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The Commission for Relief in Belgium: 1914-1915 Ryan Thomas Austin Iowa State University

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The Commission for Relief in Belgium: 1914-1915 Ryan Thomas Austin Iowa State University Iowa State University Capstones, Theses and Graduate Theses and Dissertations Dissertations 2009 Creating a "piratical state organization for benevolence," the Commission for Relief in Belgium: 1914-1915 Ryan Thomas Austin Iowa State University Follow this and additional works at: https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/etd Part of the History Commons Recommended Citation Austin, Ryan Thomas, "Creating a "piratical state organization for benevolence," the Commission for Relief in Belgium: 1914-1915" (2009). Graduate Theses and Dissertations. 10449. https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/etd/10449 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Iowa State University Capstones, Theses and Dissertations at Iowa State University Digital Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Graduate Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Iowa State University Digital Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Creating a “piratical state organization for benevolence,” the Commission for Relief in Belgium: 1914-1915 by Ryan Thomas Austin A dissertation submitted to the graduate faculty in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Major: History of Technology and Science Program of Study Committee: Hamilton Cravens, Major Professor Charles Dobbs Amy Bix James Andrews David Wilson Iowa State University Ames, Iowa 2009 Copyright © Ryan Thomas Austin, 2009. All rights reserved. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT iv INTRODUCTION 1 Setting the Stage 1 Historiography (CRB and Hoover) 3 General Features of the Text 9 CHAPTER ONE: A Brief History of Philanthropy 13 CHAPTER TWO: “Immediate Action is Imperative” 44 The Invasion of Belgium 44 Initial German Guarantees Regarding Belgium 49 The Nation of Belgium and the Immediacy of the Problem 51 The First Organization of Charity 55 CHAPTER THREE: Creating the “Improvised Machine” 69 Refugee Assistance in Britain 69 Organizing Efforts Leading to the Creation of the CRB 77 Getting Herbert Hoover Involved 80 The Purpose of the CRB (October 1914) 88 CHAPTER FOUR: “The Largest Commissary Undertaking the World Has Ever Seen” 97 The First Actions of the CRB (October-December 1914) 97 CHAPTER FIVE: “This Cannot Go On Forever” 126 The Organizational Components of the CRB 126 CHAPTER SIX: Funding the “2,500 Mile Long Breadline” 146 Two Leading Figures at the Fore: Herbert Hoover and Brand Whitlock 146 Funding Necessities in Belgium 158 The Public Relations of the CRB (1914-1915) 169 CHAPTER SEVEN: Coordinating the “Perfect Transport System” 180 The CRB Procurement Structure 180 Initial CRB Shipping Agreements 184 The CRB Shipping Process 190 CHAPTER EIGHT: Preventing the “Hopeless Debacle” 196 CRB Diplomacy with Belligerents 196 Diplomatic Relations with Britain (1915) 209 Diplomatic Relations with France (1915) 219 CHAPTER NINE: Dealing with “Endless Difficulties” 224 Diplomatic Relations with Germany (October 1914-December 1915) 224 iii CHAPTER TEN: Responding to “An Appalling Situation” 245 The Comité National 246 The Comité Français 256 CHAPTER ELEVEN: “A Major Crisis Once A Month, A Minor Crisis Once A Week” 268 Ravitaillement in the Belgian Communes 268 CHAPTER TWELVE: Providing the “Last Bread of a Final Freedom” 296 The German Army of Occupation in Belgium 296 The Problems of Ravitaillement 306 POST SCRIPT/CONCLUSION 319 The CRB (1916-November 1918) 319 The CRB in the Armistice Period (1918-1919) 325 The Contributions of Herbert Hoover 334 The CRB in Retrospect 343 BIBLIOGRAPHY 346 iv ABSTRACT On October 22, 1914 a temporary institution named the Commission for Relief in Belgium (CRB) was created by a group of diplomats, industrialists, businessmen, and volunteers under the direction of American engineer-financier Herbert C. Hoover with the goal of providing emergency food relief in Belgium. Within twelve months the scope of the CRB expanded from providing relief to the communes surrounding Brussels to an effort geared towards making Belgium self-sufficient by the harvest of 1915 before becoming the permanent, on-going, official charitable organization supporting Belgium. In the course of development the Commission evolved into a worldwide charitable organization network with diplomatic and political powers reserved primarily for sovereign states. Described as “A Piratical State Organization for Benevolence” the CRB combined seemingly disparate elements of private charity and philanthropy with principles of American big business and engineering into an organization with a single purpose of Belgian relief. In 1914 and 1915 the CRB set up an infrastructure of relief under the Provisioning and Benevolence Departments that systematically accumulated, coordinated, and distributed charity in the form of money and material from around the world through volunteer organizations, cooperation with large freight companies and food producers in the United States, and shipping interests in Europe to deliver products to the Belgian communes. Working in conjunction with the Comité National the Commission scientifically determined the actual needs of the civil population and set up a network of warehouses, soup kitchens and canteens to deliver pre- specified rations on a daily basis. Active at every step of the provisioning process the delegates, representatives, and volunteers of the CRB stood constantly vigil to make sure that its promises were maintained Whether it was coordinating the collection of wheat and cornmeal in America, v writing appeals and pamphlets explaining the plight of Belgium, manning the Commission’s warehouses and private fleet of shipping vessels, or serving as delegates inside the communes the thousands of volunteers that made up the CRB fought with resolve and tenacity to make sure that Belgium survived World War I. This project focuses on the formative period of the CRB during its first year and a half of operations spanning from October 1914 to December 1915 in Belgium and Northern France. Over its first fifteen months of existence the Commission set into action its program of theoretical imports, established the basic parameters for diplomacy with belligerents, launched a vigorous press world-wide press campaign, and forged the system of charity that coordinated vast sums of money and supplies at an overhead expense rate of less than one-half of one percent—a figure unprecedented in the realm of charitable and philanthropic organizations. Tracing the experience of the CRB from multiple points of view the text examines the history of the Commission from the farms of North America to the dangerous waters of the English Channel, the negotiating table in London and Berlin, the occupied city of Brussels, the several thousand communes distributing rations and all places in between. Under the constant threat of starvation, governmental prohibition, public scrutiny, harassment by the German military and financial failure the Commission pressed to feed Belgium in the most efficient manner possible under the guidance Hoover and his cadre of volunteers. While the CRB faced new challenges calling for it to adapt to conditions in Belgium and Northern France between 1916 and its retirement in 1919 the Commission’s program of relief was fundamentally in place by the end of December 1915. For the remainder of its existence the structure and strategies employed by the CRB remained virtually static. 1 INTRODUCTION In August 1914 the major powers of Europe found themselves in a war that many believed would be quick and decisive. Under ultimatum the neutral country of Belgium was compelled to yield to advancing German forces on the march towards France. Despite a gallant effort native fortification supported by British reserves failed to stall the invasion and within weeks the nation was under the control of Germany. Suddenly a country of peasant farmers and laborers dependent upon imports for 80 percent of its necessities was cut off from the rest of the world. Fears of famine and starvation created a domino effect of concern that trickled down from the American Ministry in Brussels to the British Foreign Office where it was eventually brought to the attention of American engineer and financier Herbert Hoover. Relief operations aimed at assisting beleaguered Belgians began with the purchase of a small cache of foods in London under the commission of the American Minister Brand Whitlock for the feeding of Brussels and the surrounding communes exclusively. All the while reports from across Belgium foretold of imminent tragedy if greater action was not taken. It was not long before newspaper readers in both Britain and the United States learned that food supplies were nearly exhausted throughout Belgium. Recognizing the seriousness of the situation in less than six weeks a series of contacts between diplomats, engineers, and businessmen in London and Brussels led to the creation of the Commission for Relief in Belgium on October 20, 1914. Under the chairmanship of Herbert Hoover the commission was immediately authorized to purchase relief goods for Brussels under the belief that the organization was a short-term association aimed at providing localized relief that would stave off starvation until the next harvest. 2 Once the CRB began operations in November 1914 it became apparent that its work would be more than temporary and limited in scope. Over the next fifteen months the commission in cooperation with the Comité National and Comité Français expanded into a virtual government with rights and liberties usually reserved for sovereign
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