Russian famine of 1891–1892

The 1891–1892 famine in the Russian Empire, sometimes called the Tsar Famine, Tsar's Famine or Black Earth Famine, began along the Volga River and spread as far as the Urals and the Black Sea. This area included the provinces of Nizhni-Novgorod, Riazan, Tula, Kazan, Simbirsk, Saratov, Penza, Samara and Tambov. The famine was initially caused by poor weather and was exacerbated by poor logistical networks, and a lack of grain reserves due to the Russian government's export policy. According to some historians (disputed by other historians ), the famine also resulted in mass outbreaks of disease. The logistical issues compounded relief efforts. Resulting death toll (as well as the question of whether there were any deaths caused by hunger) is a matter of debate among historians. Leo Tolstoy, who participated in helping peasants affected by crop failures, denied that there were any deaths from starvation. "If we define 'starvation' as a lack of food that leads to illness and death, as was recently reported in India, then there was no such starvation in 1891" . Some historians estimate that death toll was around 375,000-400,000, mostly from the accompanying diseases. Other historians argue that the 1891 crop failure did not cause any human casualties, and the increase in mortality in Russia in 1892 was due to the cholera pandemic (which affected many countries) and had nothing to do with the 1891 crop failure: "Compared with the average annual mortality rate for the preceding three decades (1861-91), 1891 and 1893 actually had below-average mortality rates, although in 1892 European Russa did experience 260 010-250 100 more deaths than was 'normal'.However, now widely accepted that there about 300 000 cholera death in 1892 Russia, so it would appear that this cholera epidemic could account for all of the 'excess mortality'".

The Red Cross staff was unable to detect at least one death due to malnutrition, as well as there were no cases of suicide, cannibalism, etc. The reawakening of Russian Marxism and populism is often traced to the public's anger over the tsarist government's poor handling of the disaster.