* World War II -- aftermath humanitarian crisis








World War II Aftermath: Humanitarian Crisis


Figure 1.-- The Germans invaded and occupied Greece during World War II (April 1941). The Germans seized much of the food supply and the Greks could no longer import food. A terrible famine developed. The food situation continued to be difficult even after liberation (November 1944). This is a boy in Patras, a major city in western Greece. Malnuurishment was still common. He is holding on to his metal dish while waiting for an UNRRA school lunch. Notice his school book bag.

A vast humanitarian crisis developed during the War. It was largely created by the Germans and Japanese. It was a crisus engineered by the Germans. It was not just a matter of inattention, but state policy executed through the Hunger Plan. It was more a matter of incompetence on the part of the Japanese. Millions perished. The Allies after the War were left to prevent an even greater disaster. Thec Germans and Japanese had denined food to people. By the end if the War the huge damage done to both agricultural infrastructure and the transportation system threatened poor harvests and the ability to transport harbests into the cities. Much of Europe was in ruins after the War. The economies were not functioning. There had been enormous destruction of Europe's physical plant. There were shortages of everything. The most serious shortage was food. There were also shortages of clothing, medicine, and other needed supplies. Millions had been killed or incapitated. Europe was awash with displaced persons uprooted by the NAZIs and Soviets. The resettlment of these people proved more complicated than expected. Many Jews could not return home. And the Allies found that many Soviet citizens as well as citizens of occupied countries did not want to go home. And the end of the War resulted in a new wave of displaced persons as the Soviets deported Poles west and the countries of Eastern abnd Central Europe deporeted their German minorities that had not alredy fled with the retreating Wehrmacht. President Roosevelt from an early point in the War understood that something would have to be done, as in World War I, to overt a humanitarian disaster. The President like other Americans did not fully understand the extent of the NAZIs crimes, but he helped found the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA) (1943). Whiile having the United Nations name, the United Nations did not yet exist. UNRRA was largely created and funded by the United States, although the British despite their weakened economy, also provided substantial support. TheSoviet Union did little despite its vast agricultural potential. UNRRA began planning for the liberation of Europe and would achieve a miacle in the chaos of a devestated Europe after the NAZIs were defeated. UNRRA operated extesively in occupied Germany, but primarily in camps for Displaced Persons, meaning the 11 million non-Germans who had been tranported to thecReich for forced and slave lbor during the war. UNRRA did not provide assistance to ethnic Germans. They were on their own. There was also a humanitarian crisis in Asia. UNRRA was also active in China and Taiwan.

World War II Food Situation

A vast humanitarian crisis developed during the War. It was largely created by the Germans and Japanese. It was a crisus engineered by the Germans. It was not just a matter of inattention, but state policy executed through the Hunger Plan. In part it was to ensure that the German people did not go hungry. In part it was alanned genocide to murder unwanted people. It was more a matter of incompetence on the part of the Japanese. Millions perished. The Allies were limited as to what they could do during the War until Axis-occupied territiry was liberated.

Liberation and Occupation (1944-45)

Europe was liberated, but much of it was in ruins after the War. The economies were not functioning. Millions had been killed or incapitated. Europe was awash with displaced persons uprooted by the NAZIs and Soviets. The resettlment of these people proved more complicated than expected. Many Jews could not return home. And the Allies found that many Soviet citizens as well as citizens of occupied countries did not want to go home. And the end of the War resulted in a new wave of displaced persons as the Soviets deported Poles west and the countries of Eastern abnd Central Europe deported their German minorities that had not alredy fled with the retreating Wehrmacht.

Damage to Agricultural Infrastructure

The Germans and Japanese had denined food to people. They also danaged the agricultural economy abs as a eesylt food production. This was dome primarily as a result of occupation policies. There basic approach was to rxploit occupied areas eith by seizing food or by refusing to allow farmers a fair otice for the food they produced. Notavly in Europe, Denmark was percapita the most important source of food, in part because Danish farmers continued to be resobably compensted. This was very clear early in the War. Even so yhe NAZI penchant for violence and mydr dominated their economic polucy. Most of the Wae was fought out in the East. There Stalin's policy of murdering the ciuntry;' nest farmers has akread desroud produ=uctivity, The NAZI goal as spelled our in Generalplan Ost was even more baravaric. Rhey siought ro seize agricultural land while destoying or enslaving the population. The Wehrmacht was ordered to live off the land and shio seized food supplies nack to the Reich. NAZI brutality mean that the Whermacht was hard pressed to fee itself. The fighting, MAZI barbarty, and the Red Army scortched earth policy destroyed destroyed much of the Soviet agricultural infrastructure. What was left was mostly destoyed by the Germans as they retreated west. In Western Europe, the agrivulyural infrastructure was left modtly in tact, but the destruction of the transport system meant that it was diffucult to get priducr to market. By the end of the War the huge damage done to both agricultural infranstructure and the transportation system threatened poor harvests and the ability to transport harvests into the cities. There had been enormous destruction of Europe's and Asia's physical plant.

Shortages

Afrer World War II there were shortages of everything. Not in America, but the United States was the only beligerant power which actually iincreased licing standards during the War. And after the War the beligerant powers , both victors and defeated, experienced shoerahes of everything. The most serious shortage was food. There were also shortages of clothing, fuel, housing, medicine, and other needed supplies. The war time destruction was massive. And not only because of the actual fighting. The Germans in particular destriyed tiwns and villafes as part of Ooerationplan Ost to eliminare the populations in the lands they coveted. The Soviers as they retreated east pursued a scortched earth policy to deny valuable productive assetts to the Germans (1941-41). The Germans did the same as they in turn retreated west (1943-44). Hitler even ordered German infrastructure be desroyed in the final months of the War. He felt that without him, gthe German people had no reason to live. Enormous damage was done by Axis and Allied bombing. Most of the damge was done in the cities where factories were located. The Allies wanted to damage Axis war economies. The German in yhe east wanted to destroy the great cities of the east and cobvert the East into a vast agrcultural colony. While the damage was the most severe in the cities, extensive damage was dine on the countryside, especially in the East. And even what was produced could not be trasported. The German transport ststem was totally wrecked and huge damage was done to the tansport system in Italy, france, and other countries. The sitiation varied from country to country as well as the severity of the shortages. But the most severe shortages in most countries was food. This was especially the case in the East where both the Sovuets and NAZIs alternativeky destroyed farm wquioment. The NAZUs destriyed whole villages. Italy was also in bad shape because of the campaign all the way up the peninsula.

Allied Effort

The Allies after the War were left to prevent an even greater disaster. President Roosevelt from an early point in the War understood that something would have to be done, as in World Warr I, to overt a humanitarian disaster. The President like other Americans did not fully understand the extent of the NAZIs crimes, but he helped found the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA) (1943). Whiile having the United Nations name, the United Nations did not yet exist. UNRRA was largely created and funded by the United States, although the British despite their weakened economy, also provided substantial support. America abd Cabada contributed large quanhtities of food from their large, undamaged farm economies. The Soviet Union could do little despite its vast agricultural potential. This was because of the emense damage done by the Germans and Soviet scorched earth policies. Even before the German invasion, Stalins assault on the Ukranian peasantry and forced collectivization had substantially weakened Soviet agriculture. And if all that was not bad enough, there was also a drought in the Soviet agricultural belt. As aresult, the Soviet were hard pressed to fed their own population.

UNRRA

The primary effort to prevent a humanitarian disaster in Europe and Asian was organized as part of the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA). UNRRA had began planning for the liberation of Europe and would achieve a miacle in the chaos of a devestated Europe after the NAZIs were defeated. UNRRA operated extesively in occupied Germany, but primarily in camps for Displaced Persons, meaning the 11 million non-Germans who had been tranported to thecReich for forced and slave lbor during the war. UNRRA did not provide assistance to ethnic Germans. They were on their own. There was also a humanitarian crisis in Asia. The situation in China was especially severe. The Japanese had requisitioned a large part of the harvest and there was considerable damage as aesult of both fighting and Jpanese pssification operations. The Nationalist Government also imposed brutal policies of seizing harvests and conscripting peasants as oart of the war effort against the Jaoanese. There were also serious problens in Burnam, the Dutch East Indies, Makaya, and Indochina. UNRRA was also active in China and Taiwan.

Individual Country Situation

As with World War I, the Allies faced a a humanitarian crisis after the War. As a result of Axis policies, vast quantities of food were needed to prevent starvation. The siuation in Europe was approaching famine conditions. The Germans has used food policy as a killing weapon. During the war, American food aid was concentrated on Britain and the Soviet Union. Tragically it was not possible to get food aid into Axis occupied countries. Some American food got to Greece indirectly through Turkey. This changed with the inasion of Sicily/Italy (July-September 1943). The Italians were the first Europeans were that america was avle to get food aid to after entering the War. Italy was not self sufficent in food and thus by 1943 there were serious food shortages. And then after D-Day (June 1944), it becne possible to get food to librated western Europe. For the most part, the United States did provide food aid to Axis-occupied coutrue. Some American food did reach Greece during the German occupation. And as the Germans withdrew from the Balkans, food aid flowed into Greece (October 1944). The American Army unlike the Axis armies brought its food with it. Here Australia was a major exception, primarily to reserve scare shipping to men and military equipment. Axis countries seized food from the countries they occupied, causing serious shortages. American GIs first were deployed in Britain where the local children soon recognized them as an exhaustable source of candy and a brand new sensation--bubble gum. As American Armies entered Europe they worked with civilian autorities in liberated countries to ensure the food supply. And soldiers not uncommonly shared food with civilians. Only after the War was the United States able to get food shipments to the countries occupied by the Axis countries. Here the occupied countries of Western Europe (France, Belgium, and the Netherlands) had strong agricultural sectors, but aid was needed until the farmers in these countries could get back to full production and the transport system restored. The United States did not just provide food aid to its allies and the people in liberated countries, it also fed the defeated Axis couhtries after the War: Italy, Germany, and Japan. Food aid to Germany went for both the Germans as well as the fisp;aced persons brought to the reich to work in he war factories. America shipped massive quantitie of food to the food-starved Soviet Union during the War. The Germams occupied much of the prime agricultural land of the Soviet Union (June 1941). The Red Army relied on Spam for a substantil portion of its meat ration. American food also helped feed hungary civilians. After the War as Stalin used the NKVD to establish Communist police states in Eastern Europe, the United States ended food relief shipments. The situation in Asia was different, but more of a regional problem. The American Pacific War was primarily fought in Oceania taking small islands without large populations that needed to be fed. America's major Pacific War ally, Australia, was an important food producer. Southeeast Asia, was a major food proucer, the rice bowl of Asia. Once the Japanese surrebdered, the food situatin quickly recovered, except in Inonesia where a colonial war developed. China was a diffrernt matr. Famine raged in China because of the large agricultural areas seized by the Japanese. And after Japan surrendred the Americans were left to sove the food crisis in the country the Miliarists had created.







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Created: 9:11 PM 7/22/2013
Last updated: 7:42 PM 3/6/2019