I quaccheri americani e le attivit� di soccorso in Europa e nella Russia bolscevica, 1917-1921

The article provides an analysis of some American humanitarian rescue activities between the first world war and the period following the Russian civil war. The point of view is that of the American Friends Service Committee (Afsc), an American Quaker association which, starting from 1917, managed to set up a dialogue with Washington with the purpose to find a solution to the question of conscientious objectors. The Afsc activities deal with the assistance to the French population during the last phase of the conflict, to German children in the immediate post-war period, and to Russian refugees during the troubled events of the war and the Bolshevik Revolution. Particularly interesting is the relationship the Afsc established with the American Relief Administration (Ara), an assistance quasi-governmental organisation. Although American historiography has attended several times to ARA activities and its protagonist, Herbert Hoover, there is lack of recent, impartial and exhaustive studies on the Quaker contribute to the model of humanitarian rescue set up in those years.

本文分析了第一次世界大战至俄国内战结束后期间美国开展的若干人道主义救援活动。其视角来自美国贵格会协会——美国公谊服务委员会（American Friends Service Committee, AFSC）。该组织自1917年起便与美国政府建立对话，旨在为良心拒服兵役者问题寻求解决方案。AFSC的活动涵盖：战争最后阶段援助法国民众、战后初期救助德国儿童，以及在战争与布尔什维克革命的动荡时期援助俄国难民。尤其值得关注的是AFSC与美国救济署（American Relief Administration, ARA）之间建立的合作关系——后者是一家准政府性质的援助机构。尽管美国史学界曾多次探讨ARA的活动及其核心人物赫伯特·胡佛，但关于贵格会对彼时人道主义救援模式所做贡献的近期、客观且详尽的研究仍付阙如。