Geneva Protocol on Chemical Warfare
Geneva Protocol on Chemical Warfare (1925).Widespread revulsion against the World War I use of poison gas led to the Geneva Protocol in 1925, restricting chemical warfare. The agreement, ratified by most powers, was rejected by Japan and by the U.S. Senate.
Senators blocked it despite popular belief that gas warfare was immoral and military skepticism of its value. Supporters of stockpiling chemical weapons, including the U.S. Army's Chemical Warfare Service, argued that any ban was ineffective and that possession of such weapons was the best deterrent. Still, U.S. presidents abided by the protocol, and the military did not obtain any toxins between 1922 and 1937.
At the outset of World War II, the allies announced adherence to the Geneva Protocol, but reserved the right to retaliate, a conditional pledge based on mutual restraint. In 1942, the British and Americans changed explicitly to deterrence, threatening massive...
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