Bonus Episode: Reichs & Republics The Turnip Winter of 1916/17

Bonus Episode: Reichs & Republics The Turnip Winter of 1916/17

July 20, 2026 · 1h 0m

About this episode

The episode explores the extreme hunger and hardships faced by the German population during the Turnip Winter of 1916/17.

What happens when an entire nation runs out of food? This is one of our favourite episodes from our sister podcast, Reichs and Republics: The German History Podcast, and we’d like to share it with you. In this episode Katja and Chris explore the brutal reality of the 'Turnip Winter' of 1916/17, when the German civilian population was forced to endure extreme hunger, freezing temperatures and a collapsing food system. Food shortages weakened Germany not only physically, but also shattered morale, playing a decisive role in the country's eventual defeat in the First World War. They explore how the British blockade, disastrous harvests and government mismanagement forced people to survive on animal fodder such as turnips and crows! If you enjoyed this episode as much as we did then take a look at the other episodes on the Reichs & Republics Channel! https://www.youtube.com/@ReichsandRepublicsPod Join Our Community: ⁠https://not-so-quiet.com/⁠ Use our code: Dugout and get one month free as a Captain. Support via Paypal:⁠ https://battleguide.co.uk/nsq-paypal⁠ Do you like our podcast? Then please leave us a review, it helps us a lot! E-Mail: ⁠nsq@battleguide.co.uk⁠ Battle Guide YouTube…

People in this episode

Hosts: Dan Hill, Dr. Spencer Jones

Guests: Katja, Chris

Topics covered

Keywords

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Reichs and Republics: The German History Podcast, Battle Guide, YouTube, Paypal

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