Where did the term "weapons of mass destruction" come from

[brickbacon]

Thanks in advance.

[John_Mace]

Everything you always wanted to know about WMD but were afraid to ask.

[Squink]

From Wordorigins:

This term for a nuclear, biological, or chemical weapon is older than you might think. It actually dates to 1937, before the existence of nuclear or biological weapons. It was first used by the London Times on 28 December of that year, “Who can think without horror of what another widespread war would mean, waged as it would be with all the new weapons of mass destruction?”

More:

The article was referring to aerial bombing campaigns of the Spanish Civil War of that year, and in particular, the German attack on the Spanish city of Guernica. On April 27, 1937, over 1600 civilians were killed or wounded in less than three hours.

[Exapno_Mapcase]

WMD: Where Did the Phrase Come from?

The term Weapons of Mass Destruction was first used in the London Times in 1937, according to Robert Whealey, writing on H-Diplo. It was used to describe a Luftwaffe German air force attack on the town of Guernica, Spain.

That’s the attack that Picasso’s Guernica is a response to.

[El_Cid_Viscoso]

Wow. So if what was dropped on Guernica in 1937 is considered a Weapon of Mass Destruction, surely in 2003 Saddam Hussein had such … “technology”?

Someone, somewhere, must have tinkered with the baseline, because if I’m not disinformed, aren’t Israel and Hezbollah lobbing these things over the fence like tennis balls in a Seniors Tournament?

Personally, I prefer to blame Scooter Libby.

[Revtim]

I had thought that scholars had traced the phrase to the seminal movie, “Weapons Of Ass Destruction”.

[samclem]

@El Cid Viscoso

Wow. So if what was dropped on Guernica in 1937 is considered a Weapon of Mass Destruction, surely in 2003 Saddam Hussein had such … “technology”?

Someone, somewhere, must have tinkered with the baseline, because if I’m not disinformed, aren’t Israel and Hezbollah lobbing these things over the fence like tennis balls in a Seniors Tournament?

Personally, I prefer to blame Scooter Libby.

Can we keep the political shtick to a minimum?

samclem

[samclem]

@El Cid Viscoso

Wow. So if what was dropped on Guernica in 1937 is considered a Weapon of Mass Destruction, surely in 2003 Saddam Hussein had such … “technology”

It would pay a person to read about What was dropped on Guernica Be sure to read sentences like

Meanwhile, and continuing for about a quarter-hour after the bombing, the Bf 109Bs and the Heinkel He 51s strafed civilians on the roads out of town.

and

Twenty-two tons of bombs was, for then, a large quantity for an attack on a town the size of Guernica. Vidal quotes multiple sources to the effect that on the first day of the offensive against Bilbao the units of the Condor Legion together dropped 66 tons of bombs on the front as a whole; he also remarks that the official German account of this part of the war, “The War in the North”, stated (in contradiction to the above) that only 7.956 tons of bombs were dropped on Guernica.

So, no, what was dropped on Guernica were convential bombs, with incendiaries thrown in. Obsolete arsenal for dozens of countries today.