KEMIČNO OROŽJE – POSEBNOST PRVE SVETOVNE VOJNE ALI
ŠE DANES PRETEČA NEVARNOST
Kemično orožje je svoj največji razmah doživelo med prvo svetovno vojno, ko so ga uporabljale sile obeh v vojno vpletenih strani, čeprav je bila s haaškimi deklaracijami uporaba strupov v bojne namene prepovedana že pred vojno. Med prvo svetovno vojno je bilo razvitih in uporabljenih več vrst kemičnega orožja, pri čemer so največjo uporabnost ter uničevalno moč pokazali klor, fosgen in iperit. Odziv na uporabo smrtonosnega tihega orožja je bil razvoj zaščitnih mask, pri čemer pa mnoge niso zadoščale standardom in so se v kriznih trenutkih pokazale kot neučinkovite. Uporaba kemičnega orožja je v prvi svetovni vojni povzročila veliko žrtev, vendar ni odločilno vplivala na končni izid vojne. Zaradi izjemne smrtonosnosti in uničujočih fizioloških ter psiholoških posledic, ki jih je povzročilo kemično orožje v času tako imenovane Velike vojne, so si mednarodne sile po letu 1918 prizadevale zagotoviti, da se ta tihi ubijalec ne bi več uporabljal v bojne namene. To je bil tudi eden izmed vzrokov, zakaj ni prišlo do večjega razmaha uporabe kemičnega orožja po tem letu. Prizadevanja mednarodne skupnosti po izkoreninjenju bojnih strupov pa niso preprečila razvoja znanosti, ki je v 20. stoletju prinesel odkritja novih strupenih orožij, ki jih v prvi svetovni vojni še niso poznali. Chemical weapons saw their largest growth during World War I, when it was used by the forces of both involved parties despite the fact that the use of casualty agents had been banned by Hague declarations even before the war. Several types of chemical weapons were used and developed during World War I with chloride, phosgene and mustard gas proving to be most useful and destructive. As a response to the use of this lethal silent weapon protection masks were developed. However, many of them did not meet the standards and proved to be ineffective during crisis. The use of chemical weapons in World War I caused numerous casualties, but did not decisively impact the final outcome of the war. Due to the extremely lethal nature and devastating physiological and psychological consequences caused by chemical weapons during the Great War, international forces after 1918 made every effort to never use this silent murderer in combat again. This was also one of the reasons why chemical weapons did not see too large of a development after this period. However, international efforts to root out casualty agents did not prevent the scientific development, which in the 20th century brought the discovery of new toxic weapons which had not been known during World War I.