World War II: American European Relief Effort -- Greece

World War II American food relief Greece
Figure 1.--Here we see Greek children after the War in 1946 getting a well-received meal. Foof programs were set up in schools as a way of assuring food got to children. The food here was distributed by UNRRA, meaning primarily American sourced and financed food.

Greece after liberation (October 1944) was left in political and economical crisis as a result of the brutal German occupation and the highly polarized struggle between the leftists and rightists which would eventually lead to the targeted the power vacuum and led to the Civil War, one of the first armed Cold War conflicts. This all meant a quick return to a mormal situation impossible. And this especially imapacted the economic recovery. Beyond the actual recovery, there was little interest businessmaen and farmers in investing in repairs and rebuilding knowing that the Communists were about to take over. This affected food production. Greece was still a largely agricultural country, but even in the best of times Greece was dependent on food imports. The hard rocky soil of Greece and mountaneous terraine means that it was not among the European countries with the most productive agricultural sector. But the Germans were not longer plundering the country, seizing food and shipping it to the Reich. The Greek economy was hstill heavily dependent on animals (transport, farm work, milk and cheese). Most farm animals were lost during the War in part because of the War and occuoation and in part because animal feed was diverted to feed hungry people. This affected farm production and recovery after the Germans withdrew. The Allies (meaning primarily America) were able to ship in food relief supplies. Thus the famine caused by the Germans was over, but food was still in short supply. Aid from America came in the form of Government and private efforts. One of many examples is relief supplies America Catholic charities provided to orphanages. Britain aided Greece after liberation, but could not continued to do so after the War. The Truman Dctrine and Marshall Plan provided massive aid to Greece, including food aid. The United States provided $338 million in aid the Greece, half of which was food and economic aid. [Note: These numbers may see small today. but remember these were in 1940s dollars and Greece is a relatively small country.] UNRRA was important and Greece was one of the countries where UNRRA was especially important. Most of the UNRRA aid was provided by America. Greek-Americans groups organizing Greek War Relief Associationm (GWRA) played an important role in saving Greeks from sarvation during the German occupation famine. [Stavridis] This continued after liberation with food and medivcine shipments. The United States Goverment also provided some $30 million in assistance support to private groups to augment private donations. This was critical for Greece. Farming in Western Europe and returned to pre-War levels. [Collingham, p. 487.] The exceptions were Austria, Germany, and Greece. (Of course farming in the Soviet Union and Soviet controlled Eastern Europe were a different matter.) America prevented famine, but only ecomomic recovery would fill shelves and stomaches in Europe. Economic recovery in Greece, however, was delayed by the Civil War and the fear of a Communist takeover.

Sources

Collingham, Lizzie. The Taste of War: World War II and the Battle for Food (Penguin Books: New York, 1962), 634p.

Stavridis, Stavros T. "The Greek War Relief Association and its effots to save Greece in WWII," The National Herald (November 4, 2017).






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Created: 6:11 PM 3/6/2019
Last updated: 6:11 PM 3/6/2019