The Potato Murrain on the European Continent and the Revolutions of 1848

Abstract

The tale of the Irish Famine, 1845–1849, following the outbreak of potato late blight, has been told repeatedly, but the parallel story of the Continental Famine, 1845–1847, has not yet been recorded. The Continental Famine was caused by poor harvests of potatoes, due to the same late blight, but also of grain, due to frost, drought, rust, voles, inopportune rains, floods and hailstorms. The Continental Famine was enhanced by hoarding, speculation, and poor governance. Hunger was followed by infectious diseases. The demographic effects of hunger and diseases are difficult to disentangle. The number of excess deaths due to the Continental Famine cannot yet be determined with any precision, but clearly it approaches that of the Irish Famine. The harvest failures of 1845 and 1846 and the resulting famines came on top of rural pauperisation and urban discontent, and thus contributed to the revolutions of 1848 on the European Continent. The statement ‘an epidemic of potato late blight caused an epidemic of revolutions’ is, perhaps, exaggerated but it contains a grain of truth.

Appendix 1. Contemporaneous information as published in The Official Newspaper of the Dutch Government of 1845.

‘Disease’ = potato late blight. Expected or estimated yields are given in fractions of normal yield, arranged per country or area and per date (day-month-issue):

Austrian Empire

23–10–251 Trieste – no disease.

10–11–266 Austria – disease present in Galicia, Vorarlberg, Upper and Lower Austria.

19–11–274 Galicia – disease progressed, most of harvest rotting, storability low.

Belgium

19–09–222 Harvest largely lost. Export of grain and potatoes forbidden.

01–11–259 No seed potatoes available – purchases in Scotland.

Denmark

28–10–255 Disease extending on late varieties – exports suspended.

08–11–265 Rendsburg [presently Germany] – harvest 1/2.

05–11–262 Hardly any healthy lot available, cheap delivery to distilleries, exports suspended.

25–11–253 Holstein – harvest 1/4.

The Germanies

17–10–246 Bavaria hopes for normal harvest.

28–10–255 Bavaria – exportation forbidden.

17–10–246 Bremen – harvest 2/3.

28–10–255 Frankenland – yield good, rarely diseased.

08–11–265 Frankfurt [am Main] – harvest adequate but disease in storage.

17–10–246 Hannover – little surplus for export.

23–10–251 Königsbergen [Kaliningrad] – harvest good but disease present, ship loads lost by rotting.

03–12–286 Königsbergen [Kaliningrad] – harvest abundant, disease incidental. Storage rot, potatoes unfit for ship**.

03–12–286 Lithuania – harvest good.

03–12–286 Mazuria [Mazowze in present Poland] – harvest good.

01–11–259 Mecklenburg – Wismar – harvest < 1/2.

18–12–299 Oldenburg – harvest 1/3, storability very poor.

23–10–251 Prussia – destruction.

01–11–259 Stettin [Szczecin, present Poland] – harvest abundant but generally diseased.

28–10–255 Württemberg – exportation forbidden.

France

27–11–281 – General overview – in 36 out of 86 departments harvest failure.

05–11–262 Brittany - Brest – crops diseased – seed potatoes should be imported.

23–10–251 Brittany - Le Havre - harvest 1/4.

28–10–255 Alsace – harvest 2/3 to 3/4, rotting in storage.

01–11–259 La Rochelle – harvest abundant and free from disease.

28–10–255 Les Landes – poor harvest, sometimes diseased.

23–10–251 Loire Valley – expected harvest 2/3.

28–10–255 Pyrenees– poor harvest, sometimes diseased.

Norway

01–11–259 Bergen – Just enough for home consumption, no exports.

08–11–265 Norway – Crop lost.

Russia

01–11–259 Memel [Klajpeda in present Lithuania] – harvest pending, no disease, yield moderate.

04–12–287 Russia – Exportation from Livonia [present Estonia and Latvia] and Kurland [Kurseme, present Latvia] forbidden.

Sweden

05–11–262– disease near Göteborg – export forbidden.

08–11–265 Sweden – harvest was average.

Switzerland

28–10–255– Yield about 1/2, delivery to distilleries forbidden, prices low because of poor storability.