The Influence of El Niño on World Crises in the Nineteenth Century

Abstract

The impact of El Niño events from the time of the French Revolution to the present day raises wider issues about the connections between climatic events, social disruption and revolution when one examines the colonial context. The new structures of colonialism and western economic penetration that occurred during the nineteenth century significantly affected vulnerability to El Niño events within colonised populations in drought-prone regions. Although people had always died in droughts in India or Africa, for example, the new governing structures often significantly challenged traditional responses to drought. As a result, in several regions mortality figures during El Niño-caused droughts during the nineteenth century increased above earlier levels. The nineteenth century, though, may have marked the culmination of global El Niño-related mortality.