Greetings,
Most books that mention Churchill's attitudes on the Bengal famine tend to
portray them as being, well, less than honourable. To take one example, the
historian Gopal in his essay 'Churchill and India' in ''Churchill'' (edited by
RObert Blake and Wm. Roger Louis) writes that Churchill opposed famine relief
on the grounds that it was "appeasement" of the congress. In particular the
suggestion was that Churchill's racial views influenced his handling of the
famine, as he was more concerned about "sturdy Greeks" than "anyhow underfed
Bengalis". This view is accepted by Andrew ROberts in Emminent Churchillians,
Clive Ponting in his "biography" of Churchill and Peter Clarke in his recent
book "The Last Thousand Days of the British Empire".
I recently read the official documents concerning the Bengal famine. They are
published in "The Transfer of Power, 1942-1947", volume IV, The Bengal Famine
and New Viceroyalty (edited by Nicholas Mansergh with the assistance of E.W.R.
Lumby). The image of a callous Churchill is belied by the documents. Although
Churchill himself doesn't write much on the subject, when he does, one does not
get the impression that he was callous. On one occasion Wavell writes to
Churchill begging him to release shipping, Churchill's response was "I shall
certainly help you all I can. But you must not ask for what is impossible". A
number of meetings on the subject concluded that:
There was a shortage of ships
There was no overall shortage of food (a view backed up by Amartya Sen), rather
the famine was the cause of hoarding.
Not wanting to interfere with the war effort by diverting shipping (and thereby
making an already difficult situation with regards to shipping and the UK's
imports worse), the government in London encouraged Wavell to try and use
alternative strategies to try and prise food from the grasps of Indian
hoarders. Through 1944 India actually does get some 700,000 tons of food. On
another occasion Churchill, speaking during a meeting, declares himself "most
sympathetic". He also wrote to President Roosevelt requesting American ships to
help deliver the food to India.
Churchill's "sturdy Greeks" comment seems to come from Amery's diary, although
the documents presented make it clear that Churchill was not viewing famine
relief in Greece as preferable to sending food to India, not because the Greeks
were racially superior, but because it was viewed as being not in the best
interests of the war effort if potential insurgents in Greece starved to death.
In the end, some food marked for the Balkans was diverted to India anyway.
Indeed, Amery records at the same meeting Churchill agreed that something
needed to be done in order to stop the famine in India.
Perhaps the traditional view needs to be revised? Any further comments would be
welcome. I certainly hope you Churchillians will comment on my analysis.
I understand that Arthur Hermann has just published a book on Churchill's
relationship with Gandhi, I'd be interested to know if he mentions the Bengal
famine.
Regards,
Andy
[Please forgive any typos]
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