[War & Business] The Black Death and Psychological Warfare

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunwoo Lee] One of the frequently encountered topics in various media whenever a new virus epidemic spreads is the story of the Black Death that swept through medieval Europe. The Black Death, which began around the Black Sea region in Eastern Europe in 1346, spread throughout Europe via trade routes and claimed the lives of over 30 million people in just two years.

The Black Death in Europe, which killed tens of millions in a short period, started from corpses infected with the plague that the Mongol army threw into a fortress during their invasion of the Crimean Peninsula in Russia as a form of biological warfare. It was a common disease throughout Asia, to the extent that the Mongol army used it for biological warfare, and most civilizations had already experienced this epidemic long ago. It originated in the Middle East and was quite prevalent across North Africa, Central Asia, and Northeast Asia, and it had spread several times in Europe during the Roman Empire era.

Although the transmission speed was terrifying, the Black Death could be largely prevented by thoroughly isolating patients and having caregivers cover only their nose and mouth with cloth, which blocks over 90% of the bacteria. Compared to other viral infectious diseases, it is an epidemic with a relatively simple prevention method. However, Europeans, who encountered this disease for the first time in a thousand years after the fall of the Roman Empire, not only failed to respond properly but also psychologically collapsed, causing the damage to snowball.

Most medical records about the Black Death had been lost, and knowledge about quarantine systems had mostly disappeared, leaving countries in confusion. Amid this chaos, all kinds of false information spread, causing the number of deaths to increase exponentially. The flagellant movement, which claimed the disease was divine punishment, became popular; they inflicted whip torture on themselves, and in a situation where the epidemic was rampant, deliberately causing wounds on their bodies only created an environment where bacteria could more easily penetrate.

The group that suffered almost no damage were the Jews, who had ingrained epidemic response measures in their laws. Their laws required shaking off all dust from clothes and shoes after going outside, thoroughly washing the entire body before prayer, and strictly forbidding impure meat or food, which functioned automatically as a quarantine system. However, psychologically broken Europeans turned against the Jews, accusing them of making pacts with the devil and spreading the Black Death, and many Jews were burned at the stake.

Ultimately, what was more terrifying than the actual epidemic was the public’s psyche collapsing from fear. This great disaster, which could have been prevented by simply maintaining personal hygiene, teaches today’s global health authorities fighting new infectious diseases how important and frightening psychological warfare is alongside quarantine measures.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.