Juridification, Politicization, and Circumvention of Law: (De-)Legitimizing Chemical Warfare before and after Ypres, 1899–1925

One of the most terrifying weapons introduced to the First World War by the progress of natural sciences and technology was poison gas. While the chapters by Isabel V. Hull, Aimee Genell and Mustafa Aksakal deal with the German and Ottoman justifications of the respective entries into the war, Miloš Vec turns to the justificatory discourse of chemical warfare. After the first German gas attack in 1915 at Ypres a political and legal debate started. The justificatory discourse of chemical warfare took up elements from international treaties and doctrine, discussing the centuries-old use of poisonous weapons which was now being dealt with in the Hague Conventions. Political interests, military necessity, and ethical standards clashed when interpreting the provisions of Article 23 of the ‘Convention with Respect to the Laws and Customs of War on Land’ from 1899, prohibiting ‘(t)o employ poison or poisoned arms’. This chapter discusses the international legal debate around chemical weapons as it relates to politics before, during, and after the First World War. The historical justification of a particular type of weapon and warfare illustrates the conceptualization of international law and politics at that time.