{"id":51682,"date":"2015-04-22T04:11:24","date_gmt":"2015-04-22T09:11:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/?p=51682"},"modified":"2015-05-04T21:54:42","modified_gmt":"2015-05-05T02:54:42","slug":"habers-rule","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/?p=51682","title":{"rendered":"Haber’s Rule"},"content":{"rendered":"

The sun was setting on the trenches of Ypres on the evening of April 22nd, 1915. \u00a0The Allied battlefield, a mixture of British regulars and French colonial troops, had been quiet for months following the First Battle of Ypres in November of the previous year. \u00a0The men of the\u00a0French 45th and 87th divisions were acclimating to the routine of the trenches – a far cry from their prior lives in Morocco and Algeria.<\/p>\n

On the darkening horizon a cloud began to form from the German line. \u00a0It moved slowly, practically crawling on the ground towards the French colonial troops. \u00a0Eyes began to itch and water; mouths filled with a distinct metallic taste. \u00a0And as the cloud enveloped the trenches, lungs seized and eyes felt like they were melting…because they were. \u00a0It was 168 tons of chlorine gas.<\/p>\n

Science had brought another new horror to the Great War.<\/p>\n

—<\/p>\n

\"\"

Clouds of Death – the use of chemical weapons at the Second Battle of Ypres contributed to nearly 70,000 Allied casualties over the course of one month<\/p><\/div>\n

The use of new technology as new tools of terror had already been well-established in the Great War.<\/p>\n

The airplane and Zeppelin<\/a>, once gentlemanly pursuits of the conquest of the skies, now rained bombs from above. \u00a0The modern submarine, an invention not yet even in its second decade, was torpedoing British shipping lanes. \u00a0The flamethrower had just appeared on the Western Front a month earlier, used to devastating effect by German troops against French conscripts.<\/p>\n

The action at Ypres was not exactly the first time gas had been used in the war. \u00a0Both the French and German armies had used gas in some early battles, including the Germans against the Russians in January of 1915. \u00a0But those were xylyl bromide\u00a0canisters – basically tear gas – with limited lethality.<\/p>\n

\"\"

The Lucky Ones? The chlorine gas blinded men very quickly. This is likely a photo from later in the war, with the victims probably exposed to Mustard gas, which had a similar effect<\/p><\/div>\n

Chlorine gas was something all together different – a poison gas that when combined with water formed\u00a0hypochlorous acid. \u00a0In weak concentrations, the gas would burn or irritate any moist tissue, like lungs or eyes. \u00a0In stronger doses, it could melt skin or practically dissolve a man from the inside out.<\/p>\n

The Germans knew the mathematical equation to determine how much gas to deliver to the unsuspecting French colonial troops – Haber’s rule. \u00a0It was named after the gas’ inventor.<\/p>\n

—<\/p>\n

\"\"

The father of Chemical Warfare – Fritz Haber synthesized ammonia from nitrogen and hydrogen, allowing for the production of more potent fertilizer…and poison gas. Haber would win the Nobel Prize in 1918<\/p><\/div>\n

For a man who would be known as the “Father of Chemical Warfare,” Fritz Haber had originally intended to try and save lives.<\/p>\n

Haber’s discovery of\u00a0synthesizing ammonia from nitrogen and hydrogen gas was a critical breakthrough in the development of synthetic fertilizer. \u00a0With British ships blocking German ports, Haber’s fertilizer formula allowed Germany to continue to feed herself far longer than would have been possible otherwise. \u00a0And Haber’s fertilizer formula continues even into the modern era, likely feeding millions more. \u00a0For his work, Haber would eventually be awarded the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1918.<\/p>\n

If you think this is the part of the narrative where the well-intended scientist sees his creation exploited into something monstrous without his consent, unfortunately Haber isn’t that figure. \u00a0Haber dove into turning his discovery into a weapon in earnest, stating that in war “death was death.” \u00a0His wife Clara, also a scientist, vehemently disagreed, imploring that he abandon his work. \u00a0Haber refused, instead going to Ypres himself to oversee the release of the gas.<\/p>\n

—<\/p>\n

\"\"

The first men exposed to the chlorine gas found inventive ways to try and combat it – using urine or soda-soaked clothing tied across the mouth and nose until the gas passed over<\/p><\/div>\n

6,000 French colonial troops were killed or wounded within ten minutes of the gas being released.<\/p>\n

Thousands more fled the battlefield, mystifying their native French commanders or neighboring British soldiers. \u00a0Only as command tried to force the men to stay in place did they begin to understand what was occurring. \u00a0A 4-mile opening in the Allied lines had been created and no one wanted to rush to the front.<\/p>\n

That included the Germans. \u00a0No one, not Haber nor the German High Command, had foreseen the effectiveness of the gas. \u00a0With few reserves available, and few pre-cautions against the gas, the Germans slowly moved ahead. \u00a0No prisoners were taken, although this was more out of mercy than barbarism. \u00a0A quick bullet seemed preferable to the ghastly sights of men choking on the fluid of their own melting lungs.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Haber at Ypres (circled) – the scientist would continue to work on gas warfare through the Great War. \u00a0He was never charged with a war crime despite the public outcry against the use of gas<\/p><\/div>\n

If not for a battalion of Canadian troops rushing into the line, at the loss of 75% of their men, the Germans might have been truly able to exploit the advantage. \u00a0The Canadians found that placing urine-soaked clothing over their noses and mouths neutralized the worst effects of the gas. \u00a0It wouldn’t be until July of 1915 that Allied troops were given adequate gas masks. \u00a0By that time, new and even more terrifying forms of gas weaponry had been developed.<\/p>\n

—<\/p>\n

Upon Haber’s return to Germany, his wife Clara angrily confronted him. \u00a0The news of the gas attack had been publicized worldwide. \u00a0Running from their fight, Clara removed herself to the couple’s garden. \u00a0There, she shot and killed herself with Haber’s service revolver. \u00a0If Haber had any anguish over his wife’s suicide it didn’t affect his work – he left for the Eastern Front to conduct gas attacks against the Russians just days after her death.<\/p>\n

Haber would continue to work on chemical weapons experiments between the World Wars, helping both Russia and Spain create their own chemical weapon departments. \u00a0As the Nazis came to power, Haber found himself attracting a great deal of interest from German authorities again. \u00a0But not for his weapons.<\/p>\n

Haber was Jewish. \u00a0He died, exiled and in poor health, trying to travel to British Palestine in 1934.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The sun was setting on the trenches of Ypres on the evening of April 22nd, 1915. \u00a0The Allied battlefield, a mixture of British regulars and French colonial troops, had been quiet for months following the First Battle of Ypres in November of the previous year. \u00a0The men of the\u00a0French 45th and 87th divisions were acclimating […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":425,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[105,281],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-51682","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-first-ringer","category-ww1-fact-and-myth"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51682","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/425"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=51682"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51682\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":53145,"href":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51682\/revisions\/53145"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=51682"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=51682"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=51682"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}