Imperial wars and the violence of hunger: remembering and forgetting the Great Persian Famine 1917–1919

Edalati, Zahra; Imani, Majid

doi:10.1080/01436597.2023.2221183

Cited by 4 publications

(1 citation statement)

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“…With a pre-famine population of 20 to 21 million and a post-famine population of at most 9 to 10 million, a death toll of at least 10 million, amounting to 50% of the population is determined. This contrasts with a prior estimate of 8-10 million (Majd, 2013;Edalati and Imani, 2024). Neutral Iran had suffered by far the highest absolute and relative death toll of World War I.…”

Section: Toll Of the World War I Faminecontrasting

confidence: 62%

Historiography and Death Toll of World War I and World War II Famines in Iran

MAJD

2024

Preprint

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Abstract. The remarks by the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution on the toll of the famines that afflicted occupied Iran in World War I and World War II indicate a desire to incorporate these calamities in Iran’s national narrative and collective memory. His criticism of famine historiography and stated toll numbers, and the unfolding catastrophic famine in Gaza, justify and necessitate a fresh look at each famine’s historiography and toll. This article re-estimates the toll of each famine by including many overlooked and neglected primary sources and in ways not previously done. It builds a trajectory of Iran’s demographic development from 1810 to 1944, and derives the toll of each famine. The World War II famine and typhus epidemics had claimed 5.5 million. World War I famine was also more deadly, though the 1869-73 famine was not far behind. At least 15.5 million Iranians died in the two world wars, a fact nowhere reflected in the history of the conflicts. Iran’s 1944 population of 12 million was unchanged from that of 1850 and a century of population growth obliterated

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Section: Toll Of the World War I Faminecontrasting

confidence: 62%