Where did the idea for the Red Cross come from?
The Red Cross idea was born in 1859 when Henry Dunant, a young Swiss man, came upon the aftermath of a bloody battle in Solferino, Italy between the armies of imperial Austria and the Franco-Sardian alliance. Some 40,000 men lay dead or dying on the battlefield and the wounded were lacking medical attention. Dunant organized local people to bind the soldiers’ wounds and to feed and comfort them. On his return, he called for the creation of national relief societies to assist those wounded in war. This action pointed the way to the future Geneva Conventions. In October 1863, The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement was created in Geneva, Switzerland, to provide nonpartisan care to the wounded and sick in times of war. The Red Cross emblem was adopted at this first International Conference as a symbol of neutrality and was to be used by national relief societies. In August 1864, the representatives of 12 governments signed the Geneva Convention Treaty. The extraordinary effo
