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In this article the author explains the role played during the First World War by the Holy See, which was committed, at least in part, to ensuring the supply of food to the various military-occupied regions and to zones under naval blockade, both in Europe and in the Middle East. This was a new kind of war, one that set out to starve civilians in a direct and brutal way. During the pontificate of Benedict XV, the Vatican faced the intransigence of the Powers engaged in the war, and it had to overcome many difficulties in a mission that answered both to the charitable purposes of the Church and to its political and diplomatic interests.