Red Cross

RED CROSS, the national and international agency whose primary purpose is to care for the sick, the wounded and prisoners in time of war. The development of the Red Cross movement, especially since 1919, has shown a world-wide tendency to regard the alleviation of human suffering, whatever its source, as falling within the purview of the Red Cross.

The Origins of the Movement.

The fundamental idea which has come to be associated with the Red Cross was first enunciated as the result of the publication by Henri Dunant, at Geneva, in 1862, of a booklet entitled Un Souvenir de Solferino. Dunant had witnessed appalling scenes of bloodshed during the war in Italy and his booklet gives a shocking account of the dis tress of the wounded left to perish on the battlefield for lack of medical assistance. He urged the necessity of constituting perma nent societies for the aid of the wounded, with the purpose of forming detachments of volunteer helpers; and he went on to express the hope that he might live to see "the leaders of the military art of different nationalities agree upon some sacred international principle, sanctioned by convention, which, once signed and ratified, would serve as the basis for the creation of societies for the aid of the wounded in the different European countries." Dunant's appeal quickly found its echo. The Societe Genevoise d'Utilite Publique had as president M. Gustave Moynier, who was greatly struck by the importance of the suggestions set forth in the Souvenir de Solferino and at his request Dunant attended a meeting of this society and explained his ideas before it. The members of the society thereupon nominated a commission with instructions to study the means of improving the position of the wounded in war. The original members of this commission, which was destined to become the Comite International de la Croix Rouge, were: Gen. Dufour, commander-in-chief of the Swiss army, Gustave Moynier, Henri Dunant, Dr. Louis Appia and Dr. Theodore Maunoir.

Their first task was to draw up a draft agreement providing for the formation of national committees having as purpose to assist army medical services by creating voluntary aid corps. They further proceeded to summon an international meeting, which assembled at Geneva from Oct. 26 to 29, 1863. Thirty-six

experts and Government delegates were present at the Palais de l'Athenee, and there were laid down the fundamental principles of the Red Cross.

The International committee was urged to continue the mission which it had assumed as guardian of the principles laid down in the Convention, and to pursue the formation of national societies in all countries for the purpose of developing the Red Cross movement and organizing aid for wounded soldiers and for the other victims of war.

The next step was to secure an international legal status for the movement which had thus been set on foot, ensuring the wounded men themselves, the personnel engaged in the care of the wounded and the medical supplies set aside for their use against attack, the whole being protected by a single recognized emblem. The difficulties were enormous, but they were successfully overcome thanks to the weight carried by the name of Gen. Dufour, the unwearying activity of Henri Dunant (who personally approached the authorities in a number of different countries), and the meth odical organizing work of Gustave Moynier. Napoleon III. brought his personal influence to bear in favour of the scheme, and the International committee succeeded in inducing the Swiss Federal council to convoke in Geneva on Aug. 8, 1864, a diplo matic conference at which 26 Governments were represented. The outcome of this conference was the Geneva Convention, which laid down certain principles once and for all. The wounded were to be respected, military hospitals to be regarded as neu tral; the personnel and material of the medical services were accorded protection; and the symbol of this protection was to be a white flag bearing a red cross—the flag which has now become the emblem of the Red Cross throughout the world. Almost all countries have now adhered to the Geneva Convention, which was revised and completed on July 6, 1906, by a new diplomatic conference. The conferences held at The Hague in 1899 and 1907 extended to sea warfare the principles of the Geneva Convention of 1864 and the revised Convention of 1906.