Famine

8-10 million Iranians died over Great Famine caused by the British in late 1910s, documents reveal

The document in the American Archives, reporting the widespread famine and spread of epidemic disease in Iran, estimates the number of the deceased due to the famine to be about 8-10 million.

Sadegh Abbasi*

One of the little-known chapters of history was the widespread famine in Iran during World War I, caused by the British presence in Iran. After the Russian Revolution of 1917, Britain became the main foreign power in Iran and this famine or--more accurately--‘genocide’ was committed by the British. The document in the American Archives, reporting the widespread famine and spread of epidemic disease in Iran, estimates the number of the deceased due to the famine to be about 8-10 million during 1917-19 (1), making this the greatest genocide of the 20th century and Iran the biggest victim of World War I (2).

 

It should be noted that Iran had been one of the main suppliers of food grains to the British forces stationed in the empire’s South Asian colonies. Although bad harvest during these two years made the situation worse, it was by no means the main reason why the Great Famine occurred. Prof. Gholi Majd of Princeton University writes in his book, The Great Famine and Genocide in Persia, that  American documents show that the British prevented imports of wheat and other food grains into Iran from Mesopotamia, Asia, and also the USA, and that ships loaded with wheat were not allowed to unload at the port of Bushehr in the Persian Gulf. Professor Majd argues that Great Britain intentionally created genocide conditions to destroy Iran, and to effectively control the country for its own purposes. Major Donohoe describes Iran of that time as a “land of desolation and death” (3). But this event soon became the subject of a British cover up.

 

Britain has a long record of its several attempts to conceal history and rewrite it in their own favor. The pages are filled with conspiracies that were covered up by the British government to hide its involvement in different episodes that would tarnish the country’s image. One of the clear examples is the “Jameson Raid”; a failed coup against Paul Kruger’s government in South Africa. This raid was planned and executed directly by the British government of Joseph Chamberlain under the orders of Queen Victoria (4) (5). In 2002, Sir Graham Bower's memoirs were published in South Africa, revealing these involvements that had been covered up for more than a century, focusing attention on Bower as a scapegoat for the incident (6).

 

The records that were destroyed to cover up British crimes around the globe, or were kept in secret Foreign Office archives, so as to, not only protect the United Kingdom's reputation, but also to shield the government from litigation, are indicative of the attempts made by the British to evade the consequences of their crimes. The papers at Hanslope Park also include the reports on the "elimination" of the colonial authority's enemies in 1950s Malaya; records that show ministers in London knew of the torture and murder of Mau Mau insurgents in Kenya and roasting them alive (7). These records may include those related to Iran’s Great Famine. Why were these records that cover the darkest secrets of the British Empire destroyed or kept secret? Simply because they might ‘embarrass’ Her Majesty’s government (8).

 

A famine occurred in Ireland from 1845 until 1852 which killed one fourth of the Irish population. This famine was caused by British policies and faced a large cover up attempt by the British government and crown to blame it on ‘potatoes’ (9). The famine, even today, is famous in the world as the “potato famine” when, in reality, it was a result of a planned food shortage and thus a deliberate genocide by the British government (10).

 

The true face of this famine as a genocide has been proven by historian Tim Pat Coogan in his book The Famine Plot: England’s Role in Ireland’s Greatest Tragedy published by Palgrave MacMillan (11). A ceremony was planned to take place in the US to unveil Coogan’s book in America, but he was denied a visa by the American embassy in Dublin (12).

 

Therefore it becomes obvious that Britain’s role in Iran’s Great famine, which killed nearly half of Iran’s population, was not unprecedented. The documents published by the British government overlook the genocide, and consequently, the tragedy underwent an attempted cover-up by the British government. The Foreign Office “handbook on Iran” of 1919 mentioned nothing related to the Great Famine.

 

Julian Bharier, a scholar who studied Iran’s population, built his “backward projection” estimation of Iran’s population (13) based on reports from this “handbook” and, as a result, ignored the effect of the Great Famine on Iran’s population in 1917. Bharier’s estimations were used by some authors to deny the occurrence of the Great Famine or to underestimate its impacts.

 

By ignoring Iran’s Great Famine in his estimations, Bharier’s work faces four scientific deficiencies. Bharier does not consider the loss of population caused by the famine in his calculations; he needs to ‘adjust’ the figure of the official census in 1956 from 18.97 million to 20.37 million, and this is despite the fact that he uses 1956 census as his primary building block for his “backward projection” model. He also ignores the official growth rates and uses his personal assumptions in this regard, which is far lower than other estimates. Finally, although Bharier frequently cites Amani’s estimates (14), in the end Bharier’s findings contradict that of Amani’s; notably Bharier’s population estimate for 1911 is 12.19 million while Amani put this figure at 10.94 million.

 

Despite deficiencies in the population estimates offered by Bharier for the period of the Famine and its earlier period, his article offers useful data for the post-Famine period; this is because these figures are generated from 1956 backward. That is to say, numbers generated from 1956 to 1919 are thus credible because they do not include the period of famine. Moreover, this portion of Bharier’s data are also true to that of the American Legation. For example, Caldwell and Sykes estimate the 1919 population at 10 million, which is comparitive to Bharier’s figure of 11 million.

 

Gholi Majd was not the first author to refute Bharier’s figures for this period. Gad G. Gilbar, in his 1976 article on demographic developments during the second half of the 19th century and the first decade of the 20th century, also considers Bharier’s estimates inaccurate for the period.

 

In an apparently biased review of Majd’s work, Willem Floor confirms Bharier’s model (15), despite its apparent deficiencies, and takes a mocking tone toward the well- documented work of Gholi Majd to undermine the devastation caused by the British-instigated famine in Iran, to the point of total denial of the existence of such a genocide. Floor also offers inaccurate or untrue information to oppose the fact that the British deprived Iranians from honey and caviar in the north, as he argues caviar was haram (religiously prohibited), while no such fatwa has ever existed in Shia jurisprudence and all available decrees assert that caviar is halal or permissible under the Islamic law. There was a rumor made up by Russians at the time, saying that Caviar was haram and Britain made full use of this rumor.

 

Another criticism made by Floor was to question why Majd’s work does not use British archival sources. A more important question is why Majd should have used these sources when they totally ignore the occurrence of the famine in Iran. The fact that Majd used mainly US sources seems to be reasonable on the grounds that the US was neutral toward the state of affairs in Iran at the time, and made efforts to help by feeding them (16).

 

*Sadegh Abbasi is a Junior M.A. student at Tehran University. As a student in history he has also worked as a contributor to different Iranian news agencies.

 

 


References

 

1. Majd, Mohammad Gholi. The Great Famine & Genocide in Iran: 1917-1919. Lanham : University Press of America, 2013. p.71: https://books.google.com/books?id=5WgSAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA71&lpg.

2. Sniegoski, Stephen J. Iran as a Twentieth Century Victim: 1900 Through the Aftermath of World War II. mycatbirdseat.com. [Online] 11 10, 2013. [Cited: 10 12, 2015.] http://mycatbirdseat.com/2013/11/iran-twentieth-century-victim-1900-aftermath-world-war-ii/.

3. Donohoe, Major M. H. With The Persian Expedition. London : Edward Arnold, 1919. p. 76.

4. Nelson, Michael and Briggs, Asa. Queen Victoria and the Discovery of the Riviera. London : Tauris Parke Paperbacks, 2007. p. 97: https://books.google.com/books?id=6ISE-ZEBfy4C&pg=PA97&lpg.

5. Bower, Graham. Sir Graham Bower's Secret History of the Jameson Raid and the South African Crisis, 1895-1902. Cape Town : Van Riebeeck Society, 2002. p. xii: https://books.google.fr/books?id=VFYFZKRBXz0C&pg=PR23&lpg.

6. Ibid. p. xvii.

7. Cobain, Ian, Bowcott, Owen and Norton-Taylor, Richard. Britain destroyed records of colonial crimes . The Guardian. [Online] 03 17, 2012. [Cited: 10 10, 2015.] http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2012/apr/18/britain-destroyed-records-colonial-crimes.

8. Walton, Calder. Empire of Secrets: British Intelligence, the Cold War, and the Twilight of Empire. New York : The Overlook Press, 2013. p. 15: https://books.google.fr/books?id=f2cjCQAAQBAJ&pg=PT15&lpg.

9. Warfield, Brian. History Corner: The Great Irish Famine. wolfetonesofficialsite.com. [Online] [Cited: 10 12, 2015.] http://www.wolfetonesofficialsite.com/famine.htm.

10. Britain's Cover Up. irishholocaust.org. [Online] [Cited: 10 12, 2015.] http://www.irishholocaust.org/britain'scoverup.

11. Coogan, Tim Pat. The Famine Plot: England's Role in Ireland's Greatest Tragedy. New York : Palgrave Macmillan, 2012.

12. O'Dowd, Niall. Proving the Irish Famine was genocide by the British. IrishCentral. [Online] 08 06, 2015. [Cited: 10 12, 2015.] http://www.irishcentral.com/news/proving-the-irish-famine-was-genocide-by-the-british-tim-pat-coogan-moves-famine-history-unto-a-new-plane-181984471-238161151.html.

13. Bharier, Julien. A Note on the Population of Iran, 1900-1966 . Population Studies. 1968, Vol. 22, 2.

14. Amani, Mehdi. La population de l'Iran. Population (French Edition). 1972, Vol. 27, 3: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1529398.

15. Floor, Willem. Reviewed Work: The Great Famine and Genocide in Persia, 1917-1919 by Mohammad Gholi Majd . Iranian Studies. Iran Facing the New Century, 2005, Vol. 38, 1.

16. Fecitt, Harry. Other Theatres of War. westernfrontassociation.com. [Online] 09 29, 2013. [Cited: 10 12, 2015.] http://www.westernfrontassociation.com/the-great-war/great-war-on-land/other-war-theatres/3305-dunsterforce-part-1.html.

Comments

  • 2015-12-13 05:28
    Thank you and bravo for this scholarly but lucid article about yet another prolonged piece of premeditated colonial murders that have gone suppressed or forgotten by many Iranians and naturally their imperialist colonial tormentors.
  • 2016-01-02 20:23
    Thank you for mentioning the Irish famine also. Never knew Tim Pat Coogan was denied a visa. He is a very gentle man! How crazy.
  • 2016-01-07 17:35
    I wonder if the same famine was extended into Eastern Anatolia where large number of Armenians died during their relocation process by Ottaman empire during WWI. Armenians claim it be genocide conducted by Turks where as Turks say food shortage was due to British blockade. The numbers claimed here are too high compared to Iranian population of that time. During the Great famine of India (south) of 1870s estimated death was 5 million people and during the worse Bengal famine of 1943 during WWII death toll had not reached 10 million. Those deaths were attributed to inapt measures taken by colonial British rule in India.
  • 2016-04-05 01:26
    Thanks for revealing the genocide done by Britain against Iranians. However, It seems the Iranian need to work harder to let all people in Iran know about the disaster in details. I think people will then let all the world know about this awful crime done Britain.
  • 2016-05-09 00:33
    This is very sad indeed. It is no surprise though it happened during Queen Victoria's reign. She blocked offers of help to the Irish famine victims from other countries claiming they, the English had it under control. They were shipping food out of Ireland while thousands died. The current monarch is Head of The Armed Forces so she knows all that is done in her name. Queen Victoria or her husband would have held that same power. India lost 7 million to famine caused by Britain. Armenians say the British blockaded food to Turkish ports? The British started the slave trade. American Indians ? When we read history it looks like all thes nations just gifted their lands, sovereignty, independence to Britain.
  • It's a pitty that this part of our history has been coverd up so canningly.
  • 2016-05-11 19:23
    Note how Stalin used the same approach in Ukraine in 1933. Three million starved to death. The Soviets simply confiscated the food. If you had livestock remaining, there was a death penalty for its slaughter. Do Americans know about this, and the other atrocities? No. Americans are the wealthiest, mot ignorant people in history.
  • 2016-05-12 13:32
    so interesting!
  • 2016-06-22 06:28
    For sure British rulers had ungodly dirty politics more than other rulers, done to themselves and to others. But British people are decent people. Now is time to find a way to establish a world system of justice to prevent further atrocities. K. rad
  • 2017-02-07 18:20
    What date was the Iranian Famine Website created? I would like to know for a paper that i need to make for a class i have. Please and thank you.
  • 2017-10-05 10:09
    No mention of Bengal genocide which was artificially created by famine due to food from India beind sent to Europe rather than Bengal. Again the responsibility rests with colonisers of India.
  • 2019-01-08 01:45
    I think the numbers of the people killed in the famine in Iran are exaggerated (probably the numbers are 5-6 million). Having said that more work should be done on researching this.It's worth mentioning Britain and the USSR under the control of Jewish bankers and extremists did many famines. Ten's of millions killed in the various famines in the: Indian Subcontinent, ten's of millions killed in Eastern Europe, ten's of millions killed in various Muslim Central Asia countries, millions killed in Irish famine etc. Also the British over-worked Egyptian workers leading 250,000 dying while building the Suez canal (while the population of Egypt at that time was 4 million!). British empire along with the USSR were the cruelest Satanic empires the world has ever seen.
  • 2019-04-24 13:15
    Britain must pay all the damages it has done to all the countries it destroyed by genocide worldwide. In fact Britain was also responsible in destroying Manila during the reign of Spanish occupation.
  • 2019-06-09 17:48
    Researching the famines of our world, one can realise that most countries that suffered heavily during the last centuries were either colonies of an Empire (British usually) or occupied by European countries like France and Germany (German East Africa, Morocco etc). Some countries like Iran, India or even Soviet Union though suffered the most with famines recording again and again resulting to even genocides.
  • 2019-06-17 10:50
    And the great Bengal Famine caused by Churchill in WWII
  • 2019-06-27 05:19
    Not much is written of Genocide of kenys 300,000 victims. Br
  • 2019-06-27 17:39
    Iran needs to demand compensation for this crime, sure they will never receive it from Britain, but by constantly demanding it, they can make the British leadership go crazy by reminding the world how criminal they are. What a powerful and cheap way to weaken Britain on the international stage, and to crush their moral justifications when they try to justify new aggression against Iran.
  • 2019-07-26 20:44
    They did the same In Ireland
  • 2019-07-29 17:44
    The historie is worster then all Crimes
  • 2021-02-04 00:05
    I am from Ireland and I was never aware of this genocide in Iran. I only knew of the British's genocides through food removal in Ireland, India, Bengal and America. By the way, the true figure of death in the Irish genocide was 4.1-4.7 million, and that is the lowest possible estimate, this is proven in Chris Fogarty's book "The Perfect Holocaust and who kept it perfect." he gets his information from Britain's own National Archives. They stupidly recorded the mass quantities of food being exported and the population before and after, however they later changed those population figures to cover it up, but the original figures are still in British national archives. Now that I know they did the same in Iran I am not surprised, deliberate starvation was one of the most deadly weapons the British Empire had. They will never admit any of these genocides, in fact, majority of British people laugh at the suggestion because they are brainwashed. Probably did it 30 more unrecorded times too.

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