European Potato Failure

European Potato Failure
A blighted potato tuber

The European Potato Failure was a food crisis caused by potato blight that struck Northern Europe in the mid-1840s. The time is also known as the Hungry Forties. While the crisis produced excess mortality and suffering across the affected areas, particularly harshly affected were the Scottish Highlands and, above all others, Ireland. Many people starved due to their inability to access other staple food sources.

Potatoes Rye Wheat Oats
arable land consumption 1845 yield 1846 yield
(%) (kg/capita daily) (% change on normal)
Belgium 14% 0.5/0.6 kg −87% −43% −50% −10% n/a
Denmark 3% 0.2/0.3 kg −50% −50% −20% −20% n/a
Sweden 5% 0.5/0.6 kg −20–25% −20–25% −10% −10% n/a
France App. 6% 0.5 kg −20% −19% −20% −25% n/a
Württemberg 3–8% n/a −55% −51% −15% −24% n/a
Prussia 11% 1.0/1.1 kg n/a −47% −43% −43% n/a
Netherlands 11% 0.7 kg −71% −56% −47% −6% n/a
Spain 2% low n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a
Highlands of Scotland n/a high n/a −80% n/a n/a n/a
Ireland 32% 2.1 kg −30% −88% n/a n/a −33%
Source: Eric Vanhaute, et al., The European subsistence crisis of 1845–1850: a comparative perspective

The effect of the crisis on Ireland is incomparable to all other places for the devastation it wrought, causing 1 million dead and another million refugees and spurring a century-long population decline. Excluding Ireland, the death toll from the crisis is estimated to be in the region of 100,000 people. Of this, Belgium and Prussia account for most of the deaths, with 40,000–50,000 estimated to have died in Belgium, with Flanders particularly affected, and a slightly smaller number, about 42,000 estimated to have perished in Prussia. The remainder of deaths occurred mainly in France, where 10,000 people are estimated to have died as a result of famine-like conditions.[1]

Aside from death from starvation and famine diseases, suffering came in other forms. While the demographic impact of famines are immediately visible in mortality, longer-term declines of fertility and natality can also dramatically affect population. In Ireland births fell by a third, resulting in about 0.5 million "lost lives". Declines elsewhere were lower but still remarkable: Flanders lost 20–30%, the Netherlands about 10–20%, and Prussia about 12%.[2]

Emigration to escape the famine centred mainly on Ireland and the Scottish Highlands. Elsewhere in the United Kingdom and on the continent, conditions were not so harsh as to completely eradicate the basics of survival so as to require mass migration of the sort experienced in Ireland and Scotland. Over 1 million[3] emigrated from the Scottish Highlands, many assisted by landlords and the government, mainly to North America and Australia, and is seen as a continuation of the Highland Clearances, with overtones of ethnic cleansing. Over 1 million[4] also left Ireland to the same locations, further fueling nationalist antagonism to Britain, and is sometimes perceived as an Irish holocaust.[citation needed] The global consequence of this was the creation of substantial Scottish and Irish diasporas.

Annual population change
1840–45 1845–46 1846–47 1847–48 1848–49 1849–50 1850–60
Belgium +1.1% +0.9% +0.9% +0.0% +0.5% +0.2% +0.7%
Denmark +1.1% +1.0% +0.8% +1.0% +1.0% +1.0% +1.2%
Sweden +1.1% +0.8% +0.6% +1.0% +1.3% +1.2% +1.0%
France +0.5% +0.7% +0.4% +0.1% +0.3% +0.0% +0.5%
Germany (total) +1.0% +1.0% +0.5% +0.2% +0.1% +0.9% +0.7%
Prussia +1.3% +1.4% +0.8% +0.5% +0.4% +0.9% +1.0%
Netherlands +1.1% +1.1% +0.3% −0.2% +0.1% +0.3% +0.7%
United Kingdom* +1.2% +1.2% +0.7% +0.7% +0.7% +0,7% +1.3%
Ireland +0.4% −0.2% −4% −4% −4% −4% −1.7%
Notes: *excluding Ireland
Source: Eric Vanhaute, et al., The European subsistence crisis of 1845–1850: a comparative perspective

See also

References


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужна курсовая?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Potato — Irish potato redirects here. For the confectionery, see Irish potato candy. For other uses, see Potato (disambiguation). Potato …   Wikipedia

  • Sweet potato — Camote redirects here. For the island group in the Philippines, see Camotes Islands. Sweet Potato Sweet potato in flower Hemingway, South Carolina Scientific classification …   Wikipedia

  • Great Famine (Ireland) — The Great Famine ( ga. An Gorta Mór [The term has appeared in the titles of numerous books on the event, as demonstrated by [http://www.worldcat.org/search?q=%22Gorta+Mo%CC%81r%22 =Search qt=results page this search on WorldCat] ] or ga. An… …   Wikipedia

  • plant disease — ▪ plant pathology Introduction       an impairment of the normal state of a plant that interrupts or modifies its vital functions.       All species of plants, wild and cultivated alike, are subject to disease. Although each species is… …   Universalium

  • Chronology of the Great Famine — Main article: Great Famine (Ireland) An 1849 depiction of Bridget O Donnell and her two children during the famine. The Chronology of the Great Famine (Irish: An Gorta Mór[1] …   Wikipedia

  • Ireland — Irelander, n. /uyeur leuhnd/, n. 1. John, 1838 1918, U.S. Roman Catholic clergyman and social reformer, born in Ireland: archbishop of St. Paul, Minn., 1888 1918. 2. Also called Emerald Isle. Latin, Hibernia. a large western island of the British …   Universalium

  • Life Sciences — ▪ 2009 Introduction Zoology       In 2008 several zoological studies provided new insights into how species life history traits (such as the timing of reproduction or the length of life of adult individuals) are derived in part as responses to… …   Universalium

  • Famine — This article is about scarcity of food. For other uses, see Famine (disambiguation). Child victim of the Holodomor. A famine is a widespread scarcity of food. This phenomenon is usually accompanied or followed by regional malnutrition, starvation …   Wikipedia

  • United Kingdom — a kingdom in NW Europe, consisting of Great Britain and Northern Ireland: formerly comprising Great Britain and Ireland 1801 1922. 58,610,182; 94,242 sq. mi. (244,100 sq. km). Cap.: London. Abbr.: U.K. Official name, United Kingdom of Great… …   Universalium

  • china — /chuy neuh/, n. 1. a translucent ceramic material, biscuit fired at a high temperature, its glaze fired at a low temperature. 2. any porcelain ware. 3. plates, cups, saucers, etc., collectively. 4. figurines made of porcelain or ceramic material …   Universalium

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”