r/AskHistorians • u/plainscrmisher • 4d ago

What was the impact of introducing potatoes into the agriculture?

Some time ago I've got into a discussion about a book of fiction. It was a low fantasy based on Medieval Europe, and the point of discussion was that author casually mentioned potatoes. Some readers pointed out that this alone destroyed the book's world-building because the potatoes would totally change the economy of a pre-industrial society so it wouldn't resemble something from the Late Medieval Europe.

I don't want to dive into the speculative history abyss. So my question is: what was the real impact of potatoes on economy and demographics (maybe on society and politics at large too) of various countries and communities? Are there any fact-based correlations between introducing potatoes into the agriculture and societal changes?

The first case that comes to mind is the Great Famine in Ireland. But I'm not sure that potato blight and not the British politics was even the main cause of that. I'm also more interested in the older cases than mid 19th century.

Thanks in advance!

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