Economic Recovery and Prosperity 1125The Green Revolution
In the two decades that followed World War II, Western European agricul
ture was transformed by the “Green Revolution.” Fewer farmers fed a
much larger population. Large-scale, commercialized agriculture permit
ted most nations to produce most of the food consumed by their popula
tions. Agricultural productivity rose by 30 percent between the end of the
war and 1962. In the German Federal Republic, agricultural production
increased by two-and-a-half times between 1950 and 1964.
There were several reasons for these changes in farming. First, mecha
nized agriculture was increasingly widespread, particularly use of the trac
tor. Second, fertilizers augmented farm yields in northern Europe, while
pesticides—a mixed blessing because of the long-term ecological costs—
prevented blight. Advances in types of seeds, animal husbandry (particularly
artificial insemination), and irrigation also contributed to greater productiv
ity. Third, the size of many farms increased as smaller and less productive
plots were consolidated into larger units.
Government programs encouraged the cooperative use of tractors and
provided agricultural information to farmers. In many countries, government
assistance facilitated reforestation, electrification, irrigation projects, and
road building that would have been beyond the means of private initiatives.
Improvements in agriculture were spread unevenly across Europe. Agricul
ture became most efficient in Great Britain, the Netherlands, Belgium, West
Germany, Denmark, and France. Agricultural surpluses helped some coun
tries during the 1970s and 1980s become major exporters of food.
The continued commercialization of agriculture accentuated the exodus
from the land to the rapidly growing cities of Europe. In Italy, the farming
population fell from about 40 percent after the war to 24 percent in 1966. In
Great Britain, the first European nation in which agriculture was substan
tially mechanized even before the war, less than 4 percent of the population
worked the land by the early 1970s. Before World War I, about half the pop
ulation of Europe worked in agriculture, a figure that included fishermen
and foresters. In 1955, the percentage had fallen to about 24 percent, and it
has continued to decline, although it remains higher in southern Europe. In
every country, agriculture’s share of the gross national product has fallen. At
the same time, the increasing industrialization of agriculture and the use of
synthetic fertilizers means that the old term “Green Revolution” in some
ways no longer seems appropriate.
In the 1950s, Western European peasants started to join organizations to
lobby for assistance and favorable tariffs. Peasants blocked traffic of capitals
with tractors and farm animals to protest government policies. In France,
wine producers have often attempted to block the arrival of cheaper prod
ucts from Italy and Spain. Ironically, such protests have come at a time
when peasants, because of the rural exodus in Western Europe, have lost
most of their political voice.