Feeding Occupied France during World War I - Herbert Hoover and the Blockade

“More than two million French civilians in German-occupied northern France needed food. The Germans were responsible for them. Could international aid deliver food to French citizens without undermining the Allied blockade? The transnational effort to accomplish this feat was extraordinary. Clotilde Druelle untangles a web of diplomatic, financial and humanitarian improvisations to tell the fascinating story of the aid to France channeled through Hoover’s Commission for Relief in Belgium.” (Kenneth Mouré, Professor, University of Alberta, Canada, author of Managing the Franc Poincaré and The Gold Standard Illusion)

“After a century of historical silence on the herculean efforts to prevent starvation in German-occupied France during the First World War, Feeding Occupied France masterfully fills the void. This comprehensive account reveals humanitarianism constituted a bulwark against the threat of famine created by warring nations, naval blockade, and the perils of conquest.” (Branden Little, Associate Professor of History, Weber State University, USA)