Health was a central theme in interwar Europe. The trauma of the First World War, political turmoil and economic crisis placed special demands on public health. Governments engaged to an unprecedented degree in social policy, establishing new sanitary institutions and structures. New scientific doctrines helped spread new ideas. In the process, health gained many functions: It spurred nation-building. It served to integrate and exclude people, define borders and forge identities. Health played a crucial role in the evolving political and social order of interwar Europe. But how healthy were the people really? How did their health respond to policies, and how did policies respond to their health? In this study fourteen scholars address key aspects of the issue.

The Editors: Iris Borowy, born in 1962, studied History, English and Economics at the Universities of Tübingen and Maryland, College Park. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Rostock in 1997. The editor has lectured on twentieth century history at the University of Rostock. At present, she is working in a research project on the League of Nations Health Organisation. Wolf D. Gruner, born in 1944, studied History, English and Social Sciences at the Universities of Erlangen and Munich. He received his Ph.D. in 1971 and his Habilitation in 1979/1980 from the University of Munich. The editor has lectured widely in several European countries on International Relations and European History. Since 1996 he has held the chair for European History at the University of Rostock, together with the Jean-Monnet chair for European Integration History.