The coming poison and fire war and its effects on the civilian population
The coming poison and fire war and its effects on the civilian population (1932) is a non-fiction book by the chemist and pacifist Gertrud Woker , which has been published by Ernst Oldenburg Verlag in Leipzig. It is based on scientific knowledge about war gases and also deals with aspects such as scientific ethics , health hazards , disaster control , criticism of lobbying and anti-militarism in the period between the two world wars. The work is composed of Woker's contributions since 1924 and of newly added sections.
content
In the first chapter Woker presents the connections between science and war based on the experiences of the First World War , in the second the effects of the poison gas weapon in the world war according to reports of eyewitnesses . Chapter 3 deals with the alleged humanity of the gas weapon and recovered international law, and Chapter 4 traces the development of chemical warfare technology since the disarmament conference in Washington . The fifth chapter provides information on the composition and effects of the poisonous gases . This is illustrated by a table of 53 substances, including yellow cross gas , each with information on the following factors: designation, formula, density, boiling point, volatility, intolerance limit and water resistance. In Chapter 6, Woker explores the question of whether the civilian population is endangered by modern methods of war and, in the next, comments on the report of a study commission of the League of Nations on chemical warfare . In the eighth chapter, Wokers explains her assessment that there is an international of the armaments industrialists , which must be reckoned with in matters of the League of Nations and poison gas weapons , because:
“Since the inclusion of the chemical weapon, the international of capital has been led by the armaments industry to a much greater extent than was the case before times when the steel and explosives industries were solely interested in war. This spirit of brutal materialism grips the nations with an iron grip, paralyzes the activities of the League of Nations, inhibits the good will to disarmament - where there is any -, yes, rather calls for an arms race of the states with all those maneuvers, which makes lasting peace impossible, which the war industry used even before the world war . "
Chapter IX. The waste of raw materials through the production of war gas deals with the question of natural resources: “The earth's vital natural resources are not unlimited. We all have reasons to keep them from being destroyed. Every war and every preparation for war means overexploitation of these natural resources, which enable the life of future generations. ”For substances that are indispensable in medicine as remedies against pathogens, the price is driven too high by the production of war gases for them to be remained affordable for the civil sector.
In Chapter X. Blossoms of War Gas Propaganda, Woker describes that those who emphasize the cruelty and inhumanity of the gas war should be discredited with the argument that “by fighting the gas war, they are promoting more cruel warfare” (p. 243). Woker adds on the effect of the systematic misinformation regarding the harmfulness of the poison gases: "The good public eats it completely, of course. It doesn't even need to take the trouble to inquire about the nature of their incurable infirmity from surviving yellow cross patients; because» there is such a thing Yes, not at all"." (P. 246) Woker's conclusion on this chapter is:
"Of the German yellow gas attacks, in which the troops themselves and not the empty ground were shot at, Professor Meyer himself states :" The effect of the Yellow Cross in the Battle of Flanders in 1917 increased more and more, and it happened repeatedly that the Opponents were happy when he was able to keep a quarter of his team undamaged. "The three quarters of the others, the damaged ones, may have consoled themselves for this with his famous description of the mustard gas effect, which reads:" The wounds are not fatal in and of themselves , but often they do so by the fact that the breathing process in the lungs is stopped. ”So that means that if you constrict someone's throat, it is not in and of itself fatal. You only die because you can no longer breathe ! - and the honor of mustard gas is saved. "
Chapter XI follows. Theory and practice of those interested in combat gas. The "heroism" of modern war. Gas combat statistics and XII. Advances in aerochemical weapons, prohibition and control measures .
The review in chapter 13 first draws the conclusion: "Even the researchers who, voluntarily or by force, have put their best in the service of state-sponsored murder, they had to know from the beginning what the effects of modern means of destruction meant." Then Woker directs his gaze to the current situation [1932] and emphasizes that behind the scene in every state the secret poison gas armament is taking place and the aim is to outdo each other - “as long as the chemists do not rebel against the monstrous demands made by blind militarism dares to ask. ”With reference to an initiative by the pacifist and physicist Paul Langevin, the work ends with a five-page draft version for an appeal to scientists from all countries .
Publication intention
In the foreword from 1925 it is said that the knowledge should be promoted that people here and there are like one egg to another and that there is only one natural fatherland, “the earth - and only one sun - a single, common to all Light". The wish is expressed that "the following sheets" should not be misinterpreted, even if they "contain some bitter truth for those who are used to seeing the right in themselves and their country and only the wrong in others." The leaves may be a wake-up call, so it says in the last paragraph, to overcome the mentality of violence.
In 1932 Woker wrote in the foreword to the 6. – 9. Condition with a view to the arms race of states for genocide, that those who lead the peoples have learned nothing since the great catastrophe but to provide new fuel for fires. Preparations for the suicide of the white race are given as security by the governments and those in the League of Nations who say something that should be kept secret are muzzled by government industrialists. Woker suspects that the League of Nations only came about to give the principle of violence new possibilities. Woker refers to the upcoming disarmament conference and expresses the hope that those who reject war as a means as a consequence of the Briand-Kellogg war ostracism will prevail .
effect
The work was published in 1932 a few months after Volume 4 of Woker's Catalysis. The role of catalysis in analytical chemistry had reached the professional world in 1931, a “downright monumental four-volume work”, “a standard work that no one who works in this important field can do without”, writes Isidor Traube , professor at the Technical University of Charlottenburg , in a letter dated September 13, 1932 to Rudolf in Bern, in which he expresses his astonishment that Woker “has not even achieved the title of 'Professor'.” Traube continues: “I would almost like to believe that Miss. woker their r pacifist activity, which to the significant works on the gas fight t has led, rather than their all who feel human bring in, their has done in terms of their scientific advancement abort the consideration. "on this assumption towards receives grape's reply that in Bern the faculty and government are neither guided by unobjective nor political motives in their promotion decisions Traube, in his letter of October 12, 1932, makes reference to: “I cannot judge whether the work on the gas war deserves the criticism that Professor F. Mayer has given it, but I have great respect in this direction too for Miss Woker, who plays a major role in the pacifist women's movement and has made a name for herself through numerous trips and lectures, especially in terms of fighting the gas war. I am pleased to hear that the pacifist activity has not harmed Miss Woker ”. In a review by Professor F. Mayer in the Frankfurter Zeitung on September 25, 1932, it was said that the coming war of poison and fire and its effects on the civilian population was written in an unusual tone and bad style and, according to Gerit von Leitner's 1998 rendering, "[T] he author overshoots the mark in polemics and criticism, brings a lot of fantastic and unproven, so that a good cause would be served with bad means." In its response to Traube, the Bern teaching directorate referred to this criticism by F. Mayer taken, in which another work is mentioned with praise (Rumpf 1928). Von Leitner quotes from Mayer's review that Rumpf's work is “a thoroughly factual presentation of the technology of breathing apparatus” as a “protective weapon for human peace purposes”, the second part of which deals “strictly factually” with “gas protection for Germany in the event of a military threat Consideration for the fact that Germany is completely defenseless against the heavily armed neighboring states. ”(F. Mayer, 1932). In the following year, The Coming Poison and Fire War and its effects on the civilian population is on the list of books burned in 1933 .
The 1932 edition and its predecessors
- Gertrud Woker: Science and Scientific War . Central Office for Peace Work, Zurich 1924,
- Gertrud Woker: About poison gases , lecture given at the WILPF congress in Washington in May 1924. 7 pages, [Women's International League for Peace and Freedom], Genève [approx. 1924]
- Gertrud Woker: The coming poison gas war , 94 pages, with illustrations. Oldenburg, Leipzig [1925]. 5th edition in the same year, 1925
- Gertrud Woker: Towards the abyss under the sign of science. Considerations on chemical warfare, in: Die Friedens-Warte 1925, pp. 12-20
- Gertrud Woker: League of Nations and Poison Gas Weapons, in: Die Friedens-Warte , 1925, pp. 134-137
- Gertrud Woker: The truth about the gas war, in: Die Friedens-Warte , 1927, pp. 5-8
- Gertrud Woker: About poison gases Genève, 1930
- Gertrud Woker: The coming poison and fire war and its effects on the civilian population , 278 pages with illustrations, 6. – 9. Edition, Ernst Oldenburg Verlag, Leipzig 1932
See also
literature
- Gerit von Leitner: Do we want to wash our hands in innocence? Gertrud Woker (1878–1968), chemist & International Women's League 1915–1968. Weidler, Berlin 1998, ISBN 3-89693-125-3
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e Gertrud Woker: The coming poison and fire war and its effects on the civilian population , 278 pages with illustrations, 6. – 9. Edition, Ernst Oldenburg Verlag, Leipzig 1932, foreword from 1925 on pages 5-6, foreword from 1932 on pages 7-9, Chapter I. Science and War (pages 11-21), II. The effects of the poison gas weapon in World War II according to reports of eyewitnesses (pages 22–30), III. The alleged humanity of the gas weapon and recovered international law (pages 31–61), IV. The development of chemical warfare technology since the disarmament conference in Washington (pages 62–96), V. Composition and effects of poisonous gases (pages 97–109), VI . Is the civilian population at risk from modern methods of war? (Pages 110–192), VII. Report of a study commission of the League of Nations on the Chemical War (Pages 193–223), VIII. The International of the Armaments Industry (Pages 224–237), IX. Waste of raw materials through the production of war gas (pages 238–242), X. Flowers of war gas propaganada (pages 243–249), XI. Theory and practice of those interested in combat gas. The "heroism" of modern war. Gas combat statistics (pages 250–258), XII. Aerochemical Weapons Advances, Prohibition and Control Measures (pp. 259–266). Chapter XIII. Review is on pages 267–277.
- ↑ a b c d e Gerit von Leitner: Do we want to wash our hands in innocence? Gertrud Woker (1878–1968), chemist & International Women's League 1915–1968. Weidler, Berlin 1998, Chapter 12: "I would not even be eligible for a pension - if an age limit was maintained even in the most catastrophic cases". Appointment as associate professor at the University of Bern 1931–1945, quotations from the beginning of the chapter, pp. 345–349.
- ↑ Hans Rumpf: Gas protection. A manual for provincial, district and local administrations, fire brigades, mining and industry with special consideration of the gas protection of the civilian population in a future war , vi, 94 + 6 pages, Mittler, Berlin 1928