War and Cholera in the Province of Ciudad Real (1834)

Abstract

The beginning of the year 1834 was marked by the recent outbreak of the First Carlist War. The war in the province of Ciudad Real was characterized by the presence of Carlist guerrillas who devastated the region with behavior that on many occasions differed little from pure banditry. In the spring of 1834, the military units deployed in the province, firmly supported by the local volunteer militias, had managed to defeat the first wave of guerrillas. The apparent tranquility achieved after the defeat of the guerrillas was brutally broken by the appearance of another much deadlier enemy, the cholera epidemic.
The disease, coming from Andalusia, began to spread in the province in June and remained in the area until October. The cholera outbreaks in each town were characterized by a maximum duration of two months and mortality rates so high that the mortality rate for the whole of 1834 doubled the values ??of the previous year.
The management of this health crisis fell to recently created institutions such as the Development Subdelegation and the Provincial Health Board. It is striking that, despite the time that has elapsed and the scientific advances, the decisions made by the authorities have many similarities with the current response to covid 19: regional closures, confinement of populations, creation of pest control hospitals and hospitals, health passports, improvement of hygiene and disinfection of public places, etc. In any case, the lack of means and the lack of knowledge about the causes, the form of spread or the most appropriate treatment for cholera prevented these measures from being truly effective.