This Week in Pandemics - The First Reported Cases of the Spanish Flu

This Week's Historical Theme: Pandemics

 

4 March 1918

 

A significant event throughout the history of pandemics that occurred in March was the first reported cases of the Spanish influenza. Just before breakfast, Private Albert Gitchell of the US army reported to the hospital at Fort Riley, Kansas, complaining of cold-like symptoms of a sore throat, fever, and headache. By noon, over 100 of his fellow soldier had reported similar symptoms, marking the first cases in the historic influenza pandemic of 1918, later known as the Spanish flu. It would eventually kill 675,000 Americans and an estimated 20 million to 50 million people worldwide, proving to be deadlier than the First World War.

 

The initial outbreak was followed by similar outbreaks in army camps and prisons around the country, and soon, the disease travelled to Europe with the American soldiers heading to aid the Allies. 31,000 cases were then reported in June in Great Britain, and over the summer, the first wave hit German forces on the Western Front. It had a significant effect on the already weakening morale of the troops. By the end of the summer, numerous cases had been reported in Russia, North Africa, India, China, Japan, and the Philippines. The influenza continued to wreak havoc after the war had ended and infected an estimated 28% of the United States before it petered out.

 

Want to find out more about the Spanish flu? Click here for more information, or here for more about America's struggled to bury the dead during the pandemic.

This Week in the United States - President Johnson's Impeachment

This Week's Historical Theme: The United States

 

24 February 1868

 

A significant event throughout the history of the United States that occurred in February was the impeachment of President Andrew Johnson. This came after the US House of Representatives voted 11 articles of impeachment against him, making Johnson the first president to be impeached in US history. His impeachment trial began in the Senate, on March 13, under the direction of US Supreme Court Chief Justice Salmon P. Chase. The trial ended on May 26 with Johnson's opponents narrowly falling short by one vote to achieve the two-thirds majority necessary to convict him.

 

The primary charge against Johnson was that he had violated the Tenure of Office Act, that had been passed by Congress in March 1867 over Johnson's veto. More specifically, he had removed Edwin Stanton from office, the secretary of war, whom the act was largely designed to protect. Stanton did not have a good relationship with Johnson, and often sided with the Radical Republican faction that passed the act. The impeachment and trial had important political implications, as it maintained the principle that Congress should not remove the president from office simply because its members disagreed with him.

 

Want to find out more about President Johnson's impeachment? Click here for more information, or here for more about other presidents who have faced impeachment.

This Week in Germany - The Leaders of the White Rose are Arrested

This Week's Historical Theme: Germany

 

18 January 1943

 

A significant event throughout the history of Germany that occurred in February was the arrest of the White Rose resistance leaders, Hans Scholl and his sister Sophie. They had left a suitcase filled with copies of anti-Nazi leaflets in their main university building. This leaflet stated that "the day of reckoning has come, the reckoning of our German youth with the most abominable tyranny our people has ever endured." The pair were, however, spotted by a janitor, who reported them to the Gestapo. Turned over to Hitler's 'People's Court', a kangaroo court for dispatching dissidents quickly, the Scholls, along with another White Rose member, were sentenced to death, and beheaded on February 23.

 

The White Rose was composed of university students who spoke out against Adolf Hitler's regime. Hans Scholl was the founder and was a former member of the Hitler Youth who grew disenchanted with Nazi ideology once its real aims were evident. During the summer of 1942, Scholl and a friend had composed four leaflets, which exposed and denounced Nazi and SS atrocities, including the extermination of Jews and Polish nobility. The risks involved were enormous, as the lives of average civilians were monitored for any deviation from loyalty to the state. Even a casual remark critical of Hitler or the Nazis could result in arrest by the Gestapo, yet the students of the White Rose risked all.

 

Want to find out more about the White Rose? Click here for more information, or here for a film about the resistance group.

This Week in China - The Last Emperor Abdicates

This Week's Historical Theme: China

 

12 February 1912

 

A significant event throughout the history of China that occurred in February was the last emperor's abdication. Hsian-T'ung was forced to abdicate following Sun Yat-sen's republican revolution. A provisional government was established in his place, ending 267 years of Manchu rule in China and 2,000 years of imperial rule. The former emperor, only 6 years old, was allowed to maintain his residence in Beijing's Forbidden City in exile. He took the name of Henry Pu Yi and was granted a large government pension. In 1934, Pu Yi was enthroned as K'ang Te, emperor of Manchukuo. He would hold onto this title until 1945, when he was captured by Soviet troops.

 

In 1946, Pu Yi testified before the Tokyo war crimes tribunal that he had been an unwilling tool of the Japanese and not, as they had claimed, an instrument of Manchurian self-determination. Manchuria and the Rehe province were returned to China, and in 1950, Pu Yi was handed over to the Chinese communists. He was imprisoned at Shenyang but was granted amnesty by Chinese leader Mao Zedong in 1959. After his release, he worked in a mechanical repair shop in Peking. He married in 1962 to Li Shuxian, but died five years later, and was buried near the Western Qing tombs in a commercial cemetery.

 

Want to find out more about Pu Yi? Click here for more information, or here for more about the wider history of China.