Irish famine: political violence and indifference killed millions of people

Today's Ireland is rich and developed, and 160 years ago, this country experienced a terrible disaster, which people called the Irish Famine (1845? 1852; Hereinafter referred to as? Famine? )。 For a long time, people thought that the reason of the Great Famine was that potato, the main food crop of Irish people at that time, was affected by germs, and the output was greatly reduced. Recently, the academic circles put forward a new view that violence and inhuman indifference from the political field are the fundamental reasons for the spread and ravage of the Great Famine, which eventually led to the death of 1 10,000 people. Reviewing the history of the Great Famine in Ireland On the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the Great Famine/Kloc-0, the University of New South Wales, Australia invited Emily, an art history and cultural policy scholar from the School of Humanities, Dublin University, Ireland, to give a lecture on the memory of the Great Famine and related works of art recently, hoping to arouse people's thinking about that period of history again through visual works such as pictures and sculptures. Professor Edmund of the University of Toronto, Canada? Edmund Rogers once wrote in the Journal of Imperial and Federal History: This is an irrefutable human tragedy. ? The Great Famine killed more than 1 10,000 people and forced more than 1 10,000 Irish people to leave their homes and emigrate. Since then, the population of Ireland has remained at more than 4 million, and it has not recovered from the past? Brilliant? . Some people even think that the Great Famine is the dividing line of Irish history. What is the tragedy of colonial economy? Black 1847? (The Black Forty-seven), Nicholas, a local official in Cork County, Ireland? Nicholas Cummins has this description:? I walked into a farmhouse, and the sight in front of me made me dumbfounded. Six skinny ghostly people were lying on a pile of dirty straw in the corner of the hut. I thought they were dead, but when I got close to them, there was a whisper in my ear. These? People? Still alive? Just because? Natural disasters? Is this what Ireland looks like? Rogers said: Did the policy of * * * at that time fail in preventing famine? This is the focus of people's debate. Students studying this period of history must carefully weigh whether this disaster is genocide as nationalists say; Or, as historical revisionists say, is it caused by the structural defects of the Irish economy? ? For the history of Irish farmers using potatoes as rations in large quantities, American economist Jeremy? Jeremy Rifkin said,? After Britain ruled Ireland, in order to meet the huge demand for beef in its domestic market, Ireland was taken as its? Ranch? . In order to survive, Irish farmers can only grow potatoes on small plots of land? . The difference in living standards between the residents on both sides of the Irish Sea is so great. Is it because the residents on both sides of the strait have very different needs for food? Of course not. This is undoubtedly the tragedy of the unfair policy of the suzerain towards the colonies in the colonial era. Political factors are the root cause of the great famine. Cambridge University scholar David? David P. Nally clearly expounded his academic point of view:? Famine is not only a natural disaster, but also has its inevitable historical inevitability. Like all food crises, the Great Famine has political factors. ? Colemark, a professor of economic history at the University of Dublin? Ograda (Cormac Gr? Da) pointed out that at that time, potato wilt occurred in other countries, especially in low-lying countries, which also led to a decrease in population. However, no place has been hit as hard as Ireland. The reason is that apart from the simple diet structure of the Irish, the British rulers lack effective countermeasures and? Nothing? It is also the root cause of the disaster. According to Turkey's Today Times? Szaman) 2065438+June 2002 reported that Sultan Abdulmecidi of the Ottoman Empire announced that he would donate 1000 to the hungry people in Ireland. But Queen Victoria asked the Sudan to donate 1000, because the Queen herself only donated 2,000. So Sudan donated 1000, and then what? Quietly transport Minlang's elegy grain to Ireland to help the hungry. In addition, in 1847, American Indian Choctaw also raised $7 10 to donate to the hungry people in Ireland. Nally believes that the Great Famine is a modern famine, which is different from the survival crisis such as ancient famine, and it occurs in a brand-new social production and political power system. Nally said,? To some extent, the Great Famine was the result of the decision of the suzerain, and its purpose was to change the social structure of Ireland through inaction in the famine? . At the same time, Nally called the indifference of Britain at that time political violence, which was the root cause of many famines later on. Link Ireland Famine 1845 Ireland, with a population of 8 million, is still a part of Britain, and its economy is mainly agriculture. At that time, a large number of Irish people lost their land and became tenants of British landlords. In order to make a living, nearly half of Irish farmers have to grow potatoes in their spare time to fill their stomachs. This high-yield crop, originally introduced into Ireland as a horticultural plant, can produce enough potatoes for a poor family of six for one year. 1September, 845, Irish potatoes withered in a large area, resulting in a shortage of rations for many people; 1846 summer, cool and humid weather in Ireland? Encourage? In order to induce the spread of Fusarium oxysporum, the pathogen spread among potato plantations in Ireland at the fastest speed of up to 50 miles per week. The sharp decline in potato production led to famine in Ireland. The Great Famine lasted until 1852, and eventually1000000 people died.