What is the Geneva Convention and why does it matter?

On August 22, 1864, 12 states signed the very first Geneva Convention, agreeing for the first time the rights of combatants and the rules around protecting civilians from armed conflicts. Here’s what you need to know about the famous document, what rights it gives to soldiers and civilians, why it was signed in Geneva and why it is one of the most important humanitarian treaties ever signed.

Rules of war have origins in Babylon and India

Humans have devised rules of war since the early first century BC, with the first codes being written in Babylon (modern-day Iraq) and India. Early attempts to standardise the rules between warring peoples were mostly made by Islamic and later Christian scholars and rulers, who tried to set standards for the treatment of prisoners, civilians and property.

In Europe, this manifested as a strict code of honour and chivalry, which bound knights and nobles to treat their foes with respect and dignity - though these courtesies very rarely applied to the soldiers they led. However, as no nation was subject to the same rules and traditions as others, how soldiers and civilians were treated varied hugely.

War worsens in the white heat of industry

This fact was thrown into sharp relief in the 19th century, when industrialisation brought with it new inventions and technologies like breech-loaded and eventually bolt-action rifles, more powerful and faster artillery, and eventually the machine gun. As a result, armies smaller than their predecessors could now inflict massive damage and casualties on their foes and civilians.

For instance, the American Civil War is estimated to have cost the lives of 620.000 soldiers in just five years (1861-1865), while the lives of up to 670.000 soldiers were lost in the two-and-a-half-year-long Crimean War (1853-1856). What’s more, the vast majority of casualties in Crimea were caused by disease and poor medical treatment of the wounded.

Origins of the Geneva Convention and Red Cross

Enter Henry Dunant, a Swiss entrepreneur and writer who was born in Geneva in 1828. Growing up in the city, he and his family became involved in social work, especially around the sick, poor, orphaned and those recently released from prison. After doing several jobs for companies in North Africa, in 1856 he tried to set up a new company in Algeria - controlled by France at the time. 

Unfortunately, colonial officials did not respect the land and water rights he bought, and so he decided to petition the French Emperor Napoleon III himself, who at the time was fighting alongside Piedemont-Sardinia against Austria in the Second War of Italian Independence. His headquarters were in the small city of Solferino.

Battle of Solferino spurs the creation of the Red Cross

Dunant arrived on the same day as the Battle of Solferino (June 24, 1859), and was able to witness the carnage wrought by massive armies using modern technology. Writing in his book A Memory of Solferino, he described being horrified as over 40.000 soldiers lay dead, dying or injured across the field. He also noted that there was little attempt on either side to help the wounded.

Overcome with emotion, Dunant organised civilians around the field to help the injured and sick soldiers, purchased medicine and supplies and helped build makeshift hospitals. He also convinced the Italian inhabitants to treat the French, Italian and Austrian soldiers equally and helped release captured Austrian doctors so that they could help.

Following the battle, Dunant returned to Geneva and wrote A Memory of Solferino in 1862. In it, he called for the creation of a neutral organisation that would care for wounded soldiers on the battlefield. After sending his work to various political and military figures in Europe, Dunant toured the continent trying to build support for his idea.

International Committee of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement

In 1863, the Geneva Society for Public Welfare, impressed by Dunant’s book, formed a committee to create a new humanitarian organisation. Among its members included Dunant himself, two doctors, Louis Appia and Théodore Maunoir, jurist Gustave Moynier and Henri Dufour, the Swiss general who commanded federal troops during the Swiss Sonderbund Civil War of 1847, who is widely praised for being able to reduce casualty numbers during the conflict.

On February 17, 1863, the committee met for the first time and founded what would become the International Committee of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. Still active to this day and based in Geneva, the organisation has been crucial in developing and giving humanitarian aid, and setting the modern rules for war - the organisation has won the Nobel Peace Prize three separate times (1917, 1944 and 1963).

Later in 1863, the Red Cross organised a global conference in Geneva, with the goal of improving medical services on the battlefield. The event was attended by 14 nations, and all officially agreed on making Dunant’s goals a reality. 

What is included in the First Geneva Convention?

Just a year later on August 22, 1864, the Swiss government held another meeting, at which 12 nations signed the first Geneva Convention at the Hotel de Ville. Through its 10 clauses, each nation agreed to the following:

• Ambulances, military hospitals, nurses, doctors, other medical workers and chaplains are neutral and must be protected by both sides.
• If captured, medical workers must be returned to their side as soon as their duties are complete.
• Each nation is responsible for the care of captured soldiers, whether wounded, ill or not. Soldiers no longer fit to fight should be returned home.
• Hospitals and medical staff should wear a uniform badge to identify them as neutral - this was decided to be a reverse of the Swiss flag, a red cross on a white background.

At revisions in The Hague (1899 and 1907) and Geneva (1906, 1929, 1949), 54 more articles were added to the convention, strengthening protections for civilians, captive soldiers, medical staff and charities in warzones. Though many nations have broken the conventions' rules, today 196 countries are signed up to the latest version of the treaty. Today, the Red Cross and Red Crescent have over 16 million volunteers active around the world.

Henry Dunant leaves a legacy of humanitarian success

Focused more than ever on the Red Cross, Dunant had neglected his businesses. He was forced to declare bankruptcy, resigned from the organisation and fled Geneva in disgrace to Paris in 1868. After spells in cities in Switzerland, Germany, Italy and the UK, Dunant settled in the town of Heiden, situated high in the Swiss mountains. Though financially ruined, his reputation was slowly rebuilt over the ensuing three decades of isolation.

For his efforts in founding the Red Cross and establishing the Geneva Convention, he received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1901. “Without you, the Red Cross, the supreme humanitarian achievement of the 19th century would probably have never been undertaken,” wrote Peace League founder Frédéric Passy.

Dunant died in 1910, his last words being “Where has humanity gone?” Despite his morbid words, he and a group of Swiss intellectuals had succeeded in founding arguably the world’s most important humanitarian organisation, and one of the most important humanitarian treaties ever agreed.

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