THE KINDNESS OF UNCLE SAM? “THE KINDNESS OF UNCLE SAM”?: AMERICAN AID TO FRANCE AND THE POLITICS OF POSTWAR RELIEF, 1944-1948 By BRITTANY GATAVECKAS, M.A., B.A. (Hon.) A Thesis Submitted to the School of Graduate Studies in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy McMaster University © Copyright by Brittany Gataveckas, September 2018 McMaster University DOCTOR OF ARTS (2018) Hamilton, Ontario (History) TITLE: “The Kindness of Uncle Sam”?: American Aid to France and the Politics of Postwar Relief, 1944-1948 AUTHOR: Brittany Gataveckas, M.A., B.A. (Hon.) (McMaster University) SUPERVISOR: Professor M. Horn NUMBER OF PAGES: 235 ii Lay Abstract This dissertation contributes to literature on postwar philanthropy and Franco- American relations. It examines American Aid to France (AAF), one of hundreds of U.S. private voluntary relief organizations founded during the Second World War to help devastated civilians. Operating from 1944 to 1956, AAF’s efforts to provide emergency supplies, rehabilitative services, and assist in the reconstruction of Liberated France was a significant private affirmation of the Franco-American alliance during a period of increasingly tense international relations. Private voluntary relief organizations have been overlooked in scholarship in favour of larger agencies such as the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA), which has resulted in a considerable emphasis on transnationalism in the literature on postwar relief. Examining Franco- American relations through the prism of AAF’s relief reveals that a dynamic alternative network of private assistance, which operated firmly outside of the transnational relief movement, contributed in meaningful ways to France’s recovery. iii Abstract This dissertation contributes to literature on postwar philanthropy and the Franco- American relationship. It examines the private voluntary relief organization, American Aid to France (AAF), which provided emergency supplies, rehabilitative services, and assisted in the reconstruction of France following the Second World War. Unlike other devastated European countries, Charles de Gaulle did not invite the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA) to host a program, which limited France’s participation in the transnational relief movement of the immediate postwar period and allowed AAF to become the principal foreign private voluntary aid agency operating in Liberated France. From 1944 to 1956, AAF asserted that its assistance reflected the strength of the Franco-American alliance, and kinship felt between two countries with a shared history of liberal revolution and republicanism. AAF’s statements expressing “goodwill” and “historical friendship” towards France rapidly began to assume a more political tone as Cold War tensions intensified. From 1947 onward, AAF became increasingly outspoken in its support for capitalism, democracy, and international cooperation. These statements were crafted for, and appealed to, U.S. authorities who believed France was the key to containing communism in Europe. In reality, AAF’s main concern was redressing the destruction of Normandy caused by Allied bombing campaigns, and the organization showed no hesitation to work with mayors from across the political spectrum in devastated French communities to achieve this goal. AAF’s private voluntary status shielded the organization from French criticisms of Americanization chiefly aimed at the Marshall Plan. This dissertation demonstrates that AAF was part of an independent, robust private voluntary relief sphere that contributed to iv Europe’s recovery, and helped citizens in the United States and France come to terms with the transition from war to peace. v Acknowledgements Successfully researching and writing a dissertation would have been an implausible feat without the assistance, guidance, and friendship of a number of people. First and foremost, I would like to thank my supervisor, Dr. Martin Horn, for encouraging my studies as early as my undergraduate degree. Throughout the Ph.D., he proved to be a model supervisor: reliable, realistic, and perspicacious. Dr. Horn, and my committee members, Dr. Pamela Swett and Dr. Stephen Streeter, guided my endeavors at McMaster and on countless archival research trips. They provided insightful suggestions and revisions to this manuscript. Debbie Lobban and Wendy Benedetti are experts at welcoming and assisting new cohorts of graduate students; they made attending and working at McMaster an enjoyable experience. Researching my dissertation took me to archival repositories in the United States and France. In every research library, the archival staffs were an indispensible resource. I would specifically like to thank the Archives and Manuscript Division at the New York Public Library, Jennifer Comins at Columbia University, Thierry Vincent at the Archives municipales de la ville du Havre, and Véronique Goulle at the Archives municipales de Coutances. I would also like to thank Klaus and Carmen Mueller for giving me a comfortable home base in Germany where I could coordinate and conduct my European research. I have been fortunate in my personal life to have a supportive family. My parents, Heather and Ed, have encouraged and assisted me no matter what I decided to pursue in vi life. Due to their belief in the power of education, I grew up to be curious about the world around me and people that came before me. My late močiutė, Bena Gataveckas, brought the immediate postwar period to life when she recounted her courageous experience fleeing Lithuania following the Second World War. My brother, Noah, his partner, Amanda, and their children, Malcolm and Hannah, are a constant source of inspiration and happiness. I met my husband Tim Mueller at McMaster. Going through the Ph.D. with someone who not only understands the study of history but also the demands of the program has only made me a stronger historian. His love and support outside of academia consistently reminds me that there is more to life than what is printed in books. vii Table of Contents Lay Abstract …………………………………………………………………………… iii Abstract ………………………………………………………………………………… iv Acknowledgements …………………………………………………………………….. vi List of Figures and Tables………………………………………………………………. ix List of Abbreviations ……………………………………………………………………. x Declaration of Academic Achievement ……………………………………………….. xiii Introduction ………………………………………………………………………………1 Chapter One: American Assistance, France, and the First World War ………………... 27 Chapter Two: A Case Study of American Aid to France…………..…………………... 70 Chapter Three: American Aid to France, Washington, and the Politics of Relief…….. 127 Chapter Four: U.S. Relief through the Eyes of the French …………………………… 164 Conclusion ……………………………………………………………………………. 202 Bibliography ………………………………………………………………………….. 215 viii List of Figures and Tables Table A: National War Fund Budgets, 1944-1946………………………………………78 Table B: Agencies Merged to Create AAF, 1944 ……………………………………… 84 Exhibit A: AAF’s Corporate Structure ………………………………………………… 91 Table C: Political Affiliation of Mayors Working Alongside AAF ………………….. 193 ix List of Abbreviations ACDF American Committee for Devastated France ACVAFS American Council of Voluntary Agencies for Foreign Services AFF American Friends of France AJJDCA American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee Archives AN Archives nationales (National Archives) ANRC American National Red Cross (U.S. National Archives distinction) ARA American Relief Administration ARC American Red Cross ARF American Relief for France CARE Cooperative for Assistance and Relief Everywhere CASC Comité américain de Secours civil (American Committee for Civilian Relief) CCFRS The Coordinating Council of French Relief Societies CFLN Comité français de libération nationale (French Committee of National Liberation) CGT Confédération générale du travail (General Confederation of Labour) CRB Commission for Relief in Belgium CRF Croix-rouge française (French Red Cross) CUL Columbia University Libraries ECA Economic Cooperation Administration FDR Franklin Delano Roosevelt x FFRC Fighting French Relief Committee HIA Hoover Institution Archives ICRC International Committee of the Red Cross IRO International Refugee Organization LC Library of Congress MLM Morgan Library and Museum MRP Mouvement républicain populaire (Popular Republican Movement) NACP National Archives at College Park NGO Non-governmental organization NYT New York Times OWI Office of War Information PCF Parti communiste français (French Communist Party) POW Prisoner of war PSF President’s Secretary File RAC Rockefeller Archive Center RPF Rassemblement du peuple français (Rally of the French People) SFIO Section française de l’internationale ouvrière (French Section of the Workers’ International – The French Socialist Party) SHAEF Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force UDSR Union démocratique et socialiste de la Résistance (Democratic and Socialist Union of the Resistance) UN United Nations xi UNA United Nations Archives UNRRA United Nationals Relief and Rehabilitation Administration USC Unitarian Service Committee VHPC Veterans History Project Collection YUL Yale University Library YMCA Young Men’s Christian Association xii Declaration of Academic Achievement Brittany Gataveckas is the sole author of this dissertation. xiii Ph.D. Thesis – B. Gataveckas; McMaster University - History Introduction In September 1945, Paul Valentin, a young boy from Orléans, wrote a thank you note to the directors