Poison Gas presentation and advances from World War 1

1. Jordan Amany

2. What is poison gas and where did it
come from?
• Poison gas was probably one of the most feared
weapons in WW1
• Poison gas was indiscriminate and could be used on
the trenches even when no attack was going on.
Whereas the machine gun killed more soldiers overall
during the war, death was frequently instant or not
drawn out and soldiers could find some shelter in
bomb/shell craters from gunfire. A poison gas attack
meant soldiers having to put on crude gas masks and if
these were unsuccessful, an attack could leave a victim
in agony for days and weeks before he finally
succumbed to his injuries.

3. When was poison gas first used?
• The first recorded gas attack was by the French. In
August 1914, the French used tear gas grenades
containing xylyl bromide on the Germans. This was
more an irritant rather than a gas that would kill. It was
used by the French to stop the seemingly unstoppable
German army advancing throughout Belgium and
north-eastern France. In one sense, it was an act of
desperation as opposed to a premeditated act that all
but went against the 'rules' of war. However, while the
French were the first to use a gas against an enemy, the
Germans had been giving a great deal of thought to the
use of poison gas as a way of inflicting a major defeat
on an enemy.

4. What did poison gases do?
• In October 1914, the Germans attacked Neuve
Chapelle. Here they fired gas shells at the
French that contained a chemical that caused
violent sneezing fits. Once again, the gas was
not designed to kill rather than to incapacitate
an enemy so that they were incapable of
defending their positions. However, as the war
continued, the substances used became more
and more threatening.

5. How could people avoid poison gas
attacks?
• Armies quickly produced gas masks that gave
protection as long as sufficient warning was given
of a gas attack. Soldiers also used make-shift gas
masks if they were caught in the open without a
gas mask during a gas attack - cloth soaked in
their own urine and placed over the mouth was
said to give protection against a chlorine attack.
By the end of the war, relatively sophisticated gas
masks were available to soldiers in
the trenches on the Western Front.

6. What did poison gas do?
• The types of weapons employed ranged from
disabling chemicals, such as tear gas and the
severe mustard gas, to lethal agents
like phosgene and chlorine. This chemical
warfare was a major component of the first
global war and first total war of the 20th
century.

7. Bibliography
• "The Use of Gas Warfare in World War
One." The Use of Gas Warfare in World War
One. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 June 2014.
• "Poison Gas." HowStuffWorks.
HowStuffWorks.com, 06 Oct. 2009. Web. 10
June 2014.
• "Poison Gas." World War I Weapons. N.p., n.d.
Web. 08 June 2014.