II's most vocal critics. Among the critics were famous Americans such as Booker T. Washington, W.E.B. Du Bois, and Mark Twain (who attacked Leopold directly in an inflammatory pamphlet entitled King Leopold's Soliloquy). In 1908, forced to respond to this international outcry, the Belgian government rescinded Leopold's private rule over the Congo Free State and annexed the territory, making the Congo Free State into the Belgian Congo, a full-fledged colony of Belgium. U.S. and Belgian soldiers fought together during the Siege of the International Legations in 1900, part of the larger Boxer Rebellion in China (1899-1901). World War I (1914–1918) When Germany invaded Belgium in August 1914, the mining engineer and future U.S. President Herbert Hoover set up aid organizations: the Committee for Relief in Belgium (CRB) and the National Committee for Help and Food. By the end of the war, these organizations had accumulated a net surplus of $30 million in funds, which was used to improve Belgium's educational system. Brand Whitlock was a top aide to Hoover. The U.S. legation in Brussels was elevated to the status of an embassy on October 3, 1919. World War II (1939–1945) John Cudahy, wealthy scion of a Wisconsin meatpacking enterprise, in 1940 became Franklin Roosevelt's ambassador to Belgium. He developed a close personal friendship with King Leopold III. Germany forced his recall. He denounced Britain, France and the U.S. for a failure to plan an adequate defense. He became an embarrassment to Washington, which was officially neutral. U.S. troops helped to liberate Belgium from German occupation along with British troops, Canadian troops, and members of the Belgian Resistance. According to Pieter Lagrou, American policy after the Nazis were driven out focused on creating political stability and helping Allied military operations. Washington ignored the fierce ideological debates in Belgium, focusing on whether the King was wise or traitorous in his dealings with the Nazis. Washington and London were neutral on the Royal question, but US Ambassador Charles Sawyer mistrusted the king and the Catholic parties. He saw significant dangers to democracy from those elements and therefore supported the left-wing coalition government headed by the socialists. Cold War (1947–1991) Belgium received aid from the United States through the Marshall Plan, aimed at reconstructing the post-war European economy although Belgian economic recovery predated the Marshall Plan. Both Belgium and the US were among the founding members of NATO, a North Atlantic collective defence alliance.