The first half-century of the ICRC's existence saw the development of concerted and coordinated humanitarian action for war victims, on the basis of international law.

This is the book that prompted the creation of what is now a worldwide movement with millions of members and made the name of Henry Dunant known everywhere. The account has moved many people and still does today. "One finishes this book cursing war", wrote the Goncourt brothers in the nineteenth century. Since it was first published in 1862, the book has been translated into so many languages and reprinted so many times that it is difficult to know how many versions exist throughout the world.

This concise biography describes the main stages of a life devoted to helping others; we discover not only a charitable human being whose humanitarian ideals took pride of place over business interests, but also a brilliant, enthusiastic and persevering mind.

Its role as a neutral intermediary in armed conflicts and its activities in aid of millions of victims of war throughout the world have made the ICRC a key figure in history. These two volumes, offering a wealth of information on the late nineteenth and the first part of the twentieth century, are a must for all those who are interested in contemporary history.

This article was published in Genève et la paix, Acteurs et enjeux, Trois siècles d'histoire, Actes du colloque historique tenu au Palais de l'Athénée les 1- 2-3 novembre 2001, edited by Roger Durand, with he collaboration of Jean-Daniel Candaux and Antoine Fleury, Association “Genève : un lieu pour la paix”, Geneva, December 2005, pp. 69-99. English translation (extracts) published in : International Geneva Yearbook, Volume XIX, 2005-2006, pp. 5-15. This article was reproduced here with the editors' kind permission.

The decisive clash of the war of Italian unification; the suffering of the wounded left without care was the inspiration for the founding of the Red Cross.

The man whose vision led to the creation of the worldwide Red Cross and Red Crescent movement; he went from riches to rags but became joint recipient of the first Nobel peace prize.

Two years after Henry Dunant's book was published, the creation of the ICRC and the adoption of the first Geneva Convention meant that his vision was becoming reality.

The first conflict to break out after the creation of the Red Cross; the ICRC dispatches delegates to both sides of the front line and serves as neutral intermediary; first steps by national Red Cross societies.

The struggle for German supremacy; problems over non-adhesion to the Geneva Convention; ICRC facilitates information flow between national societies.

The ICRC begins to be increasingly operational during a conflict, carrying out what were to become core activities for the wounded and prisoners.

Uprisings against the Ottoman Empire, war between Turkey and Russia; first use of the red crescent emblem; Serbia and Montenegro ratify the Geneva Convention; ICRC active in the field.

Red Cross societies from both belligerent and neutral countries play an increasingly active part in helping the victims of conflict.

The ICRC opens a relief agency in Belgrade as hostilities break out between the Ottoman empire and a coalition grouping Bulgaria, Greece, Montenegro and Serbia. The Committee sends delegates to visit prisoners and to monitor relief distribution.

Complete list showing date and city where the conference took place.

While Henry Dunant was one of two laureates for the first Nobel Peace Prize in 1901, the ICRC itself has been awarded this honour - in 1917, 1944 and, with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, in 1963.