American Relief Administration

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American Relief

Administration

Proceeds from admissions on Motion

Picture Day in 1921 went to Hoover's

European relief

Founded

1919

; 107 years ago

Founders

Type

Focus

Region

served

Europe,

Method

Aid

Key

people

, future

president

American Relief for Central

Europe Dress Pin, circa 1919.

American Relief Administration

(

ARA

) was an American

mission to

and later

after

future president of the United States, was the program director.

The ARA's immediate predecessor was the important

, also headed by Hoover. He and some of his collaborators had

already gained useful experience by running the

which fed seven million Belgians and two million northern

during World War I.

ARA was formed by

on February 24, 1919, with a budget

of 100 million dollars ($1,857,000,000 in 2025). Its budget was boosted by

private donations, which resulted in another 100 million dollars. In the

immediate aftermath of the war, the ARA delivered more than four million tons

of relief supplies to 23 war-torn European countries. Between 1919 and 1921,

was chief of mission in Europe.

ARA ended its

operations outside Russia in 1922; it operated in Russia until 1923.

American relief and Poland

[

]

About 20% of the organization's resources were directed to the newly

established

. Much of its resources were helping Polish

children, who expressed their appreciation by sending illustrated letters to

Hoover.

ARA however has been criticized by Russian sympathizers for aiding

Polish soldiers amidst the

[

]

Polish

leader

has written a note of personal thanks to Hoover; one of

the streets in

has been named after him; he also received honorary degrees

from the

and

, among other

honors (such as several honorary citizenships of various Polish towns). A monument

dedicated to American helpers has been constructed in Warsaw.

Colonel

headed the group from 1919 to 1922.

Specific areas had directors as well, such as

, who was Director of the ARA in

as of 1919.

American relief and the Russian famine of 1921

[

]

American Relief Administration operations in

Russia, 1922

Under

, very large scale food relief was distributed

to Europe after the war through the American Relief Administration.

In 1921, to ease the devastating famine in the

that was

triggered by the Soviet government's

policies, the

ARA's director in Europe,

, began negotiating

with the

, in

(at that time not yet annexed

by the USSR). An agreement was reached on August 21, 1921, and an additional implementation agreement was signed by

Brown and People's Commissar for Foreign Trade

on December 30, 1921. The U.S. Congress appropriated

$20,000,000 for relief under the

of late 1921. Hoover strongly detested Bolshevism, and felt

the American aid would demonstrate the superiority of Western capitalism and thus help contain the spread of

communism.

At its peak, the ARA employed 300 Americans, more than 120,000 Russians and fed 10.5 million people daily. Its Russian

operations were headed by Col.

. The Medical Division of the ARA functioned from November 1921 to

June 1923 and helped overcome the

epidemic then ravaging Russia. The ARA's famine relief operations ran in

parallel with much smaller

, Jewish and

famine relief operations in Russia.

In addition, the

Vatican created a Papal Relief Mission under the ARA, headed by Father

, SJ.

1921 ARA poster saying "The

Gift of the American People" in

Russian

The ARA's operations in Russia were shut down on June 15, 1923, after it was discovered

that Russia under Lenin renewed the export of grain.