History of Red Cross
About the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement
The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is an international humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million volunteers worldwide which started to protect human life and health, to ensure respect for the human being, and to prevent and alleviate human suffering, without any discrimination based on nationality, race, sex, religious beliefs, class or political opinions.
Background History
In June 1859, Henry Dunant, a 31 year-old Swiss businessman, while travelling through the small town of Solferino on the evening of June 24, witnessed the Battle of Solferino. In a single day, about 40,000 soldiers on both sides died or were left wounded on the field. Henry Dunant, shocked by the terrible aftermath of the battle and the suffering of the wounded soldiers, for several days devoted himself to helping with the treatment and care for the wounded. He succeeded in organising an overwhelming level of relief assistance from the local population to aid without discrimination.
Back in Geneva, Henry Dunant published a book entitled A Memory of Solferino, which was published in 1862, where 1,600 copies were printed at Dunant's own expense. He sent copies of the book to leading political and military figures throughout Europe. In addition to penning a vivid description of his experiences in Solferino in 1859, he explicitly advocated the formation of national voluntary relief organizations to help nurse wounded soldiers in the case of war. In addition, he called for the development of international treaties to guarantee the protection of neutral medics and field hospitals for soldiers wounded on the battlefield.
On February 9, 1863 in Geneva, Henry Dunant founded the "Committee of the Five" (together with four other leading figures from well-known Geneva families) as an investigatory commission of the Geneva Society for Public Welfare. Their aim was to examine the feasibility of Dunant's ideas and to organize an international conference about their possible implementation. The members of this committee, aside from Dunant himself, were Gustave Moynier, physician Louis Appia, Appia's friend and colleague Théodore Maunoir, and Guillaume-Henri Dufour. Eight days later, the five men decided to rename the committee to the "International Committee for Relief to the Wounded". In October (26–29) 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: eighteen official delegates from national governments, six delegates from other non-governmental organizations, seven non-official foreign delegates, and the five members of the International Committee.
In 1876, 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 efforts 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.