Georgy Oppokov 1918
First Published: in Kommunist. Ezenedel'nyi zurnal ekonomiki, politiki i obsenstvennosti. Organ Moskovskago Oblastnogo Byuro RKP (bol'sevikov) [The Communist. Weekly Magazine for Economics, Politics and Social Questions. Organ of the Moscow District Office of the RCP(B)], No. 3, May 16, 1918.
Source: Internationalist Communist Tendency.
Online Version: Marxists Internet Archive 2021
HTML Markup: Zdravko Saveski
The global imperialist massacre caused not only the loss of millions of people, but also terrible material poverty. The productive forces of the warring populations are so exhausted that in the years to come, the whole of humanity will be subjected to brutal hardship. One of the gravest consequences of the war will be a global famine, the terrible warning signs of which are already clearly emerging.
According to the International Institute of Agriculture of Rome,[1] which has studied the situation of the twenty main countries of the world, in the course of the economic year of 1915-16, the production of bread fell by 14% compared to the five previous years. The same tendency exists in the production of the five main grains (wheat, rye, oats, barley and corn), the harvests of which in 1915-16 were 9% lower on average than the five previous years. The area under cultivation has been reduced everywhere, particularly (leaving Russia aside for a moment) in France, the country that has seen the greatest decrease (36% for wheat compared to 1913). In England in 1916, the wheat harvest fell by 18% from that of the previous year. The same tendencies are emerging in the countries of the Austro-German coalition, where difficulties concerning food supplies are very acute.
According to the same statistical data, for the year of 1917-18, the European countries overall were missing 160 million quintals that they imported from other continents.
The chief suppliers of flour are the USA and Argentina. But during the war, the harvest fell in these two countries as well: for example, in 1916-17 the wheat harvest was 35% lower than that of 1915, so exports to Europe fell by the same proportions. Over the course of nine months (from 1 July 1916 to 1 April 1917), the USA only exported 146,851 thousand bushels[2] (in 1915-16, it was 187,112 thousand bushels and in 1914-15, 269,545 thousand bushels). Thus, in two years, exports fell by 122,694 thousand bushels, that is, about 80%.[3] The same tendency can be seen in the exports of Argentina. There, at the beginning of the economic year of 1916-17, they had planned exports of up to 11 million quarters of wheat,[4] but in the end the country could only export 100,000 tonnes to Europe!
Nor can Russia provide a sufficient quantity of wheat to European markets, because it has nothing to export. Now, with the loss of the wheat-rich regions of the South and the South West, the whole European part of Russia will experience an acute lack of wheat.
Against the bloody background of the imperialist massacres that lasted four years, the gigantic, horrible shadow of "King Famine" hangs over us. At the sound of the cannon, between the bullets and shells, it will glide along with muffled steps until it has the whole world in its fiery embrace.
A. Lomov
Notes
[1] Economic review of Mr G. B., published in the third issue of the Mezdunarodnaya politika i mirovoe hozyanstvo (International Politics and Global Economy). (Editor's note)
[2] The English bushel is 36.369 litres, the American bushel 35.239 litres.
[3] More likely 50% according to Kowalski, Kommunist, op cit. p. 253
[4] Measure equivalent to a quarter of a bushel.