World War I and the End of the Progressive Movement - Essay Example

The Real Story Behind the Battle of Ypres The events surrounding any world war are normally written by the victors and is tailor made to suit their need to have the historical account of the events portray the victors in the best light. As the faction of war who defended people and did their best to protect the welfare of both their enemies and allies because war is never a gallant act. One of the most notable wars that historians are fascinated by are the events that surround the first world war and how those battles were fought and won by the allies the first time around.

Little did we know that everything we learned about the war, and the weapons of destruction that were used during the battles were more than just mere bullets, grenades, and canons. In fact, World War I laid out the foundation for modern germ warfare as we know it today. It is just that very little is known about how gas warfare was originally conceptualized and launched during the era. But thanks to historical researchers such as Ulrich Trumpener and his essay “The Road to Ypres: The Beginnings of Gas Warfare in World War I”, the readers are given a look into the little known facts about the Battle of Ypres which many believe to be the very first time that gas warfare was used in battle.

Trumpeners argument in the essay is that the successful mounting of gas warfare at Ypres on April 22,1915 is incorrectly celebrated at the day that modern chemical warfare began. It actually began much earlier than that since records show that primitive methods of gas warfare began to see its wartime function on the battle front a year earlier in 1914. Records indicate that the French forces actually started using something similar to chemical warfare early on in the war. Trumpener also discussed the facts pertaining to the weak methods by which the German military developed their germ warfare program.

Trumpner was right in saying that very little information can be found about the germ warfare program of both sides back in World War I. Reading his essay actually had a profound effect on the way that I viewed the history of the first world war. For me, it went from a war that used the most basic of armaments, to the war that redefined the meaning of battle. I originally believed germ warfare to have been used to annihilate the Jews during World War II. Little did I know that the terrors of germ warfare had been around far longer than that.

In fact, it is probably the early existence and experimenting of the German forces during World War I that led to the death camps of Nazi Germany during World War II. My point of view changed in terms of how germ or gas warfare is executed because apparently, the chemical weapon could actually be used with limited effects on the people being exposed to it. Sadly, man and his desire to inflict harm upon one another won out in the end, creating the perfect killing weapon of its time. Even more troubling, is the fact that they weapon was continuously developed by future Noble Prize winners who would later disavow their participation in the program.

Over all, Trumpener makes a solid argument that proved the way Germany mishandled their development of the gas weapon and that their own inhibitions about the overall effect of the bomb on the general population was the main reason that they failed to effectively use their early weapon of mass destruction to its fullest extent.