The Disaster of War: American Understandings of Catastrophe, Conflict and Relief
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2014
Keywords
humanitarianism, red cross, foreign relief
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
https://doi.org/10.1080/19475020.2014.901180
Abstract
This article explores how US humanitarian aid workers in Great War era Europe understood the war, their relief work and its significance. It argues that contemporary ideas about disaster and disaster assistance, formed in the decades before the war began, fundamentally shaped the way that Americans conceived of their wartime humanitarian aid and its significance. Through an interrogation of both the metaphorical and the material links between early twentieth century American ideas of war and natural disaster – and, by extension, war relief and disaster relief – this essay advances novel insights about the intellectual and cultural history of US humanitarian aid efforts for European civilians during the Great War era.
Was this content written or created while at USF?
Yes
Citation / Publisher Attribution
First World War Studies, v. 5, issue 1, p. 17-28
Scholar Commons Citation
Irwin, Julia F., "The Disaster of War: American Understandings of Catastrophe, Conflict and Relief" (2014). History Faculty Publications. 285.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/hty_facpub/285
