1. Were some weapons considered unethical during WW I?
Weapons of World War I
Were some weapons considered unethical during WW I?

2. Attacks could now come from the sky Dropped bombs or shot at targets
#1 Aviation – Airplanes
Attacks could now come from the sky
Dropped bombs or shot at targets
Bombers had 2 seats & Fighters had seat
Advantages: Quick & agile
Disadvantages: little room & flimsy

3. #2 Trench Mortars & Artillery Cannons
Used by both sides, a mortar is a short, wide tube that fires a missile/bomb from a steep angle that falls straight down on target
Advantage: could be fired from inside trench
Disadvantage: hard to aim, unpredictable
Artillery cannons were large guns used for shelling (bombing)
Advantage: big fire power
Disadvantage: despite wheels, hard to move & maneuver

4. #3 Grenade Launchers
Developed by the French, at first, they were sort of like a sling shot
Later, they could be fired out of an air rifle
Advantage: launched grenades further than a person could throw
Disadvantage: dangerous for user if grenade falls off or gets stuck

5. # 4 The Flame Thrower
Developed by the Germans but used later by British & French
Spreads fire by launching burning fuel
Advantage: could easily destroy large amounts of territory
Disadvantage: unethical to burn people alive, dangerous for the user (fuel cylinder on back)

6. French first to use tear gas to disable an enemy
#5 Poison Gas
French first to use tear gas to disable an enemy
Later, Germans develop mustard gas & ammonia based poison gas
Allies started using it when Germans used it
Advantage: fairly undetectable, enemy doesn’t see it coming
Disadvantage: seen as a very unethical weapon causing blindness, choking, blisters, death, banned after WW I

7. Nearly 90K of the 9.7 million killed-in-action were due to poison gas
Country
Total KIAs
Gas Deaths
Austria-Hungary
1.2 million
3,000
British Empire
908,371
8,109
France
1.4 million
8,000
Germany
1.8 million
9,000
Italy
650,000
4,627
Russia
1.7 million
56,000
USA
116,708
1,462
Ottoman Empire
800,000
1,000
Question: Who suffered the most from poison gas and why?