Figure 1.-- The photograph was taken by unknown photographer around 1900-10 and shows a variety of children clothing during the Winter. I'm not sure why the children ar all mailing letters, perhaps they are to St. Nicolas. Click on the image to see the head of the line. A reader writes, "Are you sure that the picture of the children in line fror the mailbox is from 1900-10? The bobbed hair on the girls looks to me more like the 1920s."

The photograph was taken by unknown photographer around 1900-10 and shows a variety of children clothing during the Winter. I'm not sure why the children ar all mailing letters, perhaps they are to St. Nicolas. Click on the image to see the head of the line. A reader writes, "Are you sure that the picture of the children in line fror the mailbox is from 1900-10? The bobbed hair on the girls looks to me more like the 1920s.

Pupille de la Nation

A French reader replied, "Your reader is right. This photo must have been taken just after World War I (1914-18) and depicts children being cared for in an institution, presumably an orphanage. After the War therewas a huge number of children without father, in a difficuted situation . Very quickly our country developed assistance programs for the childrens. Note that they are ell dressed and especially how they all have sturdyshoes--which they have all shined. Notice such children had more 5 years old in 1918. They were called " Pupille de la Nation ". Many doors were easily open for them; it was a obligation to respect them. In this photo, just after the War; they are not specialy clean. [They all looked clean and well dressed to HBC.] But it was not long to find them a bit later with short hair, often with uniform and clean . These Institution were quite strict about the education and the children were not always very happy." Thus it seems that this photograph was taken some time beteen about 19-19 and 1922.

World War I Casualties

The casulaties in World War I were no horendous. Neither these soldiers who enthuistically marched off to war in August 1914 expected the level of casulaties experienced or the duration of the War. This was in part because of the development of such lethal weapons, including machine guns, improved artillry, airplanes, poison gas, tanks, and other refinements. irope had ot fought a ar since the Franco Prussian War (1870-71) and thus tactics taking these improvents in weaponery had not yet been developed. The reslt was killing ans maiming on an inustrial scale. The professional armies that began the War was desimated. Each commatant county was forced to draft huge conscript armies. Virtually every family had loved ones at the front. The commanders in the major combatant countries were slow to learn how fundamentally warfre had changed. This was made clear at the Somme in 1916. After the professional British Army was desimated in 1914-15, Lord Kitchner called on the British to volunteer for the Army. The Somme was the testing ground forvthis new volunteer Army. It was nothing short of a castastophe. The first day of the Somme was the bloodiest day in the history of the British Army. More than 20,000 British soldiers were killed outright and 60,000 injured in a single day. Incrediably about 60 per cent of British Army officers were killed that day. The Somme offensive was conducted from July 1 to November 18, 1916. It was planned as the decisive breakthrough for the allies. Instead itturned into a slow battle of attrition resulting in more than a million casualties. Cnsider the impact of 70,000 American deahs in Vietnam and the impact on American society. Than you begin to appreciate the impact of World War I on Europe. he Somme was just one battle. The French-German struggle over Verdun ws a smilar struggle. Losses by the Russians on the Eastern Front were even more horrendous.

Diplaced Children

Given the huge casulaties there were as a result of the War virtually millions of children who were orphaned or had lost their fathers--reducing them to poverty. This was the situatin in virtually every major beligerant country, except the United States. The situation was especially severe in France because of the number of Frech casualties--the highest of any commbatant country except Russia.

American Relief Assistance

World War I created a humanitarian dissater unprecedentefd in world history. From the earliest period of the War, American food was used to prevent mass starvation. First it was used to prevent starvation in Belgium when the Germany Army seized stocks of food from civilians to feed their soldiers. Throughout the War, America fed millions od Belgians. There were special feeding programs for children. After the War American food aid fed people in central Europe, including their former enemy Germany. Bolshevick Russia at first refused to participate, by by 1921 the Bolshevicks finally agreed to accept the American assistance to avert famine. These parograms were administered bt future American president Herbert Hoover. No one really know how many people America saved during and after the war, but it certainly totaled many millions of Europeans.

Orphanages

The situation in Belgium and France is best known because their situation was widely reported in the press. It was also highlighted by Allied war propoganda. Large numbers of orphanages were established to care for the war orphans in both Belgium and France. Many were small local orphanges cared for by a small group of nuns. Some Belgian children were apparently brought to Britain. Most of the assistance went to orphanages in Belgium and France. These orphanages in both Belgium and France weere quite similar. Many were sponsored by religious orders. A British nurse, for example, describes one of these small orphanages in Belgium, "There was a certain bazaar at Dunkerque, a big departmental-store of cheap goods, which was a perfect fairyland of toys and Christmas presents. Now, my friend and I were deeply interested in a little orphanage near us at Furnes, where twenty war-orphans, boys from three to fifteen years old, were cared for by nuns. So we went to the bazaar and bought things that boys like, also presents for our friends. Then the doctor who drove us in, took us to a hotel dinner. All these seem ordinary events, but to us they were delightful excitements after having lived in a kitchen and eaten bully beef for months. We were like girls from boarding-school let out for a holiday!" [Anonamous] Some of these orphanages were coeducational, perhaps an effort to keep brothers and sisters together. Clothing varied considerably from orphange to orphanage. Some children wore smocks, sometimes as a kind of uniform. At others the clothing varied from child to child. We suspect that here the funding was a major factor.

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Created: January 5, 2003
Last updated: January 6, 2004