Home > Famine relief

1 Origins

Originally rich and poor were less starkly defined than today. The balance of wealth in the world has changed, largely as a result of European colonisation of the rest of the world and subsequent Eurocentric hegemony. Even the United States of America, born of ex-European colonies, continues to spread and reinforce the value systems of the Europeanization of the world. This Europeanization has played a major part in polarising the world into rich and poor regions often referred to as the ' first world' and the ' third world'. The missing ' second world' would, theoretically refer to the communist countries, of which there are a lot less than there were when these terms were first coined.

2 History

At the height of the European empire period in the 19th century the inadequacy of existing government or religious organisations to deal with famine was clearly seen when a potato blight combined with trade restrictions led to a large-scale famine in Ireland. The Irish Potato FamineHistory of Ireland 1801-1922 The Irish Potato Famine also called The Great Famine or The Great Hunger ( Irish: An Gorta Mor , is the name given to a famine which struck Ireland between 1846 and 1849. The Famine was at least fifty years in the making, due, as it came to be called, saw inadequate attempts at famine relief from both government and private sources. Poverty and starvation were widespread in parts of IndiaThe Republic of India is a large multicultural country in South Asia, with a population of over one billion. The Indian economy is the fourth largest in the world, in terms of purchasing power parity, and is the world's second-fastest growing economy. and AfricaAfrica is the world's second-largest continent in both area and population, after Asia. 30,244,050 km2 (11,677,240 mi2) including the islands, it covers 20. 3% of the total land area on Earth, and with over 800 million human inhabitants it accounts for ar throughout the 19th century and this continued to be the case in the 20th century19th century 20th century 21st century more centuries) Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s As a means of recording the passage of time, the 20th century was that century which lasted from 1901- 2000 in the sense of the Gre.

A major factor the Irish and Soviet famines have in common is the impact of enforced economic philosophical systems limiting the possibilities for a solution. The 1930sCenturies: 19th century 20th century 21st century Decades: 1880s 1890s 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s Years: 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 Events and trends Technology Jet engine invented Link Trainer invented Sc New Deal reforms of American President Franklin D. Roosevelt by which he had tried to relieve the suffering of the American poor and starving were limited in their effect by a philosophical system imposed by the Supreme Court but, in spite of this, he was still able help millions back into work.

In 1942 a British charity, the Oxford Committee for Famine Relief (later called Oxfam) was set up to high-light the problems created by the Nazi occupation of Greece, and to request that relief be sent to those in most urgent need. Since then Oxfam has developed into an international organisation helping to relieve poverty and starvation on a large scale.

In 1948 American President Harry Truman signed into law the Marshall Plan, granting economic and technical assistance toward the recovery of 16 European countries in exchange for the acceptance of economic liberalism (or the rejection of Communism). The Cold War had begun.

On August 1 1971 Ex- Beatles member George Harrison enlisted the aid of fellow musicians Ravi Shankar, Bob Dylan and many more in a Concert at Madison Square Garden to raise money for Bangladesh famine relief. More than 40,000 people attended.

In 1984 Irish musician Bob Geldof and Scottish Ultravox member Midge Ure organised a charity fundraiser record for the starving of Africa. Under the name of Band Aid, they collected together most of the singers then making the British pop charts and got them singing together on one record for charity. The ensemble was:

The following year, 1985, Geldof and Ure followed up their success with a large-scale concert: Live Aid. This lead to other fundraising famine relief projects such as Sport Aid and Comic Relief.

When Communism fell in the U.S.S.R. in the 1990s, millions of people in those slavic countries starved. Before the fall, they were dependant on food rationing from the government to survive. The USA gave them billions of dollars in food to prevent their starvation.