Specific World Disasters

1840’s – Ireland Great potato famine is one of the worst famines on record, in terms of percentage dead

WWI Affected large parts of the world

Spanish Flu Epidemic The Spanish Influenza was one of the last epidemics to significantly affect the mortality in industrial countries. It was called Spanish Influenza because the first reports of the illness were from Spain.

1930’s The depression One of the most well known economic recessions in history. There was a drop in income for several countries but what caused the most suffering was the high unemployment and the social problems linked to this high unemployment

1932 The Soviet Union was struck by a devastating famine in The famine mortality was high in large areas stretching from Ukraine, Northern Caucasus to Kazakhstan.

WWII

In China in 1958 Mao launched a major economic reform campaign called “the great leap forward”. It was followed by a devastating famine, in which some 15 million are estimated to have died. This is probably the worst famine, in terms of the number of people that died.

Cambodia The policies of the Khmer Rouge led to mass deaths of Cambodians on a horrific scale, both through famine and through executions

1994 Rwanda It is estimated that between a half a million and one million were killed in a few months in the Rwanda genocide

1997 The Asian Economic Crisis A financial crisis hit several East Asian countries in It is seen as a temporary income drop for countries like Indonesia. Malaysia and South Korea