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The Spanish Flu in Belgium, 1918-1919: A State of the Art
Die Spanische Grippe in Belgien 1918-1919: Ein Stand der Technik
[journal article]
Abstract
This article provides the first comprehensive overview of the severity and impact of the Spanish flu in Belgium (1918-1919) and thereby makes a long overdue connection with the extensive international literature on pandemics in general and Spanish flu in particular. Leveraging ego documents (diaries... view more
This article provides the first comprehensive overview of the severity and impact of the Spanish flu in Belgium (1918-1919) and thereby makes a long overdue connection with the extensive international literature on pandemics in general and Spanish flu in particular. Leveraging ego documents (diaries), municipal-level excess mortality, and individual-level cause-of-death registers, we present new evidence on the chronology and spatial distribution of Spanish flu mortality in Belgium in 1918 and 1919 as well as social and demographic characteristics of the Spanish flu deaths in the city of Antwerp and discuss the government measures taken in the difficult context of the German occupation. In Belgium, our analysis shows that the chronology and geography of the Spanish flu cannot be seen in isolation from the vagaries of the First World War, in terms of soldiers and evacuees both acting as likely vectors of influenza transmission as well as inflating crude death rates at the municipal level.... view less
Keywords
epidemic; contagious disease; mortality; Belgium; twentieth century; First World War; inequality; health policy
Classification
Social History, Historical Social Research
Free Keywords
Spanish flu; excess mortality; historical demography; pandemic; inequality; spatial analysis; military occupation; Belgium
Document language
English
Publication Year
2021
Page/Pages
p. 251-283
Journal
Historical Social Research, Supplement (2021) 33
Issue topic
Epidemics and Pandemics - the Historical Perspective
ISSN
0936-6784
Status
Published Version; peer reviewed