Short answers, pulled from the story.
The Russian famine of 1921 1922 resulted from a convergence of civil war, economic collapse, and a government that prioritized ideology over survival. Five million people died from starvation in the summer of 1921, leaving their bodies unburied in fields that had once produced wheat. This event stands as a grim testament to how quickly human systems can fail when the basic contract between ruler and ruled is broken.
The last peacetime famine in England ended in 1623, marking a turning point in how societies produced and distributed food. Before this date, Europe was a patchwork of subsistence farmers vulnerable to the whims of weather and war. By the end of the 17th century, English agriculture became the most productive in Europe due to the commercialization of farming.
The Great Famine of Ireland 1845 1849 claimed over one million lives and forced two million more to flee their homeland. The potato crop failure in the autumn of 1845 set in motion these events, which were exacerbated by the export of food from Ireland to Britain. The British government response included measures by Prime Minister Sir Robert Peel and later Lord John Russell that proved inadequate.
Between 1958 and 1961, China experienced the largest famine of the 20th century, a catastrophe that claimed between 18 million and 42 million lives. The Great Leap Forward initiated by Mao Zedong forced peasants to abandon farms for collective farms and produce steel in small foundries. Unfavorable weather conditions and communal dining halls encouraged overconsumption of available food while information about the disaster was suppressed.
BBC newsreader Michael Buerk gave moving commentary of the Ethiopian famine of 1983 1985 on the 23rd of October 1984, which he described as a biblical famine. The famine claimed over one million lives and affected 22 million more due to prolonged drought, civil war, and the government's lack of organization. This reporting stimulated the first mass movements to end famine across the world and prompted the Band Aid single organized by Bob Geldof.
In 2025, famine was officially confirmed in the Middle East region with declarations in Sudan and Gaza marking a new chapter in the history of hunger. The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification analysis confirms that famine is taking place in Gaza, with one in three people going days at a time without eating. Malnutrition among children is accelerating at a catastrophic pace, with more than 12,000 children identified as acutely malnourished in July alone.