{{no footnotes, date=March 2012 This article discusses historical

famine A famine is a widespread scarcity of food, caused by several factors including war, natural disasters, crop failure, population imbalance, widespread poverty, an economic catastrophe or government policies. This phenomenon is usually accompani ...

s that have occurred in what is now the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

. Various famines occurred throughout the Czech lands between 1272 and 1847. Excessive rain, cold temperatures, hail, warfare, and disease are the main causes of famines in the Czech lands.

Recorded famines

The first recorded famine in the Czech lands occurred from 1272 to 1282 and was caused by warfare and weather, which decreased the volume of crops harvested in the region. This first instance of famine caught the inhabitants off guard and caused 600,000 deaths, mostly through endemic plagues, although there were some occurrences of cannibalism. Local famines also transpired in Czech regions in 1318, caused by warfare; and then in 1361 and 1366, caused by crop shortage and failures.

The hungry years (1432–1434)

The years 1432 through 1434 were known as the hungry years in the Czech lands because they faced climate issues for the duration of the

Hussite Wars The Hussite Wars, also called the Bohemian Wars or the Hussite Revolution, were a series of civil wars fought between the Hussites and the combined Catholic forces of Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund, the Papacy, European monarchs loyal to the Cat ...

. The Hussite Wars were fought in Bohemia between the followers of the executed

Jan Hus Jan Hus (; ; 1370 – 6 July 1415), sometimes anglicized as John Hus or John Huss, and referred to in historical texts as ''Iohannes Hus'' or ''Johannes Huss'', was a Czech theologian and philosopher who became a Church reformer and the insp ...

, a contributor to the Protestant movement. This set of wars was one of the first known military actions fought with hand-held firearms. The final two years of this fourteen-year set of wars sparked an increase in the price of grain. At one point grain was six times the price it had been prior to the wars. People in the Czech lands were unable to afford grain until the price returned to an affordable rate. Around 1560 a decrease in temperature resulted in another disappointing harvest. A famine following the

War of the Austrian Succession The War of the Austrian Succession () was a European conflict that took place between 1740 and 1748. Fought primarily in Central Europe, the Austrian Netherlands, Italy, the Atlantic and Mediterranean, related conflicts included King George's ...

in 1748 killed 1,200 people in Doksy, a city in the northern Czech lands.

The Great Famine (1770–1771)

The next recorded famine in the Czech lands was the Great Famine, which lasted from 1770 until 1771. The cause of the Great Famine was a disease of grain monoculture and heavy rains. The Great Famine killed twelve percent of the Czech lands' population, up to 500,000 inhabitants, and radicalized the countryside, which led to peasant uprisings. This famine ended when the Czech lands imported food and increased potato production by 100 percent.

Later famine

The last famine in the Czech lands was in Czech Silesia in 1847. This famine was caused by a potato disease and led to the deaths of over 20,000 people.

References

Today's climatology and its use in history research (in Czech)
(Detailed overview, English summary, sources.) * Norman Davies. Europe: A History. Pimlico 1997. * http://www.clim-past.net/2/115/2006/cp-2-115-2006.pdf * http://www.kar.zcu.cz/texty/Brazdil-Kotyza2001.htm

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus' Places * Czech, ...

Disasters in the Czech Republic 1430s in Europe 1770s in Europe 1270s in Europe 1280s in Europe