Article ID: CBB231695950

Prophet of Poison Gas: Yakov Fishman and the Soviet Chemical Weapons Program, 1924–1937 (October 2018)

unapi

This article explores the formation and growth of the Soviet chemical weapons program from 1924 to 1937. Seen as a symbol of modernity by the Soviet government, the Red Army’s chemical weapons directorate became a priority area of research and development. Initially, however, the Red Army’s investment in chemical weapons production encountered a variety of difficulties exacerbated by early Soviet policies, such as the lack of capital and skilled labor. But thanks to Stalin’s broader political aims, Yakov Fishman—the head of the chemical weapons directorate—managed to draw in vast resources to achieve his vision for the Soviet chemical weapons program. In the end, Fishman’s success in building huge chemical weapons production capacities for the Red Army would have a major impact on the course of the Second World War. Drawing from Russian and German military archives, this article offers new insight into a long-hidden, top-secret military program of colossal dimensions.

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Authors & Contributors
Johnson, Ian
Alvandi, Roham
Zhao, Yang-hui
Vizgin, Vladimir P.
Tsekhmistro, Ivan
Szöllösi-Janze, Margit
Concepts
Military technology
Chemical warfare
Science and war; science and the military
Science and politics
Technology and war; technology and the military
Communism
Time Periods
20th century
Places
Soviet Union
United States
Great Britain
Russia
Germany
Eastern Europe
Institutions
United States Marine Corps
North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)
Rossiiskaia Akademiia Nauk
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