01-02 History - John Bulloch

Effective political leaders on the pandemic got their lessons from the Spanish Flu of 1918. People only follow leaders that provide clear messages.

Would it be believable to blame WW2 on the Spanish Flu of 1918? Or how about the decline of the British Empire?
Let’s start with the Peace Conference in Paris in May, 1919 in which there were two camps. The anti-German hardliners who wanted revenge and reparations, and the peace-makers led by President Woodrow Wilson of the United States who wanted surrender conditions that would help Germany rebuild its economy.
But Wilson came down with the Spanish Flu during the negotiations, and was deadly sick and ineffective at defending his position. The result was the Versailles Treaty in which the harshest of conditions were imposed on Germany.
And of course, this led to Hitler coming to power in the early 1930s with one goal. The reversal of all of the restrictions imposed on Germany by the Versailles Treaty. And Hitler’s rise to power led to WW2.
Now to India where something like 17 million died of the Flu. And naturally, a lot of Indians put the blame on Britain, and their faith on a rising political star and promoter of Indian independence, Mahatma Ghandi.
And despite the lack of accurate numbers, if say 50 million died of the Spanish Flu globally and 17 million of this was in India, then it can be appreciated how the Spanish Flu influenced the independence of India and the decline of the British Empire.
In Canada, the Spanish Flu came with soldiers coming home from Europe and travelling by train from the ports of Halifax, Quebec City and Montreal. About 55,000 died of the flu compared to 60,000 that were killed during the war.
Love the photo taken of the staff at a branch of the old Bank of Commerce in Calgary. It was normal at the time to wear masks but not stay six feet apart.
We had a similar situation in the US in 1918 that we find today with the Coronavirus. States with strong leadership were impacted less than states with weak leadership. Something like 675,000 Americans died of the Spanish Flu.
Today, effective political leaders on the pandemic are all students of history. What they learned from 1918 is that the people only follow leaders that provide clear messages. And successful leaders do not dither or deny.
And another lesson from 1918. The heroes are the nurses, doctors, medical staff and front-line workers like policemen. This photo is one of my favourites.