This year marks 100 years from the moment, when chemicals were killing in a large scale for the first time in the World War I. It happened on 22nd April 1915 north of the town of Ieper, Belgium when the German army took advantage of favourable meteorological conditions and used chlorine against French troops. This attack marked the switch from the use of mainly disabling chemicals to demoralize defenders to unlimited use of lethal chemical weapons.
At the same time it was the beginning of decades-long efforts to eliminate this type of warfare that culminated with the entry into force of the Convention on the prohibition of chemical weapons, and with the elimination of world stocks of chemical weapons, reaching at presence more than 85%. Now, on the eve of the anniversary and in the light of the events in the Middle East it´s necessary to strengthen the efforts for the world free of chemical weapons.
In memory of this tragic moment and all the victims of chemical weapons, the Organisation for the Prohibion of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) organizes on 21st april 2015 commemorative event of its States Parties in the town of Ieper. On this occasion the OPCW exhibition „Combating Chemical Weapons“ will be opened.
German soldier prepairing cylinders with chlorine for attack
Chlorine attack at Ieper 22nd April 1915