Španjolska gripa u Osijeku 1918.
Spanish flu in Osijek in 1918

Summary/Abstract: Influenza pandemic of 1918-1919, remembered as “Spanish flu” in world’s collective memory, shook the world exhausted by World War I and claimed much more lives than this great military conflict. By the end of the summer of 1918 the flu virus reached Croatia, as well as Osijek, where it claimed its first victims in the fall of the same year. Town authorities tried to fight the pandemic with numerous safety regulations, but because of the specific period in which influenza struck, the town population did not observe these regulations and virtually ignored the danger. Namely, in October and November, when the pandemic peaked in Osijek, the map of Europe was signifi cantly changing as a result of World War I. The Croatian public was, as it could be expected, eager to see what will happen to Croatia after the collapse of Austria-Hungary. The townsmen gathered on the streets greeting the soldiers returning from war and celebrating the proclamation of the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs, completely forgetting about the danger from the Spanish flu. The pandemic continued its course and no safety measures or medical activities could keep it at bay. It disappeared naturally, suddenly and abruptly, the same way as it appeared.

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