Strange and Formidable Weapon

Leslie Girard Marion

Description

The advent of poison gas in World War I shocked Britons at all levels of society, yet by the end of the conflict their nation was a leader in chemical warfare. Although never used on the home front, poison gas affected almost every segment of British society physically, mentally, or emotionally, proving to be an armament of total war. Through cartoons, military records, novels, treaties, and other sources, Marion Girard examines the varied ways different sectors of British society viewed chemical warfare, from the industrialists who promoted their toxic weapons while maintaining private control of production, to the politicians who used gas while balancing the need for victory with the risk of developing a reputation for barbarity. Although most Britons considered gas a vile weapon and a symptom of the enemy’s inhumanity, many eventually condoned its use.

 

The public debates about the future of gas extended to the interwar years, and evidence reveals that the taboo against poison gas was far from inevitable. A Strange and Formidable Weapon uncovers the complicated history of this weapon of total war and illustrates the widening involvement of society in warfare.

Sujets

• Histoire
• Reino Unido
• Military history
• World War I
• United Kingdom
• History of Europe
• Great Britain
• Royaume-Uni

Informations

• Publié par: Nebraska
• Date de parution: 01 juin 2008
• Nombre de lectures: 1
• EAN13: 9780803222052
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 4 Mo

Extrait

A Strange and Formidable Weapon

Studies in War, Society, and the Military

<:C:G 6A ฀:9>IDGH

Peter Maslowski University of Nebraska–Lincoln

David Graff Kansas State University

Reina Pennington Norwich University

:9>IDG>6A ฀7D6G9

D’Ann Campbell Director of Government and Foundation Relations, U.S. Coast Guard Foundation

Mark A. Clodfelter National War College

Brooks D. Simpson Arizona State University

Roger J. Spiller George C. Marshall Professor of Military History U.S. Army Command and General Staff College (retired)

Timothy H. E. Travers University of Calgary

Arthur Waldron Lauder Professor of International Relations University of Pennsylvania

A Strange and

Formidable Weapon

British Responses to World War I Poison Gas

Marion Girard

J C > K : G H >I N ฀ D; ฀ C : 7G 6H@ 6 ฀ EG : H H A> C8 DAC ฀ 6 C 9 ฀ ADC 9 DC

©฀ by the Board of Regents of the University of Nebraska All rights reserved Manufactured in the United States of America f Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Girard, Marion. A strange and formidable weapon: British responses to World War I poison gas / Marion Girard. p. cm. — (Studies in war, society, and the military) Revision of the author’s dissertation (Ph. D.)—Yale University,. Includes bibliographical references and index. >H7C฀(cloth: alk. paper) . World War,–—Chemical warfare—Great Britain. . Gases, Asphyxiating and poisonous—War use. . Great Britain—History—I. Title.th century. 9 8<฀  '—dc 

Set in Garamond and Futura. Designed by R. W. Boeche.

For Kurk, Luke, and the rest of my family— I am very fortunate. Thank you.

Contents

List of Illustrations viii Acknowledgments ix Introduction฀

. The Political Challenge Descent to Atrocities? 

. The Army’s Experience New Weapons, New Soldiers 

. The Scientific Divide Chemists versus Physicians 

. Whose Business Is It? Dilemmas in the Gas Industry 

. Gas as a Symbol Visual Images of Chemical Weapons in the Popular Press 

. The Reestablishment of the Gas Taboo and the Public Debate Will Gas Destroy the World? 

Epilogue Abbreviations Notes Bibliography Index

Illustrations

. Louis Raemaekers’sThe Gas Fiend . Frank Reynolds’sThe Old Formula . Gas cylinders . Projector gas attack . Close-up of a cylinder projecting gas . British troops wearing respirators . Raven-Hill’sThe Elixir of Hate . Bernard Partridge’sRetribution . John de G. Bryan’sGerman Poison Belt . Lucien Jonas’sKamerad! . S. Begg’sNot Like Soldiers, but Like Devils . Frederic Villiers’sA Charge though the German Poison Gas

. Unknown artist’sIn a Gas-Stricken Area . Bruce Bairnsfather’sThe Candid Friend . Lewis Baumer’sWell, Madam . Bernhard Hugh’sA Post-War Prophecy . John Singer Sargent’sGassed . Men blinded by mustard gas



Acknowledgments

This book is possible only because of help from many people and institutions, too many to list individually. Thank you to all of you for your generous help and advice. In particular, I would like to thank my advisers, Paul Kennedy, Jay Winter, and John Harley Warner, who guided me though the dissertation upon which this book is based. Peter Stanksy, my undergraduate mentor, has allowed me to ask questions throughout the entire writing process. My col- leagues, at the University of New Hampshire, at conferences, and at talks, have also offered support and asked questions that have encouraged me to examine the material in new ways, especially Jeff Diefendorf, Janet Polasky, Funso Afolayan, and Bill Harris. My department and college provided mor- al and financial support. Research assistants and computer experts Mandy Chalou, Lisa Kelly, and John Green were wonderful, as was everyone at the University of Nebraska Press. Thank you all. Archivists and librarians at the Yale University Libraries, especially the History of Medicine, the Medical, Mudd, and Sterling Libraries, all provided invaluable help, as did the staff at the Dimond Library at the University of New Hampshire. The Baker-Berry and Rauner Special Collections Libraries at Dartmouth College offered courtesies that I very much appreciated. In London, the British Library (both at the St. Pancras and the Colindale branches); the House of Lords Record Office; the Imperial War Museum Art Department (particularly Michael Moody); the Imperial War Museum Document Collection and Library; the Imperial War Museum Photograph Archive; the Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives at King’s College, London; the National Army Museum; the Royal Society; the Royal Society for Chemistry; and the Wellcome Library for the History and Understanding of Medicine allowed me to visit and delve into records repeatedly. My deep- est thanks are due to the staff at The National Archives at Kew where I did most of my research. Marcelle Adamson at the Illustrated London News Picture Library and Andre Gailani atPunch assisted with illustrations. Outside of London, the Brotherton Library at the University of Leeds; the Cheshire Record Centre; and the Churchill Archives Centre at Churchill College, Cambridge University, provided valuable assistance. Other archives