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Use Cases
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Resources
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Pricing
1859
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Franco-Sardinian and Austrian troops clash in Battle of Solferino, near northern Italian town of Castiglione della Pieve. Swiss businessman Henry Dunant, horrified by the slaughter, helps to care for the wounded of both sides
1863
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International Committee formed for relief of military wounded (members Henry Dunant, Gustave Moynier, Louis Appia, Theodore Maunoir and Guillaume-Henri Dufour) . In 1876, committee becomes International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).International Geneva Conference. Adoption of the Red Cross on white background (reverse of Swiss flag) as emblem and establishment of national committees for the relief of military wounded.
1864
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12 states sign the ten articles starting the first geneva convention. protection of international law both to wounded enemy soldiers and those caring for them.
1867
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First International Conference of the Red Cross, attended by nine governments, 16 National Committees and the International Committee.
1869
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Berlin
1884
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Geneva
1887
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Karlsruhe
1892
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held in rome
1896
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1897
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held in vienna
1899
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Laws and customs of war on land
Adaptation to naval warfare of the principles of the 1864 Geneva Convention
1901
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1906
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1907
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Laws and customs of war on land
Adaptation to maritime warfare of the principles of the 1906 Geneva Convention
1910
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1914 - 1918
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During World War One, Red Cross operates on a bigger scale than before. ICRC delegates visit prisoners of war and call for improvements in conditions of detention. Around 120,000 people seek out ICRC for information on captured missing military personnel. War reveals urgent need to protect civilian prisioners
1917
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1919
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League of Red Cross Societies formed in aftermath of World War One. Becomes League of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies from 1983 and, from 1991, International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.
1925
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Geneva Protocol - Prohibition of the use in war of asphyxiating, poisonous or other gases, and of bacteriological methods of warfare.
1929
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Wounded and sick in armed forces in the field
Prisoners of war
Official recognition of the Red Crescent emblem (first used in 1876)
1939
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HQ changed because of world war 2 out break
1939 - 1945
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World War Two puts the Red Cross to tough test. At the beginning the ICRC got all parties to the conflict to extend provisions of 1929 Geneva Conventions to civilians of enemy nationality who were on the territory of a party to the conflict and had been arrested only because of their nationality. This was the case for French citizens living in France who were interned when war was declared. This protection was not extended to civilians of enemy nationality on occupied territory, such as Poland. Thus, people in Nazi concentration camps remained without protection.
1944
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1949
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The wounded and sick in armed forces in the field [revision and development of the 1929 Geneva Convention]
Wounded, sick and shipwrecked members of armed forces at sea
Prisoners of war
Civilian persons
The four Conventions contain a common Article 3 relating to the protection of victims of non-international armed conflicts
1952
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1956 - 1957
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rules for protection of civilian populations from indiscriminate warfare communicated to governments and National Societies ahead of discussion at International Conference of the Red Cross in New Delhi
1960
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Start of decade of rapid increase in number of National Societies in the Red Cross and Rad Crescent Movement to more than 100 following new-found independance of many former colonies in Africa and Asia. Shift in global politics also involves League in series of man-made disasters, and hundreds of thousands of refugees, from wars in Vietnam, Congo and elsewhere.
1963
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League launches mass development programme, involving countries recently-independent or about to gain independence, in the Caribbean and Africa.
ICRC and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies win Nobel Peace Prize
1971
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Movement meeting in Mexico City considers issues of "Red Cross in a Changing World", with emphasis on "presentation" and a "united front".
1972
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Donald Tansley, executive vice-president of the Canadian International Development Agency, appointed to lead study into future role and other aspects of the Red Cross.
1975
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First World Red Cross Conference on Peace in Belgrade, Yugoslavia. Produces action programme but, in Bucharest in 1977, Red Cross's Council of Delegates fails to reach agreement on it.
1975
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Tansley Report" published, meets mixed reaction. Report defines basic role of Red Cross as "provision of emergency help, on an unconditional and impartial basis, whenever and wherever human needs for protection and assistance exist because of natural disaster and conflict".
1976
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Convention on protection of the environment. Prohibition of military or any other hostile use of environmental modification techniques.
1977
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International Conference in Bucharest, Romania, considers "Tansley Report", with ICRC President Eric Martin calling it a "pitiless inquisition" and remaining cool about proposal for joint services with the League. Proposals on Red Cross becoming "lead agency" on disaster relief, on an evaluation of operations and on an International Relief Convention fade away. Conference proposes process of constant reappraisal within the Movement.
Protocols additional to 1949 Geneva Conventions
Protection of victims of international armed conflicts
Protection of victims of non-international armed conflicts
1980
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Conventional weapons treaty. Prohibitions or restrictions on the use of certain conventional weapons.
1981
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Respect for International Humanitarian Law (IHL) emerges as a central theme for the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement.
1983
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League President Enrique de la Mata, putting human rights firmly on agenda, says League represents "efforts of those working for peace, not only by halting the evils of war or disaster, but by doing all they can to prevent war through the promotion of international comprehension and understanding and defence of justice and dignity".
1984
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Second World Red Cross Conference on Peace, in Aaland, Sweden. Attended by ICRC, League and National Societies. Meeting, with East-West tensions, ends with call to "make peace all over the world a reality".
1986
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1989
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Agreement between the ICRC and the League and establishment of study group on the future of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement.
Convention on the Rights of the Child.
1991
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League of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies renames as International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.
1993
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Convention on the prohibition of the development, production, stockpiling and use of chemical weapons and on their destruction.
1994
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1996
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Protocol on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Mines, Booby-Traps and Other Devices
1997
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Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on their Destruction.
Agreement on the Organisation of the International Activities of the Components of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement.
1998 - 2013
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the red cross is currently involved in countless projects such as disaster, war health environment and many more