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42-569: Earth liberation has no universal understanding as a concept, as it is much considered to be a part of radical environmentalism , or as a militant offshoot, favouring instead radical and revolutionary environmentalism. Earth liberationists reject the mainstream environmental movement and include a diversity of individuals with a variety of different ideologies as well as theories. Activists include animal liberationists , anti-capitalists , green anarchists , deep ecologists , eco-feminists and anti-globalisationists . They are notably also within

84-450: A considerable number. The German High Command devised an operation called "The Fire Plan" (German: Der Feuerplan ), which involved the use of the whole German heavy bomber fleet, flying in waves over London and Paris and dropping all the incendiary bombs that they could carry, until they were either all shot down or the crews were too exhausted to fly. The hope was that the two capitals would be engulfed in an inextinguishable blaze, causing

126-550: A large bomb casing was filled with small sticks of incendiary ( bomblets ); the casing was designed to open at altitude, scattering the bomblets in order to cover a wide area. An explosive charge would then ignite the incendiary material, often starting a raging fire. The fire would burn at extreme temperatures that could destroy most buildings made of wood or other combustible materials (buildings constructed of stone tend to resist incendiary destruction unless they are first blown open by high explosives). The German Luftwaffe started

168-539: A large number of firebombs, but even then the results were poor and they were generally ineffective in terms of the damage inflicted. They did have a considerable effect on the morale of the civilian population of the United Kingdom. After further experiments with 5-litre barrels of benzol , in 1918, the B-1E Elektron fire bomb (German: Elektronbrandbombe ) was developed by scientists and engineers at

210-614: A mixed load. Less successful was the Flammenbombe , a 250 kg or 500 kg high explosive bomb case filled with an inflammable oil mixture, which often failed to detonate and was withdrawn in January 1941. In World War II, incendiaries were principally developed in order to destroy the many small, decentralised war industries located (often intentionally) throughout vast tracts of city land in an effort to escape destruction by conventionally aimed high-explosive bombs. Nevertheless,

252-637: A napalm-like substance that ignites in contact with air, is known as thickened pyrophoric agent , or TPA. Napalm proper is no longer used by the United States, although the kerosene -fuelled Mark 77 MOD 5 firebomb is currently in use. The United States has confirmed the use of Mark 77s in Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003. Signatory states are bound by Protocol III of the UN Convention on Conventional Weapons which governs

294-453: A need to reconsider Western ideas of religion and philosophy, including capitalism , patriarchy , and globalization , sometimes through "resacralising" and reconnecting with nature. The movement is typified by leaderless resistance organizations such as Earth First! , which subscribe to the idea of taking direct action in defense of Mother Nature including civil disobedience , ecotage and monkeywrenching . Movements such as

336-427: A radical environmentalist. While many people believe that the first significant radical environmentalist group was Greenpeace , which made use of direct action beginning in the 1970s to confront whaling ships and nuclear weapons testers, others within the movement, argues as Earth Liberation Front (ELF) prisoner Jeff "Free" Luers , suggests that the movement was established centuries ago. He often writes that

378-575: A thermite charge. A plan to fire bomb New York with new long range Zeppelins of the L70 class was proposed by the naval airship fleet commander Peter Strasser in July 1918, but it was vetoed by Admiral Reinhard Scheer . Incendiary bombs were used extensively in World War II as an effective bombing weapon, often in a conjunction with high-explosive bombs. Probably the most famous incendiary attacks are

420-697: A tool, although no guidelines had been published. The ELF gained national attention for a series of actions which earned them the label of eco-terrorists , including the burning of a ski resort in Vail, Colorado in 1998 that the ALF also claimed credit for —and the burning of an SUV dealership in Oregon in 1999. The defendants in the case were later charged in the FBI 's " Operation Backfire ", along with other arsons and cases, which were later named by environmentalists as

462-568: A weapon that was used only once in warfare. Napalm however, became an intrinsic element of US military action during the Vietnam War as forces made increasing use of it for its tactical and psychological effects. Reportedly about 388,000 tons of US napalm bombs were dropped in the region between 1963 and 1973, compared to 32,357 tons used over three years in the Korean War, and 16,500 tons dropped on Japan in 1945. Incendiary bombs used in

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504-428: Is a grass-roots branch of the larger environmental movement that emerged from an ecocentrism -based frustration with the co-option of mainstream environmentalism. The radical environmental movement aspires to what scholar Christopher Manes calls "a new kind of environmental activism: iconoclastic, uncompromising, discontented with traditional conservation policy, at times illegal". Radical environmentalism presupposes

546-520: Is attributed to Arne Naess and is defined as "a normative, ecophilosophical movement that is inspired and fortified in part by our experience as humans in nature and in part by ecological knowledge." A rising Deep Ecologist among radical environmentalist circles is Pentti Linkola , regarded as the founder of ecofascism , and author of the book Can Life Prevail? A Radical Approach to the Environmental Crisis. Ecofeminism originated in

588-701: The Earth Liberation Front (ELF) and Earth Liberation Army (ELA) also take this form of action, although focusing on economic sabotage , rather than civil disobedience. Radical environmentalists can include earth liberationists , as well as anarcho-primitivists , animal liberationists , bioregionalists , deep ecologists , eco-nationalism , ecopsychologists , green anarchists , and less often anti-globalization and anti-capitalist protesters, ecofeminists , neo-Pagans , Third Positionists , and Wiccans . This does not mean that everyone subscribing to those beliefs and values should be considered

630-552: The Environmental Life Force (ELF), also now known as the original ELF . The group conducted a campaign of armed actions in northern California and Oregon , later disbanding in 1978 following Hanna's arrest for placing incendiary devices on seven crop-dusters at the Salinas, California airport on May Day , 1977. It wasn't until over a decade and a half later that this form of guerrilla warfare resurfaced as

672-706: The Green Scare ; alluding to the Red Scare , periods of fear over communist infiltration of U.S. Following the September 11, 2001 attacks several laws were passed increasing the penalties for ecoterrorism, and hearings were held in Congress discussing the activities of groups such as the ELF. To date no one has been killed as a result of an ELF or ALF action since both groups forbid harming human or non-human life. It

714-469: The Griesheim -Elektron chemical works. The bomb was ignited by a thermite charge, but the main incendiary effect was from the magnesium and aluminium alloy casing, which ignited at 650 °C, burned at 1,100 °C and emitted vapour that burned at 1,800 °C. A further advantage of the alloy casing was its lightness, being a quarter of the density of steel, which meant that each bomber could carry

756-529: The bombing of Dresden and the bombing of Tokyo on 10 March 1945 . Many different configurations of incendiary bombs and a wide range of filling materials such as isobutyl methacrylate (IM) polymer, napalm , and similar jellied-petroleum formulas were used, many of them developed by the US Chemical Warfare Service . Different methods of delivery, e.g. small bombs, bomblet clusters and large bombs, were tested and implemented. For example,

798-474: The "Incendiary Bomb, 30-lb., Type J, Mk I", burned for approximately two minutes. Articles in late 1944 claimed that the flame was so hot it could crumble a brick wall. For propaganda purposes the RAF dubbed the new incendiary bomb the "Superflamer". Around fifty-five million incendiary bombs were dropped on Germany by Avro Lancasters alone. Many incendiary weapons developed and deployed during World War II were in

840-1051: The 1970s and draws a parallel between the oppression of women in patriarchal societies and the oppression of the environment. Social Ecology is an idea attributed to Murray Bookchin , who argued that in order to save the environment, human society needed to copy the structure of nature and decentralize both socially and economically. Bioregionalism is a philosophy that focuses on the practical application of Social Ecology, and theorizes on "building and living in human social communities that are compatible with ecological systems". Incendiary device Incendiary weapons , incendiary devices , incendiary munitions , or incendiary bombs are weapons designed to start fires. They may destroy structures or sensitive equipment using fire, and sometimes operate as anti-personnel weaponry . Incendiaries utilize materials such as napalm , thermite , magnesium powder , chlorine trifluoride , or white phosphorus . Though colloquially often called " bombs ", they are not explosives but in fact operate to slow

882-482: The Allies to sue for peace. Thousands of Elektron bombs were stockpiled at forward bomber bases and the operation was scheduled for August and again in early September 1918, but on both occasions, the order to take off was countermanded at the last moment, perhaps because of the fear of Allied reprisals against German cities. The Royal Air Force had already used their own "Baby" incendiary bomb (BIB) which also contained

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924-559: The ELF and ELA, with others from the Animal Liberation Front (ALF) and Class War . A primary concern is making long lasting, systemic change, by overturning contemporary social and ecological conditions, as part of an earth liberation movement , similar to the aims of the animal liberation movement . This article about an environmental organization is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Radical environmentalism Radical environmentalism

966-760: The Earth Liberation Front using the same ELF acronym . In 1980 Earth First! was founded by Dave Foreman and others to confront environmental destruction, primarily of the American West. Inspired by the Edward Abbey novel The Monkey Wrench Gang , Earth First! made use of such techniques as treesitting and treespiking to stop logging companies, as well as other activities targeted towards mining , road construction, suburban development and energy companies . The organization were committed to nonviolent ecotage techniques from

1008-679: The United States Department of Homeland Security confirming this regarding the ALF and ELF. Plane Stupid then was launched in 2005, in an attempt to combat the growing airport expansions in the UK using direct action with a year later the first Camp for Climate Action being held with 600 people attending a protest called Reclaim Power converging on Drax Power Station in North Yorkshire and attempted to shut it down. There were thirty-eight arrests, with four breaching

1050-551: The civilian destruction caused by such weapons quickly earned them a reputation as terror weapons with the targeted populations. Nazi Germany began the campaign of incendiary bombings at the start of World War II with the bombing of Warsaw , and continued with the London Blitz and the bombing of Moscow, among other cities. Later, an extensive reprisal was enacted by the Allies in the strategic bombing campaign that led to

1092-599: The civilian population", "tortur[ing] great masses of people". He conveyed these sentiments to US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Omar Bradley , who "never published the statement". Publicly, Churchill allowed Bradley "to issue a statement that confirmed U.K. support for U.S. napalm attacks". During the Vietnam War , the U.S. Air Force developed the CBU-55 , a cluster bomb incendiary fuelled by propane ,

1134-418: The concept of "eco-defence" was born shortly after the existence of the human race, claiming it is only recently that within the modern development of human society, and individuals losing touch with the earth and its wild roots, that more radical tactics and political theories have emerged. The alternative tactic of using explosive and incendiary devices was established in 1976 by John Hanna and others as

1176-869: The fence and the railway line being blocked. Radical environmentalism has been called a new religious movement by Bron Taylor (1998). Taylor contends that "Radical environmentalism is best understood as a new religious movement that views environmental degradation as an assault on a sacred, natural world." Some writers have used it to refer to the hypothetical danger of future dystopian governments, which might resort to fascist radical environmentalist policies in order to deal with environmental issues. Themes of eco-fascism and radical environmentalism can be found in movies and literature like Soylent Green , Hunger Games , Z.P.G. , and My Diary from 2091 . Several philosophies have arisen from ideas in radical environmentalism that include deep ecology , ecofeminism , social ecology and bioregionalism . Deep Ecology

1218-483: The form of bombs and shells whose main incendiary component is white phosphorus (WP), and can be used in an offensive anti-personnel role against enemy troop concentrations, but WP is also used for signalling, smoke screens , and target-marking purposes. The U.S. Army and marines used WP extensively in World War II and Korea for all three purposes, frequently using WP shells in large 4.2-inch chemical mortars. WP

1260-621: The group's inception, with those that split from the movement in the 1990s including the Earth Liberation Front (ELF) in 1992, naming themselves after the Animal Liberation Front (ALF) who formed in the 1970s. Three years later in Canada , inspired by the ELF in Europe the first Earth Liberation direct action occurred, but this time as the Earth Liberation Army (ELA), a similar movement who use ecotage and monkeywrenching as

1302-688: The late 20th century sometimes contained thermite , made from aluminium and ferric oxide . It takes very high temperatures to ignite, but when alight, it can burn through solid steel. In World War II, such devices were employed in incendiary grenades to burn through heavy armour plate, or as a quick welding mechanism to destroy artillery and other complex machined weapons. A variety of pyrophoric materials can also be used: selected organometallic compounds, most often triethylaluminium , trimethylaluminium , and some other alkyl and aryl derivatives of aluminium, magnesium , boron , zinc , sodium , and lithium , can be used. Thickened triethylaluminium,

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1344-569: The latter part of the period, gunpowder was invented, which increased the sophistication of the weapons, starting with fire lances . The first incendiary devices to be dropped during World War I fell on coastal towns in the east of England on the night of 18–19 January 1915. The small number of German bombs, also known as firebombs, were finned containers filled with kerosene and oil and wrapped with tar-covered rope. They were dropped from Zeppelin airships . On 8 September 1915, Zeppelin L-13 dropped

1386-471: The near-annihilation of many German cities. In the Pacific War , during the last seven months of strategic bombing by B-29 Superfortresses in the air war against Japan , a change to firebombing tactics resulted in the death of 500,000 Japanese and the homelessness of five million more. Sixty-seven Japanese cities lost significant areas to incendiary attacks. The most deadly single bombing raid in history

1428-495: The night of June 10–11, 1953. Eighth Army chemical officer Donald Bode reported that on an "average good day" UN pilots used 70,000 US gallons (260,000 L) of napalm, with approximately 60,000 US gallons (230,000 L) of this thrown by US forces. British prime minister Winston Churchill privately criticized the use of napalm in Korea, writing that it was "very cruel", as US and UN forces, he wrote, were "splashing it all over

1470-411: The petroleum-based Greek fire , were launched by throwing machines or administered through a siphon . Sulfur- and oil-soaked materials were sometimes ignited and thrown at the enemy, or attached to spears, arrows or bolts , and fired by hand or machine. Some siege techniques—such as mining and boring—relied on combustibles and fire to complete the collapse of walls and structures. Towards

1512-674: The process of chemical reactions and use ignition rather than detonation to start or maintain the reaction. Napalm , for example, is petroleum especially thickened with certain chemicals into a gel to slow, but not stop, combustion, releasing energy over a longer time than an explosive device. In the case of napalm, the gel adheres to surfaces and resists suppression. A range of early thermal weapons were utilized by ancient , medieval / post-classical and early modern armies, including hot pitch , oil, resin , animal fat and other similar compounds. Substances such as quicklime and sulfur could be toxic and blinding. Incendiary mixtures, such as

1554-436: The war using the 1918-designed one-kilogram magnesium alloy B-1E Elektronbrandbombe ; later modifications included the addition of a small explosive charge intended to penetrate the roof of any building which it landed on. Racks holding 36 of these bombs were developed, four of which could, in turn, be fitted to an electrically triggered dispenser so that a single He 111 bomber could carry 1,152 incendiary bombs, or more usually

1596-459: The weapon of choice for the British "dehousing" plan . The bomb consisted of a hollow body made from aluminium- magnesium alloy with a cast iron/steel nose, and filled with thermite incendiary pellets. It was capable of burning for up to ten minutes. There was also a high explosive version and delayed high explosive versions (2–4 minutes) which were designed to kill rescuers and firefighters. It

1638-462: Was Operation Meetinghouse , an incendiary attack that killed some 100,000 Tokyo residents in one night. The 4 lb (1.8 kg) incendiary bomb, developed by ICI , was the standard light incendiary bomb used by RAF Bomber Command in very large numbers, declining slightly in 1944 to 35.8 million bombs produced (the decline being due to more bombs arriving from the United States). It was

1680-504: Was normal for a proportion of high explosive bombs to be dropped during incendiary attacks in order to expose combustible material and to fill the streets with craters and rubble, hindering rescue services. Towards the end of World War Two, the British introduced a much improved 30 lb (14 kg) incendiary bomb, whose fall was retarded by a small parachute and on impact sent out an extremely hot flame for 15 ft (4.6 m); This,

1722-478: Was then announced in 2003 that " eco-terrorist " attacks, known as " ecotage " , had increased from the ELF, ELA and the "Environmental Rangers" , another name used by activists when engaging in similar activity. In 2005 the FBI announced that the ELF was America's greatest domestic terrorist threat, responsible for over 1,200 "criminal incidents" amounting to tens of millions of dollars in damage to property, with

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1764-553: Was widely credited by many Allied soldiers for breaking up numerous German infantry attacks and creating havoc among enemy troop concentrations during the latter part of World War II. In both World War II and Korea, WP was found particularly useful in overcoming enemy human wave attacks . Napalm was widely used by the United States during the Korean War , most notably during the battle " Outpost Harry " in South Korea during

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