In the years 1873-75, between 100,000- 250,000 people died in the villages and towns of a wide region in central Anatolia because of starvation and disease. Just five years after the end of this disaster, another one hit north-eastern and eastern Anatolian provinces of Erzurum, Van and Diyarbak?r immediately in the aftermath of the Russian-Ottoman War (1877-78) and extended to Mosul in the Arab lands of the Ottoman Empire. In this second famine no fewer than 10,000 people died of starvation in eastern Anatolia, and another 25,000 in Mosul. Focusing on two bread riots that occurred in Diyarbak?r in 1880 spring and summer, this paper aims to investigate the social and political impact of the famine in eastern Anatolian countryside and towns in a decade of economic and political crisis. While the first bread riot in Malatya was related to the consequences of the government order regarding devaluation during days of scarcity, the second one in the city of Diyarbekir was triggered by the forestalling acts of Muslim and non-Muslim members of the administrative council. In both cases crowds protested seriously and the consequent events did not only challenge the power and legitimacy of local authorities but also alarmed the government about the political threats triggered by the famine. Using micro and macro scales of analysis, this paper investigates how the events unfolded and and what their socio-political implications were. Moreover, through the example of the bread riot in Diyarbak?r, it argues that socio-economic deprivation was not always transformed to communal tensions; it did not solely deepen religious or ethnic conflicts in eastern Anatolia. Socio-economic and political conditions paved the way for also common struggles between Muslims and non-Muslims in towns and villages. In urban areas, scarcity and high prices aggravated the previous economic hardships. Economic discontent, having combined with anger against political authorities, sometimes resulted in serious unrest and riot based on common perceptions of justice and thus socio-economic tensions crosscut ethnic and religious boundaries.