The history of weapons of mass destruction before nuclear weapons

¶ … Weapons of Mass Destruction Before the Invention of the Atomic Bomb

The term 'weapons of mass destruction' was allegedly first used in a report by the London Times in 1937. The report was a description of a German air force attack on the town of Guernica in Spain which "... destroyed 70% of the town and killed a third of its population." (Origin of the Phrase Weapons of Mass Destruction) the phrase that was used in the report of the London Times on December 28, 1937, is as follows: " Who can think without horror of what another widespread war would mean, waged as it would be with all the new weapons of mass destruction?." (Who coined the term "weapons of mass destruction"?)

After the Second World War the term was later used describe to threat of atomic weapons during the Cold War. In more recent times the term weapons of mass destruction has evoked images of the hydrogen bomb and refers to biological, chemical, and radiological weapons. (Who coined the term "weapons of mass destruction"?)

However while the term and its usage is relatively new in modern history, the reality of the creation and use of weapons of mass destruction is something that can be traced back through the history of human civilization.

In the modern era the term weapons of mass destruction has come to mean or refer to weapons that have the capability of destroying people and property on a large and indiscriminate scale.

Part of the effect and purpose of these weapons is to create a climate of threat and terror with the aim of achieving militarily victory. In some instances, such as the First World War, weapons of mass destruction are simply used as a means of attrition and to reduce the number so the enemy. Our contemporary sense of the meaning of this term is associated with the awesome and indiscriminate threat of nuclear weapons.

More recently the fear of biological weapons of mass destruction has become a focus of modern warfare.

The truth is that even biological weapons of mass destruction are not totally new in the history of human warfare and destruction. There are records, stories and myths of the use of biological weapons of mass destruction that killed large numbers of people in the past and there are even suggestions that the Black Plague was initiated by the use of biological means to destroy an enemy. This paper will present a brief overview of the range and types of weapons of mass destruction that were used in human history before the advent of the nuclear bomb.

2. A Brief history of weapons of mass destruction

One aspect that is constant in the study of weapons of mass destruction is that the development of these weapons is closely linked to and dependent on technology. The various technological eras of human development allow for the creation and incentive for more and more advanced methods of destruction and killing. For example, an archeological discovery that was made near Mosul in the Middle East was of scorpions being used as a method of poisoning the enemy. According to the research, clay pots were once "... filled with scorpions and dropped on the heads of invaders by the citizens of Hatra at the turn of the third century." (WMD: They're History) This was an instance of the use of chemical weapons against the enemy in an indiscriminate way to inflict maximum casualties. This may not be as dramatic as the nuclear bomb but it provides evidence of the way that humanity has used the technology at hand and 'weaponized" it to create mass destruction among an enemy.

There are those who argue that the origins of weapons of mass destruction go back to the first human hunters and the invention of the bow and arrow. This was the first step on the technological ladder of the development of more powerful weapons to kill at a distance and relatively indiscriminately, without having to directly confront the enemy. However the pre-modern history of weapons of mass destruction is more commonly associated with the development of biological and chemical weapons.

2.1. The development of biological weapons of mass destruction.

There are many records as far back as the Early Middle Ages providing evidence of the use of weapons of mass destruction that targeted the people rather than the soldiers of the enemy. There is also a line of development in the history of weapons that shows a clear link between the technologies of the time and the types and the effectiveness of the weapons that were created. " the weapon of choice against a civilian enemy became biological, then chemical and nuclear, as soon as scientific advancement and technological development made them available." (Rebehn M.)

There are many references to the use of biological weapons that killed on a large scale in the annals of ancient history.

For instance, in a play written by Sophocles in 404 B.C.E. entitled Philoctetes, the author describes the main character as "...wounded by a poisoned arrow on his way to the Trojan War." (Johnson T.J.) a Greek Historian in the fifth century, Herodotus, describes the use of poison tipped arrows by the Scythians archers of the Black Sea. According to this source;

Scythians used the decomposed bodies of several venomous adders indigenous to their region, mixed human blood and dung into sealed vessels and buried this mixture until it was sufficiently putrefied. This poison would certainly contain the bacteria of gangrene and tetanus (Clostridium perfringins and Clostridium tetani) while the venom would attack red blood cells, nervous system and could even induce respiratory paralysis. A Scythian archer had a range of over 1,600 feet and could launch about twenty arrows per minute.

Johnson T.J.)

The development of weapons of mass destruction has also been associated with terror and the use of psychological warfare. A famous example of this combination is the outbreak of bubonic plague instigated by the Tartar army who besieged the city of Kaffa in the 14th Century. In this historic event the Tartars '"...catapulted bodies of plague victims over the walls of Kaffa in an attempt to initiate an epidemic upon the residents." (Johnson T.J.)

The defenders of the city subsequently contracted the plague and were forced to abandon the city. It is also suggest that as a result of this action the bubonic plague was transported to Europe by the fleeing people. "The surviving Genoese returned to Italy via their ships and most likely brought the plague to Europe. In October of 1347, the merchant ships docked in Genoa. The Genoese ships must have had stowaways -- rats. The rats with their fleas disembarked and proceeded to change the face of Europe forever." (Johnson T.J.)

The events that followed were to affect Europe and much of the population. The death toll as a result of the plague in Europe was approximately 25 million out of a total population of 40 million. "Fully one third of the residents of Florence died in the first six months and 45%-75% in a single year. Venice lost 60% of its populace over the year and a half that the epidemic raged. Death was so rampant that the pope had to consecrate the Rhone River so corpses could be dumped into it. "(History of Epidemics and Plagues)

There are many other instances in early history of the use made of biological methods of destruction and even near-extermination. A further example is from 1518 when the Aztec people were infected by the arrival of Hernando Cortes; an event which almost decimated the native population. (Rebehn M.) Another example from the 1700's of the use of bacterial agent in war was in the conflict between Russia and Sweden in 1710. There are reports that the Russians used the bodies of plague victim to create an epidemic among the enemy. (HISTORY of BIOLOGICAL WARFARE)

There is also the infamous incident in American history of the intentional infection of the native Indians with smallpox. "An English general, Sir Jeffery Amherst, surreptitiously provided the Indians loyal to the French with blankets infected with smallpox virus. The resulting epidemic decimated the Indians." (HISTORY of BIOLOGICAL WARFARE)

2.3. The modern technological era and weapons of mass destruction.

With the advent of the modern industrial age there was a rapid development of technology. This was also to lead to the equally rapid growth in the development of even more and more destructive and indiscriminate weapons of destruction. The most well-known and widely documented is the first truly modern use of chemicals and other weapons of mass destruction in the First World War. With the development of chemical techniques and technologies the biological weapons could now be synthetically and more easily produced in large quantities, which resulted in more accessible and devastating weapons of mass destruction.

In the First World War there is for example documented proof that "...German agents inoculated horses and cattle with glanders disease in the United States before they were shipped to France." (HISTORY of BIOLOGICAL WARFARE)

However the true nature and awesome power of chemicals was seen in the use of mustard gas as a weapon by both sides in the war. " in 1915 the Germans used mustard gases at the village of Langemarck." (Rebehn M.)

Both France and Britain also used this devastating gas in the war and it is estimated that by 1918, "...one in every four artillery shells fired contained gas of one type or another." (Rebehn M.)

Furthermore, the German's used chlorine gas as well. "As a result of one chlorine gas attack, five thousand persons were killed and about ten thousand were injured. The Germans ejected chlorine from 5730 balloons containing about 168 tons of chlorine within the 5 to 8-minute duration of the attack." (Weapons of mass destruction) it should, also be noted that chemical were not the only instruments of mass destruction that this war was to initiate. It was also the first are war tot extensively use aircraft and mass bombing as a weapon of terror, as well as the firs time that tanks were used.

The Second World War was to accelerate the relationship between technology and weapons of mass destruction. There is little doubt that the popular notion and concept of weapons of mass destruction took hold of the public consciousnesses during World War Two after the use of the atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima (August 6, 1945) and Nagasaki (August 9, 1945). (Weapons of mass destruction) the lethal destructive potential of the weapons of mass destruction and humanities arsenal of weapons was increased in 1949 when the a-bomb was created in the U.S.S.R. (Weapons of mass destruction)

3. Conclusion

There is an obvious and easily identifiable link between the development of human technology and the increase in weapons of mass destruction. In each age in human history maximum use has been made technology that is at the disposal of that time to create the most lethal weapons possible. While the term "weapons of mass destruction' is one which has only emerged recently in history, there has been a continuous development of these weapons since ancient times.

One of the issues and the central controversies that surround these weapons is that they target people indiscriminately and they often aim to inflict destruction on the entire population and not just on the opposing enemy's soldieries. The second characteristic that is often seen in historical accounts is the ability of these weapons to create psychological terror. As this paper has attempted to show, the earlier forms of these weapons were limited by the technologies of the time and their destructive capabilities were generally comparatively mild compared to the large and super-destructive weapons created by modern technology. However, history has also shown that technology is not always the main determinant in the amount of destructive power of these weapons. The spread of bubonic plague across Europe is one example of this fact. Another is the way that "low-tech" weapons which do not necessarily use all the high-end technologies of the time, can be horribly effective. A case in point is the use of box-cutters and hijacking aircraft in the terrorist attack on New York in 2001. In the final analysis it is not necessarily technology that makes weapons of mass destruction so dangerous but rather aims and intensions of human beings who use these weapons.