An Italian postcard of the Industry of War. Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany squeezes gold from France and Belgium, filling sacks of money he provides to his ally Emperor Franz Josef of Austria-Hungary who feeds his guns to fire at Tsar Nicholas of Russia who vomits up troops. On the bottom right, Serbia, Montenegro, and Japan join the battle against Germany and Austria-Hungary. To the left, Great Britain flees to its ships. King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy surveys it all, serenely neutral until May 1915. Germany taxed Belgium and occupied France heavily during its occupation, in money, in food and other necessities, and in human life and labor. Austria-Hungary borrowed heavily from Germany to support its war effort. The enormous manpower of Russia was a source of consolation for its allies, and of trepidation to its enemies. Some suspected Great Britain would take its small army and return to its ships, home, and empire.
Le Industrie della GuerraThe Industry of War
"The British Government has stipulated that the feeding of the civil population shall be carried on by a neutral organisation, under the patronage of the American and Spanish Ambassadors in London and Berlin, and the American and Spanish Ministers in Brussels. The food is to be consigned to the American Minister in Brussels for distribution by the organisation which is to be known as the American Relief Committee, with Hoover as chairman and motive power. The various local Belgian committees are to be grouped together in a national organisation, to assist in the distribution of the foodstuffs once they are delivered inside the Belgian frontier. The members of the Belgian organisation are, of course, prisoners of the Germans and unable to give any effective guarantees as to the disposal of the supplies. The British Government has, therefore, stipulated that all authority and responsibility are to be vested in the American Committee, and that the Belgians are to be regarded simply as a distributing agency."
Excerpt from the entry for October 24, 1914 from the journal of Hugh Gibson, Secretary to the American Legation in Brussels, Belgium in 1914. On September 19, Gibson recorded that 'the food supply in the country is being rapidly exhausted,' and sought ways to provide food to the population of Belgium. Both the United States and Spain were neutral, and Gibson worked with the Spanish Ambassador and the German Occupation Authorities to deliver food that would not be diverted to the German military. On October 5, Gibson met in London with 'Herbert Hoover, an American mining engineer,' (and later American President) who took the lead in the American Relief Committee. On October 14 Gibson met with the Committee for the Provisioning of Belgium. On October 19, Gibson had gone to London to discuss negotiate agreement from the British government for transport of food through sea lanes controlled by Britain.
A Journal from our Legation in Belgium by Hugh Gibson, page 283, copyright © Copyright, 1917, by Doubleday, Page & Company, publisher: Doubleday, Page & Company, publication date: 1917
1914, October, 1914-10-24, American Relief Committee
