How The Pandemic Became “Spanish”

The pandemic did not only begin to wreak havoc in the fall of 1918. This period is often cited as the peak of the pandemic because reports about the pandemic were only permitted after the end of the First World War. Beforehand, reports on cases of the illness were forbidden under the Habsburg Monarchy’s strict censorship regulations, so that the actual extent of the pandemic remained unknown. Instead, the Austrian newspapers actively downplayed the issue until the end of 1918. The news coverage in other European countries was similar. Only in Spain, which had remained neutral in the war, press was actually free of censorship. Spanish newspapers openly discussed the virus, which allowed other countries to portray it as a “Spanish” phenomenon.

In July 1918, the newspapers made fun of the pandemic: the newspaper Czernowitzer Allgemeine Zeitung portrayed the illness as “perhaps inconvenient”, but not dangerous, and a mere case of the “cold and flu”.

Click on this link for the entire issue of the Czernowitzer Allgemeine Zeitung, Juli  7, 1918

The newspaper Illustrierte Kronen Zeitung speaks of “isolated cases” in Vienna in early July, but states that there is a "significant grow of cases." Still, Vienna wouldn't need to worry, according to the newspaper.

Click on this link for the entire issue of the Illustrierte Kronenzeitung, July 2, 1918

The newspaper Fremden-Blatt ironically described the infection as an “ailment of the most elite” that appears to be “extraordinarily modern”. Renowned aristocrats who survived the flu, such as King Alfonso of Spain or Empress Zita, were taken as proof that the illness did not make any class distinctions and, especially, that one could survive the flu (ignoring the question of how expensive medical care was at the time). Later in exile, Zita’s husband, Emperor Karl, died of symptoms commonly attributed to the “Spanish Flu”.

Click on this link for the entire issue of the Fremden-Blatt, July 3, 1918