Topic Background

 

 

Topic Background:

Biological Warfare is the use of a biological diseases to purposely kill or damage a person, plant or animal. The first major biological weapon was created as early as 1500 B.C. by the Hittities of Asia Minor. The people learned the power of contagious viruses and would often send their sick to territories were enemies lived to spread vicious plagues amongst their people. Armies, throughout time, have used biological warfare to their advantage by catapulting dead bodies into enemy walls, or by poisoning the water in the wells of their enemies. Biological warfare was made  to kill enemies in very fast and effective ways.

Traditional technologies have greatly been modified through the use of Biological Warfare because of the tremendous danger that biological weapons pose to society. There are numerous programs to make sure that food is grown safe to eat and without biochemical contamination. These are very important programs because they will stop  viruses from spreading into our food, killing them before they ever have a chance to spread. Another modification is that the United States has issued a BioWatch program which is a network sensor program that can detect when a Biological attack is happening in a United States city. This will quickly stop the spread, so that the Biological attack can be contained before it is too late.

The major challenges to research in biological warfare are getting the funding, resources, and skilled workers that are required for production, as well as support from organizations and the common people. The advances made in Biological warfare have been the developent of anthrax which was used by the Japanese and Germans during World War II, and the advanced biological weapons programs in country's like the United States, England, and Russia.

The application of Biological Warfare is no longer under development, due to its outlaw in 1972 by the Biological Weapons Convention. Most Biological weapons have been terminated by  countries, but still remain a great threat to the world. The greatest threat to this day with biological weapons is the fight against terrorist groups, who do not follow the weapons agreement.

 

 

 

Biological Warfare History Videos:

  
  
  


 History of Biological Warfare :

 (1500 BC) The earliest record of biological warfare was in Hittities of Asian minor. The people learned the incredible power of a contagious virus and would send their sick to enemy territories to spread the vicious plague to enemy people.

 

(400 BC) Scythians archers use poison tipped arrows, made by venomous adders, human blood, and dung to infect enemies.

 

(190 BC) Hannibal fills jars with venomous snakes which are thrown onto enemy ships during the battle of Eurymedon.

 

(6 BC) The Assyrian army poisons enemy wells, using a fungus that causes convulsions when ingested.

 

(1346 AD) The Tatar army uses plagued bodies to spread an epidemic amongst their enemies by catapulting the plagued bodies over the Kaffa wall.

(1710 AD) The Russian army catapults plague-infected corpses into Swedish forces at Reval in Estonia.

 

(1754 AD) British forces distribute smallpox-laden blankets to the Native Americans that are loyal to the French during the French and Indian war.

 

(1915 AD) The German army creates anthrax, glanders, cholera, and a wheat fungus for biological weapons for use in St. Petersburg, Russia, and Mesopotamia

 

(1925 AD) The Geneva Protocol is signed by 108 nations. This is the first multilateral agreement that bans the use of chemical agents in biological agents.

 

(1940 AD) Japanese planes drop plague-infected fleas on China and Manchuria.


 

 (1942 AD) The United States forms the War Research Service. The use of Anthrax and Botulinium toxin were investigated for use as weapons.

 

(1953 AD) The United States begins developing vaccines to protect soldiers from biological weapons.

 

 (1969 AD) President Nixon ends the US Offensive Biological Weapons Program.

 

(1971 AD) All of the biological agents and munitions from the U.S. program are destroyed. 

 

(1972 AD) The United States, along with other countries, signs the Biological Weapons Convention. The Biological Weapons Convention prohibits the use of biological weapons for offensive military purposes. 

 

(1979 AD) Anthrax is released from a weapon facility in Sverdlovsk, killing sixty-six Sverdlovsk natives. It is not until 1992 that Russian president Boris Yeltsin admits to the accident.

 

(1984 AD) Followers of the cult Rajneeshee, led by Baghwan Sri Rajneesh, use salmonella to contaminate salad bars in Oregon. More than 750 people become seriously ill.

 

(1991 AD) United States troops are vaccinated for anthrax in preparation for the upcoming Gulf War.

 

(1995 AD) Aum Shinrikyo cult spreads nerve agent Sarin in Tokyo subways, causing twelve deaths and sickness in thousands. The group tried on over ten separate occasions to release biological warfare agents in aerosol form. 

 

(2001 AD) A letter is mailed to the NBC one week after September 11 containing anthrax.  This letter is sent by a terrorist organization. 


 

 

 

 

 

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