The Red Cross and the Birth of Humanitarianism

In June 1859 a Swiss businessman, Henri Dunant, witnessed the aftermath of the Battle of Solferino in northern Italy, where thousands of wounded soldiers lay without care. His book A Memory of Solferino (1862) proposed neutral relief societies and an international agreement to protect the wounded. The International Committee of the Red Cross was founded in Geneva in 1863, and the first Geneva Convention was signed in 1864.

The red cross emblem reversed the colours of the Swiss flag, and the Ottoman Empire adopted a red crescent in the 1870s; a third emblem, the red crystal, was added in 2005. The movement's principles of humanity, impartiality, neutrality and independence aim to help all sides in a conflict. This neutrality can be controversial, especially when it means remaining silent about abuses. The Red Cross shows how a private initiative became a global institution.