Biological and chemical warfare is more widely used in World War II

During the war, nations on both sides had supplies of either biological or chemical warfare or both, ready to be used at any time. The British were planning on using mustard gas on German soldiers if they set foot on English soil, the Germans had created a poison called tabun which destroyed the target's entire nervous system and behind Hitler's back, Nazi scientists were plotting to drop malaria-infested fleas behind enemy lines.

Although the Soviets never took responsibility, tuleramia was supposedly used as a biological weapon against the Germans around Stalingrad in the late summer of 1942, resulting in 100,000 cases of infection and the temporary halt of their military campaign

Of course, the Japanese used biological warfare on the Chinese (such as an attack on Ningbo in October 1940 which killed 20,000 people) and in 1945, were plotting Operation Cherry Blossoms at Night, a plan to drop plague-infested fleas on Southern California. The Japanese even had their own chemical warfare unit-the despicable Unit 731.

The fear of chemical warfare was widespread on the British home front, resulting in children and animals being given gas masks in the event the Germans dropped gas on the British homeland.

However, aside from the Japanese, chemical and biological warfare was never widely used during World War II. It was only used on several occasions. Hitler never allowed the use of chemical warfare, the reasons for which are debated. The Japanese never carried out Operation Cherry Blossoms at Night, due to their surrender in August 1945.

But what if the nations who fought in World War II were more willing to use biological and chemical warfare on each other, beginning with the Germans dropping malaria-infested fleas and mustard gas during the Battle of Britain?
 
Germany and Japan both starve.

"Revenge is a dish best served by Bomber Command" becomes a dark saying about the times.

Everyone talks about Operation Vegetarian, but the British were also working on something far more calamitous to Germany: rinderpest. That has the potential to destroy a huge amount of the fat content of the German diet, as it was heavily dairy-dependent.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2010/may/16/britain-secret-biological-warfare-testing

As for Japan, it gets to enjoy life without rice, thanks to rice blight.

There are parts of Belgium and France that are still ultra-toxic from all of the gas and other shells from WWI, and that are estimated to be finally cleaned up in 900 years. Now imagine much larger parts of Europe being far nastier. That's what chemical and biological warfare with WWII powers unleashes.
 
Although the Soviets never took responsibility, tuleramia was supposedly used as a biological weapon against the Germans around Stalingrad in the late summer of 1942, resulting in 100,000 cases of infection and the temporary halt of their military campaign

A better way to put it is: although most scientists agree that the tularemia epidemics in the Stalingrad area in late 1942 was in all likelihood due to natural causes, a much-discussed bio-weapons specialist holds the controversial and unproven opinion that this outbreak was caused intentionally by the Soviets.


But what if the nations who fought in World War II were more willing to use biological and chemical warfare on each other, beginning with the Germans dropping malaria-infested fleas and mustard gas during the Battle of Britain?

Assuming fleas can carry malaria, something I did not know, Britain is not a place where malaria can spread significantly, due to the lack of the right environment.
The British can use mustard gas, too, and they have, in 1940, stockpiles and lift enough to affect the German population - which is less well equipped with gas masks than the British one.
Widespread use of chemical weapons starting in 1940 means an end of all and any fast-paced offensive operations, if the enemy has them, especially by armies heavily relying on horses for their logistics. Offensives can take place - at a slow speed. That's the general statement that can also be expressed more briefly as: no Barbarossa.
 
NBC is considered a element of second generation MBTs right now. NBC Sherman, anyone?
 
NBC is considered a element of second generation MBTs right now. NBC Sherman, anyone?

Do you mean NBC-protected tanks in WWII? I doubt it. Today's tanks have exceptionally good optics, the guns have fumes extractors, and the engine compartment is entirely sealed off the crew's. In 1939, hyposcopes and periscopes existed, as well as armored glass, but they were very unsatisfactory; also, on many tank models you had to keep some opening open, because the poisonous gases were produced by the tank itself - its engine might leak fumes in the crew's compartment, and the guns certainly did the same when fired. Add that survival by bailing out was more common in 1939-45 than in today's tank combat. All of that boils down to tankers having their own individual protection, rather than the tank.
 
Of course, the Japanese used biological warfare on the Chinese (such as an attack on Ningbo in October 1940 which killed 20,000 people) and in 1945, were plotting Operation Cherry Blossoms at Night, a plan to drop plague-infested fleas on Southern California. The Japanese even had their own chemical warfare unit-the despicable Unit 731.

The operation in Ningbo wasn't even particularly large one, there were some other ones in Central and Western China (like in Yunnan) where deaths possibly number in hundreds of thousands.

The Japanese never carried out Operation Cherry Blossoms at Night, due to their surrender in August 1945.

The main reason they never did it was that it was realized that it would have no effect on the war, except make Americans angrier. There had also floated plans about using BW against the US, Australia, and India already back in 1942.

There were various other plans to use biological weapons against the Allies though, like during the Battle of Bataan, if it had lasted longer. There were also Japanese biological warfare units in Saipan in 1944, but conditions were such during the battle that they were unable to use their weapons. They had also plans to use biological weapons in Truk if it got invaded, but ships transporting BW units from Saipan got sunk and obviously the US island hopping strategy was such that it wouldn't have mattered anyway. They also had plans to cause a cholera epidemic in the Philippines in 1945, before the arrival of Americans. There were also some attempts to use BW in Burma in 1944, but these seem to have been unsuccessful. There also existed some intricate plans to use BW against the Soviet Union, but the collapse of Kwantung Army in 1945 was too quick for any of them to be successful.
 
The thing to note in these scenarios is that if the BC war begins that early, then the Germans actually cannot tout the most advanced weapons (nerve agents) yet, and this kind of war throws a wrench in their conventional war machine; OTOH if the BC war begins later, then the Germans do use nerve agents, but it's too late to change the outcome of the war (and eventually the N part of the mass-destruction triad shows up and gets to be used in Europe, in all likelihood).
 
the really nasty chemical weapon Germans discovered N-stoff https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chlorine_trifluoride#Proposed_military_applications but they could never perfect handling, let alone deployment (but it was discovered pre-war)

probably could have panicked the Soviet population in 1941? if deployed with their regular incendiaries ... have no information on how much of the 40 - 50 tons of the stuff they produced was prior to end of 1941.
Chlorine trifluoride is a pointless CW agent; less effective than nerve agents or vesicants and dangerous and expensive to manufacture, store and transport.
 
the really nasty chemical weapon Germans discovered N-stoff https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chlorine_trifluoride#Proposed_military_applications but they could never perfect handling, let alone deployment (but it was discovered pre-war)

probably could have panicked the Soviet population in 1941? if deployed with their regular incendiaries ... have no information on how much of the 40 - 50 tons of the stuff they produced was prior to end of 1941.

Even if the Germans had 50 tons of their best nerve agent in 1941, that will panic the cities it's dropped on - not the whole Soviet population. Much less effect with this stuff.
 
Even if the Germans had 50 tons of their best nerve agent in 1941, that will panic the cities it's dropped on - not the whole Soviet population. Much less effect with this stuff.
Very true. The USSR with it's excellent mechanisms of internal repression is less susceptible to panic than most countries,
 
the really nasty chemical weapon Germans discovered N-stoff https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chlorine_trifluoride#Proposed_military_applications but they could never perfect handling, let alone deployment (but it was discovered pre-war)

probably could have panicked the Soviet population in 1941? if deployed with their regular incendiaries ... have no information on how much of the 40 - 50 tons of the stuff they produced was prior to end of 1941.

Chlorine trifluoride is a pointless CW agent; less effective than nerve agents or vesicants and dangerous and expensive to manufacture, store and transport.

since when did those reasons stop them from doing anything? my point was it was discovered pre-war and might be used in combination with incendiaries as accelerant, thus covering their trail. if you leave a bunch of corpses, with no other visible injuries, it would be discovered and Soviets would unleash their own chemical/biological weapons.

Even if the Germans had 50 tons of their best nerve agent in 1941, that will panic the cities it's dropped on - not the whole Soviet population. Much less effect with this stuff.

meant one city at a time, specifically Moscow, sorry if that was unclear.
 
meant one city at a time, specifically Moscow, sorry if that was unclear.

I understood that. The point is that 50 tons is a piddling amount. You do a raid on Moscow, one on Leningrad, maybe a third small one on Stalingrad, and you've finished the stockpile. This doesn't panic any population, much less the Soviet one, where people in Saratov and Backwatersky won't ever hear about the attacks.
 

trurle

Banned
But what if the nations who fought in World War II were more willing to use biological and chemical warfare on each other, beginning with the Germans dropping malaria-infested fleas and mustard gas during the Battle of Britain?
Generally it would be controversial to suicidal. Chemical and especially biological weapons could be produced, but not reliably controlled during WWII epoch. Expect several cases of friendly-poisoning due change of wind or march through contaminated area, and breakout of uncontrolled epidemics. Post-WWII will be a major discussion among victors like "was our chemical/biological warfare useful for war effort or detrimental to it?"
 
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