The "Potato revolution" (in German, Kartoffelrevolution) is the name given to the food riot that took place in the Prussian capital Berlin between April 21 and April 22/23, 1847. This was triggered by failed harvests due to the then-ongoing European potato failure, which also caused the Great Famine in Ireland as well as famine crises and increased food prices in other European countries. Another reason was the social misery of large sections of the urban population. The revolt, which was also directed against the widespread fraudulent practices of Berlin's bakeries and butchers, was put down by the military. Like the First United Parliament of Prussia, which had opened shortly before, the potato revolution was also part of the prehistory of the Berlin March Revolution of 1848.
Terminology and classification The term "potato revolution" was coined by contemporaries. However, it was also used for other riots before and after, such as in 1844 in Newcastle in the Limerick area or in 1872 in Tarnow near Lemberg. In his work Berliner März 1848, the writer Adolf Streckfuß (1823–1895) also used this term to describe the revolt. It is based on the fact that the hunger and social revolt began with the looting of potato stalls, but hardly does justice to the events, as the insurgents did not only attack potato stalls. The protest also affected bakeries and butchers as well as "localities and status symbols of wealthy Berlin citizens" (Rüdiger Hachtmann). The "potato revolution" was one of 193 known hunger riots that shook the German Confederation in 1847. 65 percent of these uprisings took place on Prussian soil; only its western provinces were largely spared. Manfred Gailus estimates that tens of thousands of people actively participated in hunger riots in the German states in 1847. The Berlin "potato revolution" was a mixture of different forms of protest: The initial "market riot" developed into a broader attack on grocery stores. According to political scientist Wilhelm Bleek, while the protests in populous cities (which were growing rapidly due to immigration) such as Berlin and Stuttgart adopted features of a "violent power struggle with the authorities and the wealthy", the events in small towns were often limited to a "redistribution" of food. In the German states, food riots were the "main form" of social protest between 1840 and 1850. Comparable hunger crises can only be found in the 1790s and 1816/1817.
Causes Three factors were decisive in bringing about the Berlin "potato revolution": firstly, the potato and grain harvest of 1846 in Prussia was on average 30 to 50 percent lower than in previous years. The potato pest Phytophthora infestans, which was found in North America, had already been introduced to Europe in 1845. In the same year, this fungus caused major damage to the fields in the western provinces of Prussia. The eastern provinces were only affected in isolated cases due to the weather conditions. In Ireland, which was particularly susceptible due to its rainy summer months and temperate winters, the fungus triggered the so-called Great Famine. The potato tubers often rotted while still in the ground. In 1846, the failure of the potato harvest in Prussia was accompanied by poor rye and wheat yields due to the exceptionally bad weather conditions: heavy rain in April and subsequent drought. In the Rhineland, the rye yield fell by around 50 percent in 1846, in Silesia by as much as 60 percent. Secondly, the Prussian government and the city administrations reacted inadequately to the crop failure. To prevent social unrest, grain stocks had been bought up early in all German residential cities - except Stuttgart and Berlin. It was not until January 1847 that the Prussian government commissioned Liedke, a private secretary inexperienced in agricultural trade, to buy up Russian grain. He then purchased goods that turned out to be of inferior quality. On arrival at the port of Stettin, it became clear that the grain was spoiled. The edible part of the Russian grain that was still milled was stretched by adding barley and corn flour. For its part, the Berlin city council had already petitioned the Prussian King Friedrich Wilhelm IV in October 1846 to ban the export of grain, potatoes and spirits.However, the Prussian Minister of the Interior, Ernst von Bodelschwingh, replied that the petition had been submitted without the knowledge of the Berlin magistrate. Because of this formal error, it had not been passed on to the king. The resulting shortage of food in the city caused the price of rye to double in April 1847 and the price of potatoes to rise three to five times. In 1846, five pounds of potatoes cost one Silbergroschen, by the end of January 1847 it was three, and in April five Silbergroschen. This sum was equivalent to half the average daily earnings of most Berliners. As a result, economically weaker groups in the city were affected by hunger and malnutrition even more than before. Thirdly, this trend in the markets was countered by the fact that the state had hardly any means of control. A police decree from 1846 required Berlin bakers to have their price lists checked by a police lieutenant. Accordingly, de jure prices for certain sizes of bread had to be adhered to. In reality, however, these regulations could not be enforced by the market police across the board. In many cases, Berlin bakers therefore evaded the regulations by using inferior materials or falsifying weights. The dissatisfaction of market shoppers over this everyday grievance, which had accumulated over decades, finally erupted in the "potato revolution". The problems mentioned were combined with the generally precarious social situation of large sections of the population. Many families moved from the countryside to the big city. The resulting oversupply of labor depressed wages in Berlin. At the same time, working hours increased, often to 17 hours a day. Child labor was part of everyday life. Even minimal price fluctuations were enough to turn hunger into a mass phenomenon in the city. A financial and industrial crisis led to mass redundancies in Berlin's textile and engineering sectors in 1847. The number of unemployed increased even further.
The riots
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