Who Died in Captivity? Mortality Among Italian Prisoners During World War One

Abstract

Summary During World War One, almost 600,000 Italian soldiers were captured, and about 50,000 of them died. Most prisoners died of malnutrition and associated illnesses. The aim of this article is to study the differential mortality among Italian prisoners. To achieve this goal, the individual-level data of around 3,500 soldiers born between 1884 and 1899 in North-eastern Italy are used. In this article, the explanatory variables considered are: the military corps which the soldiers belonged to; demographic characteristics, such as age; socio-economic factors, such as occupation and literacy; and anthropometric factors, such as height. The analysis shows that the most experienced prisoners were better able to survive captivity and to overcome deficiencies in diet and illnesses. They were individuals who had the skills and the ability to overcome difficulties and to solve problems both during the conflict and in civil life.