User blog comment:Octivian Marius/Entente vs Centeral/@comment-5169980-20131119202634/@comment-32656-20131121113145

Wrong, MS.

Gas weapons - and chemical warfare - were nothing new, in concept. The idea had been "invented" long before that time, centuries in fact.

The French used - or tried, rather - tear gas grenades on one occasion. Not only is tear gas not a chemical weapon, but they did literally nothing. Germans did not even notice that this was tried. If it is not actually a chemical weapon, it fails, and the enemy does not notice, then it is not a usage.

Germans tried chemical weapons long before that date you give.

Not really, RDV. More so it was that they were the main enemy on the ground, and were viewed as the aggressor. France wanting revenge made it worse.

Guns, more or less right. Was just a question of time and a trigger. War would have broken out no later than 1920.