He clearly meant WW1, but for fun let's play the liberal's mental gymnastics exercise.
The Spanish Flu devastated the population of Spain. The long-term socio-economic effects from the epidemic heavily contributed to the Spanish Civil War immediately prior to WW2 (late 1930s). The devastation caused by the Spanish Civil War heavily influenced Spain's decision to remain militarily neutral despite strong leanings toward the Axis powers. It's not inconceivable that without the Spanish Flu the Spaniards would have been a formidable force preventing landing of American forces on the continent and would have likely drawn out the war many more years.
It's estimated that in 1918 more American troops died of the Spanish Flu than of combat injuries. The high American casualties of WW1 heavily influenced the surge of nationalism and isolationism that followed the war. This in turn is the primary factor that kept America out of the war for the first 2+ years.
I don't know that we can demonstrate that the Spanish Flu impacted WHEN WW2 ended, but we can safely conclude that the Spanish Flu definitely had an impact on HOW WW2 ended.
He clearly meant WW1, but for fun let's play the liberal's mental gymnastics exercise.
I don't know that we can demonstrate that the Spanish Flu impacted WHEN WW2 ended, but we can safely conclude that the Spanish Flu definitely had an impact on HOW WW2 ended.
Therefore proving that 2 + 2 ≠ 4. Checkmate.