The SovRoms (plural of SovRom ) were economic enterprises established in Romania following the communist takeover at the end of World War II , in place until 1954–1956 (when they were dissolved by the Romanian authorities).
101-457: In theory, SovRoms were joint Romanian-Soviet ventures aimed at generating revenue for reconstruction, and were created on a half-share basis in respect to the two states; however, they were mainly designed as a means to ensure resources for the Soviet side, and generally contributed to draining Romania's resources (in addition to the war reparations demanded by the armistice convention of 1944 and
202-536: A peace settlement . Payment of reparations often occur as part of a condition to remove occupying troops or under the threat of re-occupation. The legal basis for war reparations in modern international law is Article 3 of the Hague Convention of 1907 . Prominent examples of war reparations include Carthage's indemnity paid to Rome following the First Punic War , French reparations following
303-434: A war by one side to the other. They are intended to cover damage or injury inflicted during a war. War reparations can take the form of hard currency, precious metals, natural resources, industrial assets, or intellectual properties. Loss of territory in a peace settlement is usually considered to be distinct from war reparations. War reparations are often governed by treaties which belligerent parties negotiate as part of
404-605: A backdrop of conventional interventions through the state or markets, alternative initiatives have been pioneered to address the problem of food security. One pan-African example is the Great Green Wall . Another example is the "Community Area-Based Development Approach" to agricultural development ("CABDA"), an NGO programme with the objective of providing an alternative approach to increasing food security in Africa. CABDA proceeds through specific areas of intervention such as
505-474: A famine created by human rights abuses is the 1998 Sudan famine . AIDS is also having long-term economic effects on agriculture by reducing the available workforce, and is creating new vulnerabilities to famine by overburdening poor households. On the other hand, in the modern history of Africa on quite a few occasions famines acted as a major source of acute political instability. In Africa, if current trends of population growth and soil degradation continue,
606-720: A forced stabilization through monetary reform (1947). The SovRoms' end, evidence of the relative emancipation of the Romanian Workers' Party from Soviet control, ran parallel to the De-Stalinization process; it was approved by Nikita Khrushchev and carried out by Miron Constantinescu (head of the Planning Board ). Discussions aimed at winding down the SovRoms began in March 1953. The first measure
707-404: A network of granaries . Its famines generally occurred immediately after El Niño-Southern Oscillation -linked droughts and floods. These events are comparable, though somewhat smaller in scale, to the ecological trigger events of China's vast 19th-century famines. Qing China carried out its relief efforts, which included vast shipments of food, a requirement that the rich open their storehouses to
808-471: A right to seek compensation for wrongs they sustained during warfare through tort law. King Christian IV of Denmark attacked Sweden in the 1611–1613 Kalmar War but failed to accomplish his main objective of forcing it to return to the Kalmar Union . The war led to no territorial changes, but Sweden was forced to pay a war indemnity of 1 million silver riksdaler to Denmark, an amount known as
909-508: A series of government guidelines and regulations on how to respond to famines and food shortages called the Famine Code. The famine code was also one of the first attempts to scientifically predict famine in order to mitigate its effects. These were finally passed into law in 1883 under Lord Ripon . The Code introduced the first famine scale : three levels of food insecurity were defined: near-scarcity, scarcity, and famine. "Scarcity"
1010-512: A strategy of generating employment for these sections of the population and relied on open-ended public works to do so. During the 20th century, an estimated 70 to 120 million people died from famines across the world , of whom over half died in China, with an estimated 30 million dying during the famine of 1958–1961 , up to 10 million in the Chinese famine of 1928–1930 , and over two million in
1111-579: A time when Romania found itself in economic isolation. The first SovRom to be created (on July 17, 1945), was Sovrompetrol , which had as its objective the exploitation of petroleum in Prahova County areas and the oil refineries in Ploiești . By 1947, it was responsible for 37% of oil drilling, some 30% of the total production of crude oil, and over 36% of refined oil, controlling 37% of internal oil supplies and 38% of external ones. Sovrompetrol
SECTION 10
#17327978893491212-742: A view to assisting to compensate those countries for the cost of repairing the damage done, by making available the services of the Japanese people in production, salvaging and other work for the Allied Powers in question. War reparations made pursuant to the San Francisco Peace Treaty with Japan (1951) include: reparations amounting to US$ 550 million (198 billion yen 1956) were made to the Philippines , and US$ 39 million (14.04 billion yen 1959) to South Vietnam ; payment to
1313-486: A worldwide problem with hundreds of millions of people suffering. These famines cause widespread malnutrition and impoverishment. The famine in Ethiopia in the 1980s had an immense death toll, although Asian famines of the 20th century have also produced extensive death tolls. Modern African famines are characterized by widespread destitution and malnutrition, with heightened mortality confined to young children. Against
1414-630: Is 9.5 to 13 million people. The largest famine of the 20th century was the 1958–1961 famine associated with the Great Leap Forward in China. The immediate causes of this famine lay in Mao Zedong's ill-fated attempt to transform China from an agricultural nation to an industrial power in one huge leap. Communist Party cadres across China insisted that peasants abandon their farms for collective farms, and begin to produce steel in small foundries, often melting down their farm instruments in
1515-718: Is believed to have been a major cause of the collapse of the Old Kingdom . An account from the First Intermediate Period states, "All of Upper Egypt was dying of hunger and people were eating their children." As for recorded examples about more recent centuries: in the 1680s, famine extended across the entire Sahel , and in 1738 half the population of Timbuktu died of famine. In Egypt , between 1687 and 1731, there were six famines. The famine that afflicted Egypt in 1784 cost it roughly one-sixth of its population. The Maghreb experienced famine and plague in
1616-515: Is increasingly problematic: the Sahara reportedly spreads up to 48 kilometres (30 mi) per year. The most serious famines have been caused by a combination of drought, misguided economic policies, and conflict. The 1983–85 famine in Ethiopia, for example, was the outcome of all these three factors, made worse by the Communist government's censorship of the emerging crisis. In Capitalist Sudan at
1717-539: Is taken, lives will be lost. The responsibility to address this lies with states", they added. In November 2021, the World Food Programme reported that 45 million people were "teetering on the very edge of famine" in 43 countries and that the slightest shock would push them over the precipice. This number had risen from 42 million earlier in 2021, and from 27 million in 2019. The slightest shock — be it extreme weather linked to climate change, conflict, or
1818-428: Is usually accompanied or followed by regional malnutrition , starvation , epidemic , and increased mortality . Every inhabited continent in the world has experienced a period of famine throughout history. During the 19th and 20th century, Southeast and South Asia , as well as Eastern and Central Europe , suffered the greatest number of fatalities due to famine. Deaths caused by famine declined sharply beginning in
1919-608: The Älvsborg ransom . King Christian used this money to found several towns and fortresses, most notably Glückstadt (founded as a rival to Hamburg ) and Christiania . Following Napoleon 's final loss at the Battle of Waterloo , under the Treaty of Paris (1815) , defeated France was ordered to pay 700 million francs in indemnities. France was also to pay additional money to cover the cost of providing additional defensive fortifications to be built by neighbouring Coalition countries. It
2020-624: The 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel caused the Gaza Strip famine . This includes a full ban on all shipments for a short time after the attack, later extremely restrictive security checks on aid attempting to go through the blockade, and Israeli protesters blocking aid . In 2024, famine conditions struck Haiti as a result of the ongoing Haitian crisis , resulting in a reported 6,000 people suffering from starvation and 5.4 million civilians— almost half of Haiti's population— suffering from "crisis levels of hunger or worse". While food insecurity
2121-589: The Chinese famine of 1942–1943 , and millions more lost in famines in North and East China. The USSR lost 8 million claimed by the Soviet famine of 1930–1933 , over a million in both the Soviet famine of 1946–1947 and Siege of Leningrad , the 5 million in the Russian famine of 1921–1922 , and others famines. Java suffered 2.5 million deaths under Japanese occupation during World War Two. The other most notable famine of
SECTION 20
#17327978893492222-565: The Gulf War , Iraq accepted United Nations Security Council Resolution 687 , which declared Iraq's financial liability for damage caused in its invasion of Kuwait . The United Nations Compensation Commission (UNCC) was established, and US$ 350 billion in claims were filed by governments, corporations, and individuals. UNCC accepted and awarded compensations claims for $ 52.4 billion to approximately 1.5 million successful claimants; as of July 2019, $ 48.7 billion has been paid and only $ 3.7 billion
2323-607: The International Committee of the Red Cross to compensate prisoners of war (POW) of 4.5 million pounds sterling (4.54109 billion yen) was made; and Japan relinquished all overseas assets, approximately US$ 23.681 billion (379.499 billion yen). Japan signed the peace treaty with 49 nations in 1952 and concluded 54 bilateral agreements that included those with Burma (US$ 20 million 1954, 1963), South Korea (US$ 300 million 1965), Indonesia (US$ 223.08 million 1958),
2424-827: The Joint Communiqué of the Government of Japan and the Government of the People's Republic of China (1972), the People's Republic of China renounced its demand for war reparations from Japan. In the Soviet–Japanese Joint Declaration of 1956 , the Soviet Union waived its rights to reparations from Japan, and both Japan and the Soviet Union waived all reparations claims arising from war. Additionally, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), under President J. R. Jayewardene , declined war reparations from Japan. After
2525-698: The Napoleonic Wars , Haiti's reparations to France following the Haitian War of Independence (1791–1804), French reparations to Germany following the Franco-Prussian War (1870–1871), and German reparations following World War I . Making one party pay a war indemnity is a common practice with a long history. Rome imposed large indemnities on Carthage after the First ( Treaty of Lutatius , 241 BC) and Second Punic Wars . There
2626-540: The Netherlands had one of the most commercialized agricultural systems in Europe. They grew many industrial crops such as flax , hemp and hops . Agriculture became increasingly specialized and efficient. The efficiency of Dutch agriculture allowed for much more rapid urbanization in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries than anywhere else in Europe. As a result, productivity and wealth increased, allowing
2727-536: The Paris Peace Treaties , which had been set at 300 million United States dollars — see Romania during World War II ). The Soviet contribution in creating the SovRoms lay mostly in reselling leftover German equipment to Romania, which was systematically overvalued. An agreement between the two countries regarding the establishment of common enterprises was signed in Moscow on May 8, 1945 , at
2828-591: The Poor Law , the latter through soup kitchens . A systematic attempt at creating the necessary regulatory framework for dealing with famine was developed by the British Raj in the 1880s. In order to comprehensively address the issue of famine, the British created an Indian Famine commission to recommend steps that the government would be required to take in the event of a famine. The Famine Commission issued
2929-1185: The Potsdam conference held between July 17 and August 2, 1945, Germany was to pay the Allies US$ 23 billion mainly in machinery and manufacturing plants . Dismantling in the West stopped in 1950. Reparations to the Soviet Union stopped in 1953 (only paid by the GDR). Beginning before the German surrender and continuing for the next two years, the United States pursued a vigorous program of harvesting technological and scientific know-how as well as patents and many leading scientists in Germany (known as Operation Paperclip ). Historian John Gimbel , in his book Science Technology and Reparations: Exploitation and Plunder in Postwar Germany , states that
3030-547: The rinderpest epizootic , introduced into Eritrea by infected cattle, spread southwards reaching ultimately as far as South Africa . In Ethiopia it was estimated that as much as 90 percent of the national herd died, rendering rich farmers and herders destitute overnight. This coincided with drought associated with an El Niño oscillation, human epidemics of smallpox , and in several countries, intense war. The Ethiopian Great famine that afflicted Ethiopia from 1888 to 1892 cost it roughly one-third of its population. In Sudan
3131-520: The "intellectual reparations" (referring to German scientists) taken by the Allies amounted to close to $ 10 billion. German reparations were partly to be in the form of forced labor . By 1947, approximately 4,000,000 German POWs and civilians were used as forced labor (under various headings, such as "reparations labor" or "enforced labor") in Europe, Canada and the United States after the end of
SovRom - Misplaced Pages Continue
3232-462: The 16th and 17th century, the feudal system began to break down, and more prosperous farmers began to enclose their own land and improve their yields to sell the surplus crops for a profit. These capitalist landowners paid their labourers with money , thereby increasing the commercialization of rural society. In the emerging competitive labour market, better techniques for the improvement of labour productivity were increasingly valued and rewarded. It
3333-485: The 1870s to the 1970s, great famines killed an average of 928,000 people a year. Since 1980, annual deaths had dropped to an average of 75,000, less than 10% of what they had been until the 1970s. That reduction was achieved despite the approximately 150,000 lives lost in the 2011 Somalia famine . Yet in 2017, the UN officially declared famine had returned to Africa, with about 20 million people at risk of death from starvation in
3434-586: The 1970s, with numbers falling further since 2000. Since 2010, Africa has been the most affected continent in the world by famine. According to the United Nations World Food Programme , famine is declared when malnutrition is widespread, and when people have started dying of starvation through lack of access to sufficient, nutritious food. The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification criteria define Phase 5 famine of acute food insecurity as occurring when all three of
3535-539: The 2.9 billion lei at which it had been valued by Romanian sources; discussions on the matter reduced the sum to a total of 5.3 billion lei, which was construed by the two sides not as a corrected result, but as a concession owing to past irregularities in SovRom activities. At the same time, the Soviet Union announced that it gave up interests in formerly German-owned enterprises and equipment on Romanian soil, for which Romania paid 1.5 billion lei as compensation (deducted from
3636-520: The African crisis has been interested in the political aspects of the continent, especially the liberation of the occupied parts of it and the elimination of racism. The organization has succeeded in this area but the economic field and development has not succeeded in these fields. African leaders have agreed to waive the role of their organization in the development to the United Nations through
3737-523: The Economic Commission for Africa "ECA". Chinese scholars had kept count of 1,828 instances of famine from 108 BC to 1911 in one province or another—an average of more than one famine per year. A major famine from 1333 to 1337 killed 6 million. The four famines of 1810, 1811, 1846, and 1849 are said to have killed no fewer than 45 million people. China's Qing dynasty bureaucracy devoted extensive attention to minimizing famines with
3838-586: The International Council of Voluntary Agencies and the World Food Programme said: "Girls and boys, men and women, are being starved by conflict and violence; by inequality; by the impacts of climate change; by the loss of land, jobs of prospects; by a fight against Covid-19 that has left them even further behind". The groups warned that funding had dwindled, while money alone would not be enough by itself. Governments should step in to end conflicts and ensure humanitarian access, they said. "If no action
3939-544: The Netherlands to maintain a steady food supply. By 1650, English agriculture had also become commercialized on a much wider scale. The last peacetime famine in England was in 1623–24. There were still periods of hunger, as in the Netherlands, but no more famines ever occurred. Common areas for pasture were enclosed for private use and large scale, efficient farms were consolidated. Other technical developments included
4040-621: The Philippines (US$ 525 million/52.94 billion yen 1967), Malaysia (25 million Malaysian dollars/2.94 billion yen 1967), Thailand (5.4 billion yen 1955), Micronesia (1969), Laos (1958), Cambodia (1959), Mongolia (1977), Spain ($ 5.5 million 1957), Switzerland , the Netherlands ($ 10 million 1956), Sweden and Denmark . Payments of reparations started in 1955, lasted for 23 years and ended in 1977. For countries that renounced any reparations from Japan, it agreed to pay an indemnity and/or grants in accordance with bilateral agreements. In
4141-667: The Portuguese wrote of African raids on Portuguese merchants solely for food, giving clear signs of famine. Additionally, instances of cannibalism by the African Jaga were also more prevalent during this time frame, indicating an extreme deprivation of a primary food source. A notable period of famine occurred around the turn of the 20th century in the Congo Free State . In forming this state, Leopold used mass labor camps to finance his empire. This period resulted in
SovRom - Misplaced Pages Continue
4242-587: The Prime Minister. The government hoped that they would not "stifle private enterprise" and that their actions would not act as a disincentive to local relief efforts. Due to weather conditions, the first shipment did not arrive in Ireland until the beginning of February 1846. The maize corn was then re-sold for a penny a pound. In 1846, Peel moved to repeal the Corn Laws , tariffs on grain which kept
4343-542: The Second World War. According to the Treaty of Peace with Italy, 1947 , Italy agreed to pay reparations of about US$ 125 million to Yugoslavia , US$ 105 million to Greece , US$ 100 million to the Soviet Union, US$ 25 million to Ethiopia , and US$ 5 million to Albania . Hungary agreed to pay reparations of US$ 200 million to the Soviet Union, and US$ 100 million apiece to Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia. Romania agreed to pay reparations of US$ 300 million to
4444-630: The Soviet Union. Romanian economists estimated that by February 1947 the Romanian economy had suffered further losses due to returning seized goods (US$ 320 million), restoring properties to the United Nations and their nationals (US$ 200 million), renouncing German debts (US$ 200 million), irregular requisitioning (US$ 150 million) and maintenance of the Soviet Army unit on its territory (US$ 75 million). Romania paid $ 5.6 million in 1945 and, in
4545-694: The Sudan and Sahelian regions of Africa. This caused famine because even though the Sudanese Government believed there was a surplus of grain, there were local deficits across the region. In October 1984, television reports describing the Ethiopian famine as "biblical", prompted the Live Aid concerts in London and Philadelphia, which raised large sums to alleviate the suffering. A primary cause of
4646-574: The United States have campaigned for reparations by the United States for the devastation and health effects suffered by Iraqi citizens during the overthrow of Saddam Hussein in the Iraq War . However, there has been little international support. Famine A famine is a widespread scarcity of food caused by several possible factors, including, but not limited to war , natural disasters , crop failure , widespread poverty , an economic catastrophe or government policies . This phenomenon
4747-773: The agreement reached at the Lausanne Conference failed to be ratified, Germany had paid only a part of the sum. This still left Germany with debts it had incurred in order to finance the reparations, and these were revised by the Agreement on German External Debts in 1953. After another pause pending the reunification of Germany, the last installment of these debt repayments was paid on 3 October 2010. During World War II, Germany extracted payments from occupied countries, compelled loans, stole or destroyed property. In addition, countries were obliged to provide resources, and forced labour. After World War II , according to
4848-516: The assessment of Digi24 , it was coerced to pay through SovRom $ 2 billion. Finland could only negotiate an interim peace deal with Soviet Union by agreeing to extensive reparations, and was eventually the only country to pay settled war reparations in full. The total amount of reparations rose to US$ 500 million, at the value of the dollar in 1953. The Treaty of Shimonoseki , signed on April 17, 1895, obliged China to pay an indemnity of 200 million silver taels (¥3.61 billion) to Japan; and to open
4949-578: The century was the Bengal famine of 1943 , resulting both from the Japanese occupation of Burma , resulting in an influx of refugees, and blocking Burmese grain imports and a failure of the Bengali provincial Government to declare a famine , and fund relief, the imposition of grain and transport embargoes by the neighbouring provincial administrations, to prevent their own stocks being transferred to Bengal,
5050-572: The continent might be able to feed just 25% of its population by 2025, according to United Nations University (UNU)'s Ghana-based Institute for Natural Resources in Africa. Famines in the early 21st century in Africa include the 2005–06 Niger food crisis , the 2010 Sahel famine and the 2011 East Africa drought , where two consecutive missed rainy seasons precipitated the one of the worst droughts in East Africa in 60 years. An estimated 50,000 to 150,000 people are reported to have died during
5151-428: The crisis deepened. Russell's ministry introduced public works projects, which by December 1846 employed some half million Irish and proved impossible to administer. The government was influenced by a laissez-faire belief that the market would provide the food needed. It halted government food and relief works, and turned to a mixture of "indoor" and "outdoor" direct relief; the former administered in workhouses through
SECTION 50
#17327978893495252-470: The deadly interplay of both hunger drivers — could push tens of millions of people into irreversible peril, a prospect the agency had been warning of for more than a year. Afghanistan was becoming the world's largest humanitarian crisis, with the country's needs surpassing those of the other worst-hit countries — Ethiopia , South Sudan , Syria and even Yemen . In 2023 and 2024, the Israeli response to
5353-683: The death of up to 10 million Congolese from brutality, disease and famine. Some colonial "pacification" efforts often caused severe famine, notably with the repression of the Maji Maji revolt in Tanganyika in 1906. The introduction of cash crops such as cotton, and forcible measures to impel farmers to grow these crops, sometimes impoverished the peasantry in many areas, such as northern Nigeria, contributing to greater vulnerability to famine when severe drought struck in 1913. A large-scale famine occurred in Ethiopia in 1888 and in succeeding years, as
5454-408: The draining of marshes, more efficient field use patterns, and the wider introduction of industrial crops. These agricultural developments led to wider prosperity in England and increasing urbanization. By the end of the 17th century, English agriculture was the most productive in Europe. In both England and the Netherlands, the population stabilized between 1650 and 1750, the same time period in which
5555-677: The drought was brief the main cause of death in Rwanda was due to Belgian prerogatives to acquisition grain from their colony (Rwanda). The increased grain acquisition was related to WW2. This and the drought caused 300,000 Rwandans to perish. From 1967 to 1969 large scale famine occurred in Biafra and Nigeria due to a government blockade of the Breakaway territory . It is estimated that 1.5 million people died of starvation due to this famine. Additionally, drought and other government interference with
5656-422: The early 1950s. In secrecy, Romania delivered 17,288 tons of uranium ore to the Soviet Union between 1952 and 1960, which was used, at least partly, in the Soviet atomic bomb project . Uranium mining continued until 1961. All ore was shipped outside Romania for processing, initially to Sillamäe in Estonia ; the uranium concentrate was then used exclusively by the Soviet Union . By 1952, 85% of Romanian export
5757-434: The escalating disaster was effectively suppressed. When the leadership did become aware of the scale of the famine, it did little to respond, and continued to ban any discussion of the cataclysm. This blanket suppression of news was so effective that very few Chinese citizens were aware of the scale of the famine, and the greatest peacetime demographic disaster of the 20th century only became widely known twenty years later, when
5858-483: The failure to implement India wide rationing by the central Delhi authority, hoarding and profiteering by merchants, medieval land management practices, an Axis powers denial program that confiscated boats once used to transport grain, a Delhi administration that prioritised supplying, and offering medical treatment to the British Indian Army, War workers, and Civil servants, over the populace at large, incompetence and ignorance, and an Imperial War Cabinet initially leaving
5959-446: The famine (one of the largest seen in the country) is that Ethiopia (and the surrounding Horn) was still recovering from the droughts which occurred in the mid-late 1970s. Compounding this problem was the intermittent fighting due to civil war , the government 's lack of organization in providing relief, and hoarding of supplies to control the population. Ultimately, over 1 million Ethiopians died and over 22 million people suffered due to
6060-536: The famines of the 20th century served the geopolitical purposes of governments, including traumatizing and replacing distrusted ethnic populations in strategically important regions, rendering regions vulnerable to invasion difficult to govern by an enemy power and shifting the burden of food shortage onto regions where the distress of the population posed a lesser risk of catastrophic regime de-legitimation. Until 2017, worldwide deaths from famine had been falling dramatically. The World Peace Foundation reported that from
6161-764: The following situations exist at the same time: The declaration of a famine carries no binding obligations on the UN or member states, but serves to focus global attention on the problem. The scarcity of food refers to a situation where the availability of food is insufficient to meet the demands of a population, often resulting from factors like poor agricultural productivity, climate change, political instability, or economic crises. This shortage can lead to widespread hunger, malnutrition, and social unrest, especially in vulnerable regions. Food scarcity affects not only individual health and well-being but also contributes to greater inequality and economic decline as prices for essential items rise dramatically, further limiting access for
SECTION 60
#17327978893496262-418: The food supply caused 500 thousand Africans to perish in Central and West Africa. Famine recurred in the early 1970s, when Ethiopia and the west African Sahel suffered drought and famine . The Ethiopian famine of that time was closely linked to the crisis of feudalism in that country, and in due course helped to bring about the downfall of the Emperor Haile Selassie . The Sahelian famine was associated with
6363-544: The introduction of drought-resistant crops and new methods of food production such as agro-forestry. Piloted in Ethiopia in the 1990s it has spread to Malawi, Uganda, Eritrea and Kenya. In an analysis of the programme by the Overseas Development Institute , CABDA's focus on individual and community capacity-building is highlighted. This enables farmers to influence and drive their own development through community-run institutions, bringing food security to their household and region. The organization of African unity and its role in
6464-438: The issue to the Colonial administration to resolve, than to the original local crop failures, and blights. A few of the great famines of the late 20th century were: the Biafran famine in the 1960s, the Khmer Rouge -caused famine in Cambodia in the 1970s, the North Korean famine of the 1990s , and the Ethiopian famine of 1983–1985 . Approximately 3 million died as a consequence of the Second Congo War . The Ethiopian famine
6565-428: The last installment of the indemnity was paid in September 1873, ahead of schedule. Following the Greco-Turkish War (1897) , defeated Greece was forced to pay a large war indemnity to Turkey (£4 million). Greece, which was already in default, was compelled to permit oversight of its public finances by an international financial commission. Russians agreed to pay reparations to the Central Powers when Russia exited
6666-429: The late 18th century and early 19th century. There was famine in Tripoli in 1784, and in Tunis in 1785. According to John Iliffe, "Portuguese records of Angola from the 16th century show that a great famine occurred on average every seventy years; accompanied by epidemic disease, it might kill one-third or one-half of the population, destroying the demographic growth of a generation and forcing colonists back into
6767-421: The mid-19th century and the onset of the Industrial Revolution , it became possible for governments to alleviate the effects of famine through price controls , large scale importation of food products from foreign markets, stockpiling, rationing , regulation of production and charity . The Great Famine of 1845 in Ireland was one of the first famines to feature such intervention, although the government response
6868-417: The mid-19th century, the system broke down. Thus the 1867–68 famine under the Tongzhi Restoration was successfully relieved but the Great North China Famine of 1877–78, caused by drought across northern China, was a catastrophe. The province of Shanxi was substantially depopulated as grains ran out, and desperately starving people stripped forests, fields, and their very houses for food. Estimated mortality
6969-433: The middle part of the 20th century, agriculturalists, economists and geographers did not consider Africa to be especially famine prone. From 1870 to 2010, 87% of deaths from famine occurred in Asia and Eastern Europe, with only 9.2% in Africa. There were notable counter-examples, such as the famine in Rwanda during World War II and the Malawi famine of 1949, but most famines were localized and brief food shortages. Although
7070-443: The new money to purchase manufactured goods. The agricultural and social developments encouraging increased food production were gradually taking place throughout the 16th century, but took off in the early 17th century. By the 1590s, these trends were sufficiently developed in the rich and commercialized province of Holland to allow its population to withstand a general outbreak of famine in Western Europe at that time. By that time,
7171-486: The northern part of Nigeria, in South Sudan , in Yemen , and in Somalia . On 20 April 2021, hundreds of aid organizations from around the world wrote an open letter to The Guardian newspaper, warning that millions of people in Yemen , Afghanistan , Ethiopia , South Sudan , Burkina Faso , Democratic Republic of the Congo , Honduras , Venezuela , Nigeria , Haiti , Central African Republic , Uganda , Zimbabwe and Sudan faced starvation. Organizations including
7272-503: The number of deaths by famine markedly. That said, many African countries are not self-sufficient in food production, relying on income from cash crops to import food. Agriculture in Africa is susceptible to climatic fluctuations, especially droughts which can reduce the amount of food produced locally. Other agricultural problems include soil infertility , land degradation and erosion , swarms of desert locusts , which can destroy whole crops, and livestock diseases. Desertification
7373-544: The period. In 2012, the Sahel drought put more than 10 million people in the western Sahel at risk of famine (according to a Methodist Relief & Development Fund (MRDF) aid expert), due to a month-long heat wave. Today, famine is most widespread in Sub-Saharan Africa , but with exhaustion of food resources, overdrafting of groundwater , wars, internal struggles, and economic failure, famine continues to be
7474-496: The poor, and price regulation, as part of a state guarantee of subsistence to the peasantry (known as ming-sheng ). However the Taiping Rebellion of the 1850s disrupted the granary relief system such that 1850 to 1873 saw the population of China drop by over 30 million people from early deaths and missing births. When a stressed monarchy shifted from state management and direct shipments of grain to monetary charity in
7575-536: The poor. Addressing food scarcity requires sustainable agricultural practices, improved food distribution systems, and coordinated global efforts to alleviate poverty and inequality. The cyclical occurrence of famine has been a mainstay of societies engaged in subsistence agriculture since the dawn of agriculture itself. The frequency and intensity of famine has fluctuated throughout history, depending on changes in food demand, such as population growth , and supply-side shifts caused by changing climatic conditions. In
7676-442: The ports of Shashi , Chongqing , Suzhou and Hangzhou to Japanese trade. According to Article 14 of the Treaty of San Francisco (1951): It is recognized that Japan should pay reparations to the Allied Powers for the damage and suffering caused by it during the war....Japan will promptly enter into negotiations with Allied Powers so desiring, whose present territories were occupied by Japanese forces and damaged by Japan, with
7777-571: The price of bread artificially high. The famine situation worsened during 1846 and the repeal of the Corn Laws in that year did little to help the starving Irish; the measure split the Conservative Party, leading to the fall of Peel's ministry. In March, Peel set up a programme of public works in Ireland. Despite this promising start, the measures undertaken by Peel's successor, Lord John Russell , proved comparatively "inadequate" as
7878-471: The process. Collectivisation undermined incentives for the investment of labor and resources in agriculture; unrealistic plans for decentralized metal production sapped needed labor; unfavorable weather conditions; and communal dining halls encouraged overconsumption of available food. Such was the centralized control of information and the intense pressure on party cadres to report only good news—such as production quotas met or exceeded—that information about
7979-440: The prolonged drought, which lasted roughly 2 years. In 1992 Somalia became a war zone with no effective government, police, or basic services after the collapse of the dictatorship led by Siad Barre and the split of power between warlords. This coincided with a massive drought, causing over 300,000 Somalis to perish. Since the start of the 21st century, more effective early warning and humanitarian response actions have reduced
8080-470: The river valleys." The first documentation of weather in West-Central Africa occurred around the mid-16th to 17th centuries in areas such as Luanda Kongo, however, not much data was recorded on the issues of weather and disease except for a few notable documents. The only records obtained are of violence between Portuguese and Africans during the Battle of Mbwila in 1665. In these documents
8181-519: The same date, drought and economic crisis combined with denials of any food shortage by the then-government of President Gaafar Nimeiry , to create a crisis that killed perhaps 250,000 people—and helped bring about a popular uprising that overthrew Nimeiry. Numerous factors make the food security situation in Africa tenuous, including political instability, armed conflict and civil war , corruption and mismanagement in handling food supplies, and trade policies that harm African agriculture. An example of
8282-493: The slowly growing crisis of pastoralism in Africa, which has seen livestock herding decline as a viable way of life over the last two generations. Famines occurred in Sudan in the late-1970s and again in 1990 and 1998. The 1980 famine in Karamoja , Uganda was, in terms of mortality rates, one of the worst in history. 21% of the population died, including 60% of the infants. In the 1980s, large scale multilayer drought occurred in
8383-698: The sweeping changes to agriculture occurred. Famine still occurred in other parts of Europe, however. In Eastern Europe , famines occurred as late as the twentieth century. Because of the severity of famine, it was a chief concern for governments and other authorities. In pre-industrial Europe, preventing famine, and ensuring timely food supplies, was one of the chief concerns of many governments, although they were severely limited in their options due to limited levels of external trade, infrastructure, and bureaucracy generally too rudimentary to effect real relief. Most governments were concerned by famine because it could lead to revolt and other forms of social disruption. By
8484-491: The total 5.3 billion). The last two remaining SovRoms, Sovrompetrol and Sovromcuarț , were disbanded in 1956. However, the Romanian government signed an agreement that would replace Sovromcuarț with a new state-owned company which was to carry on the mining and processing of uranium ore, delivering its entire output to the Soviet Union. This successor company was itself dissolved in 1961. Soviet investment in Sovromcuarț
8585-419: The veil of censorship began to lift. The exact number of famine deaths during 1958–1961 is difficult to determine, and estimates range from 18 million to at least 42 million people, with a further 30 million cancelled or delayed births. It was only when the famine had wrought its worst that Mao reversed agricultural collectivisation policies, which were effectively dismantled in 1978. China has not experienced
8686-589: The war in the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk (which was repudiated by the Bolshevik government eight months later). Bulgaria paid reparations of 2.25 billion gold francs (90 million pounds) to the Entente, according to the Treaty of Neuilly . Germany agreed to pay reparations of 132 billion gold marks to the Triple Entente in the Treaty of Versailles . When Germany stopped making payments in 1932 after
8787-676: The year 1888 is remembered as the worst famine in history, on account of these factors and also the exactions imposed by the Mahdist state . The oral traditions of the Himba people recall two droughts from 1910 to 1917. From 1910 to 1911 the Himba described the drought as "drought of the omutati seed", also called omangowi , the fruit of an unidentified vine that people ate during the time period. From 1914 to 1916, droughts brought katur' ombanda or kari' ombanda 'the time of eating clothing'. For
8888-742: Was also the case of 230 million silver taels in reparations imposed on defeated China after the First Sino-Japanese War led Japan to a similar decision. There have been attempts to codify reparations both in the Statutes of the International Criminal Court and the UN Basic Principles on the Right to a Remedy and Reparation for Victims, and some scholars have argued that individuals should have
8989-442: Was defined as three successive years of crop failure , crop yields of one-third or one-half normal, and large populations in distress. "Famine" further included a rise in food prices above 140% of "normal", the movement of people in search of food, and widespread mortality. The Commission identified that the loss of wages from lack of employment of agricultural labourers and artisans were the cause of famines. The Famine Code applied
9090-401: Was directed at the Soviet Union. The total value of goods passed by Romania to the Soviet Union surpassed by far the demanded war reparations, being estimated at 2 billion dollars. Special circumstances also enhanced the negative effects of SovRoms on Romanian economy : the severe drought and famine outbreaks of 1946, coupled with the severe devaluation of the leu — culminating in
9191-526: Was evaluated to a debt of 413 million rubles , which were to be paid by Romania over a 10-year period (starting with 1961). The gesture was used by First Secretary Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej , who had previously ensured the SovRom's efficiency, as a means to gain popularity with Romanian citizens and, in parallel, to advertise the idea that Romania had the sufficient “requirements” for socialism after completing nationalization . War reparation War reparations are compensation payments made after
9292-738: Was first noted in March 2024, a 30 September report released for the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IFSPC) officially declared the presence of famine in Haiti as a consequence of gang conflict preventing transport of food while also preventing civilians from being able to find food outside of their homes. In the mid-22nd century BC, a sudden and short-lived climatic change that caused reduced rainfall resulted in several decades of drought in Upper Egypt . The resulting famine and civil strife
9393-994: Was followed by Sovromtransport and Tars (transportation), and later by Sovrombanc ( banking and commercial monopoly ), Sovromlemn ( wood processing ), Sovromgaz ( natural gas ), Sovromasigurare ( insurance ), Sovromcărbune ( coal exploitation in the Jiu Valley and other areas), Sovromchim ( chemical industry ), Sovromconstrucţii (construction materials), Sovrommetal ( iron mining — around Reșița ), Sovromtractor (future Tractorul [ ro ] , in Brașov ), Sovromfilm (importing Soviet cinema productions), Sovrom Utilaj Petrolier (producing oil refining equipment) and Sovromnaval ( shipbuilding in Constanța , Giurgiu , and Brăila ). Most notoriously, Sovromcuarț (or Sovromquarțit , Sovrom Kvartit ), while ostensibly producing quartz , as its name suggested,
9494-670: Was in fact engaged in the mining of uranium ore. Sovromcuarț started operating in 1950 at the Băița mine in Bihor County , with a workforce of 15,000 political prisoners . After most of them died of radiation poisoning , they were replaced by local villagers, who did not know what they were mining. Another facility operated by this SovRom was the Ciudanovița uranium mine in Caraș-Severin County , which employed around 10,000 people in
9595-633: Was in the farmer's interest to produce as much as possible on their land in order to sell it to areas that demanded that product. They produced guaranteed surpluses of their crop every year if they could. Subsistence peasants were also increasingly forced to commercialize their activities because of increasing taxes . Taxes that had to be paid to central governments in money forced the peasants to produce crops to sell. Sometimes they produced industrial crops , but they would find ways to increase their production in order to meet both their subsistence requirements as well as their tax obligations. Peasants also used
9696-574: Was left to be paid to Kuwait on behalf of the Kuwait Petroleum Corporation. The UNCC says that its prioritization of claims by natural people, ahead of claims by governments and entities or corporations (legal persons), "marked a significant step in the evolution of international claims practice". Funds for these payments were to come from a 30% share of Iraq's oil revenues from the oil for food program. Certain groups in Iraq and
9797-407: Was often lackluster. The initial response of the British government to the early phase of the famine was "prompt and relatively successful", according to F. S. L. Lyons . Confronted by widespread crop failure in the autumn of 1845, Prime Minister Sir Robert Peel purchased £100,000 worth of maize and cornmeal secretly from America. Baring Brothers & Co initially acted as purchasing agents for
9898-451: Was organized by Bob Geldof and featured more than 20 pop stars. The Live Aid concerts in London and Philadelphia raised even more funds for the cause. Hundreds of thousands of people died within one year as a result of the famine, but the publicity Live Aid generated encouraged Western nations to make available enough surplus grain to end the immediate hunger crisis in Africa. Some of
9999-476: Was reported on television reports around the world, carrying footage of starving Ethiopians whose plight was centered around a feeding station near the town of Korem . This stimulated the first mass movements to end famine across the world. BBC newsreader Michael Buerk gave moving commentary of the tragedy on 23 October 1984, which he described as a "biblical famine". This prompted the Band Aid single, which
10100-410: Was taken in 1954 (through accords signed in March and September): Soviet shares in 12 of the 16 enterprises were taken over by the Romanian state, in exchange for a sum to be paid in installments of merchandise exports (in 1959, the debt was set at over 35 billion lei ). Payments were completed in 1975. The initial sum at which the Soviet side estimated its contribution was 9.6 billion lei, in contrast to
10201-469: Was the most expensive war reparation ever paid by a country (in proportion to its GDP). After the Franco-Prussian War , according to conditions of Treaty of Frankfurt (May 10, 1871), France was obliged to pay a war indemnity of 5 billion gold francs in five years. The indemnity was proportioned, according to population, to be the exact equivalent to the indemnity imposed by Napoleon on Prussia in 1807 . German troops remained in parts of France until
#348651