The document analyzes three major famines caused by government policies: the Irish Potato Famine of 1845-1848, the Soviet famine of 1931-1933 in Ukraine known as Holodomor, and the Great Chinese Famine from 1958-1961 during Mao Zedong's Great Leap Forward. All three famines resulted from political decisions such as continued food exports despite starvation, forced collectivization of agriculture, and appropriation of food while millions died. The famines led to millions of deaths in Ireland, Ukraine, and China from starvation and associated problems.

1. An analysis of famine caused by
political policies

2.  Potatoes were staple crop of the poor
 Blight wiped out large amounts of the crop
from 1845-1848
 British Parliament was slow to react to the loss
of the food staple
 Exports of corn and livestock continued during
this time despite the widespread starvation

3.  British policies caused the landlords to evict
large numbers of Irish poor tenants from their
land exacerbating the problem
 British relief programs were short lived or
ineffective and politically unpopular
 Resulted in the deaths of 1.1-1.5 million Irish
 Also resulted in drastically higher emigration
rates

4.  Period of extreme hunger from 1931-33 due to
government policies
 Experts divided on cause
 Partially socioeconomic – policies of industrial
expansion, shift from traditional
crops, redistribution of all farmers crops
 Holodomor or “terror by famine”- active
propagation of hunger by authorities to prevent
social revolution

5.  Socioeconomic factors
 Collectivization-combining villages into large “collective
farms”
 Redirection of crop land from grain to sugar
beets, cotton, and other crops
 Procurement policy required all farms to provide large
amounts of harvest to the government
 Holodomor
 All food declared state property-youth organizations
were enforcers
 Elimination of wealthy or uncooperative peasants
 Estimated population loss of 6-7 million
 Severe malnutrition-even reports of cannibalism

6.  Severe reduction in food production in China
from 1958-61
 Collectivization of farming into communes at
beginning of period
 Shift to unsuccessful agricultural techniques
 Forced shift of farmers to iron and steel
production
 Continued export of grain despite widespread
famine

7.  Occurred on top of several natural disasters
that affected crop production
 Death toll estimates vary wildly; estimates
range anywhere from 15 million to 36 million
 Estimates of total population loss are as high as
76 million
 Severe hunger-Reports of
cannibalism, consumption of tree bark

8.  All three famines caused by government
policies
 Rights-citizens have a right to access to the
food the produce
 All three famines partially caused by government
appropriating food produced by starving for other
uses

9.  Categorical imperative-People should not be
treated as a means to an end
 Irish grain production exported for profit of British
landowners
 Ukrainian grain production appropriated for urban
areas
 Chinese exported grain while citizens starved

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and India, 1845-1880: James Caird and the
Political Economy of Hunger. The Historical
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28, 2013 http://www.jstor.org/stable/4091745
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/victori
ans/famine_01.shtml

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grim-chronicle-of-chinas-great-famine
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http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com.proxy.lib.iastate.ed
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12.  Fawkes, Helen (BBC). November 2006. Legacy
of famine divides Ukraine. Retrieved February
28, 2013
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6179818.
stm
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http://www.day.kiev.ua/en/article/day-
after-day/holodomor-1932-33-genocide-gaps-
evidential-basis