Gas warfare was first introduced in World War I and continued to be used throughout World War II. It was most commonly used in the front lines, and was feared by many. Gas warfare was a very effective war tactic. The effects of gases were unbearable, which is what caused them to be so heavily feared. Luckily, by the time that World War II came about protective masks called, gas masks had been invented. This resulted in a decrease of use in World War II compared to World War I, however it did not totally destroy the effort (“Poison Gas and World War Two”).
There were many different purposes for gas warfare during World War I and II, gases could do anything from merely disabling soldiers, to killing hundreds at a time. The reasoning behind gas warfare was that it was something easy to use, but yet highly effective. The French were truly the first to use gas warfare, but many only know Germany’s usage as the first. The French however, used gas warfare for the first time in August of 1914. The French filled grenades with tear-gas and then launched them to the front lines of the enemy. That being said what was thought to be the first usage by the Germans was
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It was first used to save thirty-two men in a mining accident. The safety mask later evolved into a smoke protector for fire fighters. Finally, the safety mask evolved into a gas mask used in the World Wars. There is not one sole inventor of the gas mask, as it evolved from many different prototypes. The gas mask was based off other ventilated masks such as underwater masks, fire-fighter masks, and miners masks. The gas masks were a very important invention and were used on multiple occasions by the armies of many different nations. The development of gas masks was gradual, but highly effective. As scientists began to tweak the masks they became more effective (“Garrett Morgan- Gas Mask and Traffic