Chemical weapons, beyond their psychological effect, were not a game changer for either side in WW1. Effective countermeasures were developed rather quickly and

Chemical weapons, beyond their psychological effect, were not a game changer for either side in WW1. Effective countermeasures were developed rather quickly and, in any case, a breakthrough effected by poison gas could not be easily exploited. Although not mentioned in the article, the main contribution of chemists to WW1 was almost certainly the Haber-Bosch process [1]. It allowed Germany to produce ammo and explosives even while cut off from Chilean saltpeter [2] and also sustained its agriculture in the absence of fertilizer imports. Without the Haber-Bosch process Germany could have afforded only a very short war [3]. It's still immensely important today as it produces over half of the nutrient received by the world's crops [4]. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haber_process https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haber_process [2] https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-31090757 https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-31090757 [3] https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1920/02/03/118255924.pdf https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1920/02/03/118... [4] http://vaclavsmil.com/wp-content/uploads/docs/smil-article-worldagriculture.pdf http://vaclavsmil.com/wp-content/uploads/docs/smil-article-w...