Bengal Famine
What Bengal Famine means in History A-Level, as defined for Pearson Edexcel.
Definition of Bengal Famine
Check what you remember
Read the wording for your board, then hide it and explain Bengal Famine in your own words. Rough notes are fine. This is a self-check, with no mark or grade.
Reference: Pearson Edexcel
Killed over two million people and discredited British administration, with wartime rice shortages, cyclone and flooding, poor distribution and an inadequate British response.
Topics that use Bengal Famine
- The road to independence, 1942–48 (Pearson Edexcel A-Level)
Related terms
- Cabinet Mission
- Changing British political will under Labour
- Consequences of independence
- Cripps Mission
- Decolonisation and British withdrawal
- interim government
- International pressure and the USA’s role
- Nationalism and communal identity
Using Bengal Famine in the exam
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