THE GERMAN FOOD CRISIS OF WORLD WAR I: THE CASES OF COBLENZ AND COLOGNE

Before August 1914, Germany and the other nations of Europe had assumed that war, when it came, would be short, and they thus failed to make adequate preparations for extended warfare. But the Central Powers unlike most the Entente nations were unable to rely upon outside sources to make up for deficiencies. Food became a crucial item when the British navel blockade and pressure on surrounding nations to limit exports to Germany combined with domestic problems. Within the nation, the production of all types of food dropped drastically because of a lack of fertilizers, livestock fodder and equipment as well as the drain of food and skilled manpower to the armed forces. The transportation system, burdened by the war, was unable to operate with its usual efficiency. The result of all this was that by November 1918 the ration available to the city population of the German Empire was insufficient to meet one-half of the daily requirement of 3000 calories per person.;The food problem helped polarize political groups and society. There was insufficient food for the entire nation. Someone, some groups, were going to suffer because of the failure of the food distribution system to provide adequate provisions to everyone. Given the unsettled conditions and the lack of structure a free-for-all developed with the consequences of hoarding, a blackmarket and rising prices. The inequality resulted in the fragmentation of society. In Coblenz and Cologne there were people divided against people, class against class, city against country, city against military and city government against national government.;There was also a connection between the lack of food and the Revolution of November 1918. The divisions within German society were destructive because various groups inside and outside of Germany were anxious to drive in a wedge wherever cracks developed. Food was a delicate issue, ideal for anti-government factions to exploit. Inside Germany, political agitators needed a cause to excite the people enough to begin marching. It did not take a great deal of effort to convince most people that a poor job had been done and that the government was responsible. The cleavages which grew in society made it impossible for the government to lead because an increasingly skeptical people hesitated to follow.;There was a further way in which the lack of food had a bearing upon the Revolution. It can be seen in the physical and mental deterioration of the people encompassed in the term "war weariness." In a scientific study, the Minnesota Experiment, it was learned that there is definite linkage between weight loss and civil disorder and strife, though an exact correlation between the two cannot be ascertained.;In studying the cities of Coblenz and Cologne, the fact emerges that not all areas and people within the nation shared equally in the privations. This was clear to everyone even during the war, hence the designation of supply and receiving provinces by the authorities, the movement of the people to the countryside to conduct blackmarket activities, participation in strikes, and eventually a growing division within the people.;In the post November 1918 period, the food problem could not help but contribute to the chaos. Conditions were unsettled and the continued Allied blockade had to perpetuate the instability and dim the possibility of a rapid return to "normal." The people were weak and tired. Now after the Armistice the nation was divided. Political groups vied with each other for power. The internal situation, plus the atmosphere of uncertainty left by Allied armistice demands, left the people uncertain and confused.