Passage:
In the late seventeenth century, European farmers were initially hesitant to cultivate the newly introduced potato, viewing the subterranean tuber with great suspicion and even hostility. However, as protracted continental wars and recurrent famines repeatedly devastated traditional grain crops like wheat and rye, desperate governments began aggressively promoting potato cultivation due to the crop's high caloric yield and its unique ability to thrive in substandard soils. Once cultivation became widespread across the countryside, the caloric availability per acre of arable land increased dramatically, which directly mitigated the chronic, seasonal food shortages that had plagued the peasantry for generations. Consequently, general public health improved and infant mortality rates fell, leading to a rapid and unprecedented population surge across northern Europe. This massive demographic expansion soon created an acute labor surplus in rural regions, where small-scale farming could no longer support the growing families. As agricultural efficiency continued to rise and land ownership consolidated, millions of displaced rural workers migrated to rapidly expanding urban centers, providing the crucial, low-cost workforce that ultimately powered the factories of the early Industrial Revolution.
Based on the passage, arrange the following events in the correct sequence of their cause-and-effect relationship, starting with the earliest cause and ending with the final effect.
- 1Desperate governments aggressively promote potato cultivation to mitigate grain crop failures.
- 2Caloric availability per acre increases, resolving chronic food shortages.
- 3Infant mortality rates drop, triggering a rapid population surge across northern Europe.
- 4A rural labor surplus drives displaced workers to migrate to urban industrial centers.