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Duquesne University Duquesne Scholarship Collection Electronic Theses and Dissertations Winter 12-15-2020 Epidemics, Politics and Public Health: Ludwig Rajchman, MD, The League of Nations Health Organization and the Creation of a Transnational Health Institution paul J. weinbaum Duquesne University Follow this and additional works at: https://dsc.duq.edu/etd Part of the Public Health Commons Recommended Citation weinbaum, p. J. (2020). Epidemics, Politics and Public Health: Ludwig Rajchman, MD, The League of Nations Health Organization and the Creation of a Transnational Health Institution (Master's thesis, Duquesne University). Retrieved from https://dsc.duq.edu/etd/1956 This Immediate Access is brought to you for free and open access by Duquesne Scholarship Collection. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Duquesne Scholarship Collection. EPIDEMICS, POLITICS AND PUBLIC HEALTH: LUDWIG RAJCHMAN, MD, THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS HEALTH ORGANIZATION AND THE CREATION OF A TRANSNATIONAL HEALTH INSTITUTION A Dissertation Submitted to the McAnulty Graduate School of Liberal Arts Duquesne University In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy By Paul J. Weinbaum, MD December 2020 Copyright by Paul J. Weinbaum, MD 2020 EPIDEMICS, POLITICS AND PUBLIC HEALTH: LUDWIG RAJCHMAN, MD, THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS HEALTH ORGANIZATION AND THE CREATION OF A TRANSNATIONAL HEALTH INSTITUTION By Paul J. Weinbaum Approved August 27, 2020 ________________________________ ________________________________ John Mitcham Andrew Simpson Professor of History Professor of History (Committee Chair) (Committee Member) ________________________________ Kristine L. Blair Dean, McAnulty College and Graduate School of Liberal Arts iii ABSTRACT EPIDEMICS, POLITICS AND PUBLIC HEALTH: LUDWIG RAJCHMAN, MD, THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS HEALTH ORGANIZATION AND THE CREATION OF A TRANSNATIONAL HEALTH INSTITUTION By Paul J. Weinbaum December 2020 Dissertation supervised by John Mitcham Traditional scholarship on the League of Nations labels the organization as a failure because it did not prevent the outbreak of the World War II. Recent research examines League activities in a more comprehensive manner and concludes that the organization should be credited with important and enduring achievements. Perhaps the most successful work was carried out by the Health Section led by Dr. Ludwick Rajchman. Using primary sources from the League archives in Geneva, documents from organizations such as the Rockefeller Foundation, articles from medical journals and other relevant secondary sources, I argue that the Health Section, became the world’s first transnational health organization. Under League auspices, the Health Section initiated important international public health programs which included the control of epidemic iv diseases, standardization of laboratory testing, and the development of effective disease treatments. This thesis also examines the Health Section’s partnerships with private charitable foundations, which provided support for medical education and scientific meetings between medical experts from different nations. The most important of these conferences, the Sanitary Conventions are examined, because they facilitated the exchange of information and research data and encouraged productive communication between nations that had been bitter enemies during the Great War. I argue that the rightward shift in European political sentiment during the 1930’s led to politicization and significant reduction in the scope and effectiveness of the Health Section’s work. Finally, I examine the pivotal role Dr Ludwick Rajchman played in the planning and execution of the Health Section’s public health programs and his role in the founding of UNICEF after World War II. v TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Abstract ....................................................................................................................................iv Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 1 Chapter I .................................................................................................................................. 15 Chapter II ................................................................................................................................ 41 Chapter III ............................................................................................................................... 76 Conclusions ...........................................................................................................................103 vi Introduction The Members of the League agree to encourage and promote the establishment and co- operation of duly authorized voluntary national Red Cross organizations having as purposes the improvement of health, the prevention of disease and the mitigation of suffering throughout the world. Article 25, Covenant of the League of Nations, On December 10, 1920, the General Assembly of the League of Nations (LON) authorized the creation of a permanent Health Section (HS) as a part of the official structure of the new international organization operationalizing the spirit expressed in the LON charter, and recognizing that there was an international responsibility to improve health, prevent disease and mitigate suffering throughout the world. Historian Henry Markel observes that the creation of the Health Section was a significant event because it demonstrated that the international community was prepared to move beyond the limited health-related international agreements of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and embrace more comprehensive transnational agreements. 1 He suggests that this expanded cooperation was the result of the nexus between advances in science and medicine that had taken place over the course of the nineteenth century and an international recognition that there were benefits to being collectively responsible for the people’s health.2 The spirit of hope and the enthusiasm of the post-war “Wilsonian Moment” had contributed not only to the creation of the LON, but also to the idea that if nations joined together to create a more 1 “The Covenant of the League of Nations” in Treaties and Other International Agreements if the United States of America, 1776-1949, ed. Charles I. Bevans (Washington, DC: Department of State, 1969), 2:57-58. 2 “The Covenant of the League of Nations” in Treaties and Other International Agreements if the United States of America, 2:57-58. 1 equitable and healthy world, there was no limit to what could be accomplished.3 All of these events came together at a propitious time and encouraged the League Assembly to agree to the formation of the HS. This thesis examines the work of the LON Health Section which has traditionally attracted less historical interest than other League activities. Historians such as Susan Pedersen and Iris Borowy have argued that while the existence of the LON was insufficient to prevent World War II, the organization had many positive and important accomplishments. I wish to clarify that the organization and support of a dedicated Health Section was an overlooked and yet important accomplishment and reflected the recognition that protecting the public health was part of the security mission of the League of Nations. The thesis evaluates the ways in which the work of the HS contributed to this overall security mission and how the League supported the development of an international system of public health, medical education and research, vaccine standardization and laboratory science. Finally, this thesis demonstrates that the legacy of the HS is reflected in the organization and structure of the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) and the present epidemiological and disease surveillance programs of the United Nations. A transformational increase in global trade and human social interaction was an important result of the industrial revolution of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, and played a major role in the development of the cooperative international spirit of the 1920s and early 1930s. Social historian Akira Iriye has argued that between 1840 and1914, more frequent contact between people from different countries and cultures who had no prior experience with each other had led “nations and people to become strongly aware that they shared interests and 3 Eric Manela, The Wilsonian Moment. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007) 15. 2 objectives across national boundaries and that they could best solve their many problems by pooling resources and effecting transnational cooperation rather than through individual countries’ unilateral efforts.”4 Iriye demonstrates that these interactions, at least among Europeans, contributed to the development of a global consciousness that coalesced into the movement that would be termed- “internationalism.” The first steps taken by the international community toward coordinated action in the arena of international public health were due to these increased interactions and the willingness to collaborate and share advances in scientific and medical knowledge. During the nineteenth century, new technology significantly reduced travel time by sea and facilitated the development and growth of railroad networks. These industrial advances also provided the means for colonial powers such as Britain and France

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