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Replication Data for: Military Attitudes on the Chemical Weapons Taboo: Evidence from the Pacific Theater

Harvard Dataverse (Africa Rice Center, Bioversity International, CCAFS, CIAT, IFPRI, IRRI and WorldFish)

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Title Replication Data for: Military Attitudes on the Chemical Weapons Taboo: Evidence from the Pacific Theater
 
Identifier https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/AIDUDC
 
Creator Blair, Christopher
Michael C. Horowitz
 
Publisher Harvard Dataverse
 
Description Little is known about military attitudes toward weapons taboos, or the durability of non-use norms in wartime. Chemical weapons are a key case given public revulsion and clear international prohibitions. We explore soldiers’ attitudes in a salient setting: the Pacific theater of World War II. We draw on a declassified survey covering a representative sample of enlisted US soldiers in Hawai‘i in 1944. This unique context, during a total war against an adversary that had employed chemical weapons, represents a hard test for the chemical weapons taboo. Up to 91% of soldiers supported using chemical weapons against Japan, including 24% who favored initiation and 67% who favored retaliatory use. To understand the influence of military instruction, we exploit a novel regimen still used in basic training, which saw some troops exposed to lachrymatory gas. We find exposure to chemical weapons in training reduced support for use. Visceral experiences can mobilize support for weapons taboos in otherwise permissive environments.
 
Subject Social Sciences
Chemical Weapons
Public Opinion
World War II
 
Date 2023-05-31
 
Contributor Blair, Christopher