La Red Cross it was born from an intuition of the Swiss Henry Dunant, who outlined the essential principles that still distinguish it today. It is necessary to go back to June 1859 to understand how the spark of such an important organization was born, since that year Dunant, having gone to Lombardy for work, found himself in the middle of one of the most decisive, but also the most dramatic days in the history of 'Italy, which was fighting for independence, in fact, found itself in the middle of the "battle of Solferino”, In which, armed against each other, the Franco-Piedmontese and Austrian armies fought.
The Dunant witnessed a real massacre, aggravated by the fact that not only were there dead everywhere, but the armies seemed unable to recover and take care of the wounded, who in the thousands were brought to Castiglione delle Stiviere to have rudimentary care by local women, who ran between schools and churches used as makeshift hospitals.
Dunant worked to lend a hand, impressed by the dedication and courage of those women, and from that experience he also extrapolated a book: "A memory of Solferino". It was then that he began to think about how to set up associations of volunteers to help the wounded in the event of war conflicts. Thus in 1863 the first "International Committee for Aid to the Wounded in WarWhich quickly became the International Committee of the Red Cross. Its symbol was, and still is, a red cross on a white background, in homage to the homeland of its Swiss founder, whose flag was in fact the same but with the colors reversed.
How the Red Cross works
Thus began a hard work in providing relief and assistance to the wounded without paying any attention to their nationality. Therefore, on August 22, 1864, during a diplomatic conference, twelve Nations signed the first Geneva Convention, which, in fact, laid the cornerstone of the Cross. red, guaranteed in neutrality and protection for both ambulances and field hospitals. It was also established the obligation to provide medical care also to prisoners of war, without making distinctions, and for this it was enough to be under the Crusader flag on a white background.
A long time has passed since that group of women, although without any uniform, and without any obligation, they helped the wounded in the battle of Solferino with love and dedication, impressing the Swiss Dunant with courage and fortitude. From those tragic events, from the way in which the rescue was carried out, the intuition was born to create an organization that would become a bulwark that is looked upon with pride and respect. Perhaps everything is due to those women, who without taking into account enemy uniforms or flags, had dedicated themselves to treating the wounded and mutilated soldiers as best they could. Those hardworking women inspired the Swiss philanthropist to build a neutral organization open to all that not only survives today, but has grown and consolidated.
Red Cross today
Since then, the Red Cross, which has resided in Rome since 1872, has come a long way, since today it is active wherever there is a need for relief and care, thanks to a capillary network of highly specialized and above all volunteers. It is important to underline that the cardinal principles endorsed by the International Conference of the Red Cross do not discriminate and strive for mutual understanding and cooperation between all peoples.
Fundamental to the Red Cross is always the neutrality, in fact, the movement does not take part in any way in war hostilities, and does not in any way promote disputes of any kind in peacetime, as is another essential humanitarian organization.impartiality, since the movement makes no distinction between races, nationality, religion, class, and political ideas. The intuition was of a Swiss man, but thanks go to the spark of those women, Red Cross nurse in pectore, heroic nurses of the battle of Solferino.
