Here is an "appropriate" historical fact for EARTH DAY !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!...............PEACE.........Scott
1915 : GERMANS INTRODUCE POISON GAS:
On April 22, 1915, German forces shock Allied soldiers along the
western front by firing more than 150 tons of lethal chlorine gas
against two French colonial divisions at Ypres, Belgium. This was the
first major gas attack by the Germans, and it devastated the Allied
line.
Toxic smoke has been used occasionally in warfare since ancient times,
and in 1912 the French used small amounts of tear gas in police
operations. At the outbreak of World War I, the Germans began actively
to develop chemical weapons. In October 1914, the Germans placed some
small tear-gas canisters in shells that were fired at Neuve Chapelle,
France, but Allied troops were not exposed. In January 1915, the
Germans fired shells loaded with xylyl bromide, a more lethal gas, at
Russian troops at Bolimov on the eastern front. Because of the wintry
cold, most of the gas froze, but the Russians nonetheless reported
more than 1,000 killed as a result of the new weapon.
On April 22, 1915, the Germans launched their first and only offensive
of the year. Known as the Second Battle of Ypres, the offensive began
with the usual artillery bombardment of the enemy's line. When the
shelling died down, the Allied defenders waited for the first wave of
German attack troops but instead were thrown into panic when chlorine
gas wafted across no-man's land and down into their trenches. The
Germans targeted four miles of the front with the wind-blown poison
gas and decimated two divisions of French and Algerian colonial
troops. The Allied line was breached, but the Germans, perhaps as
shocked as the Allies by the devastating effects of the poison gas,
failed to take full advantage, and the Allies held most of their
positions.
A second gas attack, against a Canadian division, on April 24, pushed
the Allies further back, and by May they had retreated to the town of
Ypres. The Second Battle of Ypres ended on May 25, with insignificant
gains for the Germans. The introduction of poison gas, however, would
have great significance in World War I.
Immediately after the German gas attack at Ypres, France and Britain
began developing their own chemical weapons and gas masks. With the
Germans taking the lead, an extensive number of projectiles filled
with deadly substances polluted the trenches of World War I. Mustard
gas, introduced by the Germans in 1917, blistered the skin, eyes, and
lungs, and killed thousands. Military strategists defended the use of
poison gas by saying it reduced the enemy's ability to respond and
thus saved lives in offensives. In reality, defenses against poison
gas usually kept pace with offensive developments, and both sides
employed sophisticated gas masks and protective clothing that
essentially negated the strategic importance of chemical weapons.
The United States, which entered World War I in 1917, also developed
and used chemical weapons. Future president Harry S. Truman was the
captain of a U.S. field artillery unit that fired poison gas against
the Germans in 1918. In all, more than 100,000 tons of chemical
weapons agents were used in World War I, some 500,000 troops were
injured, and almost 30,000 died, including 2,000 Americans.
In the years following World War I, Britain, France, and Spain used
chemical weapons in various colonial struggles, despite mounting
international criticism of chemical warfare. In 1925, the Geneva
Protocol of 1925 banned the use of chemical weapons in war but did not
outlaw their development or stockpiling. Most major powers built up
substantial chemical weapons reserves. In the 1930s, Italy employed
chemical weapons against Ethiopia, and Japan used them against China.
In World War II, chemical warfare did not occur, primarily because all
the major belligerents possessed both chemical weapons and the
defenses--such as gas masks, protective clothing, and detectors--that
rendered them ineffectual. In addition, in a war characterized by
lightning-fast military movement, strategists opposed the use of
anything that would delay operations. Germany, however, did use poison
gas to murder millions in its extermination camps.
Since World War II, chemical weapons have only been used in a handful
of conflicts--the Yemeni conflict of 1966-67, the Iran-Iraq War of
1980-88--and always against forces that lacked gas masks or other
simple defenses. In 1990, the United States and the Soviet Union
signed an agreement to cut their chemical weapons arsenals by 80
percent in an effort to discourage smaller nations from stockpiling
the weapons. In 1993, an international treaty was signed banning the
production, stockpiling (after 2007), and use of chemical weapons. It
took effect in 1997 and has been ratified by 128 nations.
history.com/tdih.do
1970 : The first Earth Day
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=4943
#############################################
1915 : GERMANS INTRODUCE POISON GAS:
On April 22, 1915, German forces shock Allied soldiers along the
western front by firing more than 150 tons of lethal chlorine gas
against two French colonial divisions at Ypres, Belgium. This was the
first major gas attack by the Germans, and it devastated the Allied
line.
Toxic smoke has been used occasionally in warfare since ancient times,
and in 1912 the French used small amounts of tear gas in police
operations. At the outbreak of World War I, the Germans began actively
to develop chemical weapons. In October 1914, the Germans placed some
small tear-gas canisters in shells that were fired at Neuve Chapelle,
France, but Allied troops were not exposed. In January 1915, the
Germans fired shells loaded with xylyl bromide, a more lethal gas, at
Russian troops at Bolimov on the eastern front. Because of the wintry
cold, most of the gas froze, but the Russians nonetheless reported
more than 1,000 killed as a result of the new weapon.
On April 22, 1915, the Germans launched their first and only offensive
of the year. Known as the Second Battle of Ypres, the offensive began
with the usual artillery bombardment of the enemy's line. When the
shelling died down, the Allied defenders waited for the first wave of
German attack troops but instead were thrown into panic when chlorine
gas wafted across no-man's land and down into their trenches. The
Germans targeted four miles of the front with the wind-blown poison
gas and decimated two divisions of French and Algerian colonial
troops. The Allied line was breached, but the Germans, perhaps as
shocked as the Allies by the devastating effects of the poison gas,
failed to take full advantage, and the Allies held most of their
positions.
A second gas attack, against a Canadian division, on April 24, pushed
the Allies further back, and by May they had retreated to the town of
Ypres. The Second Battle of Ypres ended on May 25, with insignificant
gains for the Germans. The introduction of poison gas, however, would
have great significance in World War I.
Immediately after the German gas attack at Ypres, France and Britain
began developing their own chemical weapons and gas masks. With the
Germans taking the lead, an extensive number of projectiles filled
with deadly substances polluted the trenches of World War I. Mustard
gas, introduced by the Germans in 1917, blistered the skin, eyes, and
lungs, and killed thousands. Military strategists defended the use of
poison gas by saying it reduced the enemy's ability to respond and
thus saved lives in offensives. In reality, defenses against poison
gas usually kept pace with offensive developments, and both sides
employed sophisticated gas masks and protective clothing that
essentially negated the strategic importance of chemical weapons.
The United States, which entered World War I in 1917, also developed
and used chemical weapons. Future president Harry S. Truman was the
captain of a U.S. field artillery unit that fired poison gas against
the Germans in 1918. In all, more than 100,000 tons of chemical
weapons agents were used in World War I, some 500,000 troops were
injured, and almost 30,000 died, including 2,000 Americans.
In the years following World War I, Britain, France, and Spain used
chemical weapons in various colonial struggles, despite mounting
international criticism of chemical warfare. In 1925, the Geneva
Protocol of 1925 banned the use of chemical weapons in war but did not
outlaw their development or stockpiling. Most major powers built up
substantial chemical weapons reserves. In the 1930s, Italy employed
chemical weapons against Ethiopia, and Japan used them against China.
In World War II, chemical warfare did not occur, primarily because all
the major belligerents possessed both chemical weapons and the
defenses--such as gas masks, protective clothing, and detectors--that
rendered them ineffectual. In addition, in a war characterized by
lightning-fast military movement, strategists opposed the use of
anything that would delay operations. Germany, however, did use poison
gas to murder millions in its extermination camps.
Since World War II, chemical weapons have only been used in a handful
of conflicts--the Yemeni conflict of 1966-67, the Iran-Iraq War of
1980-88--and always against forces that lacked gas masks or other
simple defenses. In 1990, the United States and the Soviet Union
signed an agreement to cut their chemical weapons arsenals by 80
percent in an effort to discourage smaller nations from stockpiling
the weapons. In 1993, an international treaty was signed banning the
production, stockpiling (after 2007), and use of chemical weapons. It
took effect in 1997 and has been ratified by 128 nations.
history.com/tdih.do
1970 : The first Earth Day
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=4943
#############################################
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