Germ Warfare

History of Germ Warfare

Germ warfare dates back to ancient times, when the Carthaginian leader Hannibal used poisonous snakes against his enemies. Later, during the Middle Ages, catapults were employed to fling corpses infected with the Black Death over castle walls. Other early examples of biological warfare include the infection of the Aztec population by the Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortes and his troops and the smallpox blankets given to Native Americans by European and American troops.

Incidents of germ warfare were also recorded during the American Civil War. The use of biological weaponry became increasingly popular during World War I, although livestock were the primary targets. During World War II, biological experiments were conducted on human beings in Nazi concentration camps, and Unit 731 of the Japanese Imperial Army conducted similar work. Meanwhile, in 1942, the British began conducting anthrax experiments on Gruinard Island off the coast of Scotland, rendering it uninhabitable for nearly 50 years.

Both the United States and the Soviet Union conducted extensive research into biological weaponry during the Cold War era. A great deal of this research was done by the Soviets on an island in the middle of the rapidly shrinking Aral Sea, which is bordered by Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.

Pressured by the unpopularity of the Vietnam War, President Richard Nixon terminated the offensive biological warfare program of the United States in 1969. In 1972, the United States signed the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention; however, because no enforcement mechanism exists, it has not been possible to ensure compliance.

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