A shot of liquid courage, a shared moment
of bonding and escapism, even drugged up zombie soldiers - violence and mind-altering substances
have always gone hand in hand. The truth is, countless wars throughout history
have been fought while soldiers were drunk or high, and military conflict through the
ages - including the modern day - have been shaped by the insane drugs soldiers are fed
to win wars Drinking and drugging rituals have long been
a part of the culture of warfare. Indulging in alcohol or drugs together can
help soldiers bond before going into battle, provide a much-needed way to cope with the
trauma of war, and even enhance combat performance. Alcohol is the oldest, most tried-and-true
drug of choice for warriors around the world, and armies have issued alcohol rations to
their troops throughout history. The Russians favored vodka while the British
preferred rum; Germans have turned to beer, while ancient Romans and Greeks relied on
wine for liquid courage. But, armies from ancient times all the way
up to today have often relied on even stronger drugs to win wars. According to ancient legends, Nordic Berserkers,
the legendary viking warriors who fought ferociously and without fear, were said to get their animalistic
fighting powers from the animal skins that they wore in battle. Recently, though, modern researchers have
come to believe that their ferocity came from another source altogether - the black henbane
plant. The plant’s leaves could be dried and smoked
or used to make wine or beer. The plant was a powerful hallucinogen, causing
users to see and perceive things that aren’t there. Berserkers believed that they were calling
upon their gods and harnessing the powers of the spirit world to help them thrive on
the battlefield, and it’s likely that the trance-like state caused by ingesting the
black henbane contributed to this feeling. While herbal drugs may usually be associated
with a calm, peaceful high, they have also been known to cause intense anxiety, paranoia
and even panic. Given that these warriors were psyching themselves
up for battle when they took the black henbane, it’s highly likely that the effects were
less mellow and more aggressive. They probably felt agitated and ready to fight,
and felt dissociated from reality, making it easier for them to fight like wild animals
and kill with abandon. Viking Berserkers weren’t the only ancient
fighters to tap into the power of natural herbs. Eurasian warriors, especially Siberian tribes
like the Chukchi and Koryaks, used psilocybin - more commonly known as magic mushrooms - to
allow them to fight fearlessly and give them an edge in battle - and they even went so
far as to drink the urine of warriors who had previously ingested the mushrooms to take
advantage of the residual psychoactive effects. Use of magic mushrooms and other natural psychoactive
herbs continued into the 19th and 20th centuries. In 1879, when the British tried to subdue
the Zulu tribe of Africa, they faced an enemy that seemed immune to fear even in the face
of Britain’s far more advanced weapons. Though the Zulu carried only spears and shields,
they seemed unnervingly unafraid of the British’s rifles and bullets. They likely had a little medicinal help in
this department. The Zulu warriors had a multitude of mind-altering
substances at their disposal, from medicated beer to dagga, a South African variety of
cannabis, to a powerful painkiller made from the bushman poison bulb plant which also had
hallucinogenic properties. Thanks to the psychoactive properties of these
drugs, the Zulu warriors would have felt disconnected from the reality of battle, allowing them
to fight ferociously and without fear. Though the Zulus would unfortunately go on
to lose the war, they did impress the British with their willingness to face death without
fear thanks to the help of pharmacology. As the nature of warfare changed and weapons
and technology advanced, so too did the drugs that were used to fuel soldiers and win wars. World War 1 saw the first documented and widespread
use of cocaine in battle. Both the British and the Germans issued cocaine
rations to their air force’s fighter pilots to give them a boost before they engaged in
incredibly dangerous dog fights. World War 1 fighter pilots were tasked with
a nearly impossible mission - they had to engage other aircraft in close combat in mid-air. They needed to dodge enemy planes while simultaneously
trying to get the enemy in their crosshairs so their gunner could take them out, all while
making sure not to crash their planes. It was a chaotic and terrifying environment,
and cocaine helped the pilots keep their energy up and helped them to focus on the job at
hand without getting carried away by the very real fear that death could come at any moment. The Canadian infantrymen who also relied on
cocaine called it “Forced March”, since that was exactly what it was used for. Infantry troops that needed to be mobilized
and moved long distances during the war often had to do so on their own two feet, enduring
grueling marches through desolate, war-torn landscapes, knowing all the while that the
enemy could be anywhere, waiting to attack. These marches could last for hours or even
days, and once again, cocaine was their secret to success. The Forced March pills, which were a combination
of cocaine and caffeine, gave soldiers the energy and endurance to withstand hours of
marching through difficult terrain to get where they were needed, and also helped to
blunt their fear that the enemy could be waiting for them around the next corner. The most famous stories of soldiers on drugs
may have come from World War 2, which is fitting considering that the entire 6 year conflict
was largely fueled by speed, a favorite of frontline soldiers on both sides. The Nazis’ drug of choice, called Pervitin,
was an early version of crystal meth, and the German company Temmler-Werke supplied
the German military with 29 million of these so-called “attack pills”. Not to be outdone by their enemies, the Allies
followed suit and issued millions of Benzedrine tablets to their soldiers. The British are estimated to have consumed
around 72 million tablets, while the Pentagon’s official estimate is that U.S. soldiers consumed
between 250 and 500 million pills during the war. “Bennies”, as they were known, were even
included in emergency kits for American bomber crews. Both the German attack pills and the Allies’
bennies provided their users with a boost of energy to help them cope with drawn-out
battles and long distance marches. It increased alertness and combated fatigue,
which was helpful for keeping vigilant during long periods of watch duty, and bolstered
already exhausted soldiers who were about to go into battle. It also created a strong sense of confidence
and bravado in the soldiers, allowing them to rush into enemy fire with little regard
for their own life or safety. The role that speed played in World War 2
cannot be overstated - experts now say that many of Germany’s early and decisive victories
in the war were thanks in large part to the rampant use of Pervitin. The drug helped German soldiers march for
hours past their breaking point, allowing them to capture huge amounts of territory
relatively quickly. Historical accounts from early battles in
Belgium described crazed German soldiers fearlessly charging directly towards machine gun nests,
seemingly unaware of the hail of automatic gun fire raining down on them. This behavior understandably frightened the
Belgian defenders, and it may have led to the widespread rumor that Germany had created
unbeatable super-soldiers. Even as these harder drugs entered the fray,
they didn’t fully replace the more natural substances of past centuries. The Soviets were rumored to have been on magic
mushrooms during the battle of Székesfehérvár in 1945, where they performed fearlessly and
succeeded in capturing the city from the well-entrenched and much better equipped Nazis. Authorized drug use by American soldiers continued
into the Korean War from 1950 to 1953 and the Vietnam War from 1955 to 1973, though
it was now combined with rampant non-sanctioned drug use. Speed continued to be the approved drug of
choice, but now soldiers gained access to illicit drugs like heroin. Desperate soldiers would combine these two
powerful drugs to create their own homemade injectable speed balls. This potent combination creates a push-pull
effect, both boosting energy and helping them relax. The high from these speed balls was stronger
and more long-lasting than the high they could get from using either drug on its own, and
it helped the soldiers to deal with the brutal conditions of war, as well as cope with the
horrible atrocities that they witnessed - and even committed - during these wars. Drug use during the Vietnam war reached epidemic
levels - according to the Pentagon, by the time the U.S. withdrew from the war in 1973,
some 70 percent of all American soldiers in Vietnam had taken drugs. Shockingly, the authorized use of drugs by
soldiers in combat continues around the world to this day. Modern-day terrorists have no qualms about
using drugs to motivate their fighters and achieve their heinous missions. The terrorist group ISIS promotes the use
of hashish and opioid painkillers within their ranks, and they are also well known for the
pervasive use of the drug Captagon, a powerful stimulant that metabolizes in the body to
form amphetamine. This drug increases alertness, numbs fear,
and induces a sense of courage and bravado, and so it is incredibly popular with Jihadists
undertaking suicide missions. The drug is also reported to increase strength,
and there have been reports of fighters taking so much of the drug that, even after being
shot multiple times, they refuse to drop and continue to fight through their injuries. Even smaller terrorist organizations have
capitalized on the power of drugs to create seemingly invincible soldiers. In his book A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a
Boy Soldier, Ishmael Beah describes his horrendous experience as a child soldier in Sierra Leone
and the rampant use of drugs to control and manipulate child soldiers in these loosely
organized armies. According to Beah, commanders would strategically
keep their child soldiers high on what they called “brown-browns” - a potent and highly
addictive combination of cocaine and gunpowder. Gunpowder contains nitroglycerin, which helps
the cocaine to spread more quickly through the bloodstream and delivers a faster, more
intense high. Once these child soldiers were high on brown-browns,
they would essentially be immune to fear and would have little to no conscience. Their commanders would take advantage of this
altered state and force the children to commit terrible atrocities while they were high. The knowledge and shame that they had done
such horrible things while high, combined with a heavy dependence on the addictive drugs,
kept the child soldiers loyal, obedient, and easy to control. And it’s not just the so-called “Bad Guys”
still feeding drugs to their soldiers in the present day. As long as all procedures are followed to
a T, the U.S. military still issues amphetamines to pilots assigned to 8-plus hour long flight
missions. These Dexedrine pills, known as “Go Pills”,
promote wakefulness and keep pilots alert on long endurance missions. To help soldiers calm down after battle - and
to combat the energy boosting effects of the Dexedrine pills - the U.S. military also issues
what they call “No-Go Pills” - or sleeping pills - to help soldiers recover and be ready
for their next mission. Other countries are following suit - in the
UK, France and India, the drug Modafinil has recently replaced amphetamines for use in
endurance missions and to combat sleep deprivation among pilots and other members of the military. The history of warfare and the history of
drug use are inextricably linked, and with modern militaries continuing to use substances
to alter their soldiers and enhance their performance, this is a trend that shows no
signs of slowing down. It will certainly be fascinating to see what
kind of insane drugs soldiers are fed to win wars in the years to come. If you thought this video was fascinating,
be sure and check out our other videos, like this one called “What Does Heroin Do To
Your Body?”, or perhaps you’ll like this other video instead. As always, thanks for watching, and don’t
forget to like, share and subscribe! See you next time!
