Abstract

World War I (known as the Great War) is a major military conflict which took place from the year 1914 to 1918. The 1918-19 influenza epidemics was a source of massive destruction where it claimed the lives of at least 40 million people worldwide, exceeding the death tolls in the U.S. that occurred in the two World Wars of Vietnam and Korea combined. The Pandemic resulted in a massive scale of deaths, leading to extremely alarming death rates in the prime working ages of 15 to 44 years. This paper analyzes the outcomes of the Influenza Pandemic following its effects before, during and after the breaking out of the epidemic. The influenza pandemic resulted in distraction of the war strategies and called for major health interventions besides achieving other goals of the World War 1.

Table of Contents

Abstract1

Introduction3

How WW1 was going before the Flu Breakout4

During the Break-out5

How Influenza affected War Outcomes8

Conclusion11

Works Cited13

Influenza (Flu) affects on the outcome of WW1

Introduction

Mankind has always co-existed with epidemics of all kinds, which have created devastating impact on the existence and salvation of human beings across the globe. Lately, there have always been four flu pandemics per century, some more lethal than others. Each time the mutated influenza virus, an epidemic occurs, because no one has produced antibodies to the mutation. If there is a new mutation, however it cohabits with ancient virus, for which we have antibodies, or small mutations that make us sick but we did not come to kill. These mutations could be deadly small before, because there were no antibiotics, which can do nothing against the virus but if, they fight microbial infections result of low defenses.

This research paper is based on discussing the effects of influenza pandemic on the World War 1 (WW1) and its contributions to undermining the war outcomes. The influenza pandemic of 1918-1919 killed more people than the Great War, known today as World War I (WWI), at somewhere between 20 and 40 million people. It has been cited as the most devastating epidemic in recorded world history. More people died of influenza in a single year than in four-years of the Black Death Bubonic Plague from 1347 to 1351. It is also known as "Spanish Flu" or "La Grippe", whatever name we call it, the influenza of 1918-1919 was a global disaster. It derived its name as the Spanish Flu due to the high statistics of mortality in Spain at that time. The impact of the Influenza Epidemic of 1918 can be assessed by the simple fact that because of this epidemic, more people died as a consequence than those who lost their lives in the War itself.

How WW1 was going before the Flu Breakout

World War I (known as the Great War) is a major military conflict which took place from the year 1914 to 1918. The 1918-19 influenza epidemics was a source of massive destruction where it claimed the lives of at least 40 million people worldwide, exceeding the death tolls in the U.S. that occurred ...