Biological weapons

Category: Weapons of Mass Destruction

Kevin Shapiro
The first recorded use of biological weapons was in the sixth century BCE, when Assyrians poisoned their enemies water supply with a delusion-inducing fungus. Since then, biological weapons have continued and developed. In the middle ages, plague-infested corpses were flung over the walls of besieged cities in order to cause plague within the city walls. In fact, the Huns’ use of this technique in Crimea may have brought the bubonic plague to Europe. The most notable instance of germ warfare was not deliberate. In the 16th and 17th centuries CE, millions of Native Americans from the Yukon to Patagonia were killed by European diseases like smallpox, allowing Europeans to dominate the continents.

Biological warfare is not very practical. It causes no immediate effects in one’s enemy. Biological weapons are designed to work gradually, to slowly kill off large numbers of people and cause chaos. While this is not a technique that wins battles, in a total war scenario, biological weapons could be used against civilians to cause homefront chaos. Terrorists could also use biological weapons to the same purpose.

Since 1925, biological weapons have been outlawed by the Geneva protocol. However, in the years leading up to and during WWII, the Japanese, the US, the UK, and Germany all began biological weapon development programs. In the US, these programs continued until 1969, when Richard Nixon halted production of biological weapons and destroyed existing stockpiles. In 1972, the Biological Weapons Convention was held, which banned use of biological weapons among its 158 signatories.