The French soldiers saw an ominous green cloud wafting toward their trenches. Soon they were choking and it felt like they were drowning. They were the victims of the first poison gas attack of WWI. The Germans had begun developing poison gas as soon as the war began. Famed chemist Fritz Haber was made a captain and put in charge of the Chemistry Section of the Ministry of War. It became known as the “disinfection unit”. Ironically, Haber won the Nobel Prize for Chemistry for developing the Haber-Bosch process for synthesizing ammonia from nitrogen and hydrogen. This led to fertilizers that increased crop production and saved millions of lives in developing countries. When asked how he could shift to developing a weapon to kill people, Haber insisted that “death was death” no matter the method. He had no problem violating the Hague Convention of 1907, which Germany had signed. The first gas developed was bromine. It irritated the eyes and nose. However, it’s use on the Eastern Front against the Russians was ineffective, partly because of the cold weather. Haber moved on to chlorine, which effects breathing. Haber personally supervised its use in the Second Battle of Ypres on April 22, 1915. The gas was in 5,700 cylinders that held 150 tons of chlorine. When the gas was released, it created a 50 foot-high greenish cloud that was four miles wide. The French and Algerian colonial troops panicked and the Germans could have had a major breakout, except the generals had not planned for it working, so aside from over 1,000 casualties, the Germans got nothing out of the attack. It would not be the last. Post script: Haber’s wife committed suicide after the war because of his involvement with poison gas. He was ostracized in the scientific community and he was exiled from Germany by the Nazis because he was a Jew.
https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/germans-introduce-poison-gas
https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/how-gas-became-a-terror-weapon-in-the-first-world-war
https://www.britannica.com/video/187027/development-chemical-warfare-World-War-I
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