Knowra Chemical warfare Chemical warfare Chemical warfare is the military use of toxic chemicals to injure or kill people, animals, or plants. It includes toxic agents and the means used to disperse them.
Chemical warfare agent : A chemical substance intended to cause death, temporary incapacitation, or lasting harm through its toxic effects. This is the broad class of substances used to produce chemical-warfare effects.
Siege warfare : Military operations to capture fortified places by surrounding them and disrupting their defense. Ancient accounts describe toxic smoke and other hazards used against defenders during sieges.
Chlorine : A chemical element and greenish-yellow gas that is toxic when inhaled at high concentrations. Chlorine was among the first toxic gases used on a large scale in World War I.
Chemical weapon : A weapon that uses toxic chemicals to cause death, injury, or incapacitation. Chemical weapons are the material instruments through which chemical warfare is conducted.
Nerve agent : A toxic chemical that disrupts nerve signaling, often by inhibiting acetylcholinesterase. Nerve agents cause severe physiological disruption by interfering with the nervous system.
World War I : A global war fought from 1914 to 1918, centered initially in Europe. The war saw chemical weapons deployed on a large scale by industrial armies.
Phosgene : A toxic gas that can cause delayed, life-threatening lung injury after inhalation. Its delayed symptoms made it a significant choking agent in World War I.
Chemical injury : Harm to the body caused by exposure to a toxic chemical. Exposure can produce acute injury, lasting disability, or delayed illness.
Sulfur mustard : A blistering chemical agent that damages skin, eyes, and respiratory tissue. It exemplifies a persistent agent whose injuries may develop after exposure.
Second Battle of Ypres : A 1915 battle in Belgium during which German forces released chlorine gas against Allied troops. The attack became a pivotal early instance of large-scale chemical warfare.
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