War, Agriculture, and Food

Yves Segers is Professor of Rural History and Director of the Interfaculty Centre for Agrarian History (ICAG) at the University of Leuven, Belgium.

This volume of essays examines one of the crucial periods in the evolution of the European rural economy and society, assessing the effects of the Second World War on the European countryside, and the impact of food and agricultural problems on the outcome of the war.

1. Introduction Leen Van Molle, Yves Segers, and Paul Brassley Part I: The International Perspective 2. Natura Non Fecit Saltus: The 1930s as the discontinuity in the history of European Agriculture Giovanni Federico 3. International Trade in Agricultural Products, 1935-1955 Paul Brassley Part II: State Regulation and Agricultural Policy 4. Paths to Productivism: Agricultural regulation in the Second World War and its aftermath in Great Britain and German-annexed Austria John Martin and Ernst Langthaler 5. Spanish Agriculture 1931-1955: Crisis, wars, and new policies in the reshaping of rural society Juan Pan-Montojo 6. Wartime Agricultural Policy in Peacetime: A case study of Hungary 1940-1956 Zsuzsanna Varga Part III: The State ¿ Farmer Relationship 7. From War Profits to Post-War Investments: How the German occupation improved investments in Danish agriculture in the post-war years Mogens R.Nissen 8. Corporatism, Agricultural Modernisation and War in Ireland and Switzerland 1935-55 Peter Moser and Tony Varley 9. Farming, Favoured in Times of Fear: Swedish agricultural politics 1935-55 Carin Martiin 10. The Social Impact of State Control of Agriculture in Britain 1939-55 Brian Short Part IV: Rural Identities 11. Change in the European Countryside: Peasants and democracy in Germany 1935-55 Gesine Gerhard 12. Heroes of the Reconstruction? Images of British farmers in war and peace Clare Griffiths 13. Food Stocks, the Black Market, and Town and Country Tensions in France during Two World Wars and Beyond Edouard Lynch 14. Conclusions Paul Brassley, Yves Segers, and Leen Van Molle Notes on Contributors Notes Index