Abstract
This thesis will be examining British military and naval medicine during the nineteenth century and will be analysing both the First Opium War and the Second Opium War as cases studies. In doing so, the thesis will demonstrate that medicine within the British armed forces developed through a culmination of conflicts instead of a singular expedition. The secondary literature emphasises the Crimean War, which is important, as the medical scandal that broke out during the war remains highly pertinent in shedding light on the existing inadequacies of the health practices within the British armed forces at the time. But it was not the only conflict which played a role in the overall development of British military and naval medicine in the nineteenth century.The thesis intends to demonstrate that it was the SOW in which the sanitary and health measures that had been created in previous conflicts had finally paid off due to recommended adjustments (by MOs and surgeons) to the containment of infectious diseases and treatment of patients. In turn, these medical acts ended up producing successful results in the SOW. Thus, it was from the SOW that these medical measures in treating patients were fully put into practice and continued to be refined during the SOW. These successful measures in the SOW ended up being used both on the battlefield and in places where infectious diseases occurred. Thus, I contend that the SOW, not the Crimean War, is the defining moment for nineteenth century British military and naval medicine, as it laid the foundations for modern British military and naval medicine.
| Date of Award | 11 Sept 2024 |
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| Original language | English |
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| Supervisor | Brad Beaven (Supervisor), Matthew Heaslip (Supervisor) & Rudolph Ng (Supervisor) |