Landmines in War and Peace

From Their Origin to Present Day

Mike Croll

• Publisher: Pen & Sword Military
• Year: 2020
• Print ISBN: 9781844158416
• eBook ISBN: 9781844685004
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: History Reference
• Index: History

Land mines and their antecedents have been used on the battlefield from ancient times, through the world wars, to the modern conflicts in the developing world. Their use in the developing world caused tens of thousands of civilian casualties, and the resulting international outrage transformed rapidly into a highly effective global movement to ban land mines and a multi million dollar mine action business. This book describes how technology and military tactics defined land mine development and deployment, why they are such an effective weapon of war, and how an unlikely alliance of soldiers, peace activists, development workers and celebrities succeeded in banning the use of antipersonnel mines. Comparisons are made between the post WW2 clearance of around 100 million land mines in Europe and contemporary efforts to clear a similar number in the developing world. By 1947 Europe was largely mine free, yet after nearly 20 years and expenditure of $4 billion the land mine crisis in the developing world continues. The elusive search for the easy way to clear mines is described. Despite experiments with machines, airships, rats and explosive clearance methods, mine clearance remains a hazardous, labor-intensive task undertaken by teams of deminers using metal detectors and needle-like probes.

Table of contents

• Front Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• List of Plates
• Dedication
• Introduction
• Chapter 1 The Beginning of Mines
• Chapter 2 Gunpowder Mines
• Chapter 3 High-Explosive Mines
• Chapter 4 A New Arm of Warfare
• Chapter 5 The Second World War: Mines on the Battlefield
• Chapter 6 Demining after the Second World War
• Chapter 7 Preparing for the Third World War
• Chapter 8 Guerrilla Mining
• Chapter 9 Humanitarian Mine Action
• Chapter 10 Banning the Mine
• Chapter 11 The End of Mines?
• Appendix 1 German Landmine Production 1939–45
• Appendix 2 Table Showing Estimates of Mines Cleared in Various Countries and Casualties Sustained During Clearance Operations after the Second World War
• Appendix 3 US FASCAM (Family of Scatterable Mines) Systems
• Appendix 4 Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and their Destruction
• Bibliography
• Notes