Description
At the outbreak of the First World War, Great Britain quickly took steps to initiate a naval blockade against Germany. In addition to military goods and other contraband, foodstuffs and fertilizer were also added to the list of forbidden exports to Germany. As the grip of the Blockade strengthened, Germans complained that civilians-particularly women and children-were going hungry because of it. The impact of the blockade on non-combatants was especially fraught during the eight month period of the Armistice when the blockade remained in force. Even though fighting had stopped, German civilians wondered how they would go through another winter of hunger. The issue became internationalised as civic leaders across the country wrote books, pamphlets, and articles about their distress, and begged for someone to step in and relieve German women and children with food aid. Their pleas were answered with an outpouring of generosity from across the world. Some have argued, then and since, that these outcries were based on gross exaggerations based more on political need rather than actual want. This book examines what the actual nutritional statuses of women and children in Germany were during and following the War. Mary Cox uses detailed height and weight data for over 600,000 German children to show the true measure of overall deprivation, and to gauge infant recovery.
About the Author
Mary Elisabeth Cox is a William Golding Fellow in the Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences at Brasenose College, Oxford University. She is also a British Academy Postdoctoral Fellow, and serves as a Visiting Fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University. Her research focuses on food insecurity, living standards of civilians during wartime, and the development of relief institutions during the early 20th century.
Reviews
This book, a rewarding read from a promising new scholar, does not aim to transform the field with unexpectedly provocative research questions or dazzle with theoretical tricks, but rather revisits century-old historiographical questions and uncovers rich, hitherto untapped archival sources to answer them anew...it will appeal to historians of Germany, food, and humanitarianism, and it offers new sources to evaluate the experiences of children as historical actors. * Maureen Healy, Journal of Modern History *
By breaking down this household anthropometric data by gender and age (and remarkably, and to her credit, she is the first historian to think to do this), Cox shows conclusively that mothers of families in Leipzig were losing more weight, earlier in the war and more rapidly, than children, thereby uncovering the extent to which German mothers were sacrificing their food to protect their offspring... This is a truly remarkable study, a major contribution and a fine achievement, easily one of the most important books on the First World War and its aftermath produced during this centenary period. * Heather Jones, English Historical Review *
Hunger in War and Peace has the great virtue of considering an ugly episode from several different angles. Many quantitative historical accounts, perhaps especially those that rely on anthropometric methods, tend to focus on the numbers alone, leading to a sterile, context-free study. Some authors would content themselves with dry statistics on the height of Leipzig's second-graders. Not Cox ... Anyone interested in either the impact of war on civilian populations, or in Germany's turbulent history in the first half of the twentieth century, should just follow her where she goes. This serious scholarship sheds new light on how World War I affected civilians. * Timothy W. Guinnane, EH.Net *
an essential addition to the histories of World War I, global nutrition and hunger, German social history, and international aid. * Lauren Janes, Bulletin of the History of Medicine *
The blockade was a sorry example of what is today called 'collateral damage'. Its effects are convincingly shown in Cox's book, an exemplary work of anthropometric history. * Sir Roderick Floud, The Economic History Review *
Hunger in War and Peace is a careful, thoughtful, and remarkably readable study of Britain's blockade and its demographic, social, and geopolitical impact. * Kara L. Ritzheimer, Journal of the History of Childhood and Youth *
Cox's lucidly written and well-argued book makes an important contribution to the social and economic history of Great War-era Germany. Nutritional deprivation in wartime Germany was real, and often severe. The book's multi-archival research, its transnational focus, and its recourse to modern nutritional science as well as the author's seemingly effortless juggling of legal, diplomatic, economic and social history are highly impressive. * Elisabeth Piller, H-Net network on Diplomatic History and International Affairs *
This book certainly pushes the conversation about German hunger in new directions. It unearths new sources and uses new methods to break down Offer's monolithic Germany into discrete groups of Germans with varying experiences of hunger. Cox also paints a fresh picture of postwar food aid and its impact on the bodies as well as the spirits of German children. * Corinna Treitel, Central European History *
The inclusion of individual expressions of gratitude by the young recipients of food aid is striking for the detailed drawings and the apparently genuine warmth of their appreciation. The vividness of the original material is both moving and visually appealing, with several colour plates presented and discussed in detail, reminding us of the individual children behind the statistics... this study has much to teach both the expert scholar and the interested student seeking an introduction to the topic. * Ingrid Sharp, German History *
Through her innovative analysis of qualitative and quantitative sources, Cox provides an astute examination and original findings of the long-term impact of the First World War and food deprivation in Germany. * Kelly A. Spring, Food, Culture & Society: An International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research *
Book Information
ISBN 9780198820116
Author Mary Elisabeth Cox
Format Hardback
Page Count 402
Imprint Oxford University Press
Publisher Oxford University Press
Weight(grams) 700g
Dimensions(mm) 221mm * 145mm * 30mm
About the Author
Mary Elisabeth Cox is a William Golding Fellow in the Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences at Brasenose College, Oxford University. She is also a British Academy Postdoctoral Fellow, and serves as a Visiting Fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University. Her research focuses on food insecurity, living standards of civilians during wartime, and the development of relief institutions during the early 20th century.
Reviews
This book, a rewarding read from a promising new scholar, does not aim to transform the field with unexpectedly provocative research questions or dazzle with theoretical tricks, but rather revisits century-old historiographical questions and uncovers rich, hitherto untapped archival sources to answer them anew...it will appeal to historians of Germany, food, and humanitarianism, and it offers new sources to evaluate the experiences of children as historical actors. * Maureen Healy, Journal of Modern History *
By breaking down this household anthropometric data by gender and age (and remarkably, and to her credit, she is the first historian to think to do this), Cox shows conclusively that mothers of families in Leipzig were losing more weight, earlier in the war and more rapidly, than children, thereby uncovering the extent to which German mothers were sacrificing their food to protect their offspring... This is a truly remarkable study, a major contribution and a fine achievement, easily one of the most important books on the First World War and its aftermath produced during this centenary period. * Heather Jones, English Historical Review *
Hunger in War and Peace has the great virtue of considering an ugly episode from several different angles. Many quantitative historical accounts, perhaps especially those that rely on anthropometric methods, tend to focus on the numbers alone, leading to a sterile, context-free study. Some authors would content themselves with dry statistics on the height of Leipzig's second-graders. Not Cox ... Anyone interested in either the impact of war on civilian populations, or in Germany's turbulent history in the first half of the twentieth century, should just follow her where she goes. This serious scholarship sheds new light on how World War I affected civilians. * Timothy W. Guinnane, EH.Net *
an essential addition to the histories of World War I, global nutrition and hunger, German social history, and international aid. * Lauren Janes, Bulletin of the History of Medicine *
The blockade was a sorry example of what is today called 'collateral damage'. Its effects are convincingly shown in Cox's book, an exemplary work of anthropometric history. * Sir Roderick Floud, The Economic History Review *
Hunger in War and Peace is a careful, thoughtful, and remarkably readable study of Britain's blockade and its demographic, social, and geopolitical impact. * Kara L. Ritzheimer, Journal of the History of Childhood and Youth *
Cox's lucidly written and well-argued book makes an important contribution to the social and economic history of Great War-era Germany. Nutritional deprivation in wartime Germany was real, and often severe. The book's multi-archival research, its transnational focus, and its recourse to modern nutritional science as well as the author's seemingly effortless juggling of legal, diplomatic, economic and social history are highly impressive. * Elisabeth Piller, H-Net network on Diplomatic History and International Affairs *
This book certainly pushes the conversation about German hunger in new directions. It unearths new sources and uses new methods to break down Offer's monolithic Germany into discrete groups of Germans with varying experiences of hunger. Cox also paints a fresh picture of postwar food aid and its impact on the bodies as well as the spirits of German children. * Corinna Treitel, Central European History *
The inclusion of individual expressions of gratitude by the young recipients of food aid is striking for the detailed drawings and the apparently genuine warmth of their appreciation. The vividness of the original material is both moving and visually appealing, with several colour plates presented and discussed in detail, reminding us of the individual children behind the statistics... this study has much to teach both the expert scholar and the interested student seeking an introduction to the topic. * Ingrid Sharp, German History *
Through her innovative analysis of qualitative and quantitative sources, Cox provides an astute examination and original findings of the long-term impact of the First World War and food deprivation in Germany. * Kelly A. Spring, Food, Culture & Society: An International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research *
Book Information
ISBN 9780198820116
Author Mary Elisabeth Cox
Format Hardback
Page Count 402
Imprint Oxford University Press
Publisher Oxford University Press
Weight(grams) 700g
Dimensions(mm) 221mm * 145mm * 30mm
