Overview
- Focuses upon the secret agricultural biological warfare programme codenamed Ekologiya – which was pursued by the Soviet Union
- Examines the period from 1958 through to the collapse of the USSR in 1991
- Argues that Ekologiya was the largest offensive agricultural biowarfare project the world has ever seen
Access this book
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Other ways to access
About this book
This book focuses upon the secret agricultural biological warfare programme codenamed Ekologiya – which was pursued by the Soviet Union from 1958 through to the collapse of the USSR in 1991. It was the largest offensive agricultural biowarfare project the world has ever seen and Soviet anti-crop and anti-livestock weapons had the capability to inflict enormous damage on Western agriculture. Beginning in the early 1970s, there was a new focus within the Soviet agricultural biowarfare programme on molecular biology and the development of genetically modified agents. A key characteristic of the Ekologiya project was the creation of mobilization production facilities. These ostensibly civil manufacturing plants incorporated capacity for production of biowarfare agents in wartime emergency. During the 1990s-2000s, the counter-proliferation efforts undertaken by the US and UK played a major role in preventing the transfer of Ekologiya scientists, technologies and pathogens to Iran and other countries of potential proliferation concern.
Anthony Rimmington is a former Senior Research Fellow at Birmingham University’s Centre for Russian, European and Eurasian Studies, UK. He has published widely on the civil life sciences sector in the post-Soviet states and on the Soviet Union’s offensive biological warfare programme, including Stalin’s Secret Weapon: The Origins of Soviet Biological Warfare.
Similar content being viewed by others
Table of contents (8 chapters)
-
Front Matter
-
Back Matter
Reviews
“The Soviet Union’s Agricultural Biowarfare Programme, constructs a compelling narrative of the Soviet agricultural biowarfare program known as Ekologiya. His access to firsthand knowledge of the program through interviews with former participants makes Rimmington’s book an important contribution to understanding Soviet military operations related to harming farm animals and food crops. … the richness and novelty of the information from his interview subjects will be a delight for advanced researchers interested in Soviet science and the history of technology.” (Miriam F. Lipton, Technology and Culture, Vol. 63 (2), April, 2022)
Authors and Affiliations
About the author
Anthony Rimmington is a former Senior Research Fellow at Birmingham University’s Centre for Russian, European and Eurasian Studies. He has published widely on the civil life sciences sector in the post-Soviet states and on the Soviet Union’s offensive biological warfare programme, including Stalin’s Secret Weapon: The Origins of Soviet Biological Warfare.
Accessibility Information
Accessibility information for this book is coming soon. We're working to make it available as quickly as possible. Thank you for your patience.
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: The Soviet Union’s Agricultural Biowarfare Programme
Book Subtitle: Ploughshares to Swords
Authors: Anthony Rimmington
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-73843-3
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan Cham
eBook Packages: History, History (R0)
Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-030-73842-6Published: 19 June 2021
Softcover ISBN: 978-3-030-73845-7Published: 20 June 2022
eBook ISBN: 978-3-030-73843-3Published: 18 June 2021
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: XV, 243
Number of Illustrations: 23 b/w illustrations, 1 illustrations in colour
Topics: Russian, Soviet, and East European History, History of Military, Modern History
