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The inspiring story of Henry Dunant, Solferino, and the foundation of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) Up until the middle of the 19th century,
there were no organized and well-established army nursing systems
for casualties and no safe and protected institutions to accommodate Henry Dunant was shocked by the terrible aftermath of the battle, the suffering of the wounded soldiers, and the near-total lack of medical attendance 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 for the wounded. He succeeded in organizing an overwhelming level of relief assistance by motivating the local population to aid without discrimination. Back in his home in Geneva, he decided to write a book entitled A Memory of Solferino which he published with his own money in 1862. 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 neutrality and protection of those wounded on the battlefield as well as medics and field hospitals. 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, lawyer and chairman of the Geneva Society for Public Welfare; physician 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 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 battle field.
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. The states and kingdoms
represented by official delegates were Baden, Bavaria, France, Britain,
Hanover, Hesse, Italy, the Netherlands, Austria, Prussia, Russia,
Saxony, Sweden, and Spain. Among the proposals written in the final
resolutions of the conference, adopted on October 29, 1863, were: Only 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. Sixteen countries sent a total of twenty-six 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 ten 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 by the International Committee: The national society must be recognized by its own national government as a relief society according to the convention; and the national government of the respective country must be a state party to the Geneva Convention. Directly following the establishment of
the Geneva Convention, the first national societies were founded
in Belgium, Denmark, France, Oldenburg, Prussia, Spain, and Württemberg.
Also in 1864, Louis Appia and Charles van de Velde, a captain of
the Dutch Army, became the first independent and neutral delegates
to work under the symbol of the Red Cross in an armed conflict.
Three years later in 1867, the first International Conference of
National Aid Societies for the Nursing of the War Wounded was convened. Extract from 'http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Committee_of_the_Red_Cross':
accessed 19 August 2008 |
and
treat those who were wounded on the battlefield. In June 1859, the
Swiss businessmanHenry Dunant travelled to Italy to meet French
emperor Napoléon 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 24, 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. |
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