GARIOA
Encyclopedia
Government and Relief in Occupied Areas (GARIOA) was a program under which the US after the 1945 end of World War II
from 1946 onwards provided emergency aid to the occupied nations, Japan
, Germany
, Austria
. The aid was predominantly in the form of food to alleviate starvation in the occupied areas.
)
In 1948 the combined US and UK expenditure on relief food in Germany stood at a total of close to $1.5 billion. Still, German food rations were deficient in composition and remained far below recommended minimum nutrition levels. Officials in authority admitted that the distributed rations "represented a fairly rapid starvation level".
The aid received by Germany through GARIOA was, just as the later Marshall plan
aid (starting 1948), charged to the Germans. By 1953 West Germany
’s combined GARIOA and Marshall plan debt was over $3.3 billion. It was however decided in 1953 that West Germany only had to repay $1.1 billion. The amount was repaid by 1971.
During 1945 private organizations such as the International Red Cross had been prohibited by the Allies from assisting ethnic Germans with food supplies, but in early 1946 this prohibition was rescinded (see CRALOG
). In the spring of 1946 the International Red Cross was also finally allowed to visit and provide limited amounts of food aid to prisoners of war in the US occupation zone. (see Disarmed Enemy Forces
).
"a. The objectives of the relief policy of the United States are to prevent such starvation and widespread disease and civil unrest as would (1) clearly endanger the occupying forces, and (2) permanently obstruct the ultimate objectives of the occupation."
To prevent "hunger and social unrest"; in fiscal year 1946 GARIOA grants to Japan were $92.63 million, in 1947 $287.33 million, in 1948 $351.40 million. In Western Europe the Marshall plan from 1948 onwards contributed to a reconstruction of the economies. In order to further remove Japan as a potential future military threat after World War II
the Far Eastern Commission
had decided that Japan was to be partly de-industrialized. The necessary dismantling of Japanese industry was foreseen to have been achieved when Japanese standards of living had been reduced to those existing in Japan the period 1930 - 1934. In the end the adopted program of de-industrialisation in Japan was implemented to a lesser degree than the similar US "industrial disarmament" program in Germany. In view of the cost to American taxpayers for the emergency aid, in April 1948 the Johnston Committee Report recommended that the economy of Japan should be reconstructed. The report included suggestions for reductions in war reparations, and a relaxation of the "economic deconcentration" policy. For the fiscal year of 1949 funds were moved from the GARIOA budget into an Economic Rehabilitation in Occupied Areas (EROA) programme, to be used for the import of materials needed for economic reconstruction
.
Volunteer organizations created Licensed Agencies for Relief in Asia
(LARA) to coordinate their efforts and have a single point of contact with the military authorities which had refused to deal with them on a one to one basis. LARA was operational 1946-1952 and sent many tonnes of food and clothing to Japan.
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
from 1946 onwards provided emergency aid to the occupied nations, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
. The aid was predominantly in the form of food to alleviate starvation in the occupied areas.
Germany
Germany received GARIOA help between July 1946 and March 1950. In 1946 the US Congress had voted GARIOA funds to prevent "such disease and unrest as would endanger the forces of occupation" in occupied Germany. Congress stipulated that the funds were only to be used to import food, petroleum and fertilizers. Use of GARIOA funds to import raw materials of vital importance to the German industry was explicitly forbidden. At the time the US still operated under the occupation directive JCS 1067 which directed US forces to "take no steps looking toward the economic rehabilitation of Germany [or] designed to maintain or strengthen the German economy". (see Industrial plans for GermanyIndustrial plans for Germany
The Industrial plans for Germany were designs the Allies considered imposing on Germany in the aftermath of World War II to reduce and manage Germany's industrial capacity.-Background:...
)
In 1948 the combined US and UK expenditure on relief food in Germany stood at a total of close to $1.5 billion. Still, German food rations were deficient in composition and remained far below recommended minimum nutrition levels. Officials in authority admitted that the distributed rations "represented a fairly rapid starvation level".
The aid received by Germany through GARIOA was, just as the later Marshall plan
Marshall Plan
The Marshall Plan was the large-scale American program to aid Europe where the United States gave monetary support to help rebuild European economies after the end of World War II in order to combat the spread of Soviet communism. The plan was in operation for four years beginning in April 1948...
aid (starting 1948), charged to the Germans. By 1953 West Germany
West Germany
West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....
’s combined GARIOA and Marshall plan debt was over $3.3 billion. It was however decided in 1953 that West Germany only had to repay $1.1 billion. The amount was repaid by 1971.
During 1945 private organizations such as the International Red Cross had been prohibited by the Allies from assisting ethnic Germans with food supplies, but in early 1946 this prohibition was rescinded (see CRALOG
CRALOG
The Council of Relief Agencies Licensed to Operate in Germany was a non governmental organization created in 1946 by the American Council of Voluntary Agencies for Foreign Service and included 11 major relief agencies such as the International Red Cross.Food relief shipments to Germany had been...
). In the spring of 1946 the International Red Cross was also finally allowed to visit and provide limited amounts of food aid to prisoners of war in the US occupation zone. (see Disarmed Enemy Forces
Disarmed Enemy Forces
Disarmed Enemy Forces , and—less commonly—Surrendered Enemy Forces, was a U.S. designation, both for soldiers who surrendered to an adversary after hostilities ended, and for those previously surrendered POWs who were held in camps in occupied German territory at that time. It is mainly referenced...
).
Japan
The first point in the US directive for the supply of food for civilian relief in Japan as adopted in the fall of 1945 and reconfirmed in 1946 read as follows:"a. The objectives of the relief policy of the United States are to prevent such starvation and widespread disease and civil unrest as would (1) clearly endanger the occupying forces, and (2) permanently obstruct the ultimate objectives of the occupation."
To prevent "hunger and social unrest"; in fiscal year 1946 GARIOA grants to Japan were $92.63 million, in 1947 $287.33 million, in 1948 $351.40 million. In Western Europe the Marshall plan from 1948 onwards contributed to a reconstruction of the economies. In order to further remove Japan as a potential future military threat after World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
the Far Eastern Commission
Far Eastern Commission
It was agreed at the Moscow Conference of Foreign Ministers, and made public in communique issued at the end of the conference on December 27, 1945 that the Far Eastern Advisory Commission would become the Far Eastern Commission , it would be based in Washington, and would oversee the Allied...
had decided that Japan was to be partly de-industrialized. The necessary dismantling of Japanese industry was foreseen to have been achieved when Japanese standards of living had been reduced to those existing in Japan the period 1930 - 1934. In the end the adopted program of de-industrialisation in Japan was implemented to a lesser degree than the similar US "industrial disarmament" program in Germany. In view of the cost to American taxpayers for the emergency aid, in April 1948 the Johnston Committee Report recommended that the economy of Japan should be reconstructed. The report included suggestions for reductions in war reparations, and a relaxation of the "economic deconcentration" policy. For the fiscal year of 1949 funds were moved from the GARIOA budget into an Economic Rehabilitation in Occupied Areas (EROA) programme, to be used for the import of materials needed for economic reconstruction
Economic reconstruction
Economic Reconstruction refers to a process for creating a proactive vision of economic change. The most basic idea is that problems in the economy such as deindustrialization, environmental decay, outsourcing, industrial incompetence, poverty and addiction to a permanent war economy are based on...
.
Volunteer organizations created Licensed Agencies for Relief in Asia
Licensed Agencies for Relief in Asia
Licensed Agencies for Relief in Asia was created in April 1946 by eleven volunteer relief organizations, it was the Asian equivalent to CRALOG in Europe....
(LARA) to coordinate their efforts and have a single point of contact with the military authorities which had refused to deal with them on a one to one basis. LARA was operational 1946-1952 and sent many tonnes of food and clothing to Japan.
See also
- American food policy in occupied GermanyAmerican food policy in occupied GermanyAmerican food policy in occupied Germany refers to the food supply policies enacted by the U.S., and to some extent its dependent Allies, in the western occupation zones of Germany in the first two years of the ten-year occupation of Western Germany following World War II.Food relief shipments to...
- United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation AdministrationUnited Nations Relief and Rehabilitation AdministrationThe United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration was an international relief agency, largely dominated by the United States but representing 44 nations. Founded in 1943, it became part of the United Nations in 1945, was especially active in 1945 and 1946, and largely shut down...
- CARE
External links
- Richard Dominic Wiggers, The United States and the Refusal to Feed German Civilians after World War II
- The Road Ahead: Lessons in Nation Building from Japan, Germany, and Afghanistan for Postwar Iraq, by Ray Salvatore Jennings May 2003, Peaceworks No. 49, United States Institute of PeaceUnited States Institute of PeaceThe United States Institute of Peace was created by Congress as a non-partisan, federal institution that works to prevent or end violent conflict around the world...
- U.S. Occupation Assistance: Iraq, Germany and Japan Compared CRS Report for Congress, Order Code RL33331
- America's Role in Nation-Building: From Germany to Iraq By: James Dobbins, John G. McGinn, Keith Crane, Seth G. Jones, Rollie Lal, Andrew Rathmell, Rachel M. Swanger, Anga Timilsina (RAND corporation)
- Oral History Interview with John W. Snyder Secretary of the Treasury in the Truman Administration, 1946-53.
- "Germany and the Political Economy of the Marshall Plan, 1947-52: A Re-Revisionist View" (with Albrecht Ritschl), in: Barry Eichengreen (ed.), Europe's Post-War Recovery, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995, pp. 199–245.