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The ICRC as seen through the pages of the Review, 1869–1913: Personal observations

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 April 2019

David P. Forsythe
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Abstract

The early years of the Review, then called the Bulletin International des Sociétés de la Croix-Rouge, provide numerous insights into the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), which edited the journal. Since the ICRC was very small in those days and without support staff, one learns a great deal, especially about Gustave Moynier, who led the organization and carried out most of the editing duties at the Bulletin. The reader can trace the role of religious and other motivations, attitudes toward colonialism, the evolving nature of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement and the ICRC's place therein, and complex relations with States. This early era, as richly recorded in the journal, stimulates a number of questions about further research into ICRC and Red Cross history.

Keywords

Red Cross historyICRCGustave MoynierChristian charitycolonialism and racismStates and Red Cross actorshumanitarian affairs
Type
Articles
Information
International Review of the Red Cross , Volume 100 , Issue 907-909: 150 years of humanitarian reflection , April 2018 , pp. 45 - 69
Copyright
Copyright © icrc 2019 

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References

1 Throughout the article, I use contemporary names for Red Cross organs and agencies even though it took time for such names to be adopted.

2 The archives of the Review, including when it was called the Bulletin, can be found online at the HathiTrust Digital Library, available at: www.hathitrust.org; and via Cambridge University Press, available at: www.cambridge.org/core/journals/international-review-of-the-red-cross/digital-archive. More recent issues can be found on the ICRC's own website, available at: www.icrc.org/en/international-review-past-issues (all internet references were accessed in March 2019).

3 Hereinafter I use “RC” to avoid spelling out “Red Cross and Red Crescent” in full each time, and to avoid prioritizing the Red Cross over the Red Crescent.

4 “Nouvelles de la Société espagnole”, Bulletin International des Sociétés de la Croix-Rouge, Vol. 27, No. 106, 1896, p. 88CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

5 “Remplacement de M. le docteur Maunoir”, Bulletin International des Sociétés de la Croix-Rouge, Vol. 1, No. 2, 1870Google Scholar, especially p. 61, part of a larger essay devoted to RC publications ; “Aux abonnés du Bulletin”, Bulletin International des Sociétés de la Croix-Rouge, Vol. 5, No. 20, 1874, pp. 193–194Google Scholar; “Le Bulletin international (41me circulaire)”, Bulletin International des Sociétés de la Croix-Rouge, Vol. 9, No. 33, 1878, pp. 1–7Google Scholar, comprising a review of the journal up to that time; “L'avenir de la Croix Rouge, par M. Gust Moynier”, Bulletin International des Sociétés de la Croix-Rouge, Vol. 13, No. 50, 1882, p. 74Google Scholar, where the journal is said to be important but not very powerful in overcoming critics of the RC idea.

6 See, further, Senarclens, Jean des, Gustave Moynier: Le bâtisseur, Slatkine, Geneva, 2000Google Scholar. There is no English edition, possibly because the book comprises more bland description than searching analysis.

7 I borrow the phrase from Morehead, Caroline, Dunant's Dream: War, Switzerland and the History of the Red Cross, HarperCollins, London, 1999Google Scholar.

8 Moynier, Gustave, Ador, Gustave and D'Espine, Ad., “Fondation d'une Société de la Croix-Rouge au Chili (123me Circulaire aux Comités centraux de la Croix-Rouge)”, Bulletin International des Sociétés de la Croix-Rouge, Vol. 40, No. 159, 1909, p. 138Google Scholar.

9 “Du double caractère, national et international, des sociétés de secours”, Bulletin International des Sociétés de la Croix-Rouge, Vol. 1, No. 4, 1870, p. 160Google Scholar.

10 Ibid.

11 Ibid.

12 “Travaux du Comité international pendant le dernier trimestre de l'année 1870”, Bulletin International des Sociétés de la Croix-Rouge, Vol. 2, No. 6, 1871, p. 78Google Scholar.

13 Ibid., p. 79.

14 “L'avenir de la Croix Rouge, par M. Gust Moynier”, above note 5, p. 84.

15 “Avant-Propos”, Bulletin International des Sociétés de la Croix-Rouge, Vol. 1, No 1, 1869, pp. 1–3Google Scholar.

16 “Les Sociétés de secours pendant la guerre de 1870”, Bulletin International des Sociétés de la Croix-Rouge, Vol. 2, No 5, 1870, pp. 1–2Google Scholar.

17 Ibid.

18 “L'avenir de la Croix Rouge, par M. Gust Moynier”, above note 5, especially pp. 67–68.

19 Ibid., p. 69.

20 Dunant resigned when accused of financial improprieties in his business dealings, but he was apparently pushed out by Moynier. The two did not get along. Later Dunant continued to freelance in advocating for his ideas. In the mid-1870s he sought to create a new Red Cross society in Belgium, but it already had a society for aid to the war wounded linked to the ICRC. “Avis relatif à la Société nationale belge de la Croix rouge et Appel du Comité central serbe (42me circulaire)”, Bulletin International des Sociétés de la Croix-Rouge, Vol. 9, No 33, 1878, pp. 8–11Google Scholar. This type of lone-wolf advocacy by Dunant, leading to competing aid agencies in Belgium, must have driven Moynier mad.

21 Ador, Gustave and Moynier, Gustave, “Les Destinées de la Convention de Genève pendant la guerre de Serbie”, Bulletin International des Sociétés de la Croix-Rouge, Vol. 7, No. 28, 1876, p. 174Google Scholar.

22 “Considérations soumises par le Comité international de la Croix-Rouge aux membres de la Conférence”, Bulletin International des Sociétés de la Croix-Rouge, Vol. 37, No. 147, 1906, p. 180Google Scholar.

23 “III. Sociétés de secours”, Bulletin International des Sociétés de la Croix-Rouge, Vol. 4, No. 16, 1873, p. 180Google Scholar.

24 “L'avenir de la Croix Rouge, par M. Gust Moynier”, above note 5, p. 73.

25 Ibid.

26 “IV. Conclusion”, Bulletin International des Sociétés de la Croix-Rouge, Vol. 4, No. 16, 1873, p. 242Google Scholar.

27 Insufficient documentation in 1863–64 has fuelled debate about the red cross emblem. Given the strong religiosity of Dunant, Moynier and others, it is hard to believe the cross had no religious symbolism. On the other hand, a red cross on a white background was in fact the reverse of the Swiss national flag, and the leaders of the early RC efforts were indeed Swiss.

28 Ibid., p. 243. Later in this piece I comment on ICRC relations with Swiss officials in Bern.

29 “La journée du 26 octobre 1888”, Bulletin International des Sociétés de la Croix-Rouge, Vol. 20, No. 77, 1889, especially pp. 15–17Google Scholar.

30 “Ouvrages reçus et publications nouvelles”, Bulletin International des Sociétés de la Croix-Rouge, Vol. 30, No. 118, 1899, p. 65Google Scholar.

31 See, further, Hutchinson, John F., Champions of Charity: War and the Rise of the Red Cross, Westview Press, Boulder, CO, 1996, pp. 82–89Google Scholar and passim. This is essential reading on RC history but is rarely quoted by ICRC authors, perhaps because of its acerbic tone.

32 “Travaux confiés au Comité international par la Conférence de 1884”, Bulletin International des Sociétés de la Croix-Rouge, Vol. 16, No. 63, 1885, p. 98Google Scholar.

33 Ibid.

34 “La Conférence internationale de Vienne”, Bulletin International des Sociétés de la Croix-Rouge, Vol. 28, No. 112, 1897, p. 308Google Scholar.

35 Odier, Edouard, “La Troisième Conférence des Sociétés de la Croix-Rouge”, Bulletin International des Sociétés de la Croix-Rouge, Vol. 15, No. 60, 1884, p. 190Google Scholar.

36 Anne Patchett, Bel Canto, HarperCollins, New York, 2001, p. 88. Her novel is based on a real-life incident in which the ICRC was involved; see Minnig, Michel, “The Lima Hostage Crisis: Some Comments on the ICRC's Role as a ‘Neutral Intermediary’”, International Review of the Red Cross, Vol. 38, No. 323, 1998, pp. 293–303CrossRefGoogle Scholar, available at: www.icrc.org/en/doc/resources/documents/article/other/57jpcg.htm.

37 “Until a more complete code of the laws of war has been issued, the High Contracting Parties deem it expedient to declare that, in cases not included in the Regulations adopted by them, the inhabitants and the belligerents remain under the protection and the rule of the law of nations, as they result from the usages established among civilized peoples, from the laws of humanity and the dictates of public conscience.” See “Martens Clause”, How Does Law Protect in War? Online, available at: https://casebook.icrc.org/glossary/martens-clause.

38 “Considering that the progress of civilization should have the effect of alleviating, as much as possible the calamities of war; That the only legitimate object which States should endeavor to accomplish during war is to weaken the military force of the enemy; That for this purpose, it is sufficient to disable the greatest possible number of men; That this object would be exceeded by the employment of arms which uselessly aggravate the sufferings of disabled men, or render their death inevitable; That the employment of such arms would, therefore, be contrary to the laws of humanity …”

39 Moynier, Gustave, “Appel en faveur de la Croix-Rouge suisse et lettre de M. G. Moynier”, Bulletin International des Sociétés de la Croix-Rouge, Vol. 36, No. 143, 1905, pp. 209–210Google Scholar.

40 See, further, Herrmann, Irène, L'humanitaire en questions: Réflexions autour de l'histoire de Comité International de la Croix-Rouge, Cerf, Geneva, 2018Google Scholar.

41 After 1919, some in the American Red Cross tried to push the ICRC to the margins and create a more powerful and controlling Red Cross central organ, somewhat similar to the Russian proposals of 1884–97. This effort was strongly and successfully resisted (for the most part) by the ICRC, which had no trouble seeing that its future was endangered. The League of Red Cross Societies, now the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, was created, but without overarching authority. See, further, Forsythe, David P., “The International Red Cross: Decentralization and Its Uses,” Human Rights Quarterly, Vol. 40, No. 1, 2018, pp. 61–90CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Herrmann, Irene, “Décrypter la concurrence humanitaire: Le conflit entre Croix-Rouge(s) après 1918”, Relations Internationales, Vol. 151, No. 3, 2012, pp. 91–102CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

42 For one example among many, see G. Ador and G. Moynier, above note 21, p. 165.

43 “Conditions d'existence des Sociétés nationales de la Croix-Rouge”, Bulletin International des Sociétés de la Croix-Rouge, Vol. 36, No. 143, 1905, p. 152, Rule 6Google Scholar.

44 “La Croix-Rouge chez les Negres”, Bulletin International des Sociétés de la Croix-Rouge, Vol. 11, No. 41, 1880, p. 5Google Scholar.

45 “L'avenir de la Croix Rouge, par M. Gust Moynier”, above note 5, p. 73, building on a discussion of RC progress “within the limits of the ‘civilized zone’” at p. 71.

46 “L'avenir de la Croix-Rouge au Congo”, Bulletin International des Sociétés de la Croix-Rouge, Vol. 34, No. 136, 1903, p. 219CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

47 Hochschild, Adam, King Leopold's Ghosts: A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in Colonial Africa, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, New York, 1998Google Scholar.

48 Moynier, Gustave and Odier, Edouard, “Formation d'une Société congolaise et africaine de la Croix-Rouge”, Bulletin International des Sociétés de la Croix-Rouge, Vol. 20, No. 78, 1889, pp. 76–80CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

49 Jason Burke and Philip Oltermann, “Germany Moves to Atone for ‘Forgotten Genocide’ in Namibia”, The Guardian, 25 December 2016, available at: www.theguardian.com/world/2016/dec/25/germany-moves-to-atone-for-forgotten-genocide-in-namibia.

50 “La Croix-Rouge allemande au Sud-Ouest de l'Afrique”, Bulletin International des Sociétés de la Croix-Rouge, Vol. 39, No. 155, 1908, pp. 186–187CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

51 One of the oddities about the Bulletin was that it reported the activities of not only the German Red Cross but also those RC units representing Prussia, Hesse, Bade, Württemberg and Bavaria. These latter were presented as independent units and not as sub-units of one German RC, even after early 1869, when the Germans agreed on one superior RC body sitting in Berlin. There was supposed to be only one National Society per State that had ratified the 1864 GC. Of course, in France for a time there were three aid societies using the RC name. Also, early on the Bulletin reported on the activities of an American sanitary (medical) commission even though the United States had not yet ratified the first GC and had no RC society by that name. It was as if Moynier was desperately eager to include the Americans in the RC network and skipped over inconvenient facts. Despite Moynier's reputation for careful organization, there are quite a few oddities or inconsistencies evident in the journal. To cite another example, the complex and ever-changing British Red Cross was often referred to as the English Red Cross, a fact which probably did not aid RC expansion into Scotland.

52 “Les Blessés de la Bataille D'Omdurman”, Bulletin International des Sociétés de la Croix-Rouge, Vol. 30, No. 117, 1899, pp. 40–41CrossRefGoogle Scholar; “Les Blessés de la Bataille D'Omdurman”, Bulletin International des Sociétés de la Croix-Rouge, Vol. 30, No. 118, 1899, pp. 109–113CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

53 See discussion below.

54 For a telling treatment of the “civilized” French supposedly spreading enlightenment values, including human rights, to Egypt via repression and atrocities, see Cole, Juan, Napoleon's Egypt: Invading the Middle East, St Martins Griffin, New York, 2007Google Scholar.

55 See, for example, Ferguson, Niall, Empire: The Rise and the Demise of the British World Order, Penguin, London, 2002Google Scholar. In this book, Ferguson attempts a balance sheet of the positive and negative aspects of British and Western colonialism.

56 “Congrès d'hygiène et de sauvetage, rapport de M. Gustave Moynier sur la VIIme question de la 2me section”, Bulletin International des Sociétés de la Croix-Rouge, Vol. 8, No. 29, 1877, pp. 13–25Google Scholar; “L'avenir de la Croix Rouge, par M. Gust Moynier”, above note 5, pp. 74–75.

57 Ador, Gustave and Moynier, Gustave, “Le Bulletin international (41me circulaire)”, Bulletin International des Sociétés de la Croix-Rouge, Vol. 9, No 33, 1878, p. 5Google Scholar.

58 “Une Conférence oubliée de la Croix-Rouge à Genève en 1864”, Bulletin International des Sociétés de la Croix-Rouge, Vol. 15, No. 59, 1884, pp. 133–134Google Scholar.

59 Moynier used the English phrase, in “Du double caractère”, above note 9, p. 160.

60 Ibid.

61 “III. Sociétés de secours”, above note 23, p. 179.

62 Ibid.

63 “Projet de conférence internationale à Vienne”, Bulletin International des Sociétés de la Croix-Rouge, Vol. 10, No. 39, 1879, p. 66Google Scholar.

64 Ibid.

65 “Organisation générale et programme de la Croix-Rouge”, Bulletin International des Sociétés de la Croix-Rouge, Vol. 29, No. 116, 1898, p. 186CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

66 Ibid., pp. 186–187.

67 “Un dernier mot”, Bulletin International des Sociétés de la Croix-Rouge, Vol. 31, No. 124, 1900, pp. 223–225Google Scholar.

68 See above note 41.

69 Moynier, Gustave, “Consultation sur l'emploi du Croissant-Rouge”, Bulletin International des Sociétés de la Croix-Rouge, Vol. 29, No. 114, 1898, pp. 62–65CrossRefGoogle Scholar. Over time the ICRC and the National Societies were successful in legally limiting the red cross and red crescent emblems to humanitarian uses, mainly via national legislation but also by public international law – not that new laws prevented all misuse or scams.

70 “L'insurrection dans l'Herzégovine”, Bulletin International des Sociétés de la Croix-Rouge, Vol. 7, No 25, 1876, pp. 1–4Google Scholar.

71 “III. Sociétés de secours”, above note 23, p. 182.

72 “L'insurrection dans l'Herzégovine”, above note 70, especially p. 2.

73 “La Croix-Rouge uruguayenne pendant la guerre civile de 1904”, Bulletin International des Sociétés de la Croix-Rouge, Vol. 36, No. 142, 1905, pp. 144–145Google Scholar.

74 Morehead, above note 7, writes that the ICRC did not do much to shape National Societies. This is both true and false. The ICRC did not command, and it tolerated great variety in structure and function, but it did shape the National Societies in various ways. Without the ICRC's prodding and hectoring, the Movement would have been even more fractured than it was

75 “L'assistance aux prisonniers dans la guerre des Balkans: Visite à l'Agence internationale, aux Croix-Rouges serbe et grecque et au Croissant-Rouge”, Bulletin International des Sociétés de la Croix-Rouge, Vol. 44, No. 175, 1913, p. 201Google Scholar.

76 “L'avenir de la Croix Rouge, par M. Gust Moynier”, above note 5, p. 67.

77 Hutchinson, above note 31, is exactly right that most National Societies became militarized and nationalized.

78 Ferrière, Adolphe, “L'entr'aide et la Croix-Rouge”, Bulletin International des Sociétés de la Croix-Rouge, Vol. 37, No. 147, 1906, pp. 191–195CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

79 “Les protecteurs princiers de la Croix-Rouge”, Bulletin International des Sociétés de la Croix-Rouge, Vol. 29, No 113, 1898, pp. 5–6CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

80 Sigart, F. and Bougard, François, “Présidence de la Société belge”, Bulletin International des Sociétés de la Croix-Rouge, Vol. 11, No. 41, 1880, p. 14Google Scholar.

81 “L'assistance aux prisonniers dans la guerre des Balkans”, above note 75, p. 200.

82 In the 1940s, the ICRC Assembly – the organization's governing board – contained several individuals who were simultaneously Swiss federal officials in Bern. Swiss State policy was to cooperate with the Nazis, especially regarding banking and refugees, and not to antagonize Berlin unduly. The issue came up in the ICRC Assembly of how hard to press the Nazis on various humanitarian issues, and whether to do so publicly. All these ICRC top officials wearing two hats urged caution and discretion, as did a few other Assembly members. While the Swiss government per se did not pressure the ICRC to appease the Nazis, the situation circa 1942 indicated that ICRC independence as a private actor was compromised by the presence of these Swiss State officials. See Cardia, Isabelle Vonèche, Neutralité et engagement: Les relations entre le Comité international de la Croix-Rouge (CICR) et le Gouvernement suisse 1938–1945, SHSR, Lausanne, 2012Google Scholar. The modern ICRC Assembly forbids outside memberships that present a conflict of interest with the organization's humanitarian objectives. Of course, one still has to apply general rules to specific cases. See, further, Forsythe, David P., “A New International Committee of the Red Cross?”, Journal of Human Rights, Vol. 17, No. 5, 2018, pp. 533–549CrossRefGoogle Scholar, about contemporary conflicts of interest among Assembly members including the president.

83 “Une nouvelle démarche relative à la ratification des articles additionnels à la Convention de Genève”, Bulletin International des Sociétés de la Croix-Rouge, Vol. 14, No. 54, 1883, pp. 59–63Google Scholar. The Swiss Red Cross also expressed its views on this matter.

84 See, for example, Moynier, Gustave and Odier, Edouard, “Congrès international des œuvres d'assistance en temps de guerre (103e circ.)”, Bulletin International des Sociétés de la Croix-Rouge, Vol. 31, No. 123, 1900, p. 134Google Scholar.

85 “L'Etat libre de Counani et la Convention de Genève”, Bulletin International des Sociétés de la Croix-Rouge, Vol. 35, No. 137, 1904, pp. 10–11CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

86 “Conférence préparatoire á la Conférence Internationale de Vienne”, Bulletin International des Sociétés de la Croix-Rouge, Vol. 2, Nos 7–8, 1871, pp. 181, 183–184Google Scholar.

87 See, further, Cameron, Lindsey, “The ICRC in the First World War: Unwavering Belief in the Power of Law?”, International Review of the Red Cross, Vol. 97, No. 900, 2016, pp. 1099–1120CrossRefGoogle Scholar, available at: www.icrc.org/en/international-review/article/icrc-first-world-war-unwavering-belief-power-law.

88 G. Ador and G. Moynier, above note 21, pp. 164–176.

89 “2. Questions de fait”, Bulletin International des Sociétés de la Croix-Rouge, Vol. 31, No. 124, 1900, p. 219Google Scholar.

90 See discussion below, where I discuss the case of the Armenians.

91 “Note sur la création d'une institution judiciaire internationale propre a prévenir et a réprimer les infractions a la convention de Genève, par M. Gustave Moynier”, Bulletin International des Sociétés de la Croix-Rouge, Vol. 3, No. 11, 1872, pp. 122–131Google Scholar.

92 “L'avenir de la Croix Rouge, par M. Gust Moynier”, above note 5, p. 78.

93 “Les insurrections dans l'Afrique Australe”, Bulletin International des Sociétés de la Croix-Rouge, Vol. 12, No 45, 1881, p. 11Google Scholar. See, further, Palmieri, Daniel, “How Warfare Has Evolved – a Humanitarian Organization's Perceptions: The Case of the ICRC 1863–1960”, International Review of the Red Cross, Vol. 97, No. 900, 2015, pp. 985–998CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

94 “Les Prisonniers de Guerre aux Philippines”, Bulletin International des Sociétés de la Croix-Rouge, Vol. 30, No. 118, 1899, pp. 90–91Google Scholar.

95 “La Croix-Rouge uruguayenne pendant la guerre civile de 1904”, Bulletin International des Sociétés de la Croix-Rouge, Vol. 35, No. 138, 1904, p. 128Google Scholar.

96 Bass, Gary J., Freedom's Battle: The Origins of Humanitarian Intervention, Knopf, New York, 2008Google Scholar. Money for the Armenians from the American Red Cross was channelled through US government officials, another breach of the line between public and private, non-political and political.

97 Henry Dunant was born Jean-Henri Dunant; he came from an Anglophile family and preferred to be called Henry. Gustave Moynier also seemed to favour the Anglo-Saxons, but if he preferred to be called Gus, we have no record of it.

98 The author was part of a study team which asked these questions in the mid-1970s as part of the Tansley Report or “Big Study” of the Movement. Our conclusions and even our questions had little impact on anyone. For a brief introduction, see Tansley, Donald D., “Reappraisal of the Role of the Red Cross”, International Review of the Red Cross, Vol. 14, No. 155, 1974, pp. 71–75CrossRefGoogle Scholar. Tansley's final report, with supporting studies, was much longer, but length does not equate with influence.