Greetings, By all means, go ahead. I'm thrilled at the the idea. If you want, I'll copy out the most relevant documents 9from a Churchillian stand point), although it may not be until tommorrow I'll get an opportunity to do this, as the book is in the University of Glasgow Library (I don't own it) and I'm kind of busy today. Regards, Andy
Date: Tue, 30 Sep 2008 23:30:57 +0000From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]: [ChurchillChat] Re: bengal famine (Churchill's opinions revised)To: [email protected] Hi Andy, I am teaching a course on Global Economic Geography this coming semester and wanted to add the Bengal Famine to the syllabus. Would you mind me including your posting in the materials for my students? Thank you very much. Best regards, Alex Calvo Professor of International Relations, European University.--- On Tue, 30/9/08, andy macbrayne <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: From: andy macbrayne <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>Subject: [ChurchillChat] bengal famine (Churchill's opinions revised)To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]: Tuesday, 30 September, 2008, 5:50 PM 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 shipsThere 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] Try Facebook in Windows Live Messenger! Try it Now!_________________________________________________________________ Make a mini you and download it into Windows Live Messenger http://clk.atdmt.com/UKM/go/111354029/direct/01/ --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "ChurchillChat" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/ChurchillChat?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
