THE POTATO SAVES PRUSSIA
______Sometimes it is not mighty armies or special weapons that decide wars, but rather some humble factor that neither side counted on at the offset. In the case of Prussia in the Seven Years War, it was the potato.
______Potatoes reached Europe from Peru (not Virginia, which is a common misconception). The plant was used as a staple for the peasants who built the fantastic monuments of the pre-Columbian empires. The Spanish brought samples back sometime in the 16th century.
______Frederick II of Prussia, while campaigning during the War of the Austrian Succession, saw potatoes for the first time. He was impressed by the hardiness of the tuber, the small amount of land that was needed to grow a crop, and the fact that it was hard to requisition or tax the spud. Whereas grain was routinely seized by European armies living off the land, potatoes could be left in the ground for long periods of time without the need to harvest them and were routinely missed by foragers.
______In 1744 Frederick ordered administrators to distribute free seed and planting instructions to peasants. For a variety of reasons the staple food grew in popularity and was in widespread use throughout Prussia by 1750.
______In 1756 Prussia invaded Saxony, triggering what would be a long and bitter war. Prussia's armies advanced and retreated over and over again as its fortunes surged and ebbed. Prussia itself was invaded several times.
______The potato, missed by the invading armies as they requisitioned all other foodstuffs from the Prussian peasants, prevented widespread famine. And in the end, ultimate victory depended as much on the support of the Prussian peasantry for Frederick as it did his army.
WHAT WAR SPARKED A MASS AERIAL DEFECTION?
