The Charity of War
Famine, Humanitarian Aid, and World War I in the Middle East
Melanie S Tanielian
- A
- “captivating”
- account
- of
- the
- starvation
- and
- disease
- that
- wracked
- far-from-the-front
- Beirut
- during
- WWI,
- and
- the
- relief
- efforts
- that
- followed
- (Middle
- East
- Journal).With
- the
- exception
- of
- a
- few
- targeted
- aerial
- bombardments
- of
- the
- city’s
- port,
- Beirut
- and
- Mount
- Lebanon
- did
- not
- see
- direct
- combat
- in
- World
- War
- I.
- Yet
- civilian
- casualties
- in
- this
- part
- of
- the
- Ottoman
- Empire
- reached
- shocking
- heights,
- possibly
- numbering
- half
- a
- million
- people.
- No
- war,
- in
- its
- usual
- understanding,
- took
- place
- there,
- but
- Lebanon
- was
- incontestably
- war-stricken.
- As
- a
- food
- crisis
- escalated
- into
- famine,
- it
- was
- the
- bloodless
- incursion
- of
- starvation
- and
- the
- silent
- assault
- of
- fatal
- disease
- that
- defined
- everyday
- life.The
- Charity
- of
- War
- tells
- how
- the
- Ottoman
- home
- front
- grappled
- with
- total
- war
- and
- how
- it
- sought
- to
- mitigate
- starvation
- and
- sickness
- through
- relief
- activities.
- Melanie
- S.
- Tanielian
- examines
- the
- wartime
- famine’s
- reverberations
- throughout
- the
- community:
- in
- Beirut’s
- municipal
- institutions,
- in
- its
- philanthropic
- and
- religious
- organizations,
- in
- international
- agencies,
- and
- in
- the
- homes
- of
- the
- city’s
- residents.Her
- local
- history
- reveals
- a
- dynamic
- politics
- of
- provisioning
- that
- was
- central
- to
- civilian
- experiences
- in
- the
- war,
- as
- well
- as
- to
- the
- Middle
- Eastern
- political
- landscape
- that
- emerged
- post-war.
- By
- tracing
- these
- responses
- to
- the
- conflict,
- she
- demonstrates
- World
- War
- I's
- immediacy
- far
- from
- the
- European
- trenches,
- in
- a
- place
- where
- war
- was
- a
- socio-economic
- and
- political
- process
- rather
- than
- a
- military event.
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