History of the Red Cross

Returning to Switzerland and unable to wipe the horrible scenes he had observed from his mind, Dunant wrote A Memory of Solferino (1862) describing what he had seen and arguing for the humane treatment of the war injured. Encouraged by the success of his book, Dunant initiated a campaign to establish a society to aid the wounded in battle. In 1863, the Geneva Society for Public Welfare took up his cause and created a five-man committee (Dunant was a member) which formed an International Committee for Relief to the Wounded in Time of War. Representatives of sixteen European states and four philanthropic institutions attended an International Conference in 1864 at which they adopted the first Geneva Convention, as they called it, a treaty which sought to save lives and alleviate suffering of wounded and sick military personnel. It specified that the red cross (a reversal of the Swiss national flag's white cross on a red field) would serve as a protective emblem identifying medical personnel, equipment, and facilities as neutral. It also stipulated that wounded and sick combatants were to be collected and cared for by either side in a conflict. The group also gave itself a new name, the International Committee of the Red Cross.

The 1864 Geneva Convention became the foundation of the branch of modern law now known as international humanitarian law (IHL). It encompasses both humanitarian principles and international treaties that seek to save lives and alleviate suffering of both combatants and noncombatants during armed conflicts. In 1899, protection was expanded to include those affected by maritime warfare (in a treaty later known as the Second Geneva Convention). Further revisions and expansions occurred in 1906, 1907, 1929, and, again, in 1949 as protection of prisoners of war (Third Convention, 1929) and expanded protection for civilians in the time of war (Fourth Convention, 1949) were adopted. Two Protocols were added in 1977. One further expanded the protection of civilian populations and medical personnel in international armed conflicts and the other called for the protection of victims of what are termed "high-intensity, non-international armed conflicts," such as civil wars. (The United States is a party to all the Geneva Conventions but has not yet signed the 1977 Protocols.)

In 1905, the American Red Cross received a revised charter from Congress under which it still operates. This charter expanded the organization's responsibilities and created an executive structure for a more orderly and systematic way of doing business than had occurred before. In 1919, largely at the urging of American Red Cross President, Henry P. Davison, the League of Red Cross Societies was formed (it became the Federation in 1991).

In earlier times, organizations of the Movement were the primary providers of relief to the victims of war and natural disasters. Since World War II, however, the field has become crowded. Activities now must be coordinated with a host of other organizations, such as the agencies of the United Nations (the High Commissioner for Refugees, the Food and Agriculture Organization, the World Health Organization, the UN Development Program, and UNICEF, the Children's Fund), Oxfam, and others. Despite competition, however, the world still relies heavily on the dedicated work of the organizations of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, including the American Red Cross, to bring relief to the suffering and to advance the cause of international humanitarian law.

Clara Barton, the famous Civil War nurse and advocate for aid to the wounded and victims of natural disasters, founded the American Red Cross in 1881. While she did not originate the Red Cross idea, she was the first person to establish a lasting Red Cross Society in America. She successfully organized the American Association of the Red Cross in Washington, D.C., on May 21, 1881. Created to serve America in peace and in war, during times of disaster and national calamity, Barton's organization took its service beyond that of the International Red Cross Movement by adding disaster relief to battlefield assistance. She served as the organization's volunteer president until 1904.  She and her American Association of the Red Cross, as the organization was first called, pressured President Chester Arthur into signing the first Geneva Convention in 1882, bringing the United States into compliance with Red Cross principles. In 1900 the renamed American National Red Cross received a Congressional charter establishing the organization as the nation's official relief agency for civilians and military personnel and made it accountable to-although not funded by-Congress.