Potato

Moglwi

Monthly Donor
I did not relise that the Potato was such an imporant crop that these sort of efects whould have occored a complete revesol of power in europe from North to South as one. makes you wonder what else would have happed in other countrys as the potato spreads.
 
One thought which occurrs to me: OTL, given the policies of Cromwell, could you see a much greater population displacement in Ireland, and a larger English/Scotch Irish?
 

Valdemar II

Banned
Just one thing, while the potato was important, in some North European countries the explosive population growth started before the introduction of potatoes, and was a result of more efficient farming methods (which didn't include potatoes) and better hygiene.
 
One thought which occurrs to me: OTL, given the policies of Cromwell, could you see a much greater population displacement in Ireland, and a larger English/Scotch Irish?

Faeelin

Quite possibly. I have read it was the presence of potatoes that enabled the bulk of the Irish to stay where they lived, rather than being deported to the west. It meant that the landowner [English replacing earlier Catholic] could maintain cattle with Irish peasants providing the labour force, maintaining themselves from small peasant plots. Those out competed settlers from England and to a lesser degree Scotland, who were still based around cereal crops. Without the spud the majority of the Irish/Catholic population would probably have followed the landowners to Connaught and far more English and Scottish settling the richer eastern lands.

In that case Ireland would be far more contested and probably still in the union. The Catholic/Irish would have peaked in population much earlier due to less land, then probably become a minority in the Ireland. Without potatoes there is no catastrophic famine when the crop fails but probably continual shortages because they very much on the margins and possibly often pushed beyond them. Large scale emigration when it becomes possibly but, other than the British mainland, this wasn't practical until the mid/late 19thC I believe.

Steve
 
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