West Virginia University Historical Review
Abstract
The discourse surrounding mental health awareness has progressed throughout decades of research, stigma breaking, and connectedness; however, this trend of growth regarding mental illnesses was not as forgiving over a century ago, during and directly after the Great War. Natural elements of war alone caused tumultuous suffering for soldiers within the Triple Entente and the Central Powers. Yet, it was the man-made technologies of World War I that caused the deepest traumas, particularly the chemical variants created by Fritz Haber. By examining this history through a psychological lens, the British soldiers exposed to chemical warfare from Ypres to Verdun are given a better diagnosis than the broad term of “shell shock.” In addressing the origins of gaseous agents like sulfur mustard and phosgene, this paper finally recognizes the men that fought to preserve the world order for the war they were fighting on the inside post-gas attack.
Recommended Citation
Davis, Lakin
(2021)
"Chemical Warfare in WWI: The Psychological Corrosion of Soldiers via Chemical Warfare and the 1925 Geneva Convention’s Involvement in Eradicating Future Gaseous Afflictions,"
West Virginia University Historical Review: Vol. 2:
Iss.
1, Article 6.
Available at:
https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/wvuhistoricalreview/vol2/iss1/6