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ABSTRACT
Directors of American Red Cross (ARC) 1917–20 French civilian relief electively addressed and ignored France’s First World War-triggered needs. ARC leaders’ programmes during the organization’s three-year period of active French service voluntarily embraced and discarded Francophile policies endorsed by their subordinates, their colleagues and their superiors. ARC wartime assistance allotments increasingly, and sometimes perplexingly, favoured US servicemen over French non-combatants. Post-War ARC aid allocations deliberately advanced embryonic Eastern European activity over enduring and extensive known and indefinite French privations. ARC executives even periodically proposed and imposed orders that made France and its people unwitting underwriters of the American Red Cross’ focus on Eastern Europe, even as that process expressly reduced French civilian aid. Their self-confident, repeated and arbitrary conduct vis-à-vis Great War-afflicted French non-combatants advanced ARC purposes at Frenchmen’s expense. It thus meets current definitions of ‘arrogant’ humanitarianism.
Acknowledgements
I thank Romain Fathi and two anonymous reviewers for their comments on this article.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Notes
1. Folks, Human Costs of War, xiv, 132, 263, 268, 319–21; Folks, “Human Costs of War,” 12–16; and Trattner Homer Folks, 38–59, 182–90.
2. Davison, American Red Cross, 152.
3. Work of Wartime ARC, 51.
4. Ames, American Red Cross Work, 10–11.
5. Hurd, Compact History, 167; and Dulles, The American Red Cross, 154, 173–7.
6. Pickett, “The European War,” 621; and Pickett, “Nursing Service,” 756.
7. Irwin’s “Sauvons les Bébés” and Making the World Safe French work coverage relies heavily on ARC reports, pamphlets, publications and sympathetic journalism. Moser Jones’ assessment depends on Elizabeth Ashe’s Intimae Letters from France (San Francisco: Philopolis Press, 1918), whom Red Cross officials praised for earning ‘a goodly share of the [ARC’s] credit’, and on Dock et al.’s History of American Red Cross Nursing; Capozzola, Uncle Sam Wants You, 8; Irwin, “Sauvons les Bébés,” 44, 46–50n22–31; Irwin, Making the World Safe, 99, 110–15, 119, 130–4, 151, 230n11–18, 232n45–6, 233n88–9, 234n95–8, 236n30; Moser Jones, The American Red Cross, 166–70, 334n15–17; Pickett, “Nursing Service,” 760–1; and Thornton, Archaeologists in Print, 150–5.
8. The Commission favoured discarding most documentation. Two officials supported destroying all pre-April 1920 records. A year later, 255 cases of France-related documents remained (RCNA2 only has 24 France-relevant boxes). One executive thought ‘hardly more than 10%’ of the cases held ‘any future historical … value’. Disinterest in preserving the materials perhaps explains how the Hoover Institution acquired 21 France-pertinent ARC record boxes. ARC-CE Minutes, April 2 and 30, 1920, Box 827; and April 22, 1921, Box 829, RCNA2.
9. Detailed Analysis of Disbursements, June 1917–December 31, 1918; and Audit for Six Months to December 31, 1919, November 29, 1920, Box 851, RCNA2. “Appendix A: Foreign Relief Made available during the fiscal years 1 July 1919–30 June 1922,” in Civilian Relief in Europe, 22.
10. Hutchinson, Champions of Charity, 4; and Roberts, “First World War,” 318.
11. Hutchinson, Champions of Charity, 310; and Wylie, Oppenheimer and Crossland, “Red Cross Movement,” 21.
12. Barton, cited in Dulles, The American Red Cross, 66; and Pryor, Clara Barton, 249.
13. Costigliola, Awkward Dominion, 261.
14. Rodogno, “Certainty, Compassion,” 33–7.
15. Wylie, Oppenheimer and Crossland, “Red Cross Movement,” 5, 19.
16. Statement, 4. Hutchinson, Champions of Charity, 309; and Capozzola, Uncle Sam Wants You, 50.
17. Irwin, Making the World Safe, 74; “Statement Creating the Red Cross War Council,” May 10, 1917, in Papers of Woodrow Wilson, 258; Horn, “Private Bank,” 99–106; and Roberts, “First World War,” 318–25.
18. The ARC-WC formalized the ARC-CF in mid-August. ARC-WC Minutes, May 24–25, June 7 and August 16, 1917, Box 103, RCNA2; McGuire, “Cultures de Guerre,” 34.
19. ARC-WC Minutes, June 15, July 4 and 16, August 7, November 8, and December 12, 1917; and Extracts from the First Semi-Annual Report of the War Council of the American Red Cross (c. 1917), 17, Box 103, RCNA2; Bicknell, Red Cross, 21–2; First Annual Report, 13; Irwin, Making the World Safe, 32, 111; and Dulles, The American Red Cross, 143–4.
20. Work of ARC, 80.
21. ARC-WC Minutes, September 27, 1917, Box 103; and Finance Committee Minutes, August 23–25, October 23, November 20, and December 5, 1917, and January 10 and 30, 1918, Box 826, RCNA2. Forbes, The Quaker Star, 48–53, 57–8; McGuire, “Cultures de Guerre,” 35; Hutchinson, Champions of Charity, 109–11, 169; Folks, Address to Chautauqua Lecturers, March 10, 1918, cited in Irwin Making the World Safe, 127; Witte, “Quaker Pacifism,” 85; Jones, Service, 10–11, 41–2, 61; Irwin, Making the World Safe, 109; Fathi, “Sovereignty, Democracy, and Neutrality,” 3; Little, “Failure to Launch,” 101–8; and Herrmann, L’Humanitaire en questions, 70–3.
22. ARC-WC Minutes, February 18, 1918, Box 103; Finance Committee Minutes, 5, January 1918, Box 826, RCNA2. Le moral de la population civile dans la zone des armées février 1–15, 1918, février 18, 1918, Série N16 1540, SHD; Irwin, “Nation Building,” 415; Dowdall, Communities under Fire, 154–63; Proctor, Civilians, 114–15; and Darrow, French Women, 199.
23. ARC-WC Minutes, August 30, 1918, Box 104; and ARC-CF Minutes, July 25 and August 12, 1918, Box 826, RCNA2.
24. ARC-CF Minutes, July 25, 1918, Box 826, RCNA2. Irwin, Making the World Safe, 117–21.
25. Davison to Murphy, January 2, 1917, cited in Irwin, Making the World Safe, 131; Pickett, “The European War,” 596–7; Irwin, Making the World Safe, 110; Mick, “1918: Endgame,” 150; Woodward, American Army, 204; Zieger, America’s Great War, 110; McGuire, “A Fractured Service,” 318–29; Moser Jones, The American Red Cross, 169; Dulles, The American Red Cross, 182; United States Army, 26; Nivet, Réfugiés français, 72; and Putnam, “Notes of Visit to Centers in Devastated Regions,” 1918, cited in Irwin, Making the World Safe, 137.
26. Little, “Failure to Launch,” 106. ARC-WC Minutes, February 27, April 30, and June 4, 1918. Box 103, RCNA2. United States at War, 36.
27. ARC-WC Minutes, August 16 and 21, 1918, Box 104, RCNA2. État-Major 2e Bureau, Bulletin Confidential resumant la situation morale à l’Interieur, August 15, 1918, N16 1536, SHD. Rapport sur le Contrôle de la Correspondance Civile dans la Zone des Armées 1–15 Juillet 1918, July 21, 1918, N16 1540, SHD.
28. ARC-CF Minutes August 23 and October 22, 1918, Box 826; Memorandum, September 13, 1918, Box 856; and Davison, Annual Message to ARC Chapters, October 10, 1918, Box 103, RCNA2. Wilson to Edward Filene, September 1918, cited in Moore, Dissolution, 9; Touzé, “L’Allemagne paiera,” 282–3; Clerc, “belles Leçons,” 54–5 ; Jordan, “Reorientation,” 872–8; and Trachtenberg, Reparation in World Politics, 130–2.
29. Ford, “Devastation in France,” October 1, 1918, Box 856; ARC-CF-Minutes, September 9, 1918, Box 826; and ARC-WC Minutes, October 2 and 30, 1918, Box 104, RCNA2.
30. Irwin, Making the World Safe, 125.
31. Memorandum Regarding probable effects of peace, November 6, 1918, Box 79; ARC-WC Minutes, October 18, 30, and 31 and November 12, 1918, Box 104; and ARC-CF Minutes, August 23, 1918, Box 826, RCNA2; Irwin, Making the World Safe, 141.
32. ARC-WC Minutes, October 31 and November 15, 1918, January 3, 22 and 23, and February 14, 20, and 27, 1919, Box 104, RCNA2. Commerce Department, Statistical Abstract, 762; Irwin, Making the World Safe, 73–4, 151; and Moser Jones, The American Red Cross, 163.
33. Haut Commissariat-Paris to Haut Commissariat-New York, December 11, 1918, N13 121, SHD. Gibson to ARC-WC, January 11, 1919, Box 837; and Minutes, ARC-WC, January 2 and February 27, 1919, Box 104, RCNA2; Irwin, Making the World Safe, 141; Roberts, “First World War,” 331; and Bicknell, Red Cross, 229, 251–2.
34. Corbin to Mygatt, July 11, 1919, Box 837; ARC-CF Minutes, November 22, 1918, Box 826; and ARC-WC, Minutes, December 3, 1918, Box 104, RCNA2. Edouard de Billy to André Tardieu, décembre 7, 1918; and Haut Commissariat-Paris to Haut Commissariat-New York, December 11, 1918, N13 121, SHD.
35. “Red Cross Asks,” 348; Davison to Hoover, January 2, 1919, cited in Irwin, Making the World Safe, 147; and Polk to Commission to Negotiate Peace, January 2, 1919, in FRUS -PPC, II, 484. ARC-CF Minutes, December 28, 1918, Box 826, RCNA2.
36. Hunt, Red Cross, 1–12; Gibson to Davison, November 25, 1918, Box 830; and December 2, 1918, Box 837, RNCA2. Davison letter, January 12, 1919, in Lamont, Henry P. Davison, 316.
37. ARC-CF Minutes, January 24, and February 2 and 15, 1919, Box 826; and ARC-WC Minutes, February 14 and 27, 1919, Box 104, RCNA2; Dulles, The American Red Cross, 196; and Pickett, “Demobilization,” 1007.
38. Ambrosious, Wilsonianism, 67; Trachtenberg, “Reparation,” 28–9; Wilson, “Call to the Associated Press,” April 20, 1915, cited in Levin, Wilson, 22. Supreme Economic Council Minutes, January 27, 1919, in FRUS-PPC, III, 730–1; Carter Glass to de Billy, March 4, 1919, cited in van Meter, “United States,” 40–1; Costigliola, Awkward Dominion, 33–5; Minutes, American Commission to Negotiate Peace, July 25, 1919, cited in Costigliola, Awkward Dominion, 36.
39. Irwin, “The Disaster of War,” 25; Kimball and Ford, “American Red Cross,” 63; Ford, “The Devastated Regions of France,” March 21, 1919, Box 856, RCNA2. “Folks to Complete,” Folks, “Human Costs,” 6–16, 19; and Folks, Human Costs, xiv, 119, 131–2.
40. Irwin, Making the World Safe, 144, 149–51; Lowe, “Red Cross Societies,” 42–3; Executive Order, April 18, 1919; and Minutes, Committee for the Readjustment and Liquidation of European Activities (hereafter Committee on Readjustment), May 8–10, 1919; Hunter to Farrand, May 12, 1919; Approved Program for Department of General Relief, May 6, 1919; Mygatt to Gregg and Hunter, May 28, 1919; and Hunter to Mygatt, June 4, 1919, Box 826, RCNA2.
41. ‘Davison Hopeful’; ‘Proposes United Effort’; ‘Vast Corporation’; Hutchinson, Champions of Charity, 298–9; and Bicknell, Red Cross, 262.
42. Irwin, “Sauvons les Bébés,” 54; Committee on Readjustment, Disposition of Supplies, May 9, 1919; Hunter to Farrand, May 12, 1919; Mygatt to Col. R. P. Strong, May 13, 1919; Olds to Farrand, May 13 and 19, 1919; Strong to Mygatt, May 21, 1919; and Gregg Memorandum on Closing of Red Cross Activities, May 27, 1919, Box 826, RCNA2; and Hutchinson, Champions of Charity, 308–11.
43. “Appointment of Sales Board,” May 31, 1919; and Olds to Farrand, May 13 and 19, 1919, Box 826, RCNA2. ARC-CE Minutes, July 11 and 23–24, August 12 and 29, September 29 and October 16 and 22, 1919, Box 827, RCNA2; McGuire, “Cultures de Guerre,” 40; and Corbin to Mygatt, Box 837, RCNA2.
44. Bicknell, Red Cross, 283–4.
45. Irwin, Making the World Safe, 150; Lowe, “Red Cross Societies,” 43; Hutchinson, Champions of Charity, 299–301; Cavaillon and Legout, “Duclaux,” 196–8; Proceedings, 23, 67. Casenave to the Haut Commissariat français, juin 1, 1919, N13 121, SHD; Clout, After the Ruins, 67; and Young, Marketing Marianne, 60–2.
46. ARC-CE Minutes, August 5–13, September 11–16, October 21, and November 22, 1919, Box 827; and Bicknell to Farrand, August 22, 1919, Box 830, RCNA2. Anne Chapin to Ellen Emerson, January 27, 1920, and Payson to Chapin, February 3, 1920, Box 137, Smith College Relief Unit Records; Irwin, Making the World Safe, 143.
47. ARC-CE Minutes, November 6, December 3, 8, 23 and 29, 1919; and Events, November 10–16 and December 1–6, 1919, Box 827, RCNA2. J. W. Studebaker, Summary of JRC Projects, September 25, 1919; Olds to Farrand, December 9, 1919; Bryson to unstated recipient, December 31, 1919; and Keppel to Olds, January 14, 1920, Box 830, RCNA2. Olds to Washington, September 8, 1919 Box 831, RNCA2.
48. ARC-CE Minutes, February 18–21, 1920, Box 827, RCNA2. Quarterly Report, ARC-CE, September 1920, and ‘America’s Participation in European Relief Organizations in 1919’, April 20, 1920, Box 830, RCNA2. Mixer to Olds, February 6, 1920; and Emerson to Bicknell, November 30, 1920, Box 856, RCNA2; Keene, Doughboys, 121; and Hutchinson, Champions of Charity, 317.
49. ARC-CE Minutes, March 9 and May 10, 1920, Box 831, RCNA2. Olds to Keppel, August 30, 1920, Box 837, RCNA2. ‘Appendix A,’ in Civilian Relief, 22; Charles Westcott, “Program of Reconstruction in the Devastated Regions of France During 1920,” Box 856, RCNA2; Bicknell, Red Cross, 457; France-Amérique telegrammes 3 janvier 1921–20 juin 1921, N13 130, SHD ; Irwin, “The Disaster of War,” 24; Lamont, Henry P. Davison, 313; Irwin, Making the World Safe, 142; Rosenberg, Spreading the American Dream, 120–1; Costigliola, Awkward Dominion, 41, 91–3; Cretu, “Nationalizing International Relief,” 536–41; Boswell, Rural Communism in France, 6–7; and Thomas, “Albert Sarraut,” 942.
50. Irwin, “Sauvons les Bébés,” 44–5.
51. Rodogno, “Certainty, Compassion,” 37.
52. Work of Wartime ARC, 65; and Irwin, Making the World Safe, 154–8.
53. Original emphasis. Hutchinson, Champions of Charity, 2.
54. Lamont, Henry P. Davison, 288.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Michael E. McGuire
Michael E. McGuire is an Assistant Professor of History at Mount Saint Mary College. His work has explored diverse facets of France’s Great War devastation and US efforts to redress wartime and post-war French suffering. His assessments of the intersection of French Great War destruction and Francophile American activity have appeared in Historical Reflections/Réflexions Historiques, The New England Quarterly, the Journal of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era and other publications. His forthcoming manuscript, Hidden Transformations: The American Reconstruction of Devastated France and Franco-American Relations in the Great War Era, assesses five private US aid societies’ effective restoration of war-torn French districts and that humanitarian labour’s significance for broader Franco-American interactions.