The paper argues that a pulmonary plague theory about the "Spanish" flu arose locally and intuitively across Europe among both laypeople and leaders in 1918. Their suspicion rested on the disease's sudden appearance, bizarre symptoms, and the assumption that apocalyptic “plagues” inevitably accompany apocalyptic wars. Contemporaries’ fears of pneumonic plague were especially validated by their direct observations of the flu’s sudden and bizzare symptoms, which included profuse or projectile bleeding from the mouth and nose; heliotrope cyanosis, which resembled plague sepsis; and the presence of black or “rotten” blood. Added to this, for nearly a half decade Europe's officials and experts had lied to their populations about a wide range of war-related matters including the conditions at the front, enemy actions, the possibility of victory, and the nation's food security. Contemporaries’ diagnoses were therefore the products of fear, fatalism, cynicism, and suspicion—feelings that were in abundance at the end of the First World War.

This paper is based on findings from a research project that represents the first transnational, cultural history of the 1918 influenza pandemic in Europe. The project focuses on a unique source base of 1,000 survivors’ memories gathered from across ten European countries and its methodology rests on a searchable database of the testimonies, which I created with the help of Penn State undergraduate students.