Don’t Waste Paper
In 1918, the U.S. War Industries Board ran ads in magazines and newspapers urging everyone to save paper. The reason: "Paper contains valuable chemicals necessary for war purposes. Economy in the use of paper will release a large quantity of these materials for making poisonous gas."
All patriots were urged to do their part to help "Gas the Fiendish Huns."
All patriots were urged to do their part to help "Gas the Fiendish Huns."
The Illustrated Milliner - Sep 28, 1918
Every time you economize in paper, every time you do without a sheet of letter paper or a sheet of wrapping paper or paper bags — every sort of paper in fact, you are saving just so much more sulphur for our Government to put into war gases.
The more of this powerful gas we have at the battle front the more of our boys' lives we save and the quicker we will win the final victory.
Do not waste a scrap of paper.
The more of this powerful gas we have at the battle front the more of our boys' lives we save and the quicker we will win the final victory.
Do not waste a scrap of paper.
Comments
You may think, after reading that last part about having more gas, "Why didn't they work on developing better weapons to kill their enemies?"
The philosophical shift from outright killing the enemy to merely wounding them gravely is rooted in the fact that the wounded will be evacuated and given aid (and resources) behind the lines. The rifle and high explosive will kill outright but chemical weapons incapacitate. The resulting casualties will tie up personnel who could be used for fighting at the front. If you incapacitate enough of the front line troops there is a good chance that your enemy will sue for a cessation of hostilities.
The philosophical shift from outright killing the enemy to merely wounding them gravely is rooted in the fact that the wounded will be evacuated and given aid (and resources) behind the lines. The rifle and high explosive will kill outright but chemical weapons incapacitate. The resulting casualties will tie up personnel who could be used for fighting at the front. If you incapacitate enough of the front line troops there is a good chance that your enemy will sue for a cessation of hostilities.
Posted by KDP on 10/14/16 at 04:43 PM
I remember when we were doing research on the neutron bomb. The idea was to kill the enemy with short-lived radiation while not damaging much of the surrounding infrastructure. Destroying people instead of property with a so-called clean bomb was a demonstration of how humane we were trying to become in the art of warfare.
Posted by Fritz G on 10/15/16 at 07:22 AM
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Category: War | 1910s