TD: volume 22, issue 2025, 1, page 69–95

Abstract

Es folgt die Zusammenfassung in englischer Sprache following the article short description

The confrontation of governments with the risk of deadly epidemics is an essential part of the history of statehood. But since the emergence of “bio-politics” and “governmentality”, it has been accompanied by a fundamental contradiction: the freedom of the individual versus the well-being of society as a whole. This article examines the period between two influential outbreaks of infectious disease – the cholera of the 1830s and the Spanish flu of 1918 – to analyze the parallel development of the progress of democratization, mass politics, and the struggle against infectious bacteria and viruses.

TD: volume 22, issue 2025, 1, page 139–141

review

TD: volume 19, issue 2022, 2, page 257–278

Abstract

Es folgt die Zusammenfassung in englischer Sprache following the article short description

Upper Silesia was characterized by the struggle between two conflicting national movements, German and Polish/Silesian, the dominance of the Catholic Church and the accelerated industrialization since the second half of 19th century. It experienced a fast population growth, accompanied by the spread of infectious diseases. The First World War caused even more social disturbances and finally led to the erosion of the state’s legitimacy. In autumn 1918 the more serious second wave of the Spanish Flu caused death and severe illness. The provincial administration mostly stood by its own and struggled with the identification of the disease and the collection of verifiable numbers.

TD: volume 19, issue 2022, 2, page 371–372

review