This is a little German history story, which you typically don't get from the German public TV folks or most historians.
Around mid-July 1870....a war started up between France and Prussia (remember, it was not yet unified). The trigger? This is mostly a 'belief' that Prussia was in a weakened state, and some type of military action could be done in a short manner....bringing some Prussian property into the hands of the French.
The war itself? It ended in six months (end of January 1871). It was a fairly dismal 'mess' for the French. The Prussians lost around 144k men, but the French lost almost a million. Somewhere in this loss....723k French soldiers were captured and held. In terms of being 'held'...this particular act went on for most of 1871, 1872, and through 1873.
The French prisoners? They were brought into Germany and served on various construction/work projects. With them....because of the poor conditions of the camps....came smallpox.
Across Germany, this became a major health issue. Around April of 1874....the government went to an extreme measure....the Reich Vaccination Act.
Basically, the Act said that when they came to your town or village with the vaccine....EVERYONE was required to take the vaccination, whether they agreed or not.
Use of force? Absolutely, and the police were the ones given the duty of forcing you.
So in this era of the upcoming Covid-19 vaccination....this 1874 Vaccination Act is still out there lingering as a discussion topic. Some believe in the end....the Covid-19 vaccine will be mandated. Some believe that the bulk of society will take the vaccination without any argument (I kinda lean this way and think 90-percent will agree). Some believe that the vaccination will be a yearly or even two-a-year type situation. And some question the benefit of any Covid-19 vaccination.
This is simply the history element of this discussion.
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