Did the USSR have a Chemical Weapons program?

[Runyan99]

I was just thinking, it was amazing, given his hatred for Bolshevism and the 'slavic' races in general that Hitler never decided to use chemical weapons on the Eastern Front. The only explanation is that the USSR also had an arsenal of chemical weapons, and Hitler did not want to expose German soldiers to that risk.

But then, if the USSR did have chemical weapons, it is equally suprising that Stalin didn't attempt to use them to prevent disaster in the desperate days of 1941 or 1942.

[Lucho]

I heard of two instances, where chemical devices were used by the Germans. One somewhre in Italy and another one in Poland. I am not sure about the real places and the time, but one happened during (in) a bombing of an Italian town.

Any evidence?

[Scheer]

German bombers sunk a american freighter, full with chemical ammunition. I think.

[stikkypixie]

Apparently - so i've heard- chemical weapons weren't use in WOII because it was much less static than WOI, something to do with technology not developed enough, so deploying chemical weapons was very risky and needed time. You needed perfect conditions, i'm not sure but even in WOI it wasn't used all the time, and that was a trench war!

[Sergei]

Stikky,

WOI, WOII... huh??????

I may be wrong, but the usefulness of gas was questionable in WWI so maybe it just wasn't considered rational - and nobody wanted to face the retaliation.

[stikkypixie]

Originally posted by Sergei:

Stikky,

WOI, WOII... huh??????

I may be wrong, but the usefulness of gas was questionable in WWI so maybe it just wasn't considered rational - and nobody wanted to face the retaliation.

Oh excuse World War I and World War II, damn dutch spelling .

[John D Salt]

Originally posted by Runyan99:

I was just thinking, it was amazing, given his hatred for Bolshevism and the 'slavic' races in general that Hitler never decided to use chemical weapons on the Eastern Front. The only explanation is that the USSR also had an arsenal of chemical weapons, and Hitler did not want to expose German soldiers to that risk.

But then, if the USSR did have chemical weapons, it is equally suprising that Stalin didn't attempt to use them to prevent disaster in the desperate days of 1941 or 1942.

The USSR certainly did have a large inventory of chemical weapons, including mustard, diphosgene and adamsite. The chemical warfare service existed to deliver them and protect the Red Army from retaliation; civilians would have received anti-gas training through Osoaviakhim.

This would hardly have been news to the Germans, who secretly collaborated with the Russians in military research up to 1933, including the "Tomka" project on chemical weapons. The Germans are known to have mistakenly believed the Western Allies to have developed nerve gases during WW2, and ISTM that they would have estimated that the Soviets possessed them. The first German nerve gas was originally called Samarin (later Sarin) because the initial research work was done at Samara in the USSR, and an exact analogue of tabun was mentioned in Soviet scientific literature in 1940 (V. M. Plets, "Organic Compounds of Phosphorus", State Defence Industry Press, Moscow,

1940), as mentioned in "Chemical Weapons in Russia: History, Ecology, Politics" at http://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/russia/cbw/jptac008_l94001.htm

We also know that Hitler personally had a horror of gas, having himself been a victim of it in WW1. The Germans may also have considered that the Red Army, having used war gases in the Russian Civil War and putting down the Tambov rebellion, had more recent relevant operational experience than they themselves did.

Stalin's failure to initiate chemical warfare at the low point of Russian fortunes may perhaps be partly attributed to unfavourable weather.

An observation applicable to both sides is that it is probably not a good idea to initiate chemical warfare at a time when you do not have air superiority.

All the best,

John.

[Mad Russian]

Also consider that the Soviet Army was almost always 'downwind' being on the east of predominantly west to east weather patterns.

It would be harder for them to make it work than it would have been for the Germans.

Panther Commander