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      Terror Weapons: The British Experience of Gas and Its Treatment in the First World War

      War in History
      SAGE Publications

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          Abstract

          Chemical weapons accounted for only 1 per cent of the 750,000 British troops killed in the First World War and yet caused disproportionate casualties (estimated at 180,100). The considerable investment in the development of new toxins and methods of delivery was designed to maintain the elements of surprise and uncertainty as these accentuated their psychological effect. Soldiers were continually challenged on the battlefield by combinations of different types of agent designed to undermine their confidence in respirators, disorientate them, and erode their morale. At first, army doctors practised defensive medicine, invaliding their patients for protracted periods to the UK or base hospitals. By 1917, progressive study of the physical and psychological effects of different types of toxin allowed physicians to design new management strategies. Borrowing ideas from shell shock, specialist units were set up closer to the front line and medical officers taught to identify crucial points in the course of illness to accelerate recovery times and forestall the accretion of psychosomatic symptoms.

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          Author and article information

          Journal
          War in History
          War in History
          SAGE Publications
          0968-3445
          1477-0385
          June 04 2014
          June 04 2014
          : 21
          : 3
          : 355-375
          Article
          10.1177/0968344513510248
          5131841
          27917027
          6651ecff-c0a5-4a80-a6c5-6cc0d38a9b24
          © 2014
          History

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