Editing Land mine (section)

=== Chemical and nuclear ===
In the First World War, the Germans developed a device, nicknamed the "Yperite Mine" by the British, that they left behind in abandoned trenches and bunkers. It was detonated by a delayed charge, spreading [[mustard gas]] ("Yperite"). In the Second World War they developed a modern chemical mine, the Sprüh-Büchse 37 (Bounding Gas Mine 37), but never used it.<ref name=OriginsPart1/> The United States developed the [[M1 chemical mine]], which used mustard gas, in 1939; and the [[M23 chemical mine]], which used the [[VX (nerve agent)|VX nerve agent]], in 1960.<ref>{{Cite report |title=A century of innovation: The army's chemical and biological defense program |last=Smart |first=Jeffery K. |date=2015 |publisher=U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command History Office |pages=16, 43}}</ref> The Soviets developed the KhF, a "bounding chemical mine".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Spiers |first1=Edward M. |title=Chemical Weaponry : a Continuing Challenge |date=1989 |publisher=Springer |isbn=9781349198818 |pages=33–34}}</ref> The French had chemical mines and the Iraqis were believed to have them before the invasion of Kuwait.<ref>{{cite book |chapter=9. The spread of chemical weapons |last1=Barnaby |first1=Frank |title=The Role and Control of Weapons in the 1990s |date=2003 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=0203168313 |edition=e-book}}</ref> In 1997, the [[Chemical Weapons Convention]] came into force, prohibiting the use of chemical weapons and mandating their destruction. By July 2023 all declared stockpiles of chemical weapons were destroyed.<ref>{{cite web |title=OPCW confirms: All declared chemical weapons stockpiles verified as irreversibly destroyed |url=https://www.opcw.org/media-centre/news/2023/07/opcw-confirms-all-declared-chemical-weapons-stockpiles-verified |website=OPCW |publisher=Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons |access-date=2023-09-21 |language=en }}</ref>

For a few decades during the [[Cold War]], the U.S. developed [[atomic demolition munition]]s, often referred to as nuclear land mines. These were portable nuclear bombs that could be placed by hand, and could be detonated remotely or with a timer. Some of these were deployed in Europe. Governments in [[West Germany]], [[Turkey]] and [[Greece]] wanted to have nuclear minefields as a defense against attack from the [[Warsaw Pact]]. However, such weapons were politically and tactically infeasible, and by 1989 the last of these munitions was retired.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Bird |first1=Matthew D |title=Nuclear History Note US Atomic Demolition Munitions 1954–1989 |journal=The RUSI Journal |date=April 2008 |volume=153 |issue=2 |pages=64–68 |doi=10.1080/03071840802103306|s2cid=153830269 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Srubas |first1=Paul |title=The horrifying purpose of Special Atomic Demolition Munition units: 'We all knew it was a one-way mission, a suicide mission' |url=https://www.armytimes.com/news/your-army/2019/01/14/the-horrifying-purpose-of-special-atomic-demolition-munition-units-we-all-knew-it-was-a-one-way-mission-a-suicide-mission/ |access-date=June 9, 2019 |work=Army Times |date=January 8, 2019}}</ref> The British also had a project, codenamed [[Blue Peacock]], to develop nuclear mines to be buried in Germany; the project was cancelled in 1958.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Edwards |first1=Rob |title=British army planned nuclear landmines |url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn3943-british-army-planned-nuclear-landmines/ |access-date=June 9, 2019 |work=New Scientist |date=July 16, 2003 |archive-date=June 9, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190609005529/https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn3943-british-army-planned-nuclear-landmines/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Gault |first1=Matthew |title=The Ultimate Weapon of War: Nuclear Land Mines? |url=https://nationalinterest.org/blog/the-buzz/the-ultimate-weapon-war-nuclear-land-mines-13890 |access-date=June 9, 2019 |work=The National Interest |date=September 20, 2015 |language=en |archive-date=June 9, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190609005531/https://nationalinterest.org/blog/the-buzz/the-ultimate-weapon-war-nuclear-land-mines-13890 |url-status=live }}</ref>