How did wartime conditions help spread the flu

THE FLU EPIDEMIC In the fall of 1918, the United States suffered a home- front crisis when an international flu epidemic affected about one-quarter of the U.S. population. The effect of the epidemic on the economy was devastating. Mines shut down, telephone service was cut in half, and factories and offices staggered working hours to avoid contagion. Cities ran short of coffins, and the corpses of poor people lay unburied for as long as a week. The mysterious illness seemed to strike people who were otherwise in the best of health, and death could come in a matter of days. Doctors did not know what to do, other than to recommend cleanliness and quarantine. One epidemic survivor recalled that “so many people died from the flu they just rang the bells; they didn’t dare take [corpses] into the church.”

In the army, where living conditions allowed contagious illnesses to spread rapidly, more than a quarter of the soldiers caught the disease. In some AEF units, one-third of the troops died. Germans fell victim in even larger numbers than the Allies. Possibly spread around the world by soldiers, the epidemic killed about 500,000 Americans before it disappeared in 1919. Historians believe that the influenza virus killed as many as 30 million people worldwide.

World War I brought death and disease to millions but, like the flu epidemic, the war also came to a sudden end. After four years of slaughter and destruction, the time had come to forge a peace settlement. Americans hoped that this “war to end all wars” would do just that. Leaders of the victorious nations gath- ered at Versailles outside Paris to work out the terms of peace, and President Wilson traveled to Europe to ensure it.

The First World War 601

•War Industries Board •Bernard M. Baruch

•propaganda •George Creel

•Espionage and Sedition Acts

•Great Migration

1. TERMS & NAMES For each term or name, write a sentence explaining its significance.

MAIN IDEA 2. TAKING NOTES

In a chart like the one shown, list some of the changes that the war brought about for each group.

Explain how each group benefited from or was disadvantaged by these changes.

CRITICAL THINKING 3. DRAWING CONCLUSIONS

How did the war affect government power? Think About:

• how private business worked with government

• how much control the president gained over the economy

• the Espionage and Sedition Acts

4. MAKING INFERENCES Why do you think the flu spread so quickly among the troops?

5. EVALUATING Do you think that the war had a positive or a negative effect on American society? Think About:

• how the propaganda campaign influenced people’s behavior

• the new job opportunities for African Americans and women

• how the government controlled industry

Changes Brought About by the War

African Americans

Women

Immigrants

New York City street cleaners wore masks to avoid catching influenza. ▼

MAIN IDEAMAIN IDEA

G

Making Inferences

How did wartime conditions help spread the flu?

G