The first world war is known to be one of the harshest wars in history for many reasons. One of those reasons is the unleashing of terrifying new weapons, gas weapons. Dangerous chemicals and gases have been used as weapons since thousands of years ago, though it was until World War 1 where the first large-scale of them was used. Battles normally ended in a draw, which prompted finding new fighting strategies. Four main kinds of gases were used; tear, chlorine, phosgene, and mustard (I, n.d.). These gases were the most feared of all weapons in the war, for the reason that their effects were unknown in the battlefield. The majority thinks Germans were the first to utilize them, however, it was actually the French ("Poison Gas and World War One - History Learning Site", 2018). They attempted to use tear gas against the German army in 1914. Tear gas is light-yellow colored with a powerful and pleasant smell. It was designed to weaken, not kill, by irritating mucous membranes, causing breathing difficulties and temporary blindness (I, n.d.). French soldiers …show more content…
Forming an enormous cloud of smoke, the troops released around 6,000 metal cans filled with this green-yellow gas (Science, 2017). “The smoke and fumes hid everything from sight, and hundreds of men were thrown into comatose or dying condition. It was impossible for anyone to realize what had actually happened” Sir John French, Commander in Chief of the British said (Hughes, n.d.). Chlorine reacts with water in the lungs, producing hydrochloric acids (I, n.d.). Eventually, gas masks were used for prevention (Hughes, n.d.). This was the first great number of deaths caused by any species of gas since tear gas did not