How methamphetamine Affected Soldiers During Wars

In his book “The Art of War” Sun Tzu has written that speed is “the essence of war”. With that he certainly did not have amphetamine in mind, but would undoubtedly have been surprised by its psychoactive effects on coping with war. Amphetamines ) often called “pills enliven”, “opulations activeл “triries”), “speeder” ) are a group of synthetic drugs that stimulate the central nervous system, reduce fatigue and hunger, and increase the ability to cope with insomnia and a sense of wellbeing. Typical drugs of the modern industrial era, amphetamines entered relatively late in the history of alternative mind substances ʹ commercialised in due time for massive consumption by major industrial powers during the war II World. That war was not only the most devastating in human history but also the most improved pharmaceuticalally. It was literally accelerated by speed.

It says: Peter Andreas ) Watson Institute

Few drugs have benefited a greater incentive from war. As Lester Greenspoon and Peter Hedblom wrote in their 1975 classic study, “Speed Cult” ( The Speed Culture:

LIB probably brought the greatest known push to the present world - scale use of these pills, either by medical authorization or by abuse on the black market

Japanese, American, and British forces consumed large quantities of amphetamines, but it was the most enthusiastic early fans, inciting the rhythm of pills in the battlefield during the early stages of war. Nazi Ideology took a fundamentalist stand against drugs. Their social use was considered both personal weakness and a symbol of the country's moral degradation in the continuation of the humiliating defeat in World War I. But as Norman Ohler showed in “Blitzed: Drugs in Nazi Germany”:

Metamphetamine was a privileged exception

While other drugs were banned or their use discouraged, methamphetamine was promoted as a wonderful product when it appeared on the market in the late part of the years of HINA30. In fact, this small pill was the perfect Nazi drug. The German had ordered the Nazis. Energy and faith strengthening, methamphetamine was attached to the obsession of Reich III with physical and mental superiority. In sharp contrast with drugs such as heroin, or alcohol, methamphetamines were not used for escapeary pleasure. They were more concerned about hyperreadiness and vigilance. Arians, who were the incarnation of human perfection in Nazi ideology, could now aspire to become superhuman and these superhumans could become super soldiers.

We don't need weak people”, Hitler declared. We only want the strong! ”

The weak used drugs like opium to escape, the strong took methamphetamines to make them feel even stronger. German chemist Friedrich Hauscchild was aware of American amphetamine, Benzedrine, since it was used as a doping product at the Berlin Olympics in 1936. A year later he managed to synthesize methamphetamine, a close drug of amphetamine, while working for Temler-Werke, a pharmaceutical company with headquarters in Berlin. This company started selling metamphetamine under the commercial name “Pervitin” in the winter of 1937. In part, thanks to the aggressive company's campaign, Pervitin became well - known within a few months. The tablets were very popular and could be purchased without prescription. One could even buy chocolate sprayed with methamphetamine. But the most important use of drugs in question would come later.

Dr. Otto F. Ranke, director of Defense Physiology, held high hopes that Pervitin would prove valuable on the battlefield. His goal was to defeat the enemy with chemically improved soldiers, soldiers who would give Germany military supremacy by fighting better and longer than opponents. After testing drugs in a group of military doctors, Ranke believed that Pervit would be “an excellent substance for establishing a crushed squad...”.

We can understand what military significance there would be if we were able to eliminate natural fatigue by using medical methods

Ranke himself was a daily user, as described in detail in his war journal and letters.

With Peru you can work 36-50 hours without feeling any apparent fatigue

This allowed him to work for days without sleeping. His correspondence indicated that a growing number of officers were doing the same thing with pills to meet the demands of their work.

Doctors at Vermaht's officers gave Perviti to the soldiers at Division I II Tankis during the invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1938. But it was Poland's invasion inator 1939 that served as the first military drug test on the battlefield. Germany subdued its eastern neighbor in October in an operation that killed 100,000 Polish soldiers. The invasion introduced a new form of industrial war, Blitzkrig. This <x0] lightning war” was based on speed and element of surprise, grasping the enemy without preparing through the unprecedented speed of mechanized attacks and advancement.

The weak point of Blitzkryg's strategy was soldiers - people, not cars - who suffered from fatigue. They needed regular rest and sleep, which certainly slowed military progress. This was where Pervit entered the scene a part of Blitzkrig's speed came literally from speed. As medical historian Peter Steinkamp put it:

Blitzkryg was led by metamphetamine. Not to say that Blitzkryg was based on methamphetamine

At the end of 1939 and early 1940, Leo Contti, “The Rajhu's medical force” and others rang alarm bells for the dangers of Pervit, which led to drugs being prescribed only. But these warnings were largely ignored and new regulations were widely ignored. Drug use continued to expand. At the Temmler-Werke factory, more than 83,000 pills per day were passed on overproduction. Between April and July 1940, troops in Germany used more than 35 million methamphetamine tablets. Drugs were even permitted to pilots and tank crews in the form of chocolate bars known as Fligerschokolade (flying chocolate) and Panzerschokolade (Tancu chocolate).

The armies have been using various psychoactive substances for a long time, but this was the first case of the widespread use of synthetic drugs to improve performance, historian Shelby Stanton comments:

They distributed it to the troops on the front. 90% of their army had to march on foot, day and night. It was more than important for them to keep pushing during the Blitzkrig to get a good night's sleep. All that fucking army was done. It was one of Blitzkrig's secrets.

Blitzkryg depended on speed, unannounced along with tank troops, day and night. In April 1940, this led to the rapid decline of Denmark and Norway. Next month, troops moved towards Holland, Belgium and finally France. German tanks covered 240 miles in challenging terrain, including the Arden Forest, in 11 days, bypassing British and French forces that had wrongly calculated that the Ardens were impassable. Paraschuists were sometimes convicted before the advance, creating chaos in the enemy's rear; the British press described soldiers as <x0).

General Heinz Gooderian, an expert in the current war and invasion leader, gave the order to speed up the French border:

I want you not to sleep for at least three nights if that's necessary

When they crossed the border toward France, French reinforcements were still en route, and their defense was engulfed by the German attack.

“I was stunned”,--it wrote Churchill in his memories. I didn't expect that I would be faced with the capture of an entire country and communication lines from an unannounced invasion of armour... I admit it was one of the greatest surprises I've ever had in my life”.

The speed of the attack left you speechless. Excited with Perv, tankists, and German artists covered the terrain day and night, almost without stopping. Foreign commanders and civilians were caught completely by surprise. Some users reported negative side effects of drugs. During the invasion in France, these included a lieutenant colonel at the Panzer Ersatz Division who experienced heart pain after taking Pervit four times a week; commander of the XII Tankis Division who was taken to the hospital after having suffered heart attacks an hour after taking a pill; and many officers who had suffered heart attacks on their hands after receiving Pervit.

Because of growing concerns about the potential of addiction and the negative effects of drug overuse, the German Army began restricting the reserve of methamphetamine by the end of 1940. Its consumption declined significantly in 1941-1942, when the medical establiment formally acknowledged that amphetamines were acdicative. However, drugs continued to spread on both the west and the east front. Temmler-Werke, the drug producer, continued with the same profits, despite growing awareness of the negative effects on its health.