Extreme rainfall in the summer of 1866 had a severe impact on the year’s grain harvest. Potatoes and vegetables went bad on the fields, and many other basic foods could no longer be harvested. A long winter aggravated the situation and only half of the normal harvest could be generated in 1867. Thousands of people had no access to food or sanitation, and as a result, malnutrition and disease became widespread. During the three “great hunger years,” 270,000 people died. Due to the scarcity of nourishment between 1866–1868, thousands of Finns and Swedes emigrated to the United States to escape poverty.
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1866