This article explains how poison gas became one of the most feared weapons during World War I. It describes how the first use of the gas was by the Germans in at the Second Battle of Ypres in 1915 and how other countries quickly made other types of chemical weapons following this attack. The article explains the effects of different types of gas, like chlorine (which was the first type of gas used), phosgene, and mustard gas. These gases caused different illnesses and symptoms. These symptoms were choking, blindness, burns, and other types of longterm health issues for the soldiers in the trenches. The poison gas was caused a lot of fear for the soldiers because they did not know when the danger was coming. The article also explains how armies developed gas masks and other types of protective equipment against the different types of chemical gases and warfare to be able to protect themselves, as it became a more common and widely used form of weapon.
The article relates to Dulce et Decorum Est directly because of the fact that the poem talks about gas attacks similar to the ones explained in the article. The article talks about how the poison causes choking, blindness, panic, painful deaths, and more which is very similar to how Wilfred Owen describes when a soldier failed to put his gas mask on in time: "guttering, choking, drowning." Both the article and the poem show the harsh reality of war instead of presenting it as something heroic or honorable. Wilfred Owen uses his poem to criticize the original thought of dying for the war being heroic and honorable, and the article is able to provide textual evidence as to how terrifying and deadly the war was, backing up Owen's standpoint.
Cartwright, Mark. “The Terrors of Poison Gas in WWI.” World History Encyclopedia, 19 Nov. 2025, https://www.worldhistory.org/article/2839/the-terrors-of-poison-gas-in-wwi/
Football Team of British Soldiers with Gas Masks by Agence Rol is licensed under Public Domain.
Owen, Wilfred. “Dulce et Decorum Est.” Poetry Foundation, Poetry Foundation,
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/46560/dulce-et-decorum-est