15 - The ‘other war’ II: setbacks in public health

Summary

The epidemiology of the war on the Western front marks it out from previous wars, which were accompanied by terrifying increases in diseases such as typhus, cholera, or smallpox. The war on the Eastern front was still, in this sense, a nineteenth-century war, but further west, some plagues traditionally associated with war were avoided. Furthermore, as we have seen in chapter 14, protecting the health of the civilian populations was a priority in all three of the major combatant countries. Children and munitions workers were singled out for special attention, which on balance succeeded in the necessary task of damage limitation throughout the war in the case of Paris and London, and from 1914 to 1916 in the case of Berlin. Thereafter the German capital went through a demographic crisis, the severity of which public authorities could neither contain nor reverse.

At the outset two fundamental points need emphasis. The first is the striking contrast between the successful defence of the well-being of some civilian groups and the conspicuous failure in the case of others. The second point is the significance of internal migration in affecting both the pattern of disease and mortality and other demographic features of these cities.

Let us take these points in turn. In all three cities the medical profession and other social agencies did what they could in wartime to defend civilian health. Unfortunately, some groups benefited more from their efforts than others.