Economy, environment, and famine

The years of World War I were a time of misery, hunger, and desperation for much of the population of Bilad al-Sham. ² A significant number of memoirs and novels attest to the impact of this period and the memories of the deprivation it entailed. ³ The factors contributing to the famine ranged from the Anglo-French naval blockade and challenges that hindered adequate agricultural production—such as drought and locusts—to an unstable currency and grain speculation. The influence of some of these factors varied geographically––the coastal regions and Mount Lebanon suffered more from the blockade, while the interior was more exposed to drought and other threats to agricultural production. All areas were affected by staggering inflation, currency devaluation, transportation difficulties, and labor shortages. These dilemmas, in turn, encouraged hoarding and speculation. Ottoman officials, including Djemal Pasha, who was the military governor of the region until his departure at the end of 1917, confronted multiple challenges in their attempts to cope with these problems. While their administrative strategies often involved harsh exactions on the local population in order to ensure the provisioning of the military forces stationed in the area, their correspondence also provides insight into the various measures taken to respond to the increasingly desperate plight of the local civilian population. Requisitions were not just for military needs; they could also be implemented for the sake of civilians, such as projects to redistribute grain. The following chronologically and geographically anchored analysis examines economic developments in the Syrian interior, focusing in particular on Aleppo and its hinterlands as well as the grain-growing regions between Damascus and Aleppo around Hama and Homs. While it does not claim to be a comprehensive narrative of events, it aims to demonstrate the regionally differentiated nature of the war’s impact and the strategies and policies deployed by Ottoman officials as they grappled with the multiple challenges facing the region’s wartime economy.