L'influenza spagnola e la Prima guerra mondiale: il caso italiano

The “Spanish” influenza pandemic appeared in three waves between 1918 and 1920, reaching its peak of lethality in autumn '18, when the Great War was entering its final stages. The conflict - characterised by general impoverishment, large movements of people and poor hygienic conditions - facilitated the rapid spread of the disease across the globe. However, the war mainly conditioned the management of the health emergency, which was subordinated to the needs of war. To ensure the functioning of the production industry, mild quarantine measures were applied. Medical and health intervention was concentrated on the army, to the detriment of civilians. States, through censorship and the involvement of patriotic public opinion, concealed the seriousness of the emergency from the population. In the post-war period, the “Spanish flu” dropped out of political debate and public memory: only in correspondence of the Covid-19 health emergency, the 1918-20 pandemic was rediscovered.