Great Famine of Estonia (1695–1697)
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The Great Famine of Estonia (also ''The great starvation'') killed about a fifth of Estonian and Livonian population (70,000–75,000 people) in two years. The climate was unfavorable for crops in 1694 and the summer of 1695 was cold and rainy, followed by an early autumn frost that destroyed the summer crops. Cold conditions continued during 1696, and rain fell throughout the summer. Peasants, orphans and the elderly began to die en masse of
starvation Starvation is a severe deficiency in caloric energy intake, below the level needed to maintain an organism's life. It is the most extreme form of malnutrition. In humans, prolonged starvation can cause permanent organ damage and eventually, dea ...
and the spring snow-melt of 1697 revealed many corpses. Meanwhile, landlords and merchants exported grain to Finland and
Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...
, where crops also had failed. About a fifth of Estonian population (70,000 to 75,000 people) died during the
famine A famine is a widespread scarcity of food, caused by several factors including war, natural disasters, crop failure, Demographic trap, population imbalance, widespread poverty, an Financial crisis, economic catastrophe or government policies. Th ...
in
Swedish Estonia Estonia under Swedish rule (1561–1710) signifies the period of time when large parts of the country, and after 1645, entire present-day Estonia, were under Swedish rule. In the wake of the breakup of the State of the Teutonic Order, the Balti ...
, which did not end until 1698.


General climate conditions

The famine occurred in a period known as the
Little Ice Age The Little Ice Age (LIA) was a period of regional cooling, particularly pronounced in the North Atlantic region. It was not a true ice age of global extent. The term was introduced into scientific literature by François E. Matthes in 1939. Ma ...
. During the 1690s, climate in Europe was characterised by cold springs and summers. It is generally estimated that temperatures were 1.5 °C lower during the 1690s than the average during the Little Ice Age. This impacted other countries, France suffered the worst famine since the Middle Ages, ice floes formed in the Thames while
Lake Constance Lake Constance (german: Bodensee, ) refers to three Body of water, bodies of water on the Rhine at the northern foot of the Alps: Upper Lake Constance (''Obersee''), Lower Lake Constance (''Untersee''), and a connecting stretch of the Rhine, ca ...
and Lake Zurich froze completely over.


Local climate impact

In the previous years of 1692 to 1694, harvests in Estonia were poor due to the shorter than normal summer growing seasons and longer winters. Seed stocks were reduced as a result. Then in the summer of 1695 excessive rain fell, falling almost constantly from June 24 to September 29. This excess rain destroyed crops and hay as the low-lying land was flooded. This resulted in a shortage of seed for the following autumn and spring sowing seasons. The winter of 1695-96 was extremely cold, however the early spring thaw was short lived when winter conditions returned in March 1696, delaying sowing of the little available seed until the end of May. Heavy rains returned in the summer wrecking the harvest, with only between a fifth and a quarter of the seed planted being harvested. In some areas the crop yield was a little as three percent. By the end of the summer in 1696 many peasants were destitute and hungry, farmhands, servants and even some members of the nobility were reduced to begging. By the autumn famine had taken hold and by October the death rate began to rise. The winter of 1696-97 was so severe that corpses could not be buried until the following spring. Estimatedly 70,000 people – one fifth or fourth of Estonian population died during the Great Famine.


Regional impact

The availability of salt, a vital ingredient for preserving meat and fish, was impacted by the colder climate. Portugal, the main source of salt to the Baltic region, was affected by excessive rain making salt production difficult. The shortage of salt meant that meat and fish produces could not be preserved, reducing stockpiles available for consumption. At the time Estonia and Livonia were seen as the granaries of the Swedish Empire and large quantities of grain were shipped to Sweden and Finland. Due to the low status these provinces held in the empire, priority was given to the fulfilment of these export quotas. The Government in Stockholm were slow to react to the developing famine and did not relax their policies until 1697 when it was too late.


Aftermath

Peter the Great Peter I ( – ), most commonly known as Peter the Great,) or Pyotr Alekséyevich ( rus, Пётр Алексе́евич, p=ˈpʲɵtr ɐlʲɪˈksʲejɪvʲɪtɕ, , group=pron was a Russian monarch who ruled the Tsardom of Russia from t ...
cited the inadequate provisioning of Peter's retinue of 250 people and horses as they passed through the province during the famine in 1697 by the Swedish Governor General as one of the main pretexts for declaring war against Sweden in 1700, the Great Northern War.


See also

*
Great Famine of Finland (1695–1697) Great may refer to: Descriptions or measurements * Great, a relative measurement in physical space, see Size * Greatness, being divine, majestic, superior, majestic, or transcendent People * List of people known as "the Great" *Artel Great (born ...
* The plague during the Great Northern War *
Irish Famine (1740–1741) The Irish Famine of 1740–1741 ( ga, Bliain an Áir, meaning the Year of Slaughter) in the Kingdom of Ireland, is estimated to have killed between 13% and 20% of the 1740 population of 2.4 million people, which was a proportionately greater ...
* List of famines *
Little Ice Age The Little Ice Age (LIA) was a period of regional cooling, particularly pronounced in the North Atlantic region. It was not a true ice age of global extent. The term was introduced into scientific literature by François E. Matthes in 1939. Ma ...


References


Sources


1558–1710. Estonia under Swedish rule - Population
{{DEFAULTSORT:Great Famine of Estonia (1695-97) Estonia Health disasters in Estonia 17th century in Estonia 1695 in Europe 1696 in Europe 1697 in Europe 17th-century health disasters 17th-century famines