Explore the vast range of titles available.

Holding Their Breath uncovers just how close Britain, the United States, and Canada came to crossing the red line that restrained chemical weapon use during World War II. Unlike in World War I, belligerents did not release poison gas regularly during the Second World War. Yet, the looming threat of chemical warfare significantly affected the actions and attitudes of these three nations as they prepared their populations for war, mediated their diplomatic and military alliances, and attempted to defend their national identities and sovereignty. The story of chemical weapons and World War II begins in the interwar period as politicians and citizens alike advocated to ban, to resist, and eventually to prepare for gas use in the next war. M. Girard Dorsey reveals, through extensive research in multinational archives and historical literature, that although poison gas was rarely released on the battlefield in World War II, experts as well as lay people dedicated significant time and energy to the weapon's potential use; they did not view chemical warfare as obsolete or taboo. Poison gas was an influential weapon in World War II, even if not deployed in a traditional way, and arms control, for various reasons, worked. Thus, what did not happen is just as important as what did. Holding Their Breath provides insight into these potentialities by untangling World War II diplomacy and chemical weapons use in a new way.

This chapter covers risking gas warfare in Europe. United States, Canadian, and British attitudes toward such things as white phosphorus and botulism helped shape the discussions and decisions about how to balance the risk and rewards of using chemical weapons during this period. Germany targeted British civilians with the Vengeance weapons in the aftermath of D-Day, so British leaders turned reluctantly to gas as a possible tool of retaliation and rocket destruction. The chapter explains that the Western Allied relationship continued to evolve, referencing the status of the United States, Canada, and Britain after the attack of Germany. It also tackles the war between Japan and the Western Allies that involved gas use.

This chapter explores how chemical weapons influenced alliances as World War II expanded. The Western Allies embarked on a combined chemical warfare policy. They worked together by sharing trust, culture, and knowledge in ways none of them shared with the Soviet Union, the Free French, or China. The chapter explains that issues of international law, national sovereignty, and strategic vulnerability played roles in the significance of joint decision-making for chemical warfare and managing to minimize the risks of a gas war. It mentions that the risk of gas warfare in Europe was at an apogee on the cusp of D-Day.