Rationing in the United Kingdom warfare to try to starve Britain into submission. To meet this threat, voluntary rationing was introduced in February 1917. Bread was subsidised from September that year; prompted by local authorities taking matters into their own hands, compulsory rationing was introduced in stages between December 1917 and February 1918 as Britain's supply of wheat decreased to just six weeks' worth. To help the process, ration books were introduced in July 1918 for butter, margarine, lard, meat, and sugar. For the most part, rationing benefited the health of the country. During the war, average energy intake decreased by only 3%, but protein
26th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union 26th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union The 26th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union ("26th Congress of the CPSU", ) opened on February 23, 1981, with a five-hour address by the General Secretary of the party and the chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet (president) Leonid Brezhnev. This was the last Congress of Brezhnev, who died in 1982. Soviet television viewers saw only the beginning and end of the ailing leader's delivery; excerpts from the rest of the speech were read from the studio by an announcer. Brezhnev proposed another round