The history of chemical weapons during the First World War is marked by a paradox. If poison gases are inevitably associated with this conflict, we have to admit that very little is known about this ‘war within the war’. The unprecedented sufferings endured by the combatants on both sides are constantly emphasised, as are the ravages provoked by the gases.

At the same time, however, a careful examination of the French losses caused by poison gas on the entire front between February and October 1916 brings out the fact that they represented only 0.2 percent of the total casualties. Beyond the myth or the stereotype, it thus seems legitimate to question the military reality of these weapons and their impact on the battlefields of the Great War.

Not the least of the controversies which continue to this day is the identity of the real initiator of chemical warfare. Obviously, the appearance of chemical weapons on the battlefield of the First World War cannot be considered a simple technical innovation. But does this permit us to conclude that its use marks the advent of the total war? Were chemical weapons the first ones conceived not to conquer enemy territory but to annihilate the adversary physically? The objective here is thus to bring out the impact of chemical weapons on the course of the hostilities, in human, industrial, tactical and strategic terms alike.

Exhibition catalogue — In French only
Gaz! Gaz! Gaz!: La Guerre chimique, 1914-1918.
Essays by Olivier Lepick, Stéphane Audoin-Rouzeau, Sophie Delaporte, Annette Becker and others.
Ed. 5 Continents, 112 pages, 55 colour illustrations, 25 €.
Available in May 2010.