Founding of International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement

The movement began in Geneva with a committee of five citizens, including Henry Dunant and Gustave Moynier, who set up an international relief committee for wounded soldiers. Dunant had been shocked by the suffering after the battle of Solferino in 1859 and published A Memory of Solferino in 1862, calling for neutral volunteer societies to care for the wounded in war. In 1864 twelve governments adopted the first Geneva Convention, protecting medical personnel and the wounded, and the emblem chosen was a red cross on a white ground, reversing the Swiss flag. The Ottoman Empire later used a red crescent, and today both emblems are recognised. The movement has received the Nobel Peace Prize three times, and Dunant won the first Peace Prize in 1901.

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