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Definition: chemical warfare from Philip's Encyclopedia

Use of chemical weapons such as poison and nerve gases, defoliants and herbicides. Poison gas and mustard gas was used in World War 1. Chemical weapons were not used in World War 2, but the Germans developed a nerve gas. A defoliant, Agent Orange, was employed by the US in the Vietnam War. Although the use of chemical and biological weapons is prohibited by the Geneva Convention (1925), their production, possession and exchange are not. In 1990, the USA and Soviet Union agreed to reduce their stockpiles of chemical weapons by 80%. See also biological warfare


chemical warfare

From The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia with Atlas and Weather Guide
Use of gaseous, liquid, or solid substances intended to have a toxic effect on humans, animals, or plants. Together with biological warfare , its use was banned by the Geneva Protocol in 1925, and the United Nations, in 1989, also voted for a ban. In 1993 over 120 nations, including the USA and Russian Federation, signed a treaty outlawing the manufacture, stockpiling, and use of chemical weapons. Types of chemical weapons Irritant gases may cause permanent injury or death. Examples include chlorine, phosgene (Cl 2 CO), and mustard gas (C 4 H 8 CI 2 S), used in World War I (1914–18) and allegedly by Soviet forces in Afghanistan, by Vietnamese forces in Laos, and by Iraq against Iran during their 1980–88 war. Tear gases , such as CS gas used in riot control, affect the lungs and eyes, causing temporary blindness. Nerve gases are organophosphorus compounds similar to insecticides, which are taken into the body through the skin and lungs and break down the action of the nervous system. …
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Full text Article chemical warfare

From Britannica Concise Encyclopedia
Use of lethal or incapacitating chemical weapons in war, and the methods of combating such agents. Chemical weapons include choking agents such as the chlorine and phosgene gas employed first by the Germans and later by the Allies in World War I; blood agents such as hydrogen cyanide or cyanogen…
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Full text Article chemical warfare

From The Columbia Encyclopedia
employment in war of incendiaries, poison gases , and other chemical substances. Ancient armies attacking or defending fortified cities threw burning oil and fireballs. A primitive type of flamethrower was employed as early as the 5th cent. B.C. ; modern types are still in use. In the Middle Ages, …
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Full text Article chemical warfare

From The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia with Atlas and Weather Guide
Use of gaseous, liquid, or solid substances intended to have a toxic effect on humans, animals, or plants. Together with biological warfare , its use was banned by the Geneva Protocol in 1925, and the United Nations, in 1989, also voted for a ban. In 1993 over 120 nations, including the USA and…
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Popular fiction forecast the use of poison gas in warfare from the 1890s. While an effort was made to ban the wartime use of gas at The Hague International Peace Conference in 1899, military strategists and tacticians dismissed chemical weapons as a fanciful notion. The stalemate of World War I…
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Gas attack during WWI. From Wikipedia...
Chemical warfare agents (CWA) are illicit chemical compounds that have been used in conflicts for centuries. Use of CWA in conflicts was banned following the third Geneva Convention in 1925. In 1993 most countries in the world ratified the Chemical Warfare Convention mandating the destruction of CWA…
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Full text Article chemical warfare

From Hawley's Condensed Chemical Dictionary
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Full text Article Chemical Exposure/Warfare

From Gale Encyclopedia of Nursing and Allied Health
A boy whose face was burned by Napalm dropped by...
Chemical exposure/warfare is the release of chemical weapon agents (CWAs) that have the potential to cause injury or death. The chemical release and human exposure may be unintentional—such as an industrial accident during manufacture, transport, or military stockpiling of CWAs—or intentional, as…
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Full text Article Chemical Warfare Agents

From The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia with Atlas and Weather Guide
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Full text Article chemical warfare

From Collins English Dictionary
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Full text Article chemical warfare

From Philip's Encyclopedia
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