WEAPONS OF WAR: THE FLAMETHROWER

the flamethrower quickly became one of the most feared weapons on battlefields during the early 20th century. Originally deployed by the byzantine empire in the 7th century, The imperial german army brought back its usage during WWI— it really began to see widespread use in WWII as a siege weapon against fortifications such as bunkers and urban environments. Military grade flamethrowers traditionally use gasoline or diesel whereas industrial and commercial applications typically use propane or other gaseous fuels. It wasn’t until a while after the Vietnam war that flamethrowers were banned through the protocol of incendiary weapons, a sub-section of the 1980 convention on certain conventional weapons.