The Bengal Famine strikes

Natural disasters, incompetent administration and the ravages of war have conspired to create a wide-spread famine in India. Following a cyclone which devastated large parts of the area and wiped out nearly the entire rice harvest, colonial administrators have proven slow - some might say conspicuously slow - to address the issue. Despite a food surplus in other areas of India, there have been no relief shipments out of fear that they might fall into the hands of the enemy. Large parts of the area have been devastated, and the cost in lives and lost production can not even be estimated yet.