There were several different types of weapons used during World War One. Both of the opposing forces were constantly looking for fresh new ideas that could help either side win the war. Finally, a new weapon was discovered that was more powerful than anyone at that time could have imagined. This new weapon was in the form of gas.
During the first months of the war, the French army started experimenting with some new ideas that they had. In August of 1914, the French army started to fire tear gas grenades at their opposing forces instead of starting with just normal firing. This proved to be somewhat successful for the French and the Germans started wondering what this new chemical was that was being thrown at them. When they finally figured out what was going on, they decided to also start experimenting with different forms of gases. .
In the capture of Neuve Chapelle in October of 1914, the German army began firing shells at the French armies, which contained a chemical irritant whose result was to induce sneezing attacks. The Germans thought that maybe if the opposing army was distracted with sneezing, they could have a chance at winning the war. With further developing and testing, the Germans than began to use tear gas. Though their first attempts to use tear gas failed, it proved to be very informative. The Germans tried to fire the tear gas in liquid form contained in 15cm howitzer shells however the shells did not explode correctly therefore not releasing the gas. Not giving up, the Germans tried again with an improved tear gas at the Battle of Nieuport against the French in March of 1915.
All throughout the beginning years of the war, they were discovering many new types of gases to use as a weapon. One of these new weapons was called Chlorine. It was first introduced into the war on April 22, 1915 at the Second Battle of Ypres. The British, French, and Canadians had no clue what the strange substance was at this point.
