Typhus in History of Europe

 

 

The older the history, the harder it is to determine was it exactly a typhus epidemic, or it was any other disease with similar symptoms to appear in the world. In the case of typhus, it is even more complicated by the fact that its existence and transmission method have been established quiet recently. Therefore, we can only guess whether some of the world history epidemics were typhus or some of other diseases similar to typhus in its effect.

The first documented epidemic typhus can be considered as the emergence of an epidemic of 430 B.C. The ancient Greek philosopher and writer Thucydides describes a typhus-like disease that ravaged the Greek populace and Athenian navy, contributing ultimately to the downfall of Athens. That epidemic was called "The Plague of Athens", and it's belonging to typhus may be hardly recognized even nowadays.(Cunha, B. p. 29)

In the Middle Ages, there were no epidemics recorded, which would be similar to typhoid in its properties. However, it is important to understand what the social fabric of the Dark Ages prepared the perfect springboard for countless future epidemics, which were ravaging in Europe throughout its history. The point is the lack of hygiene, which was inherent in almost all European countries, as poverty and dirt were strongly encouraged by the church for ideological reasons. Thus, living in the mud and constant wars, Europeans have been the ideal target for all sorts of epidemics, especially typhus, the main conditions for the spread of which are dirt and close contact between people. Incidentally, the church played an important role in the spread of "contact diseases" because in the case of epidemics people often gathered in churches to pray, which led to a further spread of the disease.(Conlon, J. pp.7-8) However, despite the seemingly ideal conditions for the early appearance of typhus, the disease did not appear in Europe for many years, which leads us to the conclusion that the typhus was not originally a European disease, and thus was brought to Europe from outside.

It is believed the Spaniards brought typhus to Europe, returning from Cyprus after the Crusades. However, endemic conditions were set by Spaniards during their unsuccessful siege of the Muslims in Granada, 1489. At that time, the Spanish army lost 3,000 men killed in a battle, when typhus killed 17,000 of the original 25,000 men. (Conlon, J. pp. 7-8)

A series of full-scale epidemics began in Europe in the 16th century, with the conflict between the French and the Spanish. Then, 25,000 of the 35,000 military were victims of typhus. This weakened state of the French army allowed the Spaniards to turn the tide of the war, which was not in their favor from its very beginning. For superstitious Europeans, the fall of the French army was a manifestation of the divine will, which is an invisible hand to administer the fate of people, to give life and take it back. However, the typhus was not particularly interested in European geopolitics whatsoever, and turned against the Spaniards during the war with the Teutonic Protestants, when 10,000 Spanish soldiers fell victim to the epidemic in the besieged city of Metz. During subsequent history of Europe typhus more than once violated the plans of the various warlords, such as the loss of 30,000 men of Habsburg army during the Ottoman attack on Hungary.(Conlon, J. p. 9) In consequence, typhus will acquire such nicknames as "war fever" and "General typhus", although the second is more of a modern parody of the concept of "General Frost".

The real triumph of typhus was one of the biggest religious conflicts (and the Church has contributed to the epidemic again, albeit indirectly), known as the Thirty Years' War. Then, at different periods of the conflict the armies participated in the were suffering losses from 18 to 30 thousand soldiers only in the results of fatal outcome of the disease’ widespread.(Zinsser, H. pp.159-160)

Over the entire period of the Thirty Years War, in conjunction with the plague and some other diseases, typhus sent to the light almost ten million people, with the proviso that only 350,000 people died directly in combat.(Conlon, J. p. 10) Undoubtedly, historians prefer the plague in the issue of the number of people killed during Thirty Years’War, however, I want to draw attention to a factor, which proves that the contribution of typhus in the extermination of the Europeans should not be underestimated. Similarly, both diseases can be transmitted by pests - fleas and lice that feel great in the military environments, where a large numbers of people are next to each other for a long time, not paying much of attention to hygiene. However, the incubation period of typhus lasts a little longer than the incubation period of plague: 6 to 16 days in the case of typhus, against 2-6 days in the case of the plague.(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Plague section) In wartime conditions, a man infected with typhus will feel symptoms of the disease later, thus his effectiveness reduces slower, and his live lasts longer than in case of a soldier infected with plague. Therefore, theoretically typhus's ability to transfer is higher than plague's one, as the carrier has chances to transfer the disease further. For example, during the Napoleonic wars the disease was originally obtained in Poland, but then successfully spread by the imperial troops over France, Italy, Germany, and Russia.(Wilder, R. p. 13)