World War I, which began in 1914 with the assassination of the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, was one of the largest and deadliest conflicts in history. By the time it ended four years later, it had embroiled 14 "Allies," including the U.S., Great Britain, France and Russia, and four "Central Powers"—primarily Austria-Hungary, Germany, and the Ottoman Empire. Nine million combatants and seven million civilians died in the fighting, which ended with Allied victory.
Many outstanding military leaders and statesmen were involved in the war, including U.S. President Woodrow Wilson, who articulated the Allies' war aims and helped negotiate the ultimate peace treaty. But for millions of Europeans, the iconic hero of the conflict was an American civilian who held no official position and never fired a shot. He was Herbert Hoover, a highly successful American mining engineer and international businessman with a passion for humanitarian work.
An Iowa-born Quaker, Hoover set out to save European lives after the war started and Belgium, which was plundered by the German army, began suffering severe food shortages.

License information: CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
MPAA: PG
Go to source: https://www.commonlit.org/texts/hoover-feeding-the-starving-victims-of-world-war-i