Professor – The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is an international humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million volunteers, members, and staff worldwide, which was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure respect for all human beings, and to prevent and alleviate human suffering without any discrimination based on nationality, race, sexual orientation, sex, gender identity, religious beliefs, class, or political opinions. Does anyone know who founded the Red Cross?
Student – A Swiss man, I think.
Professor – Exactly! Henri Dunant, a Swiss man; and the movement consists of several distinct organizations that are legally independent from each other but are united within the movement through common basic principles, objectives, symbols, statutes, and governing organizations. The _____ are The International Committee of the Red Cross, also called ICRC, which is a private humanitarian organization founded in 1863 in Geneva by Henri Dunant and Gustave Moynier. Its 25-member committee has a unique authority under international humanitarian law to protect the life and dignity of the victims of international and internal armed conflicts. The ICRC was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize on three occasions: in 1917, 1944, and 1963. The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, also called IFRC, was founded in 1919; and today, it coordinates activities between the 188 national Red Cross and Red Crescent societies within the movement. On an international level, the Federation leads and organizes in close cooperation with the national societies relief assistance missions corresponding to large-scale emergencies. The International Federation Secretariat is based in Geneva, Switzerland. And in 1963, the Federation, then known as the League of the Red Cross Societies, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize jointly with the ICRC. Until the middle of the 19th century, there were no organized and/or well-established army nursing systems for casualties and no safe and protected institutions to accommodate and treat those wounded on the battlefield. In June 1859, the Swiss businessman, Jean-Henri Dunant, traveled to Italy to meet French Emperor, Napoleon III, with the intention of discussing difficulties in conducting business in Algeria–at that time occupied by France. When he arrived in the small town of Solferino, on the evening of June 24th, he witnessed the Battle of Solferino, an engagement in the Austro-Sardinian war. In a single day, about 40,000 soldiers on both sides died or were left wounded on the field. Jean-Henri Dunant was shocked by the terrible aftermath of the battle, the suffering of the wounded soldiers, and the near-total lack of medical assistance and basic care. He completely abandoned the original intent of his trip and for several days, he devoted himself to helping with the treatment and care of the wounded. He succeeded in organizing an overwhelming level of relief assistance by motivating the local villagers to aid without discrimination. In 1863, Gustave Moynier, a Geneva lawyer and president of the Geneva Society for Public Welfare, received a copy of Dunant’s book and introduced it for discussion at a meeting of that society. As a result of this initial discussion, the society established an investigatory commission to examine the feasibility of Dunant’s suggestions and eventually to organize an international conference about their possible implementation. The members of this committee, which had subsequently been referred to as the Committee of the Five, aside from Dunant and Moynier, were physicians Louis Appia, who had significant experience working as a field surgeon; Appia’s friend and colleague, Théodore Maunoir from the Geneva Hygiene and Health Commission; and Guillaume-Henri Dufour, a Swiss army general of great renown. Eight days later, the five men decided to rename the Committee, the International Committee for Relief to the Wounded. In October 1863, the international conference organized by the Committee was held in Geneva to develop possible measures to improve medical services on the battlefield. The conference was attended by 36 individuals, 18 official delegates from national governments, 6 delegates from other non-governmental organizations, 7 non-official foreign delegates, and the five members of the International Committee. One year later, the Swiss government invited the governments of all European countries as well as the United States, Brazil, and Mexico to attend an official diplomatic conference. 16 countries sent a total of 26 delegates to Geneva. On August 22, 1864, the conference adopted the first Geneva Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded in Armies in the Field. Representatives of 12 states and kingdoms signed the convention: Baden, Belgium, Denmark, France, Hesse, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Prussia, Switzerland, Spain, and Württemberg. The convention contained 10 articles establishing for the first time legally binding rules guaranteeing neutrality and protection for wounded soldiers, field medical personnel, and specific humanitarian institutions in an armed conflict. Furthermore, the convention defined two specific requirements for recognition of a national relief society in the International Committee: The national society must be recognized by its own national government as a relief society according to the convention; the national government of the respective country must be a state party to the Geneva Convention. Also in 1867, Henri Dunant was forced to declare bankruptcy, due to his business failures in Algeria, partly because he had neglected his business interests during his tireless activities for the International Committee. Controversy surrounding Dunant’s business dealings and the resulting negative public opinion, combined with an ongoing conflict with Gustave Moynier, led to Dunant’s expulsion from his position as a member and secretary. He was charged with fraudulent bankruptcy and a warrant for his arrest was issued. Thus, he was forced to leave Geneva and never returned to his home city. In the following years, national societies were founded in nearly every country in Europe. In 1867, the Committee adopted the name International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), which is still its official designation today. Five years later, the American Red Cross was founded through the effort of Clara Barton. More and more countries signed the Geneva Convention and began to respect it in practice during armed conflicts. In a rather short period of time, the Red Cross gained huge momentum as an internationally respected movement and the national societies became increasingly popular as a venue for volunteer work.
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