In war, there's only one rule: win- well actually, that's not true, or at least not true anymore.
In the aftermath of World War II, 196 nations ratified in whole or with some reservations
two additional treaties to the Geneva Conventions, detailing the basic rights of wartime prisoners,
establishing protections for the wounded and sick, and protecting civilians caught in a
war zone.
The conventions also laid down the framework for the international banning of certain weapons
of war, which we'll look at today, in this episode of The Infographics Show- Top Ten
Banned Weapons of War.
War is dirty business, and in the aftermath of the First World War the nations of the
world moved to limit the scope of its destructive impact.
Horrified by the mass casualties inflicted by chemical gas attacks, in 1925 at the initiative
of the United States, France, and Poland, the League of Nations drafted the Protocol
for the Prohibition of the Use in War of Asphyxiating, Poisonous or Other Gases, and of Bacteriological
Methods of Warfare.
In essence, international law forbade the use of chemical or biological weapons in war.
Since then other weapons have been added to that list, all with the intent purpose of
limiting human suffering or damage to the earth itself.
Without further ado, here are the top ten banned weapons of war:
10.
Mustard Gas – First synthesized in 1822, it wasn't until 1860 that the dangerous properties
of mustard gas were documented.
As a chemical weapon and dubbed the King of the Battle Gases, mustard gas is surprisingly
the least lethal of all the various chemicals that were used in World War 1, and it's estimated
that only about 1-5% of the people exposed to it were killed.
Mustard gas' real power lay in the terror it could sew amongst enemy troops, as well
as the incapacitating effect exposure had on unprotected soldiers.
Inhaled into the lungs it could be fatal, but while a gas mask would protect from inhalation
there was nothing soldiers could do to protect their exposed skin.
The effects of exposure were not immediate, but within hours the skin would begin to blister,
specially in moist areas such as the armpits and genitals.
As the blisters popped they would often become infected, which is where mustard gas became
one of the most lethal gas weapons ever used- infection typically kills more soldiers in
war than actual combat does.
Worst of all, exposure created sensitivity, and further exposure at even lower doses would
cause a reaction.
9.
Chlorine Gas – Another of the gases used extensively in World War I, it was first deployed
by the Germans at Ypres on the 22nd of april, 1915.
Though an 1899 treaty had forbidden the use of gas in war, the Germans side-stepped the
wording on the treaty by releasing the gas from canisters, not projectiles as outlined
in the treaty.
Planning to release the gas from their own lines, the Germans waited until the wind turned
towards the French forces and then let the heavier-than-air gas drift across no man's
land and sink into the French trenches.
The attack was successful and 100 French troops were killed.
Chlorine gas irritates the eyes, nose, lungs and throat, and in high enough concentrations
can fill the lungs and kill by asphyxiation.
Though seen as a horrific weapon of war, the Germans argued that the intent was to actually
shorten the length of the war and thus limit overall suffering.
8.
Phosgene Gas – Mustard gas may have been dubbed the King of the Battle Gases, but when
it comes to sheer lethality no other gas used in World War I could top Phosgene.
Colorless and smelling like moldy hay- not an uncommon smell in the trenches of Europe-
most troops did not realize they had even been exposed to phosgene until it was too
late.
A slow-acting gas, victim's lungs would fill with fluid and after a day or two would suffocate
to death.
No treatment existed at the time and the best a medic could do is make victims comfortable.
Although the Germans were the first to use phosgene, it became the weapon of choice for
the Allies, and would ultimately be responsible for 85% of the 1.2 million casualties of chemical
warfare during World War I.
7.
Nerve Gas - In 2017 100 people, including children, were killed in a nerve gas attack
in Syria by pro-government forces, with hundreds left injured.
An independent investigation later identified the culprit as Sarin gas, a highly lethal
nerve agent.
Banned by international treaty, nerve agents are some of the most lethal forms of chemical
warfare weapons and work by disrupting the ability for nerves in the body to transmit
chemical messages between each other.
Colorless, tasteless, and odorless, the first sign of exposure is uncontrolled drooling
from the mouth, followed by foaming.
Nausea and stomach cramps follow, along with uncontrollable urination and diarrhea.
Eventually the victim's lungs become paralyzed leaving them unable to breathe.
6.
Plastic landmines – landmines have been around for centuries, albeit in very crude
fashion.
Some of the first ever used were by the Chinese during the Song dynasty against an assault
by the Mongols.
Filling cast iron cannonball shells with gunpowder, they had an extremely long fuse which had
to be lit by hand by brave ambushers just hundreds of feet away from the enemy.
Modern landmines are completely autonomous and can vary in tripping mechanisms from pressure-sensitive
triggers to tripwires.
With the advent of the metal detector, land mines were designed using plastic in order
to avoid detection, however they were quickly banned internationally due to the difficulty
in locating fragments via x-ray by treating physicians.
This would cause prolonged suffering and was ultimately seen as inhumane.
5.
Biological Weapons – Though around for nearly the entire time that man was waged war against
himself, biological weapons were only recently banned under international law.
Most biological weapons take the form of weaponized disease agents such as bacteria and viruses,
but they can also include fungi, toxins and rickettsiae- parasites that normally affect
arthropods but can be deadly in humans.
Modern conventions don't just protect people from biological weapons, but actually prohibit
their use against plants and animals as well, preventing nations from engineering plagues
that can wipe out a nation's livestock or crops and thus creating famine, which is seen
as unnecessary human suffering.
4.
Flamethrowers – Made famous for their use in World War II and Vietnam, flamethrowers
were the answer to combating enemies entrenched inside fortified bunkers or underground tunnels.
In these confined spaces flamethrowers can actually be more lethal by sucking the oxygen
out of the atmosphere than from their actual flames.
While technically not illegal, their use around civilian areas has been banned due to the
incredible damage they can inflict on infrastructure and their inability to be properly 'aimed'.
3.
Napalm – Another weapon made famous by the Vietnam War, napalm was actually developed
in 1942 at Harvard University.
As a mixture of a gelling agent and some kind of fuel such as gasoline, napalm was originally
designed to be used as an incendiary device against buildings, but was later primarily
used an an anti-personnel weapon.
As the sticky substance sticks to the skin it produces severe burns, and sharing in many
of the same characteristics as a flame thrower it can also make it impossible for individuals
to breathe.
Though not outlawed from military use, its use in civilian population centers is illegal,
once again due to the propensity for incredible property damage and inability to fully control
its effects.
2.
Poisoned Bullets – Early bullets weren't very accurate or powerful, so militaries around
the world would spike them with small amounts of poison or fecal matter.
While not adding any immediate lethality, a poisoned bullet could deliver toxic compounds
deep into the body and result in serious infection that would set in long after a battle took
place.
In modern projectiles the addition of poison would be largely pointless as well, as modern
bullets are already devastatingly powerful.
Because of the lack of immediate lethality and suffering caused long after a conflict
is over, poison bullets have long been banned by international law.
1.
Dirty Bombs – Nuclear weapons are bad enough, and the international community has been unsuccessfully
trying to ban them since their inception.
Nuclear weapons are primarily designed to destroy military or civilian targets, yet
to achieve maximum explosive impact they are detonated high above their target where the
pressure wave can spread.
This has the side effect of causing most of the radiation released to be harmlessly blasted
up into space, or dispersed over a very wide area limiting its effect.
A dirty bomb however is a device that is designed primarily to create radiological fallout rather
than kill outright, with the goal of poisoning land, sea, and air for a very long time.
A regular nuclear weapon can be 'converted' into a dirty bomb by simply programming it
to detonate at ground level, thus creating massive plumes of radioactive debris and irradiating
dozens of square kilometers.
However, other devices such as a cobalt bomb can be detonated high up in the air and produce
tremendous amounts of radioactive fallout.
These dirty, or 'salted' bombs, have long been banned due to the long-lasting and catastrophic
damage they do to large swathes of the environment.
Man has waged war since his inception, but it's only in the last few centuries that we've
began to try and limit the scope of the destruction that we inflict on each other.
As technology progresses and makes more apocalyptic and destructive weapons available, perhaps
it's a sign of hope that even the most embittered enemies such as the Soviet Union and the USA
have abided by these international laws.
Maybe one day we can even move to outlaw war altogether.
So, what's the most horrific weapon of war you've ever heard
of?
Can we ever truly put our warmongering ways behind us?
Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
Also, be sure to check out our other video called MOAB - the mother of all bombs!
Thanks for watching, and as always, don't forget to like, share and subscribe.
See you next time!
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