World War I: Hungary--American Food Relief

American World War I relief
Figure 1.--Here mothers and children in Ujpest line up for a free breakfast with food provided by American relief efforts after the War. The American Red Cross helped distribute the food. The Stefánia Foundation was the Hungarian partner.

Hungary as part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire was one of the Central Powers. Like Austria the country did not have a substantial industrial sector. It had a largely agricultural economy. Despite the substantial agricultural sector, there were serious food shortages as a result of the war. Imperial policies had worsened the food situation. Very little thought seems to have been given to maintaining agricultural production. Drafting farm workers was a major cause of declining production. The resulting food scarcity was a major cause in the collapse of the Haspsburg monarchy. Independent Hungary after the war faced a serious food crisis. ARA Director Hoover wanted to aid the Hungarians, but Britain and France were reluctant to support aid efforts to its former enenies, especially until a peace treaty was signed. The ARA focus was on Central Europe, but could not reach Hungary for nearly a year after the War. The Allied embargo remained in force during the Armistice Period, meaning from the signing of the Armistice (November 1918) until the signing of the Peace Treaty (June 1919). Relief was further delayed by Béla Kun's Communist coup and creation of the Hungarian Soviet Republic. Only with the fall of Kun was the blockade lifted and American relief activities began (August 1919). The first ARA representative reached Buapest only a few day after the fall of the Kun regime and the ARA progrm soon underway. The ARA relied heavily on the American Red Cross in its distributioj effort. The American food relief effort would continue into 1923. [Surface and Bland, p. 202.]

Sources

Surface, Frank M. and Raymond L. Bland, "American Food in the World War and Reconstruction Period: Operations of the Organizations under the direction of Herbert Hoover, 1914 to 1924" (Stanford: 1931).









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Created: 8:11 AM 3/20/20184
Last updated: 6:13 PM 3/20/2018