unit 731

Introduction to Chemical and Biological Warfare

  • The historical pursuit of using sickness and poisons as weapons is ancient.
  • Methods included poisoning wells with animal bodies and producing noxious gases through burning.
  • The progress in chemical research during the 19th century transformed these ideas into viable weapons of mass destruction.
  • Both biological and chemical weapons were utilized during World War II.

Context and Expectations for Chemical Warfare in World War II

  • World War II special episode on biological and chemical warfare as seen through the lens of veterans from World War I.
  • Veterans recall the horrors of chemical warfare from the first World War, specifically noting:
    • Use of mustard gas, phosphine, and other gases as a source of suffering and fear.
  • Prior expectations for gas to be used again in World War II, heightened by advancements in military aviation targeting cities and villages.
  • Children in London equipped with gas masks symbolize the anticipation of chemical warfare.

The Outlawing of Chemical Weapons

  • Despite high expectations, gas warfare did not return to the battlefield during World War II.
  • Key reasons for this absence included:
    • Chemical weapons were already outlawed by the Brussels and Hague Conventions (1874 and 1899).
    • The 1925 Geneva Protocol on Chemical and Bacteriological Warfare was signed by 109 countries.
  • Chemical weapons had been previously deployed on a large scale during World War I.
  • Interwar period use of chemicals:
    • Utilized by Italians in the Second Italian-Ethiopian War.
    • Utilized by Japanese in the Second Sino-Japanese War.
    • Potential consideration of chemical warfare by British in Iraq in 1920, though uncertain whether it was enacted.