Health Crusaders: Childhood and Public Health in the First World War

Tuberculosis was one of the leading causes of death in France at the turn of the twentieth century. During the First World War, increasing death tolls on the front lines heightened concerns over the future of the French nation and galvanised health reformers to take action to bolster the health of France’s future citizens. In cooperation with the Rockefeller Foundation and the American Red Cross, French public health officials developed educational propaganda programmes designed to teach good health and hygiene practices to France’s youth. Navigating between gendered conceptions of citizenship, national identities and cultural norms, French and American health officials introduced programmes to encourage French schoolchildren to view themselves as key agents in preventing the spread of tuberculosis and protecting France’s demographic future. Through these public health programmes, children could begin to see themselves as active future citizens working to improve public health and hygiene in their schools and local communities.