The authorities did not think the war would last long. As a result, solidarity networks for the poor first formed informally based on the model of 19th-century charities at the initiative of private philanthropists and sponsors. The social elite often involved the same individuals as the political elite, and charities began to surface in every one of the twenty administrative divisions or arrondissements. Here, we offer a small sampling of the many charities, with various purposes and recipients, that connected the areas of the capital and appealed to Parisians’ generosity.
Program of a fund-raising matinee at the Châtelet Theater
L'Oeuvre humanitaire [The Humanitarian Charity] of the 10th arrondissement had a variety of objectives. This brochure refers to beneficiaries who included small children, soldiers and artists, who were hit particularly hard by a lack of work during the war.
Leaflet, April 21, 1918
