The responses of key liver carbohydrate intermediates to severe hemorrhage were investigated in fed and fasted young adult male rats. Forty per cent of intravascular blood was withdrawn and liver was sampled by freeze-clamp at 0, 0.25, 1.0, 3.0, and 4.0-5.0 hours. Fed rats with abundant glycogen showed a threefold increase in glucose-6-phosphate (G6P) concentration, and fasted rats showed a 75% decline in G6P immediately after hemorrhage. This significant difference in response traces to the fact that G6P is one of the first catabolites in fed liver formed by glycogenolysis but is the last intermediate of the gluconeogenic pathway in fasted animals. Phosphoenolpyruvate (PEP), the high-energy intermediate, was markedly depleted in both fed and fasted rats at zero time. In the fasted animal, however, the PEP was rapidly restored, and by 1.0 hour was threefold above normal. The ability of fasted rats to rapidly synthesize glucose from accumulated lactate is attributed to increased amount of gluconeogenic enzymes induced by fasting. In prolonged shock states, this synthetic capacity plays a protective role. Contrariwise, in brief shock states such as hemorrhage, the immediate availability of glucose from stored glycogen appears to be a more important determinant of survival. In the present experiments, fed rats were more resistant to the hemorrhage protocol.