The Pros And Cons Of Chemical Warfare

Chemical warfare is the use of harmful chemicals as a weapon, these chemicals can be asphyxiating, poisonous, corrosive, flammable, etc..Chemical warfare was first used during World War One on April 22, 1915 in Ypres, Belgium by German forces. The Germans dropped over 150 tons of chlorine gas, also called bertholite,with the use of artillery bombardment against French Colonial Divisions in Ypres (Second). This first use of chemical warfare proved to be very effective by causing mass panic in the French Colonial Divisions and forced soldiers to retreat and regroup back in Ypres. Following this attack, the British and French began to create and develope their own chemical weapons in response to Germany. At the end of the first World War over 124,000 tonnes of various chemical weapons had been used resulting in more than one million casualties and 90,000 fatalities (History). Although chemical warfare killed and

One advantage of chemical weapons is its accessibility. Chemical weapons can easily be made and its ingredients can also be easily found, the cost of these weapons is also much cheaper and affordable when compared to conventional weapons. The low cost also allows for chemical weapons to be produced in very large amounts. As shown in World War One chemical warfare was effective at forcing opposing armies to retreat but was not effective in the amount of deaths caused by it, only killing less than 1 % of fatalities in World War One. Chemical weapons are also very difficult to use because of how slight changes in the environment ,wind, temperature, etc. can greatly hinder the performance of these weapons (Are). The method of deploying chemical weapons onto the battlefield also obstruct its effectiveness, as most chemical weapons are deployed through the use of rockets and artilleries destroys large portions of the weapon