The Geneva Convention

The Hidden Origins of the Red Cross

Angela Bennett

• Publisher: Sutton
• Year: 2006
• Topic: History
• eBook ISBN:
  9780750975353
• Subtopic: 20th Century History
• Index: History

This is the story of how two unknown young men who loathed each other founded the Red Cross, an organisation that has done more for mankind than any other. Why did the crowned heads of sixteen states meet in Geneva in 1864, on the invitation of these virtual nobodies, to sign a world-changing convention?

Drawing on confidential papers and private documents, and including a 'day in the life' piece on the Head of Operations, Near East, for the International Committee of the Red Cross, Angela Bennett gives us the full story of the Convention. She reveals the frustrations and complications that nearly destroyed it in the early years, the bitter antagonism between the brilliant administrator Moynier and the flamboyant Dunant, and probes the bank scandal for which Dunant was convicted.

Table of contents

• Half Title
• Dedication
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Acknowledgements
• Introduction
• 1. Henry Dunant is Shocked
• 2. Enter Gustave Moynier and Friends
• 3. Dunant Goes on Tour
• 4. A Question of Mules
• 5. Europe Initials a Contract
• 6. What a Waste of Lives
• 7. The Felfela Affair
• 8. Dunant Dusts Himself Off
• 9. Moynier is All at Sea
• 10. Vive la Neutralité!
• 11. They Seek Him Here, They Seek Him There!
• 12. Moynier Heaves a Sigh of Relief
• 13. Dunant Provokes the Russian Bear
• 14. A Musical Interlude
• 15. Exit Moynier, Centre Stage
• 16. Dunant Wins a Prize
• Epilogue: The Situation Today
• Appendix I A Day in the Life of a Delegate of the ICRC
• Appendix II The Man in White through the eyes of Charles Dickens
• Appendix III Chronology of the Conventions and Codifications of the Laws of War
• Appendix IV Summary of the Four Geneva Conventions
• Appendix V Henry Dunant’s Will
• Appendix VI US Disregard of the Third Geneva Convention at Guantanamo Bay
• Bibliography