دانشگاه اصفهان پژوهش های تاریخی 2008-6253 17 4 2025 11 22 An Analysis of the Causes of Bread Shortages in Fars during the Second World War (1940–1945) واکاوی علل کمبود نان در فارس در سال‌های جنگ جهانی دوم (1320-1324) 99 126 30227 10.22108/jhr.2026.147626.2879 FA علی اصغر رجبی استادیار گروه تاریخ، دانشکدۀ ادبیات و علوم انسانی، دانشگاه خوارزمی، کرج، ایران امیرحسین داودوندی دانشجوی دکتری گروه تاریخ، دانشکدۀ ادبیات و علوم انسانی، دانشگاه تهران، تهران، ایران Journal Article 2025 12 01 <strong>Abstract</strong> Bread shortages in the 1940s constituted one of the gravest subsistence crises in Iran during the Second World War, assuming acute dimensions in Fars Province. While structural weaknesses in grain production and distribution had emerged in the late Reza Shah period, the Anglo-Soviet occupation of 1941 and intensive exploitation of domestic resources by Allied forces converted these weaknesses into a crisis. This study examines the roots and multi-causal mechanisms of the bread shortage in Fars from 1941 to 1945, a subject that has received limited region-focused attention in existing scholarship. It asks which local and national factors contributed to the emergence and intensification of the crisis and clarifies how their interaction shaped wartime food insecurity in southern Iran. The study adopts a descriptive-analytical approach and draws on primary materials from the National Archives of Iran, administrative correspondence, provincial reports, parliamentary debates, contemporary newspapers, and relevant secondary studies. Data are organized and analyzed across key axes, including agricultural production, distribution and pricing, transportation, security, foreign intervention, and administrative performance. The findings show that Allied control over transport and grain supplies, combined with drought, declining output, hoarding, corruption, displacement, and route insecurity, mutually reinforced one another and intensified the crisis in Fars. <strong>Keywords: </strong>Bread Shortage, Grain Shortage, Famine, World War II, Fars. <strong>Introduction</strong> Bread shortages during the Second World War represented one of the most critical subsistence crises in modern Iranian history, with particularly severe consequences in Fars Province. Although problems related to agricultural productivity, grain storage, and distribution had already emerged during the final years of Reza Shah’s rule, these structural weaknesses intensified dramatically after the Allied occupation of Iran in 1941. The presence of foreign military forces, the redirection of domestic resources, and the disruption of transportation networks transformed latent vulnerabilities into an acute and persistent food crisis. Despite the importance of wartime food shortages in shaping social unrest and state–society relations, regional dimensions of the crisis—especially in southern Iran—have received limited independent scholarly attention. Fars, as a major agricultural region and a strategic transit zone, experienced a convergence of environmental, administrative, and military pressures that made bread scarcity both widespread and prolonged. This study focuses on examining the roots and mechanisms of the bread crisis in Fars from 1941 to 1945. The central question addressed is which local and national factors contributed to the emergence, persistence, and intensification of bread shortages in the province. By adopting a regional perspective, the study seeks to illuminate how wartime occupation interacted with existing structural deficiencies to produce a multi-causal subsistence crisis in southern Iran. <strong>Materials and Methods</strong> This research adopts a descriptive-analytical methodology with the aim of identifying and interpreting the multiple factors that contributed to the bread shortage in Fars during the Second World War. Rather than focusing on a single causal explanation, the study emphasizes the interaction between environmental, economic, political, and administrative variables at both local and national levels. The primary sources used in this research include archival documents from the National Archives of Iran, particularly administrative correspondence, provincial reports, and communications between central authorities and local officials. These materials are supplemented by parliamentary debates, contemporary newspapers, and official statistics related to agriculture, transportation, and provisioning. In addition, relevant secondary sources, including later historical and social studies, are used to contextualize and interpret the primary data. The collected data are systematically classified and analyzed across several key axes: agricultural production, grain distribution, transportation infrastructure, security conditions, foreign military intervention, and administrative management. Through comparative and thematic analysis, the study traces how disruptions in each of these domains reinforced one another. This methodological approach allows for a nuanced understanding of the bread crisis as a complex and dynamic phenomenon rather than a temporary or isolated shortage. <strong>Research Findings</strong> The findings of this study demonstrate that the bread shortage in Fars from 1941 to 1945 resulted from a convergence of interrelated factors rather than a single cause. The Allied occupation played a central role by appropriating domestic grain supplies and prioritizing military needs over civilian consumption. Extensive use of roads, railways, and transport vehicles by foreign forces severely disrupted internal distribution networks, delaying or preventing the timely movement of grain to urban centers. At the local level, agricultural production declined due to recurrent droughts, pest infestations, and shortages of labor and farming inputs. These environmental pressures were compounded by large-scale population movements, including rural displacement and migration to cities, which increased demand for bread in urban areas. Insecurity along transportation routes further aggravated shortages by facilitating hoarding, smuggling, and black-market activity. Administrative inefficiency and corruption also played a significant role. Weak oversight, inconsistent pricing policies, and delayed state intervention undermined public trust and reduced the effectiveness of rationing and control measures. Together, these factors created a cumulative crisis in which production shortfalls, distribution failures, and governance weaknesses reinforced one another, leading to persistent bread scarcity and widespread social hardship in Fars. <strong>Discussion of Results and Conclusion</strong> The bread crisis in Fars during the Second World War illustrates how wartime occupation can intensify existing structural vulnerabilities and transform them into large-scale subsistence disasters. The findings suggest that while environmental factors such as drought and declining yields were important, they alone cannot explain the severity of the crisis. Instead, the interaction between foreign military intervention, disrupted transportation systems, and weak administrative capacity proved decisive. From a broader perspective, the case of Fars highlights the limitations of the Iranian state in managing food security under the conditions of external pressure and internal fragmentation. The inability to effectively regulate grain markets, secure transportation routes, and prevent hoarding reflects deeper institutional weaknesses that predated the war but were exposed and magnified by it. In conclusion, the bread shortage in Fars was not merely a temporary wartime hardship but a complex socio-economic crisis shaped by multiple overlapping forces. Understanding this issue contributes to a more nuanced interpretation of Iran’s wartime experience and underscores the importance of regional studies in reconstructing the social history of food crises. کمبود نان در دهۀ ۱۳۲۰ یکی از شدیدترین بحران‌های معیشتی ایران در دوران جنگ جهانی دوم بود و در استان فارس ابعاد گسترده‌تری یافت. هرچند نشانه‌های کوتاهی در تولید و توزیع غلات از اواخر دوران رضا شاه آشکار شده بود، اشغال نظامی ایران در سال ۱۳۲۰ و بهره‌برداری نیروهای متفقین از منابع داخلی، این کمبودها را به بحرانی فراگیر تبدیل کرد. مسئلۀ اصلی این پژوهش، تبیین ریشه‌ها و سازوکارهای چندعاملی کمبود نان در فارس طی سال‌های ۱۳۲۰ تا ۱۳۲۴ است؛ موضوعی که باوجود اهمیت، در مطالعات پیشین کمتر به‌صورت مستقل و منطقه‌محور بررسی شده است. پرسش اصلی آن است که چه عواملی در سطوح محلی و ملی در شکل‌گیری و تشدید بحران نان فارس نقش داشتند. هدف مقاله، تحلیل این مجموعه‌عوامل و تبیین نقش تعامل آن‌ها در شکل‌گیری این بحران‌های غذایی جنوب ایران است. پژوهش با روش توصیفی-تحلیلی و براساس اسناد دست‌اول سازمان اسناد ملی ایران، مکاتبات اداری، گزارش‌های محلی، مذاکرات مجلس، روزنامه‌های هم‌عصر و پژوهش‌های متأخر انجام شده است. داده‌ها در محورهای تولید، توزیع، حمل‌ونقل، امنیت، مداخله‌های خارجی و مدیریت اداری طبقه‌بندی و تحلیل شده‌اند. یافته‌ها نشان می‌دهد که اشغال نظامی ایران و استفادۀ گستردۀ متفقین از شبکه‌های حمل‌ونقل و غلات داخلی، همراه با خشکسالی، کاهش تولید، طغیان آفات، مهاجرت‌های گسترده، احتکار، فساد اداری و ناامنی راه‌ها، مجموعه‌ای از عوامل درهم‌تنیده را پدید آوردند که بحران را تشدید کردند. https://jhr.ui.ac.ir/article_30227_b7e9130fb0b17245b04cdf0a8bffb432.pdf