Browsing by Author "Atajanov, Davut"

Now showing 1 - 1 of 1

Restricted
The relationship between world war I and the Spanish flu in the late Ottoman Empire
(Bilkent University, 2023) Saad, Amal; Atajanov, Davut; Karimov, Islomjon; Tulkibayeva, Mariya; Ghayoumi, Narges; Umar, Ushna
Nearing the end of the year 1918, humanity thought it had finally overcome one of its worst catastrophes — World War I. Just as the world escaped the death and destruction of the war, however, an even bigger calamity took hold of the globe: that is, a pandemic. In the summer of 1918, Spain reported the existence of influenza — with the symptoms of the common flu, which deteriorated into pneumonia, bronchitis, etc. — which was later given the misnomer of the infamous “Spanish flu.” The tragedy of the war often overshadows the crippling effect the Spanish flu had on the world and the Ottoman Empire — a warzone, in more than one way — in particular. The fact of the matter remains that Spanish flu had a just as catastrophic effect as World War I — if not worse. This paper aims to explore the ramifications of World War I and the Spanish flu taking place in the same time period through the use of first-hand accounts of both the war and influenza. It will do so in the form of letters, pictures dating back to Ottoman times, memoirs of soldiers, newspaper articles — both from inside and outside the Ottoman Empire — and the Turkish Red Crescent archive. In addition to those primary sources, research papers and books that offer varying perspectives on the subject will also be used. This begs the question — did the war exacerbate the effects of influenza and its aftermath? Simply put, yes; this paper realizes that the fallout of World War I, joined with that of the Spanish flu, resulted in devastating repercussions for the Ottoman Empire in terms of health, the quality of life of its population, and even its economy.