Figure 1.--Here we see food aid being proivided Yugoslavia in he post-orkd War II era. Most countries in Western Europe had solved their food problkems by 1950. Yugoslavia had not which is surprising as it had a large agricultural sector. The oroblem was the Communist land reform that they began to implement after the War. The press caption hrre read, "This Child was sickly and undernourished before she began getting weekly rations of powered milk from ghe Children Emergency Fund. One of the U.N.'s strongest links with countries of divergent political beliefs is the food, clothing, and medical aid it orovides fir the inderprivilidged." The Children's Emergency Fund was the forerunner if UNICEF. Most of the food distributed by the United Nations after the War canme from America. In this case it came from Canada.

The United States provided food relief to Serbia and other areas of the Balkans after they were liberted from occupation by the Central Powers (Austria, Bulgaria, and Germany at the end of the War (1918). The country was again invaded and occupied in Word War II (April 1941). Germany conducting the milirary invasion, but Axis allies (Bulgaria, Hungary, and Italy) helped occupy the country. Americans organized the Yugoslavia National War Fund. There was, however, no way of getting relief upplies into Yugoslavia during the War. The Germans exploited the country in part by shipping food to the Reich. A major Resistance movement devloped and the coountry was devestated by Resistance (primarily Partisan), conflicts between Resistance groups, and Axis counter insurgency operations. The Soviet Union and Yugoslavia were the only two countries which were able to launch an arrmed innsurgency against the Germans. And the peoplle paid a terrible price. In addition to the carnanage and destruction, the food skotages caused famine and disease. [Tomasevich, p. 748.] Food aid was the only exception that Churchill made to the blockade of German occupied countries. America and Britain aided the Resistance movement, but was unable to proivide food assistance until the end of the War. Famine conditions coninued into the post-War era. American food aid was complicated by the fact that the Partisans who seized coontrol at the end of the War May 1945). Tito not only set up a Communist police state, but became especially antagonitic toward the United States, shooting downs planes in the Adriatic. We do not yet know much about American food aid. There appears to have been some CARE assistance. The imposition of Coonunist reforms in agriucultre impeded recovery, especially food production. Stalin's attempts to replace Tito caused a break with the Soviet Union. And this increased the willingness of vthe United States to oprovide food aid, often through United Nations agenies. (Virtually all U.N. food ad other relieff supplies at girst came from the United Nations.

Created: 7:43 PM 8/8/2018
Last updated: 7:43 PM 8/8/2018