1917 Potato riots

Uprising over food shortage in the NetherlandsMarch 2022July 2018 thumb|Female workers with potatoes The Potato riots in June–July 1917 was a popular uprising in the Dutch capital city Amsterdam that was caused by the food shortage in the Netherlands during World War I.Potato eaters shot https://socialhistory.org/en/today/potato-eaters-shot International Institute of Social History 7 July 1917http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article90284213 Potato riots in Amsterdam. Bendigo Advertiser 6 July 1917 7 National Library of Australia History In the beginning of the 20th century, food was more within the reach of the workers. The First World War changed this. The Netherlands remained a neutral country, but experienced discomfort and hard circumstances. Imports and exports of goods stagnated. Bread and other food was rationed and soup kitchens sprang up. A bread ration was established in January 1917. On 28 June 1917, there was a shortage of potatoes. It became known in the neighborhoods of Amsterdam that there was a ship with potatoes in the Prinsengracht, but these were for the army. In order to feed their families, the working women of the Eastern Islands and the Czar Peter Neighborhood plundered the ship. According to the Councillor Josephus Jitta, there was no overall shortage of food as the workers had an extra supply of rice provided.March 2022 Rebellion thumb|Police vs. Civilians during the Riots. In the first week of July of that year, the unrest grew and the workers themselves also saw action. Warehouses and shops were looted. The police were powerless and the army acted. The revolt culminated in a battle on 5 July 1917, in which soldiers opened fire on a crowd that had gathered at the Haarlemmerplein. The revolt was beaten. There were nine dead and 114 people wounded.Aardappeloproer http://amsterdam-eerstewereldoorlog.nl/item/394-2/ Amsterdam en de Eerste Wereldoorlog Stadsarchief Amsterdam Dutch https://web.archive.org/web/20210925161802/http://amsterdam-eerstewereldoorlog.nl/item/394-2/ 25 September 2021 Post 1917 food shortages thumb|Memorial plate The food situation deteriorated further in 1918, the last year of the war. Many people lived on the brink of starvation and unemployment rose. The Spanish flu epidemic hit and killed thousands of people, weakened as they were by starvation. The armistice on 11 November 1918 came just in time for the Netherlands. For the workers another winter of hunger and cold was prevented, as well as an impending revolution (Red Week).March 2022 References Category:1917 in the Netherlands Category:1917 riots Category:Food riots Category:Riots and civil disorder in the Netherlands Category:July 1917 in Europe Category:1910s in Amsterdam Category:Military history of Amsterdam