1863

The Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement began almost 150 years ago when on a hot June day in 1859 Henry Dunant, a Swiss banker travelling on business in northern Italy, witnessed the aftermath of the Battle of Solferino a horrifying and bloody conflict between 300,000 soldiers from Imperial Austria and the Franco-Sardinian Alliance.

In 1862 Dunant published his recollection of this experience as A Memory of Solferino and remained convinced that the power of humanity could be engaged to alleviate suffering on a global scale. Vulnerable people exist in all societies, he argued, and should be afforded the same care and consideration.

Some of the men wounded in battle lay where they fell for days bleeding and tormented by thirst, hunger, flies and burning heat. The dead were thrown into huge pits, along with others seriously injured but alive nonetheless. Amid the stench and sounds of pain and anguish, thieves moved from person to person, robbing both the wounded and the dead. Moved by the sight of the appalling injuries suffered by these young men, Dunant rallied villagers from the town of Castiglione della Pieve to assist and tend the wounded. These townsfolk were to become the first volunteers of the Red Cross.Would there not be some means, during a period of peace and calm, of forming relief Societies whose object would be to have the wounded cared for in time of war by enthusiastic devoted volunteers fully qualified for the task. Such Societies could even render great service during epidemics or at times of disaster of flood and fire; the philanthropic motives underlying their vocation would bring them into action immediately wherever and whenever they could usefully intervene.

His matter-of-fact account, with its underlying message of hope and inspiration drew widespread support across Europe, bringing with it the salient reminder that suffering does not end once the battle has ceased.

In Geneva in October 1863 under the leadership of Henry Dunant, Gustave Moynier, General Guillaume-Henri Dufour, Dr Louis Appia and Dr Theodore Maunoir set up the International Committee for Relief to the Wounded.

The Committee, later to become the International Committee of the Red Cross, chose as their emblem a perfectly formed red cross on a white background the simple inverse of the Swiss flag.

Today it remains a universal symbol of hope and assistance.

With the urging of the Committee, the Swiss Government invited other Governments to attend an international diplomatic conference in 1864. It was at this landmark meeting of representatives from 15 European countries and the United States of America that 12 governments became signatories to the first Geneva Convention.

This was the beginning of international humanitarian law (the laws of war) and addressed in detail the issue of armed conflict. It sought to afford care for the wounded and defined medical services as "neutral" on the battlefield, at the same time bringing humanity one step closer to understanding that combatants are not the only victims of war.

When the Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (Federation) was first founded in Paris in 1919 its purpose was to further develop the relationships between National Societies that had emerged during World War I.

The war had shown a need for close cooperation between Red Cross Societies, which, through their humanitarian activities on behalf of prisoners of war and combatants, had attracted millions of volunteers and built a large body of expertise.

A devastated Europe could not afford to lose such a resource.

It was Henry Davison, President of the American Red Cross War Committee, who first proposed forming a federation. An international medical conference initiated by Davison resulted in the birth of the League of Red Cross Societies, renamed in October 1983 as the League of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and finally in November 1991 to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.

Their first objective was to improve the health of people in countries that had suffered greatly during the four years of war. Its goals were 'to strengthen and unite, for health activities, already-existing Red Cross Societies and to promote the creation of new Societies' with its first mission to assist typhus and famine victims in Poland.

The Federation was formed by five National Societies from Britain, France, Italy, Japan and the United States. Today there are 177 one in almost every country in the world who conduct more than 80 relief operations a year.

The seven Fundamental Principles of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement were formally adopted at the 20th International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent in Vienna in 1965.

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