There&#x27;s truth to this.<p>After the famine in Germany during and after WW1, the German high command decided running out of butter (as in &quot;guns and butter&quot;, it&#x27;s both, not one or the other:  you want guns you need butter) would not happen again.  Even before Hitler became chancellor, the military prepared for WW2 by buying whale oil at low prices to stockpile and building up a whale factory fleet with assistance from the (largely unemployed) Norwegian whaling fleet. As a direct result, during WW2, Germany was well fed.<p>Given large enough whale stocks, it&#x27;s a very viable strategy for wartime or blockade.