March is Red Cross Month Western Colorado Chapter American Red Cross
   

Red Cross Red Crescent Movement, Continued

Historical Background

Henry Dunant, founder of Red Cross MovementA Swiss businessman, Henry Dunant, founded the worldwide Red Cross Movement. As a traveler in 1859, he witnessed a one-day battle between Austrian and French forces outside the northern Italian town of Solferino. At nightfall and to his horror, he saw 40,000 dead and wounded soldiers strewn about the battlefield who had lacked any medical attention. Dunant immediately set about organizing care for the wounded with the assistance of local villagers.

Returning to Switzerland, Dunant was unable to wipe the horrible scenes he had observed from his mind. So he wrote the book A Memory of Solferino (1862) in which he described what he had seen and argued for the humane treatment of the war injured. Encouraged by the success of his book, Dunant initiated a campaign to establish a society for aid to 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.)

Clara Barton, founder of American Red CrossClara 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. 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. In 1905, the ARC 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 ARC 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.

Principles of the International Red Cross

    Principles of the International Red Cross
  • Humanity:  The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, born of a desire to bring assistance without discrimination to the wounded on the battlefield, endeavors, in its international and national capacity, to prevent and alleviate human suffering wherever it may be found. Its purpose is to protect life and health and to ensure respect for the human being. It promotes mutual understanding, friendship, cooperation and lasting peace amongst all peoples.

  • Impartiality: It makes no discrimination as to nationality, race, religious beliefs, class or political opinions. It endeavors to relieve the suffering of individuals, being guided solely by their needs, and to give priority to the most urgent cases of distress.

  • Neutrality: In order to continue to enjoy the confidence of all, the Movement may not take sides in hostilities or engage at any time in controversies of a political, racial, religious or ideological nature.

  • Independence: The Movement is independent. The National Societies, while auxiliaries in the humanitarian services of their governments and subject to the laws of their respective countries, must always maintain their autonomy so that they may be able at all times to act in accordance with the principles of the Movement.

  • Voluntary service: It is a voluntary relief movement not prompted in any manner by desire for gain.

  • Unity: There can be only one Red Cross or Red Crescent Society in any one country. It must be open to all. It must carry on its humanitarian work throughout its territory.

  • Universality: The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, in which all Societies have equal status and share equal responsibilities and duties in helping each other, is worldwide.
Bibliography for more information about the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement:
  • Foster Rhea Dulles, The American Red Cross. New York: Harper and Brothers, 1950. A general history of the ARC from its beginnings to mid-century. Out of print but in most libraries.

  • Patrick F. Gilbo, The American Red Cross: The First Century. New York: Harper and Row, 1981. An illustrated history of the first century of the ARC, 1881-1981. Out of print but in most libraries.

  • Michael Ignatieff, "A Reporter at Large: Unarmed Warriors," in The New Yorker, March 24, 1997. p. 54ff. A provocative account of the costs of the Red Cross Movement's neutrality stance in the face of contemporary conflicts.

  • Caroline Moorehead, Dunant's Dream: War, Switzerland and the History of the Red Cross. London: Harper Collins, 1998.

  • Daphne A. Reid and Patrick Gilbo, Beyond Conflict: The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, 1919-1994. Geneva, Switzerland: International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, 1997. The authoritative history of the Federation.

  • Websites for the International Committee of the Red Cross (www.icrc.org), the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (www.ifrc.org), the American Red Cross (www.redcross.org), and other national societies.

Together We Can Save a Life

American Red Cross, Western Colorado Chapter
506 Gunnison Avenue
Grand Junction, CO 81501
Phone:  970-242-4851
Fax   970-241-2337
Email:  chapter@arcwcc.org