Chemical Warfare: Past, Present, and Future

 "Chemical weaponry" pertains to lethal chemical compounds engineered to harm, incapacitate, or kill adversaries. These have evolved over the years, resulting in numerous chemical types with varying effects on humans. 

A few categories include:

• Suffocating agents (e.g., chlorine, phosgene)
• Blistering agents (e.g., mustard gas)
• Blood agents (e.g., hydrogen cyanide)
• Nerve agents (e.g., tabun, sarin, VX)
• Incapacitating agents (e.g., BZ)

History of Chemical Warfare

Chemical warfare dates back to ancient times, with arsenic fumes being used against the Athenians by Spartans in 425 BC during the Peloponnesian War.

Fast forward to 256 A.D., in the now-ruined Syrian city of Dura-Europos, where 19 Roman soldiers succumbed to toxic gases from burning bitumen and sulfur-based compounds deployed by Persians.

Modern Usage of Chemical Weapons

Chemical weapons made their modern debut in World War I when the German army used them against the Russian forces at Bolimow in January 1915. However, the attack wasn't successful due to low temperatures preventing the effective vaporization of the toxic agent.

On the contrary, the second battle of Ypres in April 1915 saw a devastating use of chemical weapons, with over 5,000 casualties resulting from the release of 168 tons of chlorine gas by the German army.

Global Response to Chemical Weapons

The terror induced by these unconventional weapons led to the signing of the Geneva Protocol in 1925, prohibiting the use of chemical weapons in warfare.

The discovery of nerve gases in the late 1930s, initially intended for developing insecticides, marked a new era of chemical warfare, with their first large-scale use seen in the Iran-Iraq war during the 1980s.

Presently, advancements in warfare technology have led to defensive measures against chemical weapons. However, the threat persists when these weapons are utilized against civilians or in acts of terrorism, like in the 1995 Tokyo subway sarin gas attack.

In response to these threats, the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) was signed in Paris in 1993, affirming a global ban on the use, development, acquisition, and possession of chemical weapons. The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2013, works diligently to eradicate chemical weapons worldwide.