action stimulated their use. Also in 1915, on May 31, on the Eastern Front, the Germans used an even more highly toxic toxic substance called phosgene (full carbonic acid chloride) against Russian troops. 9 thousand people died. On May 12, 1917, another battle of Ypres. And again, German troops use chemical weapons against the enemy - this time the chemical warfare agent of skin, vesicant and general toxic effects - 2,2 - dichlorodiethyl sulfide, which later received the name “mustard gas”. The small town became (like Hiroshima later) a symbol of one of greatest crimes against humanity. During the First World War, other toxic substances were also “tested”: diphosgene (1915), chloropicrin (1916), hydrocyanic acid (1915). Before the end of the war, poisonous substances (OS) based on organoarsenic compounds, which have a general toxic and pronounced irritant effect - diphenylchloroarsine, diphenylcyanarsine, receive a "start in life". Some other agents were also tested in combat conditions. wide range actions. During the First World War, all warring states used 125 thousand tons of toxic substances, including 47 thousand tons by Germany. Chemical weapons claimed 800 thousand lives in this war

TOXIC WARFARE AGENTS
AT A GLANCE

History of the use of chemical warfare agents

Until August 6, 1945, chemical warfare agents (CWAs) were the deadliest type of weapon on Earth. The name of the Belgian city of Ypres sounded as ominous to people as Hiroshima would later sound. Chemical weapons were feared even by those born after the Great War. No one doubted that BOV, along with aircraft and tanks, would become the main means of waging war in the future. In many countries, they were preparing for a chemical war - they built gas shelters, and they carried out explanatory work with the population on how to behave in the event of a gas attack. Stocks of toxic substances (CA) were accumulated in arsenals, capacities for the production of already known types of chemical weapons were increased, and work was actively carried out to create new, more deadly “poisons”.

But... The fate of such a “promising” means of mass murder of people was paradoxical. Chemical weapons, as well as subsequently atomic weapons, were destined to turn from combat into psychological. And there were several reasons for this.

The most significant reason is its absolute dependence on weather conditions. The effectiveness of the use of OM depends, first of all, on the nature of the movement of air masses. If a wind that is too strong leads to the rapid dissipation of OM, thereby reducing its concentration to safe values, then a wind that is too weak, on the contrary, leads to the stagnation of the OM cloud in one place. Stagnation does not allow covering the required area, and if the agent is unstable, it can lead to the loss of its damaging properties.

The inability to accurately predict the direction of the wind at the right moment, to predict its behavior, is a significant threat to someone who decides to use chemical weapons. It is impossible to determine absolutely exactly in which direction and at what speed the cloud of OM will move and who it will cover.

The vertical movement of air masses - convection and inversion, also greatly influence the use of OM. During convection, a cloud of OM, together with air heated near the ground, quickly rises above the ground. When the cloud rises above two meters from ground level - i.e. above human height, the exposure to OM is significantly reduced. During the First World War, during a gas attack, defenders burned fires in front of their positions to speed up convection.

The inversion causes the OM cloud to remain near the ground. In this case, if the civilian soldiers are in the trenches and dugouts, they are most exposed to the effects of chemical agents. But the cold air, which has become heavy, mixed with OM, leaves elevated places free, and the troops located on them are safe.

In addition to the movement of air masses, chemical weapons are affected by air temperature (low temperatures sharply reduce the evaporation of OM) and precipitation.

It is not only dependence on weather conditions that creates difficulties when using chemical weapons. The production, transportation and storage of chemically charged ammunition creates a lot of problems. The production of chemical agents and equipping ammunition with them is a very expensive and harmful production. A chemical projectile is deadly, and will remain so until disposal, which is also a very big problem. It is extremely difficult to achieve complete sealing of chemical munitions and to make them sufficiently safe to handle and store. The influence of weather conditions leads to the need to wait for favorable circumstances to use chemical agents, which means that troops will be forced to maintain extensive warehouses of extremely dangerous ammunition, allocate significant units to guard them, and create special conditions for safety.

In addition to these reasons, there is another one, which, if it has not reduced the effectiveness of the use of chemical agents to zero, has significantly reduced it. Means of protection were born almost from the moment of the first chemical attacks. Simultaneously with the advent of gas masks and protective equipment that prevented body contact with blister agents (rubber raincoats and overalls) for people, horses, the main and irreplaceable means of draft of those years, and even dogs received their own protective devices.

A 2-4-fold reduction in a soldier’s combat effectiveness due to chemical protection equipment could not have any impact significant influence in battle. Soldiers of both sides are forced to use protective equipment when using chemical agents, which means the chances are equalized. That time, in the duel between offensive and defensive means, the latter won. For every successful attack there were dozens of unsuccessful ones. Not a single chemical attack in the First World War brought operational success, and tactical successes were rather modest. All more or less successful attacks were carried out against an enemy who was completely unprepared and had no means of defense.

Already in the First World War, the warring parties very quickly became disillusioned with the combat qualities of chemical weapons and continued to use them only because they had no other ways to bring the war out of the positional deadlock

All subsequent cases of the use of chemical warfare agents were either of a testing nature or punitive - against civilians who did not have the means of protection and knowledge. The generals, on both sides, were well aware of the inexpediency and futility of using chemical agents, but were forced to reckon with politicians and the military-chemical lobby in their countries. Therefore, for a long time, chemical weapons remained a popular “horror story.”

It remains so now. The example of Iraq confirms this. The accusation of Saddam Hussein in the production of chemical agents served as the reason for the start of the war, and turned out to be a compelling argument for the “public opinion” of the United States and its allies.

First experiments.

In texts of the 4th century BC. e. An example is given of the use of poisonous gases to combat enemy tunneling under the walls of a fortress. The defenders pumped smoke from burning mustard and wormwood seeds into the underground passages using bellows and terracotta pipes. Poisonous gases caused suffocation and even death.

In ancient times, attempts were also made to use chemical agents during combat operations. Toxic fumes were used during the Peloponnesian War 431-404. BC e. The Spartans placed pitch and sulfur in logs, which they then placed under the city walls and set on fire.

Later, with the advent of gunpowder, they tried to use bombs filled with a mixture of poisons, gunpowder and resin on the battlefield. Released from catapults, they exploded from a burning fuse (the prototype of a modern remote fuse). When exploding, the bombs emitted clouds of poisonous smoke over enemy troops - poisonous gases caused bleeding from the nasopharynx when using arsenic, skin irritation, and blisters.

In medieval China, a bomb was created from cardboard filled with sulfur and lime. During a naval battle in 1161, these bombs, falling into the water, exploded with a deafening roar, spreading poisonous smoke into the air. The smoke produced by the contact of water with lime and sulfur caused the same effects as modern tear gas.

The following components were used to create mixtures for loading bombs: knotweed, croton oil, soap tree pods (to produce smoke), arsenic sulfide and oxide, aconite, tung oil, Spanish flies.

At the beginning of the 16th century, the inhabitants of Brazil tried to fight the conquistadors by using poisonous smoke obtained from burning red pepper against them. This method was subsequently used repeatedly during uprisings in Latin America.

In the Middle Ages and later, chemical agents continued to attract attention for military purposes. Thus, in 1456, the city of Belgrade was protected from the Turks by exposing the attackers to a poisonous cloud. This cloud arose from the combustion of toxic powder, which city residents sprinkled on rats, set them on fire and released them towards the besiegers.

A whole range of drugs, including those containing arsenic compounds and the saliva of rabid dogs, were described by Leonardo da Vinci.

In 1855, during the Crimean campaign, the English admiral Lord Dandonald developed the idea of ​​fighting the enemy by using a gas attack. In his memorandum dated August 7, 1855, Dandonald proposed to the English government a project to capture Sevastopol using sulfur vapor. Lord Dandonald's Memorandum, together with explanatory notes, was transferred by the British government of that time to a committee in which main role played by Lord Playfar. The Committee, having examined all the details of Lord Dandonald's project, expressed the opinion that the project was quite feasible, and the results promised by it could certainly be achieved - but these results in themselves were so terrible that no honest enemy should use this method. The committee therefore decided that the draft could not be accepted and Lord Dandonald's note should be destroyed.

The project proposed by Dandonald was rejected not at all because “no honest enemy should use such a method.” From the correspondence between Lord Palmerston, the head of the English government at the time of the war with Russia, and Lord Panmuir, it follows that the success of the method proposed by Dandonald aroused strong doubts, and Lord Palmerston, together with Lord Panmuir, were afraid of getting into a ridiculous position if the experiment they sanctioned failed.

If we take into account the level of soldiers of that time, there is no doubt that the failure of the experiment to smoke the Russians out of their fortifications with the help of sulfur smoke would not only make the Russian soldiers laugh and raise the spirit, but would even more discredit the British command in the eyes of the allied forces (the French , Turks and Sardinians).

Negative attitudes towards poisoners and the underestimation of this type of weapon by the military (or rather, the lack of need for new, more lethal weapons) restrained the use of chemicals for military purposes until the middle of the 19th century.

The first tests of chemical weapons in Russia were carried out in the late 50s. XIX century on the Volkovo field. Shells filled with cacodyle cyanide were detonated in open log houses where 12 cats were located. All cats survived. The report of Adjutant General Barantsev, which made incorrect conclusions about the low effectiveness of the chemical agent, led to a disastrous result. Work on testing shells filled with explosives was stopped and resumed only in 1915.

Cases of the use of chemical agents during the First World War are the first recorded violations of the Hague Declaration of 1899 and 1907. The declarations prohibited “the use of projectiles whose sole purpose is to distribute asphyxiating or harmful gases.” France agreed to the Hague Declaration of 1899, as did Germany, Italy, Russia and Japan. The parties agreed on the non-use of asphyxiating and poisonous gases for military purposes. The United States refused to support the decision of the Hague Conference of 1899. In 1907, Great Britain joined the declaration and accepted its obligations.

The initiative to use chemical warfare agents on a large scale belongs to Germany. Already in the September battles of 1914 on the Marne and on the Ain River, both belligerents experienced great difficulties in supplying their armies with shells. With the transition to trench warfare in October-November, there was no hope left, especially for Germany, of overpowering the enemy hidden in trenches with the help of ordinary artillery shells. In contrast, explosive agents have the ability to defeat a living enemy in places inaccessible to the most powerful projectiles. And Germany was the first to take the path of using chemical agents, having the most developed chemical industry.

Referring to the exact wording of the declaration, Germany and France used non-lethal “tear” gases in 1914, and it should be noted that the French army was the first to do this, using xylylbromide grenades in August 1914.

Immediately after the declaration of war, Germany began to conduct experiments (at the Institute of Physics and Chemistry and the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute) with cacodyl oxide and phosgene with a view to the possibility of using them militarily.

The Military Gas School was opened in Berlin, in which numerous depots of materials were concentrated. A special inspection was also located there. In addition, a special chemical inspection A-10 was formed under the Ministry of War, specially dealing with issues chemical warfare.

The end of 1914 marked the beginning of research activities in Germany to develop explosive agents, mainly for artillery ammunition. These were the first attempts to equip BOV shells. The first experiments on the use of chemical warfare agents in the form of the so-called “N2 projectile” (105-mm shrapnel with dianisidine chlorosulfate replacing the bullet ammunition) were carried out by the Germans in October 1914.

On October 27, 3,000 of these shells were used on the Western Front in the attack on Neuve Chapelle. Although the irritating effect of the shells turned out to be small, according to German data, their use facilitated the capture of Neuve Chapelle. At the end of January 1915, the Germans in the Bolimov area used 15-cm artillery grenades (“T” grenades) with a strong blasting effect and an irritating chemical (xylyl bromide) when shelling Russian positions. The result turned out to be more than modest - due to the low temperature and insufficiently massive fire. In March, the French first used chemical 26-mm rifle grenades filled with ethyl bromoacetone, and similar chemical hand grenades. Both without any noticeable results.

In April of the same year, at Nieuport in Flanders, the Germans first tested the effects of their “T” grenades, which contained a mixture of benzyl bromide and xylyl, as well as brominated ketones. German propaganda stated that such shells were no more dangerous than explosives based on picric acid. Picric acid - another name for it is melinite - was not a BOV. It was an explosive, the explosion of which released asphyxiating gases. There were cases of death from suffocation of soldiers who were in shelters after the explosion of a shell filled with melinite.

But at this time, a crisis arose in the production of such shells and they were withdrawn from service, and in addition, the high command doubted the possibility of obtaining a mass effect in the manufacture of chemical shells. Then Professor Fritz Haber proposed using an OM in the form of a gas cloud.

Fritz Haber

Fritz Haber (1868–1934). He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1918 for the synthesis in 1908 of liquid ammonia from nitrogen and hydrogen on an osmium catalyst. During the war he led the chemical service of the German troops. After the Nazis came to power, he was forced to resign in 1933 from his post as director of the Berlin Institute of Physical Chemistry and Electrochemistry (he took it in 1911) and emigrate - first to England and then to Switzerland. Died in Basel on January 29, 1934.

First use of BOV
The center of BOV production was Leverkusen, where a large number of materials were produced, and where the Military Chemical School was transferred from Berlin in 1915 - it had 1,500 technical and command personnel and several thousand workers employed in production. In her laboratory in Gushte, 300 chemists worked non-stop. Orders for chemical agents were distributed among various plants.

The first attempts to use chemical warfare agents were carried out on such a small scale and with such insignificant effect that no measures were taken by the Allies in the area of ​​chemical defense.

On April 22, 1915, Germany carried out a massive chlorine attack on the Western Front in Belgium near the city of Ypres, releasing 5,730 chlorine cylinders from its positions between Bixschute and Langemarck at 17:00.

The world's first gas attack was prepared very carefully. Initially, a sector of the XV Corps front was chosen for it, which occupied a position opposite the southwestern part of the Ypres salient. The burial of gas cylinders in the XV Corps front sector was completed in mid-February. The sector was then slightly increased in width, so that by March 10 the entire front of the XV Corps was prepared for a gas attack. But the dependence of the new weapon on weather conditions had an impact. The time of the attack was constantly delayed because the necessary southern and southwestern winds did not blow. Due to the forced delay, the chlorine cylinders, although buried, were damaged by accidental hits from artillery shells

On March 25, the commander of the 4th Army decided to postpone preparations for the gas attack on the Ypres salient, choosing a new sector at the location of 46 Res. Divisions and XXVI Res. building - Poelkappele-Steenstraat. On a 6-km section of the attack front, gas cylinder batteries were installed, 20 cylinders each, which required 180 tons of chlorine to fill. A total of 6,000 cylinders were prepared, half of which were requisitioned commercial cylinders. In addition to these, 24,000 new half-volume cylinders were prepared. The installation of the cylinders was completed on April 11, but we had to wait for favorable winds.

The gas attack lasted 5-8 minutes. From total number 30% of the prepared chlorine cylinders were used, which amounted to from 168 to 180 tons of chlorine. Actions on the flanks were reinforced with fire from chemical shells.

The result of the battle at Ypres, which began with a gas attack on April 22 and lasted until mid-May, was the consistent clearing by the Allies of a significant part of the territory of the Ypres salient. The Allies suffered significant losses - 15 thousand soldiers were defeated, of which 5 thousand died.

Newspapers of that time wrote about the effect of chlorine on the human body: “filling the lungs with a watery mucous liquid, which gradually fills all the lungs, because of this suffocation occurs, as a result of which people died within 1 or 2 days.” Those who were “lucky” to survive, from brave soldiers who were awaited home with victory, turned into blind cripples with burned lungs.

But the Germans’ success was limited to such tactical achievements. This is explained by the uncertainty of the command as a result of the effects of chemical weapons, which did not support the offensive with any significant reserves. The first echelon of German infantry, advancing cautiously at a considerable distance behind the cloud of chlorine, was too late to exploit the success, thereby allowing the British reserves to close the gap.

In addition to the above reason, the lack of reliable protective equipment, and chemical training of the army in general and specially trained personnel in particular. Chemical warfare is impossible without protective equipment for friendly troops. However, at the beginning of 1915, the German army had primitive protection against gases in the form of tow pads soaked in a hyposulfite solution. Prisoners captured by the British in the days following the gas attack testified that they had neither masks nor any other protective equipment, and that the gas caused severe pain to their eyes. They also claimed that the troops were afraid to advance for fear of being harmed by the poor performance of their gas masks.

This gas attack came as a complete surprise to the Allied troops, but already on September 25, 1915, British troops carried out their test chlorine attack.

Subsequently, both chlorine and mixtures of chlorine and phosgene were used in gas balloon attacks. The mixtures usually contained 25% phosgene, but sometimes in summer time the share of phosgene reached 75%.

For the first time, a mixture of phosgene and chlorine was used on May 31, 1915 at Wola Szydłowska near Bolimov (Poland) against Russian troops. 4 gas battalions were transferred there, consolidated after Ypres into 2 regiments. The target for the gas attack was units of the 2nd Russian Army, which, with its stubborn defense, blocked the path to Warsaw of the 9th Army of General Mackensen in December 1914. Between May 17 and May 21, the Germans installed gas batteries in the forward trenches over a distance of 12 km, each consisting of 10-12 cylinders filled with liquefied chlorine - a total of 12 thousand cylinders (cylinder height 1 m, diameter 15 cm). There were up to 10 such batteries per 240-meter section of the front. However, after the completion of the deployment of gas batteries, the Germans were forced to wait for favorable weather conditions for 10 days. This time was spent explaining to the soldiers the upcoming operation - they were told that Russian fire would be completely paralyzed by gases and that the gas itself was not lethal, but only caused temporary loss of consciousness. Propaganda among the soldiers of the new “miracle weapon” was not successful. The reason was that many did not believe it and even had a negative attitude towards the very fact of using gases.

The Russian army had information received from defectors about the preparation of a gas attack, but it went unheeded and was not communicated to the troops. Meanwhile, the command of the VI Siberian Corps and the 55th Infantry Division, which defended the section of the front that had been subjected to a gas attack, knew about the results of the attack at Ypres and even ordered gas masks from Moscow. Ironically, the gas masks were delivered on the evening of May 31, after the attack.

That day, at 3:20 a.m., after a short artillery barrage, the Germans released 264 tons of a mixture of phosgene and chlorine. Mistaking the gas cloud to camouflage the attack, Russian troops strengthened the forward trenches and brought up reserves. Complete surprise and unpreparedness on the part of the Russian troops led to the soldiers showing more surprise and curiosity at the appearance of the gas cloud than alarm.

Soon the trenches, which were a labyrinth of solid lines, were filled with the dead and dying. Losses from the gas attack amounted to 9,146 people, of which 1,183 died from gases.

Despite this, the result of the attack was very modest. Having carried out enormous preparatory work (installation of cylinders on a front section 12 km long), the German command achieved only tactical success, which consisted of inflicting 75% losses on Russian troops in the 1st defensive zone. Just like at Ypres, the Germans did not ensure that the attack developed to the size of an operational-scale breakthrough by concentrating powerful reserves. The offensive was stopped by the stubborn resistance of Russian troops, who managed to close the breakthrough that had begun to form. Apparently, the German army still continued to experiment in the field of organizing gas attacks.

On September 25, a German gas attack followed in the Ikskul area on the Dvina River, and on September 24, a similar attack south of the Baranovichi station. In December, Russian troops were subjected to a gas attack on the Northern Front near Riga. In total, from April 1915 to November 1918, German troops carried out more than 50 gas balloon attacks, the British - 150, the French - 20. Since 1917, the warring countries began to use gas launchers (a prototype of mortars).

They were first used by the British in 1917. The gas launcher consisted of a steel pipe, tightly closed at the breech, and a steel plate (pallet) used as a base. The gas launcher was buried in the ground almost up to the barrel, while its channel axis made an angle of 45 degrees with the horizon. The gas launchers were charged with ordinary gas cylinders that had head fuses. The weight of the cylinder was about 60 kg. The cylinder contained from 9 to 28 kg of agents, mainly asphyxiating agents - phosgene, liquid diphosgene and chloropicrin. The shot was fired using an electric fuse. Gas launchers were connected by electric wires into batteries of 100 pieces. The entire battery was fired simultaneously. The most effective was considered to be the use of 1,000 to 2,000 gas launchers.

The first English gas launchers had a firing range of 1-2 km. The German army received 180-mm gas launchers and 160-mm rifled gas launchers with a firing range of up to 1.6 and 3 km, respectively.

German gas launchers caused the “Miracle at Caporetto”. The massive use of gas launchers by the Kraus group advancing in the Isonzo River valley led to a rapid breakthrough of the Italian front. Kraus's group consisted of selected Austro-Hungarian divisions trained for mountain warfare. Since they had to operate in high mountainous terrain, the command allocated relatively less artillery to support the divisions than other groups. But they had 1,000 gas launchers, which the Italians were not familiar with.

The effect of surprise was greatly aggravated by the use of explosive agents, which until then had been very rarely used on the Austrian front.

In the Plezzo basin, the chemical attack had a lightning-fast effect: in only one of the ravines, southwest of the town of Plezzo, about 600 corpses without gas masks were counted.

Between December 1917 and May 1918, German troops carried out 16 attacks on the British using gas cannons. However, their result, due to the development of chemical protection means, was no longer so significant.

The combination of gas launchers with artillery fire increased the effectiveness of gas attacks. Initially, the use of explosives by artillery was ineffective. The equipment of artillery shells with explosive agents presented great difficulties. For a long time, it was not possible to achieve uniform filling of ammunition, which affected their ballistics and shooting accuracy. The share of the mass of the explosive agent in the cylinders was 50%, and in the shells - only 10%. The improvement of guns and chemical ammunition by 1916 made it possible to increase the range and accuracy of artillery fire. From mid-1916, the warring parties began to widely use artillery weapons. This made it possible to sharply reduce the preparation time for a chemical attack, made it less dependent on meteorological conditions and made it possible to use chemical agents in any states of aggregation: in the form of gases, liquids, solids. In addition, it became possible to hit enemy rear areas.

Thus, already on June 22, 1916, near Verdun, during 7 hours of continuous shelling, German artillery fired 125 thousand shells with 100 thousand liters of asphyxiating agents.

On May 15, 1916, during an artillery bombardment, 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, the Germans on the Western Front first used diphenylchloroarsine, which caused severe coughing even through a gas mask, which in those years had a poor smoke filter. Those exposed to the new agent were forced to throw off their gas mask. Therefore, in the future, to defeat enemy personnel, diphenylchlorarsine began to be used together with a suffocating agent - phosgene or diphosgene. For example, a solution of diphenylchloroarsine in a mixture of phosgene and diphosgene (in a ratio of 10:60:30) was placed in the shells.

A new stage in the use of chemical weapons began with the use of a persistent blister agent B, B "-dichlorodiethyl sulfide (here “B” is the Greek letter beta), first tested by German troops near the Belgian city of Ypres. July 12, 1917 for 4 hours 60 thousand shells containing 125 tons of B,B"-dichlorodiethyl sulfide were fired at the Allied positions. 2,490 people were injured to varying degrees. The offensive of the Anglo-French troops on this section of the front was thwarted and was able to resume only three weeks later.

Impact on humans of blister agents.

The French called the new agent “mustard gas,” after the place of its first use, and the British called it “mustard gas” because of its strong specific odor. British scientists quickly deciphered its formula, but they managed to establish the production of a new agent only in 1918, which is why it was possible to use mustard gas for military purposes only in September 1918 (2 months before the armistice). In total for 1917-1918. the warring parties used 12 thousand tons of mustard gas, which affected about 400 thousand people.

Chemical weapons in Russia.

In the Russian army, the high command had a negative attitude towards the use of chemical agents. However, under the impression of the gas attack carried out by the Germans in the Ypres region, as well as in May on the Eastern Front, it was forced to change its views.

On August 3, 1915, an order appeared to form a special commission “for the preparation of asphyxiants” at the Main Artillery Directorate (GAU). As a result of the work of the GAU commission in Russia, first of all, the production of liquid chlorine was established, which was imported from abroad before the war.

In August 1915, chlorine was produced for the first time. In October of the same year, production of phosgene began. Since October 1915, special chemical teams began to be formed in Russia to carry out gas balloon attacks.

In April 1916, a Chemical Committee was formed at the State Agrarian University, which included a commission for the “procurement of asphyxiants.” Thanks to the energetic actions of the Chemical Committee, an extensive network of chemical plants (about 200) was created in Russia. Including a number of factories for the production of chemical agents.

New chemical agents plants were put into operation in the spring of 1916. The quantity of chemical agents produced reached 3,180 tons by November (about 345 tons were produced in October), and the 1917 program planned to increase monthly productivity to 600 tons in January and to 1,300 tons in May.

Russian troops carried out their first gas attack on September 6, 1916 at 3:30 am. in the Smorgon region. On a 1,100 m front section, 1,700 small and 500 large cylinders were installed. The amount of firepower was calculated for a 40-minute attack. A total of 13 tons of chlorine were released from 977 small and 65 large cylinders. Russian positions were also partially exposed to chlorine vapor due to changes in wind direction. In addition, several cylinders were broken by return artillery fire.

On October 25, another gas attack was carried out by Russian troops north of Baranovichi in the Skrobov area. Damage to cylinders and hoses during the preparation of the attack led to significant losses - 115 people died alone. All those poisoned were without masks. By the end of 1916, a tendency emerged to shift the center of gravity of chemical warfare from gas-balloon attacks to chemical shells.

Russia has taken the path of using chemical shells in artillery since 1916, producing 76-mm chemical grenades of two types: asphyxiating, filled with a mixture of chloropicrin with sulfuryl chloride, and general toxic action - phosgene with tin chloride (or vensinite, consisting of hydrocyanic acid, chloroform , arsenic chloride and tin). The action of the latter caused damage to the body and in severe cases led to death.

By the fall of 1916, the army's requirements for chemical 76-mm shells were fully satisfied: the army received 15,000 shells monthly (the ratio of poisonous and asphyxiating shells was 1:4). The supply of large-caliber chemical shells to the Russian army was hampered by the lack of shell casings, which were entirely intended for equipping explosives. Russian artillery began receiving chemical mines for mortars in the spring of 1917.

As for gas launchers, which were successfully used as a new means of chemical attack on the French and Italian fronts from the beginning of 1917, Russia, which emerged from the war that same year, did not have gas launchers. The mortar artillery school, formed in September 1917, was just about to begin experiments on the use of gas launchers.

Russian artillery was not so rich in chemical shells to use mass shooting, as was the case with Russia's allies and opponents. It used 76-mm chemical grenades almost exclusively in situations of trench warfare, as an auxiliary tool along with firing conventional shells. In addition to shelling enemy trenches immediately before an attack, firing chemical shells was used with particular success to temporarily stop the fire of enemy batteries, trench guns and machine guns, to facilitate their gas attack - by firing at those targets that were not captured by the gas wave. Shells filled with explosive agents were used against enemy troops accumulated in a forest or other hidden place, their observation and command posts, and covered communication passages.

At the end of 1916, the GAU sent 9,500 hand glass grenades with asphyxiating liquids to the active army for combat testing, and in the spring of 1917 - 100,000 hand chemical grenades. Those and other hand grenades were thrown at a distance of 20 - 30 m and were useful in defense and especially during retreat, to prevent the pursuit of the enemy.

During the Brusilov breakthrough in May-June 1916, the Russian army received some front-line supplies of German chemical agents - shells and containers with mustard gas and phosgene - as trophies. Although Russian troops were subjected to German gas attacks several times, they rarely used these weapons themselves - either due to the fact that chemical munitions from the Allies arrived too late, or due to a lack of specialists. And the Russian military did not have any concept of using chemical agents at that time.

During the First World War, chemicals were used in huge quantities. A total of 180 thousand tons of chemical ammunition of various types were produced, of which 125 thousand tons were used on the battlefield, including 47 thousand tons by Germany. Over 40 types of explosives have passed combat testing. Among them, 4 are vesicant, suffocating and at least 27 are irritating. Total losses from chemical weapons are estimated at 1.3 million people. Of these, up to 100 thousand are fatal. At the end of the war, the list of potentially promising and already tested chemical agents included chloroacetophenone (a lachrymator with a strong irritant effect) and a-lewisite (2-chlorovinyldichloroarsine). Lewisite immediately attracted close attention as one of the most promising BOVs. Its industrial production began in the United States even before the end of the World War. Our country began producing and accumulating lewisite reserves in the first years after the formation of the USSR.

All arsenals with chemical weapons of the old Russian army at the beginning of 1918 ended up in the hands of the new government. During the Civil War, chemical weapons were used in small quantities by the White Army and the British occupation forces in 1919. The Red Army used chemical weapons to suppress peasant uprisings. Probably for the first time the Soviet government tried to use chemical agents when suppressing the uprising in Yaroslavl in 1918.

In March 1919, another uprising broke out on the Upper Don. On March 18, the artillery of the Zaamur regiment fired at the rebels with chemical shells (most likely with phosgene).

The massive use of chemical weapons by the Red Army dates back to 1921. Then, under the command of Tukhachevsky, a large-scale punitive operation against the rebel army of Antonov unfolded in the Tambov province. In addition to punitive actions - shooting hostages, creating concentration camps, burning entire villages, chemical weapons (artillery shells and gas cylinders) were used in large quantities. We can definitely talk about the use of chlorine and phosgene, but possibly also mustard gas.

On June 12, 1921, Tukhachevsky signed order number 0116, which read:
For immediate clearing of forests I ORDER:
1. Clear the forests where the bandits are hiding with poisonous gases, accurately calculating so that the cloud of suffocating gases spreads completely throughout the entire forest, destroying everything that was hidden in it.
2. The artillery inspector should immediately provide the required number of cylinders with poisonous gases and the necessary specialists to the field.
3. The commanders of combat areas must persistently and energetically carry out this order.
4. Report the measures taken.

Technical preparations were carried out to carry out the gas attack. On June 24, the head of the operational department of the headquarters of Tukhachevsky’s troops conveyed to the head of the 6th combat sector (the area of ​​the village of Inzhavino in the valley of the Vorona River) A.V. Pavlov the commander’s order to “check the ability of the chemical company to act with asphyxiating gases.” At the same time, artillery inspector of the Tambov Army S. Kasinov reported to Tukhachevsky: “Concerning the use of gases in Moscow, I found out the following: an order for 2,000 chemical shells was given, and these days they should arrive in Tambov. Distribution by sections: 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th 200 each, 6th - 100.”

On July 1, gas engineer Puskov reported on his inspection of gas cylinders and gas equipment delivered to the Tambov artillery depot: “... cylinders with chlorine grade E 56 are in good condition, there are no gas leaks, there are spare caps for the cylinders. Technical accessories, such as keys, hoses, lead tubes, washers and other equipment - in good condition, in excess quantities..."

The troops were instructed how to use chemical munitions, but there was serious problem- battery personnel were not provided with gas masks. Due to the delay caused by this, the first gas attack was carried out only on July 13th. On this day, the artillery division of the Zavolzhsky Military District brigade used up 47 chemical shells.

On August 2, a battery of the Belgorod artillery courses fired 59 chemical shells at an island on a lake near the village of Kipets.

By the time the operation using chemical agents was carried out in the Tambov forests, the uprising had actually already been suppressed and there was no need for such a brutal punitive action. It seems that it was carried out for the purpose of training troops in chemical warfare. Tukhachevsky considered chemical warfare agents to be a very promising means in a future war.

In his military-theoretical work “New Questions of War” he noted:

Rapid development chemicals combat allows you to suddenly use more and more new means against which old gas masks and other anti-chemical agents are ineffective. And at the same time, these new chemicals require little or no rework or recalculation of the material part.

New inventions in the field of warfare technology can be immediately applied on the battlefield and, as a means of combat, can be the most sudden and demoralizing innovation for the enemy. Aviation is the most advantageous means for spraying chemical agents. OM will be widely used by tanks and artillery.

Own production of chemical weapons in Soviet Russia they tried to establish it since 1922 with the help of the Germans. Bypassing the Versailles agreements, on May 14, 1923, the Soviet and German sides signed an agreement on the construction of a plant for the production of chemical agents. Technological assistance in the construction of this plant was provided by the Stolzenberg concern within the framework of the Bersol joint stock company. They decided to expand production to Ivashchenkovo ​​(later Chapaevsk). But for three years nothing was really done - the Germans were clearly not eager to share the technology and were playing for time.

Industrial production of chemical agents (mustard gas) was first established in Moscow at the Aniltrest experimental plant. The Moscow experimental plant "Aniltrest" from August 30 to September 3, 1924 produced the first industrial batch of mustard gas - 18 pounds (288 kg). And in October of the same year, the first thousand chemical shells were already equipped with domestic mustard gas. Later, on the basis of this production, a research institute for the development of chemical agents with a pilot plant was created.

One of the main centers for the production of chemical weapons since the mid-1920s. becomes a chemical plant in the city of Chapaevsk, which produced BOV until the beginning of the Great Patriotic War. Research in the field of improving means of chemical attack and defense in our country was carried out at the Institute of Chemical Defense, opened on July 18, 1928. Osoaviakhim". The first head of the Institute of Chemical Defense was appointed head of the military chemical department of the Red Army Ya.M. Fishman, and his deputy for science was N.P. Korolev. Academicians N.D. acted as consultants at the institute’s laboratories. Zelinsky, T.V. Khlopin, professor N.A. Shilov, A.N. Ginsburg

Yakov Moiseevich Fishman. (1887-1961). Since August 1925, Head of the Military Chemical Department of the Red Army, concurrently Head of the Institute of Chemical Defense (since March 1928). In 1935 he was awarded the title of hull engineer. Doctor of Chemical Sciences since 1936. Arrested on June 5, 1937. Sentenced on May 29, 1940 to 10 years in labor camp. Died July 16, 1961 in Moscow

The result of the work of the departments involved in the development of means of individual and collective protection against chemical agents was the adoption of the weapon into service by the Red Army for the period from 1928 to 1941. 18 new samples of protective equipment.

In 1930, for the first time in the USSR, the head of the 2nd department of collective chemical defense means S.V. Korotkov drew up a project for sealing the tank and its FVU (filter-ventilation unit) equipment. In 1934-1935 successfully implemented two projects on anti-chemical equipment for mobile objects - the FVU equipped an ambulance based on a Ford AA car and a saloon car. At the Institute of Chemical Defense, intensive work was carried out to find modes of decontamination of uniforms, and machine methods for processing weapons and military equipment were developed. In 1928, a department for the synthesis and analysis of chemical agents was formed, on the basis of which the departments of radiation, chemical and biological reconnaissance were subsequently created.

Thanks to the activities of the Institute of Chemical Defense named after. Osoaviakhim", which was then renamed NIHI RKKA, by the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, the troops were equipped with chemical protection equipment and had clear instructions for their combat use.

By the mid-1930s. The concept of using chemical weapons during the war was formed in the Red Army. The theory of chemical warfare was tested in numerous exercises in the mid-30s.

The Soviet chemical doctrine was based on the concept of a “retaliatory chemical strike.” The exclusive orientation of the USSR towards a retaliatory chemical strike was enshrined both in international treaties (the Geneva Agreement of 1925 was ratified by the USSR in 1928) and in the “Chemical Weapons System of the Red Army”. IN peacetime production of chemical agents was carried out only for testing and combat training of troops. Stockpiles of military significance were not created in peacetime, which is why almost all capacities for the production of chemical warfare agents were mothballed and required a long period of production deployment.

The chemical agents reserves available at the beginning of the Great Patriotic War were sufficient for 1-2 days of active combat operations by aviation and chemical troops (for example, during the period of covering mobilization and strategic deployment), then one should expect the deployment of chemical agents production and their supply to the troops.

During the 1930s the production of BOVs and the supply of ammunition with them was deployed in Perm, Berezniki (Perm region), Bobriki (later Stalinogorsk), Dzerzhinsk, Kineshma, Stalingrad, Kemerovo, Shchelkovo, Voskresensk, Chelyabinsk.

For 1940-1945 More than 120 thousand tons of organic matter were produced, including 77.4 thousand tons of mustard gas, 20.6 thousand tons of lewisite, 11.1 thousand tons of hydrocyanic acid, 8.3 thousand tons of phosgene and 6.1 thousand tons of adamsite.

With the end of World War II, the threat of using chemical warfare agents did not disappear, and in the USSR, research in this area continued until the final ban on the production of chemical agents and their delivery vehicles in 1987.

On the eve of the conclusion of the Chemical Weapons Convention, in 1990-1992, our country presented 40 thousand tons of chemical agents for control and destruction.

Between two wars.

After the First World War and until the Second World War, public opinion in Europe was opposed to the use of chemical weapons, but among European industrialists who ensured the defense capabilities of their countries, the prevailing opinion was that chemical weapons should be an indispensable attribute of warfare.

Through the efforts of the League of Nations, at the same time, a number of conferences and rallies were held promoting the prohibition of the use of chemical agents for military purposes and talking about the consequences of this. The International Committee of the Red Cross supported the events that took place in the 1920s. conferences condemning the use of chemical warfare.

In 1921, the Washington Conference on Arms Limitation was convened, at which chemical weapons became the subject of discussion by a specially created subcommittee. The Subcommittee had information about the use of chemical weapons during the First World War and intended to propose a ban on the use of chemical weapons.

He ruled: “the use of chemical weapons against the enemy on land and water cannot be allowed.”

The treaty was ratified by most countries, including the United States and Great Britain. In Geneva, on June 17, 1925, the “Protocol prohibiting the use of asphyxiating, poisonous and other similar gases and bacteriological agents in war” was signed. This document was subsequently ratified by more than 100 states.

However, at the same time, the United States began expanding the Edgewood Arsenal. In Britain, many perceived the possibility of using chemical weapons as a fait accompli, fearing that they would find themselves in a disadvantageous situation similar to that which arose in 1915.

The consequence of this was further work on chemical weapons, using propaganda for the use of chemical agents. To the old means of using chemical agents, tested back in the First World War, new ones were added - airborne pour-out devices (VAP), chemical aerial bombs (AB) and chemical combat vehicles (CMC) based on trucks and tanks.

VAP was intended to destroy manpower, infect the area and objects on it with aerosols or droplet-liquid agents. With their help, the rapid creation of aerosols, droplets and OM vapors was carried out over a large area, which made it possible to achieve massive and sudden use of OM. Various mustard-based formulations were used to equip the VAP, such as a mixture of mustard gas with lewisite, viscous mustard gas, as well as diphosgene and hydrocyanic acid.

The advantage of VAP was the low cost of their use, since only OM was used without additional costs for the shell and equipment. The VAP was refueled immediately before the aircraft took off. The disadvantage of using VAP was that it was mounted only on the external sling of the aircraft, and the need to return with them after completing the mission, which reduced the maneuverability and speed of the aircraft, increasing the likelihood of its destruction

There were several types of chemical ABs. The first type included ammunition filled with irritating agents (irritants). Chemical fragmentation batteries were filled with conventional explosives with the addition of adamsite. Smoking ABs, similar in their effect to smoke bombs, were equipped with a mixture of gunpowder with adamsite or chloroacetophenone.

The use of irritants forced the enemy's manpower to use means of defense, and under favorable conditions made it possible to temporarily disable it.

Another type included ABs of caliber from 25 to 500 kg, equipped with persistent and unstable agent formulations - mustard gas (winter mustard gas, a mixture of mustard gas with lewisite), phosgene, diphosgene, hydrocyanic acid. For detonation, both a conventional contact fuse and a remote tube were used, which ensured detonation of ammunition at a given height.

When the AB was equipped with mustard gas, detonation at a given height ensured the dispersion of OM droplets over an area of ​​2-3 hectares. The rupture of an AB with diphosgene and hydrocyanic acid created a cloud of chemical vapors that spread along the wind and created a zone of lethal concentration 100-200 m deep. The use of such ABs against the enemy located in trenches, dugouts and armored vehicles with postcard hatches was especially effective, as this increased action of OV.

BKhM were intended to contaminate the area with persistent chemical agents, degas the area with a liquid degasser and set up a smoke screen. Tanks with chemical agents with a capacity of 300 to 800 liters were installed on tanks or trucks, which made it possible to create a contamination zone up to 25 m wide when using tank-based chemical weapons

German medium-sized machine for chemical contamination of the area. The drawing was made using materials teaching aid"Chemical weapons fascist Germany» fortieth year of publication. Fragment from the album of the division's chemical service chief (the forties) - chemical weapons of Nazi Germany.

Combat chemical car BKhM-1 on GAZ-AAA for infection terrain OB

Chemical weapons were used in large quantities in “local conflicts” of the 1920-1930s: by Spain in Morocco in 1925, by Italy in Ethiopia (Abyssinia) in 1935-1936, by Japanese troops against Chinese soldiers and civilians from 1937 to 1943

The study of OM in Japan began, with the help of Germany, in 1923, and by the beginning of the 30s. The production of the most effective chemical agents was organized in the arsenals of Tadonuimi and Sagani. Approximately 25% of the Japanese army's artillery and 30% of its aviation ammunition were chemically charged.

Type 94 "Kanda" - car For spraying of toxic substances.
In the Kwantung Army, “Manchurian Detachment 100”, in addition to creating bacteriological weapons, carried out work on the research and production of chemical agents (6th department of the “detachment”). The notorious “Detachment 731” conducted joint experiments with the chemical “Detachment 531”, using people as living indicators of the degree of contamination of the area with chemical agents.

In 1937, on August 12, in the battles for the city of Nankou and on August 22, in the battles for the Beijing-Suiyuan railway, the Japanese army used shells filled with explosive agents. The Japanese continued to widely use chemical agents in China and Manchuria. The losses of Chinese troops from the war accounted for 10% of the total.

Italy used chemical weapons in Ethiopia, where almost all Italian military operations were supported by chemical attacks using air power and artillery. Mustard gas was used with great efficiency by the Italians, despite the fact that they joined the Geneva Protocol in 1925. 415 tons of blister agents and 263 tons of asphyxiants were sent to Ethiopia. In addition to chemical ABs, VAPs were used.

Between December 1935 and April 1936, Italian aviation carried out 19 large-scale chemical raids on cities and towns of Abyssinia, expending 15 thousand chemical agents. Chemical agents were used to pin down Ethiopian troops - aviation created chemical barriers in the most important mountain passes and at crossings. Widespread use of explosives was found in air strikes both against advancing Negus troops (during the suicidal offensive at Mai-Chio and Lake Ashangi) and during the pursuit of retreating Abyssinians. E. Tatarchenko in his book “Air Forces in the Italo-Abyssinian War” states: “It is unlikely that the successes of aviation would have been so great if it had been limited to machine gun fire and bombing. In this pursuit from the air, the merciless use of chemical agents by the Italians undoubtedly played a decisive role.” Of the total losses of the Ethiopian army of 750 thousand people, approximately a third were losses from chemical weapons. A large number of civilians were also affected.

In addition to large material losses, the use of chemical agents resulted in a “strong, corrupting moral impression.” Tatarchenko writes: “The masses did not know how the release agents acted, why so mysteriously, out of the blue, they suddenly began terrible torment and death comes. In addition, the Abyssinian armies had many mules, donkeys, camels, and horses, which died in large numbers after eating contaminated grass, thereby further enhancing the depressed, hopeless mood of the masses of soldiers and officers. Many had their own pack animals in the convoy.”

After the conquest of Abyssinia, the Italian occupation forces were repeatedly forced to carry out punitive actions against partisan units and the population supporting them. During these repressions, agents were used.

Specialists from the I.G. concern helped the Italians set up chemical agent production. Farbenindustry". In the concern "I.G. Farben, created to completely dominate the markets for dyes and organic chemistry, brought together six of Germany's largest chemical companies. British and American industrialists saw the concern as an empire similar to Krupp's, considering it a serious threat and made efforts to dismember it after the Second World War.

An indisputable fact is Germany’s superiority in the production of chemical agents - the established production of nerve gases in Germany came as a complete surprise to the Allied troops in 1945.

In Germany, immediately after the Nazis came to power, by order of Hitler, work in the field of military chemistry was resumed. Beginning in 1934, in accordance with the plan of the High Command of the Ground Forces, these works acquired a targeted offensive character, consistent with the aggressive policy of the Hitlerite leadership.

First of all, at newly created or modernized enterprises, the production of well-known chemical agents began, which showed the greatest combat effectiveness during the First World War, with the expectation of creating a supply of them for 5 months of chemical warfare.

The high command of the fascist army considered it sufficient to have for this purpose approximately 27 thousand tons of chemical agents such as mustard gas and tactical formulations based on it: phosgene, adamsite, diphenylchlorarsine and chloroacetophenone.

At the same time, intensive work was carried out to search for new agents among the most diverse classes of chemical compounds. These works in the field of agents with blister action were marked by the receipt in 1935 - 1936. “nitrogen mustard” (N-Lost) and “oxygen mustard” (O-Lost).

In the main research laboratory of the concern “I.G. Farbenindustry" in Leverkusen, the high toxicity of some fluorine- and phosphorus-containing compounds was revealed, a number of which were subsequently adopted by the German army.

In 1936, herd was synthesized, which began to be produced in May 1943 industrial scale. In 1939, sarin, which was more toxic than tabun, was produced, and at the end of 1944, soman was produced. These substances marked the emergence of a new class of nerve agents in the army of Nazi Germany - second-generation chemical weapons, many times more toxic than the agents of the First World War.

The first generation of chemical agents, developed during the First World War, includes substances that are vesicant (sulfur and nitrogen mustards, lewisite - persistent chemical agents), general toxic (hydroxycyanic acid - unstable chemical agents), asphyxiating (phosgene, diphosgene - unstable chemical agents) and irritating. (adamsite, diphenylchloroarsine, chloropicrin, diphenylcyanarsine). Sarin, soman and tabun belong to the second generation of agents. In the 50s to them was added a group of organophosphorus agents obtained in the USA and Sweden called “V-gases” (sometimes “VX”). V-gases are tens of times more toxic than their organophosphorus “counterparts”.

In 1940, a large plant owned by I.G. was launched in the city of Oberbayern (Bavaria). Farben", for the production of mustard gas and mustard compounds, with a capacity of 40 thousand tons.

In total, in the pre-war and first war years, about 20 new technological installations for the production of chemical agents were built in Germany, the annual capacity of which exceeded 100 thousand tons. They were located in Ludwigshafen, Huls, Wolfen, Urdingen, Ammendorf, Fadkenhagen, Seelz and other places. In the city of Duchernfurt, on the Oder (now Silesia, Poland) there was one of the largest chemical agents production facilities.

By 1945, Germany had in reserve 12 thousand tons of herd, the production of which was not available anywhere else. The reasons why Germany did not use chemical weapons during the Second World War remain unclear.

At the beginning of the war with the Soviet Union, the Wehrmacht had 4 regiments of chemical mortars, 7 separate battalions of chemical mortars, 5 decontamination detachments and 3 road decontamination detachments (armed with Shweres Wurfgeraet 40 (Holz) rocket launchers) and 4 headquarters of special-purpose chemical regiments. A battalion of six-barreled 15cm Nebelwerfer 41 mortars out of 18 installations could fire 108 mines containing 10 kg of chemical agents in 10 seconds.

Boss General Staff of the ground forces of the fascist German army, Colonel General Halder wrote: “By June 1, 1941, we will have 2 million chemical shells for light field howitzers and 500 thousand shells for heavy field howitzers... From chemical ammunition depots the following can be shipped: before June 1, six trains of chemical ammunition, after June 1, ten trains per day. To speed up the delivery in the rear of each army group, three trains with chemical ammunition will be placed on sidings.”

According to one version, Hitler did not give the command to use chemical weapons during the war because he believed that the USSR had more chemical weapons. Another reason could be the insufficiently effective effect of chemical agents on enemy soldiers equipped with chemical protective equipment, as well as its dependence on weather conditions.

Designed for, infection terrain toxic agent version of the BT wheeled-tracked tank
If against troops anti-Hitler coalition While chemical agents were not used, the practice of using them against civilians in the occupied territories became widespread. The main place where chemical agents were used were gas chambers in death camps. When developing means of exterminating political prisoners and all those classified as “inferior races,” the Nazis faced the task of optimizing the cost-effectiveness ratio.

And here the Zyklon B gas, invented by SS lieutenant Kurt Gerstein, came in handy. The gas was originally intended to disinfect barracks. But people, although it would be more correct to call them non-humans, saw in the means for exterminating linen lice a cheap and effective way of killing.

“Cyclone B” was blue-violet crystals containing hydrocyanic acid (the so-called “crystalline hydrocyanic acid”). These crystals begin to boil and turn into a gas (hydrocyanic acid, also known as hydrocyanic acid) at room temperature. Inhalation of 60 milligrams of fumes that smelled like bitter almonds caused painful death. Gas production was carried out by two German companies that received a patent for gas production from I.G. Farbenindustri" - "Tesch and Stabenov" in Hamburg and "Degesch" in Dessau. The first supplied 2 tons of Cyclone B per month, the second - about 0.75 tons. The income was approximately 590,000 Reichsmarks. As they say, “money has no smell.” The number of lives lost to this gas goes into the millions.

Some work on the production of tabun, sarin, and soman was carried out in the USA and Great Britain, but a breakthrough in their production could not have occurred earlier than 1945. During the Second World War in the USA, 135 thousand tons of chemical agents were produced at 17 installations, mustard gas accounted for half of the total volume . About 5 million shells and 1 million ABs were loaded with mustard gas. Initially, mustard gas was supposed to be used against enemy landings on sea ​​coast. During the period of the emerging turning point in the war in favor of the Allies, serious fears arose that Germany would decide to use chemical weapons. This was the basis for the decision of the American military command to supply mustard gas ammunition to the troops on the European continent. The plan provided for the creation of chemical weapons reserves for the ground forces for 4 months. combat operations and for the Air Force - for 8 months.

Transportation by sea was not without incident. Thus, on December 2, 1943, German aircraft bombed ships located in the Italian port of Bari in the Adriatic Sea. Among them was the American transport "John Harvey" with a cargo of chemical bombs filled with mustard gas. After the transport was damaged, part of the chemical agent mixed with the spilled oil, and mustard gas spread over the surface of the harbor.

During World War II, extensive military biological research was also carried out in the United States. The Camp Detrick biological center, opened in 1943 in Maryland (later named Fort Detrick), was intended for these studies. There, in particular, the study of bacterial toxins, including botulinum, began.

IN recent months war in Edgewood and the army laboratory at Fort Rucker (Alabama) began the search and testing of natural and synthetic substances that affect the central nervous system and cause mental or physical disorders in humans in minute doses

Chemical weapons in local conflicts of the second half of the twentieth century

After World War II, chemical agents were used in a number of local conflicts. There are known facts of the use of chemical weapons by the US Army against the DPRK and Vietnam. From 1945 to 1980s In the West, only 2 types of chemical agents were used: lachrymators (CS: 2-chlorobenzylidene malonodinitrile - tear gas) and defoliants - chemicals from the group of herbicides. 6,800 tons of CS alone were applied. Defoliants belong to the class of phytotoxicants - chemical substances that cause leaves to fall from plants and are used to unmask enemy targets.

During the fighting in Korea, chemical agents were used by the US Army both against KPA and CPV troops, and against civilians and prisoners of war. According to incomplete data, from February 27, 1952 to the end of June 1953, there were over a hundred cases of the use of chemical shells and bombs by American and South Korean troops against CPV troops alone. As a result, 1,095 people were poisoned, of whom 145 died. More than 40 cases of the use of chemical weapons were also reported against prisoners of war. Largest quantity chemical shells were fired at KPA troops on May 1, 1952. Symptoms of the damage most likely indicate that diphenylcyanarsine or diphenylchloroarsine, as well as hydrocyanic acid, were used as equipment for chemical munitions.

The Americans used tear and blister agents against prisoners of war, and tear agents were used more than once. June 10, 1952 in camp No. 76 on the island. In Gojedo, American guards sprayed prisoners of war three times with a sticky poisonous liquid, which was a blister agent.

May 18, 1952 on the island. Tear agents were used against prisoners of war in three sectors of the camp in Gojedo. The result of this “completely legal” action, according to the Americans, was the death of 24 people. Another 46 lost their sight. Repeatedly in camps on the island. In Gojedo, American and South Korean soldiers used chemical grenades against prisoners of war. Even after the truce was concluded, during the 33 days of work of the Red Cross commission, 32 cases of Americans using chemical grenades were noted.

Purposeful work on means of destroying vegetation began in the United States during the Second World War. The level of development of herbicides reached by the end of the war, according to American experts, could allow them practical application. However, research for military purposes continued, and only in 1961 a “suitable” test site was selected. The use of chemicals to destroy vegetation in South Vietnam was initiated by the US military in August 1961 with the authorization of President Kennedy.

All areas of South Vietnam were treated with herbicides - from the demilitarized zone to the Mekong Delta, as well as many areas of Laos and Kampuchea - anywhere and everywhere where, according to the Americans, detachments of the People's Liberation Armed Forces (PLAF) of South Vietnam could be located or their communications ran.

Along with woody vegetation, fields, gardens and rubber plantations also began to be exposed to herbicides. Since 1965, chemicals have been sprayed over the fields of Laos (especially in its southern and eastern parts), two years later - already in the northern part of the demilitarized zone, as well as in the adjacent areas of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. Forests and fields were cultivated at the request of the commanders of American units stationed in South Vietnam. Spraying of herbicides was carried out using not only aviation, but also special ground devices available to the American troops and Saigon units. Herbicides were used especially intensively in 1964 - 1966. to destroy mangrove forests on the southern coast of South Vietnam and on the banks of shipping canals leading to Saigon, as well as forests in the demilitarized zone. Two US Air Force aviation squadrons were fully involved in the operations. The use of chemical anti-vegetative agents reached its maximum in 1967. Subsequently, the intensity of operations fluctuated depending on the intensity of military operations.

Use of aviation for spraying agents.

In South Vietnam, during Operation Ranch Hand, the Americans tested 15 different chemicals and formulations to destroy crops, plantations of cultivated plants and trees and shrubs.

The total amount of vegetation control chemicals used by the US military from 1961 to 1971 was 90 thousand tons, or 72.4 million liters. Four herbicide formulations were predominantly used: purple, orange, white and blue. Most Applications in South Vietnam they found recipes: orange - against forests and blue - against rice and other crops.

Over the course of 10 years between 1961 and 1971, nearly a tenth of South Vietnam's land area, including 44% of its forested areas, was treated with defoliants and herbicides, respectively designed to defoliate and completely destroy vegetation. As a result of all these actions, mangrove forests (500 thousand hectares) were almost completely destroyed, about 1 million hectares (60%) of jungles and more than 100 thousand hectares (30%) of lowland forests were affected. Productivity from rubber plantations has fallen by 75% since 1960. From 40 to 100% of the crops of bananas, rice, sweet potatoes, papaya, tomatoes, 70% of coconut plantations, 60% of hevea, and 110 thousand hectares of casuarina plantations were destroyed. Of the numerous species of trees and shrubs of the humid tropical forest In areas affected by herbicides, only a few species of trees and several types of thorny grasses, unsuitable for livestock feed, remained.

The destruction of vegetation has seriously affected the ecological balance of Vietnam. In the affected areas, out of 150 bird species, only 18 remained, amphibians and even insects almost completely disappeared. The number has decreased and the composition of fish in the rivers has changed. Pesticides disrupted the microbiological composition of soils and poisoned plants. The species composition of ticks has also changed, in particular, ticks that carry dangerous diseases have appeared. The types of mosquitoes have changed; in areas remote from the sea, instead of harmless endemic mosquitoes, mosquitoes characteristic of coastal forests such as mangroves have appeared. They are the main carriers of malaria in Vietnam and neighboring countries.

The chemical agents used by the United States in Indochina were directed not only against nature, but also against people. The Americans in Vietnam used such herbicides and at such high consumption rates that they posed an undoubted danger to humans. For example, picloram is as persistent and as toxic as DDT, which is banned everywhere.

By that time, it was already known that poisoning with 2,4,5-T poison leads to fetal deformities in some domestic animals. It should be noted that these toxic chemicals were used in huge concentrations, sometimes 13 times higher than permissible and recommended for use in the United States itself. Not only vegetation, but also people were sprayed with these chemicals. Particularly destructive was the use of dioxin, which, as the Americans claimed, was “by mistake” part of the orange formulation. In total, several hundred kilograms of dioxin, which is toxic to humans in fractions of a milligram, were sprayed over South Vietnam.

American experts could not help but know about its deadly properties - at least from cases of injuries at the enterprises of a number of chemical companies, including the results of an accident at a chemical plant in Amsterdam in 1963. Being a persistent substance, dioxin is still found in Vietnam in areas application of the orange formulation, both in surface and deep (up to 2 m) soil samples.

This poison, entering the body with water and food, causes cancer, especially the liver and blood, massive congenital deformities of children and numerous violations of the normal course of pregnancy. Medical and statistical data obtained by Vietnamese doctors indicate that these pathologies appear many years after the Americans stopped using the orange formulation, and there is reason to fear for their growth in the future.

According to the Americans, the “non-lethal” agents used in Vietnam include: CS - orthochlorobenzylidene malononitrile and its prescription forms, CN - chloroacetophenone, DM - adamsite or chlordihydrofenarsazine, CNS - prescription form of chloropicrin, BAE - bromoacetone, BZ - quinuclidyl-3 -benzilate. The CS substance in a concentration of 0.05-0.1 mg/m3 has an irritating effect, 1-5 mg/m3 becomes unbearable, above 40-75 mg/m3 can cause death within a minute.

At a meeting of the International Center for the Study of War Crimes, held in Paris in July 1968, it was determined that, under certain conditions, the substance CS is a lethal weapon. These conditions (use of CS in large quantities in a confined space) existed in Vietnam.

CS substance - this was the conclusion made by the Russell Tribunal in Roskilde in 1967 - is a toxic gas prohibited by the Geneva Protocol of 1925. The amount of CS substance ordered by the Pentagon in 1964 - 1969. for use in Indochina, was published in the Congressional Record on June 12, 1969 (CS - 1,009 tons, CS-1 - 1,625 tons, CS-2 - 1,950 tons).

It is known that in 1970 it was consumed even more than in 1969. With the help of CS gas, the civilian population survived from villages, partisans were expelled from caves and shelters, where lethal concentrations of the CS substance were easily created, turning these shelters into “gas chambers” "

The use of gases appears to have been effective, judging by the significant increase in the amount of C5 used by the US Army in Vietnam. There is another proof of this: since 1969, many new means for spraying this toxic substance have appeared.

Chemical warfare affected not only the population of Indochina, but also thousands of participants in the American campaign in Vietnam. Thus, contrary to the claims of the US Department of Defense, thousands of American soldiers were victims of a chemical attack by their own troops.

Many Vietnam War veterans therefore demanded treatment for various diseases from ulcers to cancer. In Chicago alone, there are 2,000 veterans who have symptoms of dioxin exposure.

BWs were widely used during the protracted Iran-Iraq conflict. Both Iran and Iraq (November 5, 1929 and September 8, 1931, respectively) signed the Geneva Convention on the Non-Proliferation of Chemical and Bacteriological Weapons. However, Iraq, trying to turn the tide in trench warfare, actively used chemical weapons. Iraq used explosives mainly to achieve tactical goals, in order to break the resistance of one or another enemy defense point. These tactics in conditions of trench warfare bore some fruit. During the Battle of the Majun Islands, IWs played an important role in thwarting the Iranian offensive.

Iraq was the first to use OB during the Iran-Iraq War and subsequently used it extensively both against Iran and in operations against the Kurds. Some sources claim that against the latter in 1973-1975. agents purchased from Egypt or even the USSR were used, although there were reports in the press that scientists from Switzerland and Germany, back in the 1960s. manufactured chemical weapons for Baghdad specifically to fight the Kurds. Work on the production of their own chemical agents began in Iraq in the mid-70s. According to a statement by the head of the Iranian Foundation for the Storage of Sacred Defense Documents, Mirfisal Bakrzadeh, companies from the United States, Great Britain and Germany took a direct part in the creation and transfer of chemical weapons to Hussein. According to him, firms from countries such as France, Italy, Switzerland, Finland, Sweden, Holland, Belgium, Scotland and several others took “indirect (indirect) participation in the creation of chemical weapons for the Saddam regime.” During the Iran-Iraq War, the United States was interested in supporting Iraq, since in the event of its defeat, Iran could greatly expand the influence of fundamentalism throughout the Persian Gulf region. Reagan, and subsequently Bush Sr., saw Saddam Hussein's regime as an important ally and protection against the threat posed by Khomeini's followers who came to power as a result of the 1979 Iranian revolution. The successes of the Iranian army forced the US leadership to provide intensive assistance to Iraq (in the form of the supply of millions of anti-personnel mines, a large number of different types of heavy weapons and information about the deployment of Iranian troops). Chemical weapons were chosen as one of the means designed to break the spirit of Iranian soldiers.

Until 1991, Iraq possessed the largest stockpiles of chemical weapons in the Middle East and carried out extensive work to further improve its arsenal. He had at his disposal agents of general toxicity (hydrocyanic acid), blister agent (mustard gas) and nerve agent (sarin (GB), soman (GD), tabun (GA), VX) action. Iraq's chemical munitions stockpile included more than 25 Scud missile warheads, approximately 2,000 aerial bombs and 15,000 projectiles (including mortar shells and multiple rocket launchers), as well as landmines.

Since 1982, Iraq's use of tear gas (CS) has been noted, and since July 1983 - mustard gas (in particular, 250 kg AB with mustard gas from Su-20 aircraft). During the conflict, mustard gas was actively used by Iraq. By the beginning of the Iran-Iraq War, the Iraqi army had 120 mm mortar mines and 130 mm artillery shells filled with mustard gas. In 1984, Iraq began producing tabun (at the same time the first case of its use was noted), and in 1986 - sarin.

Difficulties arise with the exact dating of the beginning of Iraq's production of one or another type of chemical agent. The first use of tabun was reported in 1984, but Iran reported 10 cases of tabun use between 1980 and 1983. In particular, cases of the use of herds were noted on the Northern Front in October 1983.

The same problem arises when dating cases of chemical agent use. So back in November 1980, Tehran Radio reported a chemical attack on the city of Susengerd, but there was no reaction in the world to this. It was only after Iran's statement in 1984, in which it noted 53 cases of Iraqi use of chemical weapons in 40 border areas, that the UN took some steps. The number of victims by this time exceeded 2,300 people. An inspection by a group of UN inspectors revealed traces of chemical agents in the area of ​​Khur al-Khuzwazeh, where there was an Iraqi chemical attack on March 13, 1984. Since then, evidence of Iraq's use of chemical agents began to appear en masse.

The embargo imposed by the UN Security Council on the supply of a number of chemicals and components to Iraq that could be used for the production of chemical agents could not seriously affect the situation. Factory capacity allowed Iraq to produce 10 tons of chemical agents of all types per month at the end of 1985, and already at the end of 1986 more than 50 tons per month. At the beginning of 1988, the capacity was increased to 70 tons of mustard gas, 6 tons of tabun and 6 tons of sarin (i.e. almost 1,000 tons per year). Intensive work was underway to establish VX production.

In 1988, during the assault on the city of Faw, the Iraqi army bombed Iranian positions using chemical agents, most likely unstable formulations of nerve agents.

During a raid on the Kurdish city of Halabaja on March 16, 1988, Iraqi aircraft attacked with chemical weapons. As a result, from 5 to 7 thousand people died, and over 20 thousand were injured and poisoned.

From April 1984 to August 1988, Iraq used chemical weapons more than 40 times (more than 60 in total). 282 settlements were affected by these weapons. The exact number of victims of chemical warfare from Iran is unknown, but experts estimate the minimum number at 10 thousand people.

Iran began developing chemical weapons in response to Iraq's use of chemical warfare agents during the war. The lag in this area even forced Iran to purchase large quantities of CS gas, but it soon became clear that it was ineffective for military purposes. Since 1985 (and possibly since 1984), there have been isolated cases of Iranian use of chemical shells and mortars, but, apparently, they were talking about captured Iraqi ammunition.

In 1987-1988 There have been isolated cases of Iran using chemical munitions filled with phosgene or chlorine and hydrocyanic acid. Before the end of the war, the production of mustard gas and, possibly, nerve agents had been established, but they did not have time to use them.

According to Western sources, Soviet troops in Afghanistan also used chemical weapons. Foreign journalists deliberately “thickened the picture” in order to once again emphasize the “cruelty Soviet soldiers" It was much easier to use the exhaust gases of a tank or infantry fighting vehicle to “smoke out” dushmans from caves and underground shelters. We cannot exclude the possibility of using an irritant agent - chloropicrin or CS. One of the main sources of financing for the dushmans was the cultivation of opium poppies. To destroy poppy plantations, pesticides may have been used, which could also be perceived as the use of pesticides.

Libya produced chemical weapons at one of its enterprises, which was recorded by Western journalists in 1988. During the 1980s. Libya produced more than 100 tons of nerve gases and blister gases. During the fighting in Chad in 1987, the Libyan army used chemical weapons.

On April 29, 1997 (180 days after ratification by the 65th country, which became Hungary), the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on Their Destruction came into force. This also means the approximate date for the start of the activities of the organization for the prohibition of chemical weapons, which will ensure the implementation of the provisions of the convention (headquarters are located in The Hague).

The document was announced for signing in January 1993. In 2004, Libya joined the agreement.

Unfortunately, the “Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on Their Destruction” may face the same fate as the “Ottawa Convention on the Prohibition of Anti-Personnel Mines”. In both cases, the most modern types weapons may be exempted from the conventions. This can be seen in the example of the problem of binary chemical weapons.

The technical idea behind binary chemical munitions is that they are loaded with two or more starting components, each of which can be a non-toxic or low-toxic substance. These substances are separated from each other and placed in special containers. During the flight of a projectile, rocket, bomb or other ammunition towards a target, the initial components are mixed in it to form a chemical reaction agent as the final product of the chemical reaction. Mixing of substances is carried out by rotating the projectile or using special mixers. In this case, the role of a chemical reactor is played by ammunition.

Despite the fact that in the late thirties the US Air Force began developing the world's first binary battery, in the post-war period the problem of binary chemical weapons was of secondary importance for the United States. During this period, the Americans accelerated equipping the army with new nerve agents - sarin, tabun, "V-gases", but from the beginning of the 60s. American experts again returned to the idea of ​​​​creating binary chemical munitions. They were forced to do this by a number of circumstances, the most important of which was the lack of significant progress in the search for agents with ultra-high toxicity, i.e., third-generation agents. In 1962, the Pentagon approved a special program for the creation of binary chemical weapons (Binary Lenthal Weapon Systems), which became a priority for many years.

During the first period of implementation of the binary program, the main efforts of American specialists were aimed at developing binary compositions of standard nerve agents, VX and sarin.

By the end of the 60s. work was completed on the creation of binary sarin - GB-2.

Government and military circles explained the increased interest in work in the field of binary chemical weapons by the need to solve problems of the safety of chemical weapons during production, transportation, storage and operation. The first binary ammunition adopted by the American army in 1977 was the 155-mm M687 howitzer shell filled with binary sarin (GВ-2). Then the 203.2-mm binary projectile XM736 was created, as well as various samples of ammunition for artillery and mortar systems, missile warheads, and AB.

Research continued after the signing on April 10, 1972 of the convention banning the development, production and stockpiling of toxin weapons and their destruction. It would be naive to believe that the United States will abandon such a “promising” type of weapon. The decision to organize the production of binary weapons in the United States not only cannot ensure an effective agreement on chemical weapons, but will even completely take the development, production and stockpiling of binary weapons out of control, since the components of binary agents can be the most ordinary chemical substances. For example, isopropyl alcohol is a component of binary sarin, and pinacoline alcohol is a component of soman.

In addition, the basis of binary weapons is the idea of ​​obtaining new types and compositions of chemical agents, which makes it pointless to compile in advance any lists of chemical agents subject to prohibition.

Gaps in international legislation are not the only threat to chemical safety in the world. Terrorists did not sign the Convention, and there is no doubt about their ability to use chemical agents in terrorist acts after the tragedy in the Tokyo subway.

On the morning of March 20, 1995, members of the Aum Shinrikyo sect opened plastic containers with sarin in the subway, resulting in the death of 12 subway passengers. Another 5,500-6,000 people received poisoning of varying severity. This was not the first, but the most “effective” gas attack by sectarians. In 1994, seven people died from sarin poisoning in the city of Matsumoto, Nagano Prefecture.

From the point of view of terrorists, the use of chemical agents allows them to achieve the greatest public resonance. OBs have greatest potential compared to other types of weapons of mass destruction due to the fact that:

• Some chemical agents are highly toxic, and their quantity required to achieve a lethal outcome is very small (the use of chemical agents is 40 times more effective than conventional explosives);
• Determining the specific agent used in the attack and the source of infection is difficult;
• a small group of chemists (sometimes even one qualified specialist) is quite capable of synthesizing easy-to-manufacture chemical agents in the quantities required for a terrorist attack;
• OBs are extremely effective in inciting panic and fear. Casualties in an indoor crowd can be in the thousands.

All of the above indicates that the likelihood of using chemical agents in a terrorist act is extremely high. And, unfortunately, we can only wait for this new stage in the terrorist war.

Literature:
1. Military encyclopedic dictionary / In 2 volumes. - M.: Great Russian Encyclopedia, “RIPOL CLASSIC,” 2001.
2. World history of artillery. M.: Veche, 2002.
3. James P., Thorpe N. “Ancient Inventions”/Trans. from English; - Mn.: Potpourri LLC, 1997.
4. Articles from the site “Weapons of the First World War” - “The 1914 Campaign - the first experiments”, “From the history of chemical weapons.”, M. Pavlovich. "Chemical warfare."
5. Trends in the development of chemical weapons in the United States and its allies. A. D. Kuntsevich, Yu. K. Nazarkin, 1987.
6. Sokolov B.V. "Mikhail Tukhachevsky: the life and death of the Red Marshal." - Smolensk: Rusich, 1999.
7. Korean War, 1950–1953. - St. Petersburg: Polygon Publishing House LLC, 2003. (Military History Library).
8. Tatarchenko E. “Air Forces in the Italo-Abyssinian War.” - M.: Voenizdat, 1940
9 Development of CVHP in the pre-war period. Creation of the Institute of Chemical Defense., Letopis Publishing House, 1998.

The basis of the destructive effect of chemical weapons are toxic substances (TS), which have a physiological effect on the human body.

Unlike other weapons, chemical weapons effectively destroy enemy personnel over a large area without destroying materiel. This is a weapon of mass destruction.

Together with the air, toxic substances penetrate into any premises, shelters, and military equipment. The damaging effect persists for some time, objects and terrain become infected.

Types of toxic substances

Toxic substances under the shell of chemical ammunition are in solid and liquid form.

At the moment of their use, when the shell is destroyed, they come into combat mode:

• vaporous (gaseous);
• aerosol (drizzle, smoke, fog);
• drip-liquid.

Toxic substances are the main damaging factor of chemical weapons.

Characteristics of chemical weapons

These weapons are divided into:

• According to the type of physiological effects of OM on the human body.
• For tactical purposes.
• According to the speed of the onset of impact.
• According to the durability of the agent used.
• By means and methods of use.

Classification according to human exposure:

• Nerve agents. Lethal, fast-acting, persistent. Act on the central nervous system. The purpose of their use is rapid mass incapacitation of personnel with the maximum number of deaths. Substances: sarin, soman, tabun, V-gases.
• Agent of vesicant action. Lethal, slow acting, persistent. They affect the body through the skin or respiratory system. Substances: mustard gas, lewisite.
• Generally toxic agent. Lethal, fast-acting, unstable. They disrupt the function of the blood to deliver oxygen to the tissues of the body. Substances: hydrocyanic acid and cyanogen chloride.
• Agent with asphyxiating effect. Lethal, slow-acting, unstable. The lungs are affected. Substances: phosgene and diphosgene.
• OM of psychochemical action. Non-lethal. Temporarily affect the central nervous system, affect mental activity, cause temporary blindness, deafness, a sense of fear, and limitation of movement. Substances: inuclidyl-3-benzilate (BZ) and lysergic acid diethylamide.
• Irritant agents (irritants). Non-lethal. They act quickly, but only for a short time. Outside the contaminated area, their effect ceases after a few minutes. These are tear and sneeze-producing substances that irritate the upper respiratory tract and can damage the skin. Substances: CS, CR, DM(adamsite), CN(chloroacetophenone).

Damaging factors of chemical weapons

Toxins are chemical protein substances of animal, plant or microbial origin with high toxicity. Typical representatives: butulic toxin, ricin, staphylococcal entsrotoxin.

The damaging factor is determined by toxodose and concentration. The zone of chemical contamination can be divided into a focus area (where people are massively affected) and a zone where the contaminated cloud spreads.

First use of chemical weapons

Chemist Fritz Haber was a consultant to the German War Ministry and is called the father of chemical weapons for his work in the development and use of chlorine and other poisonous gases. The government set him the task of creating chemical weapons with irritating and toxic substances. It’s a paradox, but Haber believed that with the help of gas warfare he would save many lives by ending trench warfare.

The history of use begins on April 22, 1915, when the German military first launched a chlorine gas attack. A greenish cloud appeared in front of the French soldiers' trenches, which they watched with curiosity.

When the cloud came close, a sharp smell was felt, and the soldiers’ eyes and nose stung. The fog burned my chest, blinded me, choked me. The smoke moved deeper into the French positions, spreading panic and death, and was followed by German soldiers with bandages on their faces, but they had no one to fight with.

By evening, chemists from other countries figured out what kind of gas it was. It turned out that any country can produce it. Rescue from it turned out to be simple: you need to cover your mouth and nose with a bandage soaked in a soda solution, and plain water on the bandage weakens the effect of chlorine.

After 2 days, the Germans repeated the attack, but the Allied soldiers soaked their clothes and rags in puddles and applied them to their faces. Thanks to this, they survived and remained in position. When the Germans entered the battlefield, the machine guns “spoke” to them.

Chemical weapons of World War I

On May 31, 1915, the first gas attack on the Russians took place. Russian troops mistook the greenish cloud for camouflage and brought even more soldiers to the front line. Soon the trenches were filled with corpses. Even the grass died from the gas.

In June 1915, a new poisonous substance, bromine, began to be used. It was used in projectiles.

In December 1915 - phosgene. It has a hay smell and a lingering effect. Its low cost made its use convenient. At first they were produced in special cylinders, and by 1916 they began to make shells.

Bandages did not protect against blister gases. It penetrated through clothing and shoes, causing burns on the body. The area remained poisoned for more than a week. This was the king of gases - mustard gas.

Not only the Germans, their opponents also began to produce gas-filled shells. In one of the trenches of the First World War, Adolf Hitler was also poisoned by the British.

For the first time, Russia also used these weapons on the battlefields of the First World War.

Chemical weapons of mass destruction

Experiments with chemical weapons took place under the guise of developing insect poisons. Hydrocyanic acid, an insecticidal agent used in the gas chambers of Zyklon B concentration camps.

Agent Orange is a substance used to defoliate vegetation. Used in Vietnam, soil poisoning caused severe illnesses and mutations in the local population.

In 2013, in Syria, in the suburbs of Damascus, a chemical attack was carried out on a residential area, killing hundreds of civilians, including many children. The nerve gas used was most likely sarin.

One of the modern variants of chemical weapons is binary weapons. It comes into combat readiness as a result of a chemical reaction after combining two harmless components.

Everyone who falls into the impact zone becomes victims of chemical weapons of mass destruction. Back in 1905, an international agreement on the non-use of chemical weapons was signed. To date, 196 countries around the world have signed up to its ban.

In addition to chemical weapons of mass destruction and biological.

Types of protection

• Collective. A shelter can provide long-term stay for people without personal protective equipment if it is equipped with filter-ventilation kits and is well sealed.
• Individual. Gas mask, protective clothing and personal chemical protection package (PPP) with antidote and liquid for treating clothing and skin lesions.

Prohibited use

Humanity was shocked by the terrible consequences and huge losses of people after the use of weapons of mass destruction. Therefore, in 1928, the Geneva Protocol prohibiting the use of asphyxiating, poisonous or other similar gases and bacteriological agents in war came into force. This protocol prohibits the use of not only chemical but also biological weapons. In 1992, another document came into force, the Chemical Weapons Convention. This document complements the Protocol, it speaks not only of a ban on the production and use, but also of the destruction of all chemical weapons. The implementation of this document is controlled by a specially created committee at the UN. But not all states signed this document; for example, Egypt, Angola, North Korea, and South Sudan did not recognize it. It also did not enter into legal force in Israel and Myanmar.