Even now, scholars have not come to a consensus as to the root causes of the so-called Great Potato Famine. There are a great number of theories, but it seems that none of them fully reflects all the complexity of this phenomenon. The main problem is that very often many historians tend to be partial and even prejudiced while interpreting the factors, which contributed to starvation. What we know almost for a fact is that this tragedy diminished the country’s population by approximately twenty percent. Some people died from starvation, some were forced to leave the country in order to save their own lives and the lives of their children.
There is a widely held opinion that the famine sprang from the so-called late blight, a potato disease, which destroyed virtually all harvests of 1845. Certainly, such explanation may appear very plausible, but it does not acquit those people, who could have averted this calamity. It is often argued that that the inaction of the British government aggravated the effects of the famine. In addition to that, several historians believe that the Potato famine can be considered as an act of genocide, committed by the British government against the Irish people. It stands to reason, this statement has always been a subject of heated debate; many British scholars state that the then British government must not be turned into a major culprit, they did pursue the policy of non-intervention or laisser-fair policy yet it does not necessarily mean, that they deliberately let thousands of people die.
Probably, it would be more prudent to discuss this famine as a consequence of several socio-economic factors. In his book “The Great Irish Potato Famine”, the prominent British historian James Donnelly analyzes this issue from several standpoints. The author puts forward an argument that it is impermissible to regard the famine only from one perspective. More likely, it was triggered by a number of factors, particularly, inadequate actions of the then British government, the failure of crops, and the economic policy of the country. In this essay, we need to compare the views on famine, which were expressed by James S Donnelly, and those ones, found in various newspapers.
As regards the initial stages of these events, James Donnelly states that the authority might have taken more urgent measures. Particularly, several attempts were made to suppress that outbreak of famine in Ireland. James Donnelly believes that if the government had chosen to make the facts public the number of victims could have been reduced to a minimum (James Donnelly, 25). Nonetheless, according to the famous Irish nationalist John Mitchell, this suppression was deliberate. Although, it is not explicitly stated we may deduce it from his argument it is almost a premeditated murder (John Mitchell, 12). Naturally, at this moment, one may say that Mitchell’s words were mostly driven by emotions but it should be taken into consideration that he was an eyewitness of those events, thus we cannot altogether reject his interpretation of the Potato Famine.
In this regard, it is worth mentioning that London newspapers, Times, in particular, stated that the famine was caused mostly by the failure of crops (Ranelagh, p 116). Apart from that, it was argued that this famine was God’s vengeance on the Irish people. It appears that John Mitchell’s allegation may not be very far from the truth, because at this point, the relationships between the ethnic groups were extremely tense, and the famine only enhanced this animosity.
Additionally, James Donnelly says that ruinous taxation policy, especially several legislation acts also contributed to the great famine. In the middle of the nineteenth century, the overwhelming majority of Irish peasants were living beyond the poverty level. Every failure of crops might have easily resulted in famine; it was just a matter of time. In 1845, no one could predict such a scenario, but it has to be admitted that under certain circumstances, the famine could have been avoided (James Donnelly, 44). Overall, we may say that bad harvest is too convenient of an excuse because it enables some people to disclaim responsibility. Nevertheless, it is impermissible to blame only the British government, which could have done more.
Therefore, it is quite possible for us to arrive at the conclusion that the Great Famine should be viewed as an outcome of several factors: namely impudent economic policy, inappropriate actions of the British government, and the failure of crops. Furthermore, it should be pointed out that the views on this tragedy have always been ambiguous and even controversial. In the overwhelming majority of cases, the interpretation of these events depends upon the author’s partiality or impartiality. Scholars and journalists often pay attention only to those aspects, which are most suitable for them. In this case, it is of vital importance to rise above personal prejudices, because otherwise, it is hardly possible to get a good notion of the Great Potato Famine and its causes.
Bibliography
D. Ranelagh. “Famine in Ireland” The Times, 1846.
James S. Donnelly. “The Great Irish Potato Famine” Sutton, 2001.
John Mitchell. “The Famine”. The Nation, 1947.