A NEW TYPE OF WARFARE: Chemical Filling Facilities in Istanbul, 1914–1918

Abstract

In the total war era, states committed their scientific research to rapidly changing warfare conditions, making the management of war the primary goal of contemporary states. The weakness of primary weapons in neutralising the enemy (or enemies) was obvious from the beginning of the First World War. Constantly changing war strategies, integration of civilians into warfare, and the growing sense of impotence as the war proceeded longer than expected, prompted a return to the components of violence. Although research into the use of different chemicals, gases, and suffocating substances in weapons was not something new, its successful employment climaxed during the First World War. This study provides an analysis of the employment of chemical weapons during the First World War and revisits the scarce arguments on whether the Ottomans had taken part in producing chemical weapons. The primary focus here is the gasfilling facilities established in Istanbul under the supervision of German efforts for military purposes. Additionally, the unanticipated extraordinary effects of the use of chemical weapons, the strategies employed to cause attrition in trenches, and its effects on the Ottoman army are within the scope of this article.