The Bengal Famine

Bengal has suffered famines before, but this time events have conspired to make things so much worse than usual. The staggeringly incompetent colonial administration has shown itself utterly unable - or perhaps even unwilling - to adequately react to a cyclone wiping out much of the rice harvest in Bengal. With refugees pouring in from the war stricken regions of the country, demand for food is growing every day while supply is falling short. Food prices have risen dramatically, leading to people staying away from work that no longer pays enough to feed their families. Recruitment numbers for the army have also dropped considerably as more and more people refuse to leave their homes to fight for a government that does nothing to help them.