Hunger Redraws the Map
Food, State, and Society in the Era of the First World War
Published on 20. November 2025
Book
Hardback
516 pages
978-1-009-44130-8 (ISBN)
Description
The First World War resulted in major economic and agricultural strains to neutral and belligerent countries alike, including shifts in trading patterns, blockades, and extensive physical destruction on a unique scale. The resulting hunger crises transformed relationships between the state, citizens, and civil society and had a profound and lasting impact on the twentieth century. As civilians across Europe and the Middle East struggled to survive, new emphasis was placed on the state's responsibility to provide food for its citizens, leading to emerging concerns about 'nutritional sovereignty', the viability of new states, and a huge expansion of international humanitarianism. This innovative history utilises both contemporary and modern maps to analyse food shortages and responses to them across Europe and the Ottoman Empire from 1914 to 1923. Through a comparative approach, the authors demonstrate the consequences of civilian hunger in its military, international, political, social, economic, and cultural dimensions.
Reviews / Votes
'This volume brings together experts who move beyond other studies of humanitarian regimes and food insecurity to offer a richer, more comprehensive look at the global nuances of the question of hunger in the First World War era.' Tammy M. Proctor, Utah State University 'A pioneering collection that reveals the centrality of hunger during the First World War and its transformative impact on citizens, civil societies, states, and the post-war international order. An essential read for anyone interested in the modern history of war.' Ingrid de Zwarte, Wageningen UniversityMore details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Cambridge
United Kingdom
Illustrations
Worked examples or Exercises; 15 Maps; 15 Halftones, black and white
Dimensions
Height: 235 mm
Width: 157 mm
Thickness: 32 mm
Weight
890 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-009-44130-8 (9781009441308)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Mary Elisabeth Cox is Assistant Professor of International Relations at the Central European University, Vienna and author of Hunger in War and Peace: Women and Children in Germany, 1914-1924 (2019). Claire Morelon is Lecturer in Modern European History at the University of Manchester. She is the author of Streetscapes of War and Revolution: Prague, 1914-1920 (2024).
Content
Introduction: hunger redraws the map Mary Elisabeth Cox and Claire Morelon; 1. War of want: the impact of the First World War on the global food economy Samuel Kruizinga; 2. Siege and blockade: starvation as a weapon of war Hew Strachan; 3. The politics of food: state reactions Francesco Frizzera; 4. Individual strategies of survival Friederike Kind-Kovacs; 5. Food as experience Sophie De Schaepdrijver; 6. Hunger envisioned Nicholas Siekierski; 7. Hunger in rural and urban areas and children on the move Mary Elisabeth Cox; 8. Food hierarchies: class, status, and social divisions Claire Morelon; 9. Hungry for change: civilian challenges to the state and demands for food Mustafa Aksakal and Melanie Schulze Tanielian; 10. Measuring food requirements and deprivation Joel Floris and Kaspar Staub; 11. The science of hunger and malnutrition Mark Harrison; 12. Famine in Russia and Europe, 1914-1922 Stephen G. Wheatcroft; 13. Healing hunger: post-war humanitarian action Eriks Jekabsons; 14. 'Hunger Draws the Map' Mary Elisabeth Cox and Claire Morelon; Select bibliography; Index.