The Hunger Winter
Fighting Famine in the Occupied Netherlands, 1944–1945

A pioneering study on the causes and consequences of the Dutch famine of 1944–1945.

Ingrid de Zwarte (Author)

9781108836807, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 23 July 2020

315 pages, 45 b/w illus. 4 maps 12 tables
23.5 x 15.8 x 2.4 cm, 0.61 kg

'Ingrid de Zwarte's The Hunger Winter rejects a version of events based on the role of the Nazi occupier in causing the famine and of Allied food drops in relieving it. Instead, she highlights the role of civil society in making most of the little food available and of extracting crucial concessions from the German authorities. This luminous study is a paean to what human resilience can achieve under adversity.' Cormac Ó Gráda, University College Dublin

In this pioneering study, Ingrid de Zwarte examines the causes and demographic impact of the Dutch 'Hunger Winter' that occurred in the Netherlands during the final months of German occupation in the Second World War. She offers a comprehensive and multifaceted view of the socio-political context in which the famine emerged and considers how the famine was confronted at different societal levels, including the responses by Dutch, German and Allied state institutions, affected households, and local communities. Contrary to highly-politicized assumptions, she argues that the famine resulted from a culmination of multiple transportation and distribution difficulties. Although Allied relief was postponed for many crucial months and official rations fell far below subsistence level, successful community efforts to fight the famine conditions emerged throughout the country. She also explains why German authorities found reasons to cooperate and allow relief for the starving Dutch. With these explorations, The Hunger Winter offers a radically new understanding of the Dutch famine and provides a valuable insight into the strategies and coping mechanisms of a modern society facing catastrophe.

Introduction
1. Historical contexts
2. Causes of the famine
3. Effects on mortality, fertility, and health in later life
4. Central government and food administration
5. The politics and practices of Allied relief
6. Coping at household and individual levels
7. Community strategies
8. The evacuation of children
Conclusion.

Subject Areas: Military history [HBW], Social & cultural history [HBTB], 20th century history: c 1900 to c 2000 [HBLW], European history [HBJD]