15 Reasons To Start A War Over Food: A Story Of Strange Deeds 

Surely, in a fit of hunger, you said that you were ready to kill for a sandwich.

Surely, in a fit of hunger, you said that you were ready to kill for a sandwich. You are not alone: ​​there have indeed been cases in history when it was necessary to start a war over food. We decided to talk about such wars in order to avoid them in the future.

1. War against insatiable emus (Australia)

In the 1930s, the emu population increased significantly, which forced the birds to move to farm corn fields in western Australia. In order to avoid conflict with the farmers, the government decided to start a war against the emu and sent soldiers to the fields. But it was not possible to destroy the emu - smart birds managed to get away from the bullets. In the end, the emu was left alone.

2. Wine war in the Ottoman Empire

 

The Ottoman Empire was at its peak when Sultan Selim II came to power. But all his attention was occupied not by the people, but by his favorite drink - wine from Cyprus. When the wine ran out, the Sultan decided not to think for a long time and attacked Cyprus. As a result, he did not receive wine, lost the fleet and ruined the entire empire.

3. War between the Americans and the British over the pig

 

In the 1850s, both Americans and British lived on the islands between Canada and Washington. The situation escalated to the limit when a British pig was seen on the farm of an American who shot the poor animal. As a result, the owner of the pig filed a complaint against the shooter, and the American was arrested. The American manager of the island could not stand such an attitude and sent infantry to the island. The British responded by sending warships. The war ended before it even started.

4. Baking war over one store

 

When Mexico became independent from Spain, chaos broke out in the country, and many shops and factories were destroyed. This was not avoided by the French baker and his bakery. He went to the Mexican government for compensation, but the Frenchman was literally thrown out into the street. As a result, he turned to the French government, which demanded 600,000 Mexican pesos in compensation. Since Mexico did not pay anything, France occupied several cities. Eventually Britain intervened and Mexico paid 600,000 pesos to France.

5 Rome Conquered Egypt For Grain

 

When the people have nothing to eat, the ruler has no choice but to take away food in a richer country. The Roman rulers did just that: they conquered Egypt and used it as a supplier of grain and bread for centuries.

6 Indian Rebellion Over Pork And Beef

 

Every country needs a police force. When India was under the rule of the British Empire, Indian policemen were given rifle cartridges to use in case of an emergency. But the cartridges were smeared with cow and pork fat. The Indians refused to use such cartridges, which is why Britain punished them. This was the cause of the Indian Rebellion of 1857.

7 Salt War

 

In 1482, the sale of salt by Venice was prohibited by a commercial pact. But one man broke the pact and started selling anyway. In a fit of rage, Pope Sixtus IV declared war against him. Fighting never came to fruition due to public support, and the Pope died due to a heart attack.

8. War over a cow

In the 90th century, on the territory of modern Wyoming, a cow of Mormon travelers strayed from the pack and was killed by a local resident from the Sioks tribe. The Americans decided to punish the tribe for the massacre of the animal and killed the leader of the tribe. In turn, the tribesmen killed 27 American soldiers.

Source 9North and South Korea fight for blue crabs

 

Blue crabs live in the Yellow Sea between Korea and China. Twice in these waters there was a war - in 1999 and in 2002, as the warring parties were seen in the illegal catch of blue crabs. The fight was fierce, but there were no casualties.

10 Boston Tea Party

 

In the 1770s, Britain taxed the American colonies on tea and spices. The residents of the colonies were not happy with such a decision, so they decided to show their opinion to the government. A huge amount of tea was thrown into Boston Harbor. Of course, you can’t call this a war, but you can still call it a protest.

11 Rice Famine And The Indochina War

 

After the grueling fighting in 1945 in Vietnam, rice plantations were destroyed - and a period of great famine began. Rice that was imported into the country was subject to incredible taxes. As a result, people began to rob the rice warehouses and refused to pay taxes. Eventually, this escalated into the Indochina War.

12. Fight for honey trees

In the 1830s, two American states—Missouri and Iowa—were fighting for a piece of land on their borders. The territory belonged to Missouri, which demanded payment of land tax from Iowa. The latter refused, causing the Missouri administration to cut down large numbers of valuable honey trees as a coercive tax. The states were on the brink of war when the Supreme Court intervened.

13. Conflict over pork in Serbia

 

At the beginning of the 20th century, relations between Serbia and Austria-Hungary were tense, but this did not concern trade deals. The two countries were staunch trading partners. However, during the years of the development of the meat industry, Serbia began to sell pork to Bulgaria - which is why Austria-Hungary broke off any contacts with the former partner.

14. War over spices

 

In the first half of the 17th century, Holland and Portugal were the titans of trade. Spices were their main product. Over time, both countries created their own spice companies, which immediately became enemies for each other. The Dutch eventually set out to raid Portuguese trading posts throughout Africa, Asia, and the Americas. Thus began the Dutch-Portuguese War, which lasted for over 60 years.

15. Sugar Rebellions

 

The history of Brazil includes the War of Divine Liberty. This uprising against the Dutch played a huge role in the formation of Brazil as an independent country. The war is sometimes called the Sugar War, as the money from the sale of sugar financed the rebellion. Moreover, the war began with outrage over sugar taxes.