The Amoral Scientist

[kenf48]

This story came up on today's JStor bulletin

https://daily.jstor.org/the-amoral-scientist/

An account of the German development of 'chemical warfare' in WW1 and in particular the contribution of Fritz Haber

[Terry_Reeves]

Fritz Haber became a Nobel Laureate in 1918 for his pre-war work on the synthesis of ammonia. and came to England in 1933. The following is from the American Chemical Society 2006:

 

In 1933, Fritz Haber resigned as Director of the Institute of Physical and Electrochemistry at Berlin-Dahlem and left Germany due to the Nazi regime’s anti-Semitic policies (the institute was renamed the Fritz Haber Institute after his death.) He was offered a laboratory in Cambridge Uni- versity by Sir William H. Pope and moved to London in the autumn of 1933, but because he was suffering for some time from heart disease and, fearing the English winter, he traveled to Switzerland to be with his family. He died in Basle, Switzerland on January 29, 1934 before he was able to start work at Cambridge. 

Basle, Switzerland on January 29, 1934 before he was able to start work at Cambridge. 

 

His son Ludwig "Lutz" Haber (1921-2004) was brought up in the UK.  He held the  post of  Reader in Economics at the University of Surrey fro 1973 and spent some 12 years researching for his book, The Poisonous Cloud  - Chemical warfare in the First World.  Clarendon Press, Oxford  1986. The author had the co-operation of Sir Harold Hartley who became head of British CW in 1918. The book is meticulously researched and covers the work of all the combatant nations.

 

 

TR

 

[davidbohl]

Ah yes, we all remember "O" level Chemistry and the Haber Process experiments in West Derby High.

A few cuttings from the BNA

Dave

 

 

 

 

[phil andrade]

Haber warned the German High Command not, on any account, to use his invention unless they were sure that the war would be over...

 

Doesn’t that have a familiar ring to it ?

 

The Schlieffen Plan, the Kaiserslacht , and now the gas....make sure it doesn’t go off at half cock : if you land the blow, make sure it’s a fatal one....God help you if your foe’s still on his feet !

 

The story of Germany’s Great War.

 

Phil

[peregrinvs]

8 hours ago, phil andrade said:

Haber warned the German High Command not, on any account, to use his invention unless they were sure that the war would be over...

 

Doesn’t that have a familiar ring to it ?

 

The Schlieffen Plan, the Kaiserslacht , and now the gas....make sure it doesn’t go off at half cock : if you land the blow, make sure it’s a fatal one....God help you if your foe’s still on his feet !

 

The story of Germany’s Great War.

The story of most of Germany’s wars. It’s position in the middle of Europe, lack of access to various resources and limited access to the open sea means that it was a strategic imperative to finish wars quickly. Drawn out attritional wars will almost certainly end badly. Sometimes it worked, e.g. 1870. Usually it didn’t, e.g. 1918 and 1945.

[phil andrade]

1 hour ago, peregrinvs said:

The story of most of Germany’s wars. It’s position in the middle of Europe, lack of access to various resources and limited access to the open sea means that it was a strategic imperative to finish wars quickly. Drawn out attritional wars will almost certainly end badly. Sometimes it worked, e.g. 1870. Usually it didn’t, e.g. 1918 and 1945.

 

Yes, indeed.....this begs the question as to whether Falkenhayn was better suited to running Germany’s war, because he was more realistic about the nation’s geo strategic predicament than the following duumvirate who preferred the all or nothing approach.

 

Then, on the other hand, might it be argued that the all or nothing approach was, in itself, testimony to awareness that the war was bound to be one of exhaustion, and therefore it was better to risk the grandiose and seek conclusions quickly, than to endure prolonged attrition which was clearly going to be too disadvantageous for Germany ?

 

If I understand correctly, the chlorine gas attack at Ypres was a pretty tentative, almost experimental affair.

 

Phil