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Poison gas was a new weapon 

that they used in World War I. 

Poison gas killed about 88,498 

people. There were also many 

many people injured by this. 

There was 1,240,853 fatal 

injuries by this gas in World War 

I. 

 The types of weapons employed 

ranged from disabling chemicals, such 

as tear gas and the severe mustard 

gas, to lethal agents like phosgene and 

chlorine. This chemical warfare was a 

major component of the first global war 

and first total war of the 20th. century. 

The killing capacity of gas, however, 

was limited – only four percent of 

combat deaths were caused by gas. 

Because it was possible to develop 

effective countermeasures against 

chemical attacks, such as gas masks, 

gas was unlike most other weapons of 

the period.

It is generally assumed that gas was 

first used by the Germans in World 

War One. This is not accurate. The 

first recorded gas attack was by the 

French. In August 1914, the French 

used tear gas grenades containing 

xylyl bromide on the Germans. This 

was more an irritant rather than a 

gas that would kill. It was used by 

the French to stop the seemingly 

unstoppable German army 

advancing throughout Belgium and 

north-eastern France. In one sense, 

it was an act of desperation as 

opposed to a premeditated act that 

all but went against the 'rules' of 

war. However, while the French 

were the first to use a gas against an 

enemy, the Germans had been 

giving a great deal of thought to the 

use of poison gas as a way of  

inflicting a major defeat on an 

enemy.

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