The First World War Reconsidered

War Psychiatry | International Encyclopedia of the First World War (WW1)

During the First World War soldiers from all combatant nations suffered from a wide range of debilitating nervous complaints as a result of the stresses and strains of modern warfare. War psychiatrists struggled to manage these complaints and shell-shocked men struggled to ensure that they had decent treatment and proper pensions. In each country the politics of shell shock differed but, regard...

What Caused the First World War ?

A pilot in the first world war.

Influenza Pandemic | International Encyclopedia of the First World War (WW1)

By examining the origins, pathways, demographic impact and consequences for the public, the medical profession and governments, of the so-called “Spanish” influenza pandemic of 1918-1919, this article establishes the main contours of the worst pandemic in modern history, which killed some 50 million people worldwide in eighteen months. In doing so, it also recognizes how closely this pandemic w...

Prevention of tetanus during the First World War.

The emergence of tetanus in wounded soldiers during the first months of the First World War (WWI) resulted from combat on richly manured fields in Belgium and Northern France, the use of modern explosives that produced deep tissue wounds and the intimate contact between the soldier and the soil upon which he fought. In response, routine prophylactic injections with anti-tetanus serum were given...