Unconventional Weapon Use - World War One - World War Two - Compare and Contrast

Unconventional Weapon Use

-World War One-World War Two-Compare and Contrast

World War One

-Detailed Description of Poison Gas-Timeline of its Use-The Second Battle of Ypres-Dulce et Decorum Est Pro Patria Mori by Wilfred Owen-Casualties from Gas Use

Types of Poison Gas

Chlorine Gas: Causes a burning sensation in the throat and chest pains. Usually results in suffocation. “Yellow Cloud”.

Phosgene: Similar to chlorine gas however it caused less coughing and thus more of the gas was ingested. Could take up to 48 hours to have any effect. Often mixed with chlorine gas.

Mustard Gas: Causes internal and external blisters and bleeding, sore eyes, and vomiting. Colorless and Odorless. Takes up to 12 hours to have an effect. Death can take up to 5 weeks.

August 1914

Tear-gas grenades (xy|y| bromide) were deployed by the French army against the Germans.

The tear-gas merely made those Germans who were close enough to the gas, “tear up” thus their vision was blurred. No significant damage was caused by the gas.

October 1914

The capture of Neuve Chapelle German army fired shells at the French which

contained a chemical irritant.

January 31, 1915 – March 1915

Tear gas employed by the Germans for the first time on the Eastern Front.

Fired in liquid form (housed in Howitzer shells) against the Russians at Bolimov.

Experiment proved unsuccessful.

Nieuport, March 1915: German army tried again using an improved form of the tear gas against the French.

April 22nd, 1915

Chlorine gas was first used on April 22nd, 1915 by the German army at the start of the Second Battle of Ypres.

At approximately 5pm the French and Algerian troops noticed a yellow-green cloud coming towards their line.

Thousands died.

September 24th-25th, 1915

September 24th, 1915: Approximately 400 chlorine gas emplacements were placed among the British front line around Loos.

September 25th, 1915: At 5:20am a mixture of smoke and chlorine gas were released over a period of about 40 minutes.

The wind direction shifted and gas was blown back into the British trenches.

It has been estimated that more British casualties were suffered than German.

September 1917

Riga Germany vs Russia Germany uses mustard gas for the first time.

1917

Filter respirators created

Charcoal or antidote chemicals used

1925

The use of gas was outlawed

Used points from the Armistice of November 11th, 1918

Gas has not been used in armed conflict since.

The Second Battle of Ypres

At the start of the war, the British, Canadians, and French held Ypres Salient.

Morning of the 22nd, they were bombarded by the Germans

1700 hours, Germans released 5.7350 cylinders (168 tons) of chlorine gas.


French were ordered to “stand to”

Germans did not attack

Soldiers began to suffocate as the chlorine gas filled their lungs

http://archives.cbc.ca/war_conflict/first_world_war/clips/14165/


French, British, and Canadian Soldiers fled!

Four mile gap created in Allied line

German infantry eventually advanced.


Canadian and British to the right were outnumbered.

Germans gained control of a large portion of Ypres Salient.

Casualties:69 000 Allies35 000 Germans

Dulce et Decorum Est Pro Patria Mori

Bent double, like old beggars under sacks, Knock kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed

through sludge,Till on the haunting flares we turned our

backs, And towards our distant rest began to trudge.

Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots,

But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame, all blind;

Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hootsOf gas-shells dropping softly behind.

Gas! Gas! Quick, boys! – An ecstasy of fumbling,

Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time,But someone still was yelling out and

stumblingAnd floundering like a man in fire or lime.-

Dim, through the misty panes and thick green light,

As under the misty panes and thick green light,As under a green sea, I saw him drowning

In all my dreams before my helpless sightHe plunges at me, guttering, choking,

drowning.

If in some smothering dreams, you too could pace

Behind the wagon that we flung him in,And watch the white eyes writhing in his face,

His hanging face, like a devil’s sick of sin;If you could hear , at every jolt, the blood

Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,Bitter as the cud

Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,-My friend, you would not tell with such high

zestTo children ardent for some desperate glory,

The old lie; dulce et decorum estPro patria mori.

-Wilfred Owen

Casualties from Gas Use

Country Total Casualties Death

Austria-Hungary 100,000 3,000

British Empire 188,706 8,109

France 190,000 8,000

Germany 200,000 9,000

Italy 60,000 4,627

Russia 419,340 56,000

USA 72,807 1,462

Others 10,000 1,000

World War Two

Detailed Description of the use of Nuclear WeaponsDifferent Types of Nuclear Weapons

-Nuclear Fission-Nuclear Fusion

Timeline of Its UseThe Bombing of Hiroshima

How does a Nuclear Bomb Work?

Nuclear reaction generates energy from heat and radiated particles.

Energy released is millions of times stronger than TNT.

3 parts: A shell to contain

bomb A trigger Nuclear Fuel

Nuclear Fission

Nucleus splits into smaller fragments.

Can occur spontaneously or when a nucleus captures a neutron.

Chain reaction (uncontrolled in nuclear weapons).

Nuclear Fusion

Two light elements fuse together.

Form a nucleus A blast of energy is

released as the nucleus is formed.

Takes short amount of time.

Manhattan Project

Originally began as a race against Germany.

Resulted in the creation of Little Boy, and Fat Man; the first two nuclear bombs.

Success has invoked a spirit of commitment and patriotism

July 16, 1945: Trinity

Alamogordo, New Mexico.

First nuclear testResult of the top

secret program called the Manhattan Project.

http://archives.cbc.ca/war_conflict/second_world_war/clips/12158/

August 6, 1945: Hiroshima

B-29 Bomber named Enola Gay

Released “Little Boy”

Exploded at 8:15 am.

Death Toll: 200,000

August 9, 1945: Nagasaki

B-29 named Bock’s Car

Primary target of Kokura obscured

Fat Man is dropped over Nagasaki at 11:02 am

Death Toll: 40,000-70,000

The Cold War

“Superpowers” – US and USSR.

Build up of Nuclear Weapons

65 000 by 1986DeterrenceMutually Assured

Destruction (MAD)

1958: Moratorium

United States and Soviet Union agree to stop nuclear testing.

1961: restart testing Signed the Joint

Statement of Agreed Principles for Disarmament Negotiations at the same time.

1962: Cuban Missile Crisis

Soviet Union placing missiles in Cuba.

US placing missiles in Turkey

Nuclear war almost provoked.

Soviets stepped back

1970: SALT

Strategic Arms Limitations Talks

United States and the Soviet Union

Vienna Months after talks

began the US fired its first missile with independently targeted warheads.

1995

Russians spotted a missile.

Nuclear briefcase activated.

Submarines Missile = research

rocket “Four-Minute

Warning”

Bombing of Hiroshima

Enola Gay departs from Tinian

Target: HiroshimaLittle Boy

ReleasedEnola Gay rocked

by blast


Bombing of Hiroshima

Within minutes 9 out of 10 within half a mile of explosion dead.

FirestormsHelp did not come

immediatelyUS announced

what had occurred


Changes Between Wars

-How the practice changed-Why the change occurred-The effects of the changes-Significance of the practice

How The Practice Changed

Why the Change Occurred

Political: Nuclear weapons offer a greater scare tactic because they have the ability to virtually destroy the entire world. Gas, though terrible does not really have any major effect on the government.

Military: Nuclear weapons kill a lot more people, destroy a lot more property, and hold a lot more power than the use of gas ever would.

Effects of the Changes

The creation and use of nuclear weapons brought about the end of WW2.

Since then governments have been terrified of the possibility of nuclear war.

Socially, many generations (although not ours) were raised in fear of the possibility of nuclear attack.

WAR = VERY DIFFERENT

Significance of the Practice

WW2 Brought about the

end of WW2. Changed warfare as

we know it. Always be the threat

that it will happen again… to us.

WW1 The use of gas

opened doors to warfare which previously had not been conceived.

Many soldiers suffered horrendous death as a result of its use.

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Unconventional Weapon Use - World War One - World War Two - Compare and Contrast