The 1915-16 Ottoman Famine: Palestine's Starvation Decree

In 1915, Palestine was hit by a devastating famine that killed nearly a third of its population. This episode explores the complex causes: British naval blockade, locust plagues, Ottoman military conscription of agricultural laborers, and the deliberate policies of Jamal Pasha, the Ottoman ruler of Greater Syria. We trace the famine's progression from the fertile plains of Jaffa to the hills of Nablus, examining how the war effort drained resources while the Allied blockade strangled trade. The episode also looks at the role of the American Red Cross and German engineers who documented the catastrophe, and the long-term demographic shifts that followed. What emerges is a story of total war's collateral damage, where nature and policy conspired to reshape Palestine before the British even arrived.

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