106 years ago, mustard gas became the “king of chemical weapons” in the First World War. We briefly mention the long history of the use and (almost useless) bans of chemical weapons

Prototypes of chemical weapons have been used since ancient times. The earliest examples are poisoned arrows and the practice of poisoning drinking water wells. Next, poisonous fumes of sulfur, pitch, and arsenic came into play. In the era of the early Middle Ages, know-how appeared — "Greek fire";, which was used in sea battles.

In the 15th century, the artist, scientist and inventor Leonardo da Vinci suggested filling shells with a mixture of crushed chalk, arsenic and poisonous copper salts. However, it is not known whether this plan was implemented. And what is known for sure is the use of projectiles with poisonous belladonna during the siege of cities in the 17th century. Around the same time, in 1675, the Holy Roman Empire and France agreed not to use "insidious" toxic projectiles. It was the first ever treaty to ban chemical weapons.

In the 19th century, with the development of chemistry, the first concepts of modern chemical weapons appeared. In 1854, during the Crimean War, the British scientist and politician Lyon Playfer suggested using cyanide shells against Russian troops. But the British command refused, calling the proposal "as insidious and shameful as poisoning the enemyʼs wells." An outraged Playfer wrote that sooner or later "chemistry will be used in wars" and may even be used "to alleviate the suffering of criminals sentenced to death."

There were also numerous proposals to use chemical weapons, mostly chlorine, during the American Civil War of 1861-1865. These plans were never implemented in practice. However, chemical weapons were decided to be banned at the international level by the Hague Conventions on the Laws and Customs of War of 1899 and 1907.

However, Lyon Playferʼs prophecy soon came true. The First World War went down in history not only with new combat tactics with the latest military equipment, but also with the mass use of a wide variety of poisonous substances.

First, tear gas was used — none of the participants in the war believed that it fell under the prohibitions of the Hague Conventions. France was the first to use tear gas grenades in August 1914. In October, Germany released artillery shells filled with this gas. However, in both cases, the concentration turned out to be so small that it was almost not noticed at the enemyʼs positions. In January 1915, the German command decided to achieve success through numbers. About 18,000 shells with tear gas were fired at Russian positions. But everything turned out to be a failure — in the low winter temperature, the active chemical substance, which was supposed to evaporate, simply froze.

Then Germany took up a more serious chemical weapon — chlorine, which can be deadly in high concentrations and prolonged exposure. But at first she somehow tried to "save face" and found loopholes in the Hague Conventions. The documents contained a ban on firing any projectiles filled with poisonous gases. The Germans did not shoot. Instead, on April 22, 1915, they waited for a strong wind in the right direction and simply sprayed about 170 tons of chlorine from cylinders towards the French trenches near the Belgian city of Ypres. About three thousand soldiers died as a result of the attack.

The governments of the Entente "expressed deep concern" about such dishonest and inhumane warfare. The Germans objected — formally, they did not violate anything, because they did not use shells. According to the same scheme, in May 1915, they sprayed chlorine on Russian positions, killing six thousand soldiers. In September 1915, the British adopted German tactics and sprayed 140 tons of chlorine near the French city of Los. But they were unlucky with the wind, which began to suddenly change direction. First, the gas lingered on neutral territory, and then returned to the British trenches altogether. Further German shelling damaged the unused chlorine cylinders, which only worsened the situation. In the end, the British lost this battle, losing about 60,000 killed and wounded.

After that, the adversaries finally rejected international agreements and started a chemical arms race — creating more and more powerful poisons and improving systems for their use. At the end of 1915, Germany used phosgene, which was ten times more toxic than chlorine. In response, the Allies used poisonous hydrocyanic acid and chlorocyanide.

The culmination of this race was the evening of July 12, 1917, when Germany used another chemical innovation — shells with mustard gas. It happened in the area of the front near the same Belgian Ypres, which is why the new chemical weapon was called "mustard." In addition to the respiratory tract and eyes, it affected exposed areas of the skin. After contact, blisters appeared on her, which later burst, and then took a long time to heal and leave scars. Mustard caused internal bleeding and affected the bronchi, tearing off the mucous membrane. Sometimes the wounded died for several weeks in terrible agony.

Since then, mustard gas became the most popular gas of the First World War and received the nickname "the king of chemical weapons." The vast majority of those who died from poisonous substances died precisely as a result of the use of mustard gas. Among the armies of all the participating countries, the soldiers of the Russian Empire suffered the most from chemical weapons — approximately 56,000 died. All because of poor provision of means of protection. It also happened to the civilian population. According to various estimates, from 100 to 250 thousand civilians were affected by poisonous gases.

After the First World War, the use of chemical weapons was again prohibited by international documents, first by the Versailles Treaty of 1919. And in the Geneva Protocol of 1925, the ban was extended to biological weapons.

During the Second World War, combat poisons were indeed used infrequently. But hardly due to compliance with international agreements. There is an assumption that Hitler fundamentally did not use chemical weapons due to personal experience, because he himself suffered from mustard gas in the trenches of the First World War. But researchers put forward another, more plausible version: during World War II, chemical weapons became a kind of deterrent. Germany did not use it on the battlefield, fearing a large-scale retaliation. The Allies had a similar position. They kept shells with poisonous gases ready, but did not dare to use them first. But the Japanese used mustard gas and other gases against China, because the Chinese then had nothing to strike back. In general, all participants in the Second World War accumulated chemical weapons and developed new poisonous substances.

After the Second World War, the status of the most terrible and most powerful means of mass destruction passed to nuclear weapons. However, the chemical did not disappear anywhere. During the Cold War, the USSR and the Western powers accumulated huge stocks of combat poisons. Chemical weapons were used in dozens of armed conflicts around the world both during the rest of the 20th century and at the beginning of the 21st. For example, in the Vietnam War of 1959-1975, during the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979-1989, in the Iran-Iraq War of 1983-1988, and during the war in Syria, which has been ongoing since 2011.

Another agreement on the prohibition of chemical weapons was discussed since the 1960s, but the real deal was reached only in 1993. The then Convention under the auspices of the UN became the first document that prescribed not only the prohibition, but also the destruction of chemical weapons. In 1997, the Convention entered into force, and at the same time, a special Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) was created to monitor its compliance.

In early July, the OPCW announced that the last stockpiles of chemical weapons in all 193 member states of the Convention had been destroyed. However, we are talking only about reserves that the states have shown voluntarily. In practice, the OPCW does not have broad powers to compel countries to comply with the requirements of the Convention. Maybe, unless, he will complain to the General Assembly or the UN Security Council. But they are unlikely to help.

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