Why did the Geneva Gas Protocol fail to stop countries from developing biological weapons?

The Geneva Gas Protocol failed to stop countries from developing biological weapons primarily because it only prohibited the use of such weapons in warfare, rather than their development, production, testing, or stockpiling.1

Several critical factors undermined the protocol's effectiveness:

• Retaliatory Reservations: Many major powers, including the United Kingdom, France, and the Soviet Union, signed the protocol with explicit reservations, granting them the legal right to use these weapons in retaliation if attacked first.1
• Lack of Enforcement: The protocol lacked mechanisms for verification or invasive inspections, allowing nations to maintain clandestine research and development programs under the guise of defensive necessity.123
• Continued Development: Because the treaty did not address the creation of these weapons, countries like the United States and the Soviet Union were able to amass large supplies of biological and chemical agents.1

Ultimately, the protocol functioned more as a statement of global norms than as a comprehensive prohibition, necessitating later, more robust measures such as the Biological Weapons Convention.12