The International Peace Movements - Essay Example

Topic:  IDENTIFY AND DISCUSS SOME OF THE MOST SIGNIFICANT DEVELOPMENT OF THE 19TH CENTURY ORGANIZED INTERNATIONAL PEACE MOVEMENT INTRODUCTION TheInternational Peace Movements refer to attempts towards the alteration of the foreign and/or military policies of governments and are normally managed privately by private citizens, coming usually from nation-state governed by the constitution. Traditionally, these movements were initiated with a focus on the three closely related objectives. Firstly, the peace movement began to the think about how to end wars. But over time it was felt that the prevention of war is as much important as its end. These thoughts are found to be very difficult as these results from the mutual conflicts between the nations. Thus, two related issues are evolved from them. One is to provide peace in the society by restricting the apparent inevitability of war. Another is a steady increase in prosperity among all categories of people such that they do not go for any conflict. The first period of peace movement includes the ethical position of the Christian. This movement originated from the religious groups, mainly the Quakers in England and the Presbyterians in America. In the early nineteenth century, the “Society for the Promotion of Permanent and Universal Peace” was established in London, followed by several other peace foundations across Europe and America. In the year 1843, the first World Peace Conference took place in London. After the conference, the traditional Christian position was enriched with human values which were more fundamental in nature (Cooper 1991, p.14-15; Dungen and Wittner 2003, pp. 363-364; The International Peace Movement, n.d.; Sneh 2008, pp.2-5). The international peace movement got upsurge in the late nineteenth century after the First Geneva Convention in 1864 where international laws are passed to protect the war victims. The movement was initiated by the Nobel Peace Laureate Henri Dunant, the initiator of “International Committee of the Red Cross”. The main objectives of the convention were – - “relief to the wounded without any distinction as to nationality; - neutrality (inviolability) of medical personnel and medical establishments and units; - the distinctive sign of the red cross on a white ground.” (Schindler and Toman 1986, p.36). The convention is closely related to the foundation of International Committee of Red Cross. The convention thus intended to impose international law for the protection of war victims, the medical personnels and the medical facilities at war against any hostile act. The convention generalizes the Red Cross sign on white zone as a sign of medical care and nursing at the war front. This convention is the initialisation of the international peace movement. All of the conventions are related to the welfare of the war victims. The Red Cross did not advocated for the stoppage of war, but pleaded for the protection of the wounded (Hamburger and Zuermann 1943, p.22-23). The present study attempts to identify some of the significant developments of the nineteenth century peace movement. The rest of the study is designed as follows. Section 2 gives a brief description of the peace movement in nineteenth century. Section 3 describes the personal life, the inherent quality and motivations of Henri Durant, the father of Red Cross. Section 4 describes the development of Red Cross till today. Section 5 concludes. 2. NINETEENTH CENTURY PEACE MOVEMENT In October 1863, the International Red Cross movement was shaped in Geneva to give impartial care to the injured and ailing at the battle front. The Red Cross symbol was taken up as the sign of neutrality at the first international Geneva conference. The symbol was then used by the national societies. The Geneva Conference Treaty was signed by representative from 12 different nations in August, 1864. The amazing hard work of Henri Dunant has been able to make the establishment of the International Red Cross. Today, the Red Cross Movement involves the International Committee of the Red Cross along with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. It consists of National Societies from 175 different nations which includes the American Red Cross (Hamburger and Zuermann 1943, p.23; The American Red Cross Connecticut Chapter n.d.; Veenema 2007, p. 69; Willemin et al. 1984, pp. 16-17). Following the strategy of the International Red Cross, Clara Barton has established the American Red Cross in the late nineteenth century. She has been the first individual to lay the foundations of an enduring Red Cross Society in America. The society is created to serve the country in war as well as in peace periods too. The society in peace periods also serve the country people in any other disasters or calamities. (“Understanding the Movement” n.d.; Veenema 2007, p. 69). The first Nobel peace laureate was Henri Dunant, the major initiator of the International Red Cross Movement. He got the award along with Frederic Passy, dean of the organization of peace movement in France. There were conflicts among the members of Norwegian Nobel Committee about the tasks of the Red Cross. Some members showed their doubts that whether the humanitarian works of the society can lead to peace in the world. They argued that the society is doing their tasks to reduce the human sufferings at the warfront, and not readily shows any movement in preventing the wars. But the others argued that the society, showing their spirit of love and concern for poor war victims, represented highest form of peacemaking (Veenema 2007, p. 69; Eyffinger, 1999, p.264). 3. HENRI DUNANT AND HIS IDEAS Jean Henri Dunant is known as the father of Red Cross. He was born on May 8, 1928 in Geneva. In 1901, he received the Nobel Peace Prize along with Frederic Passy. By birth, he was a very religious person of Calvinist tradition. His parents became a part of the “Church of the Awakening”, an organization directly involved in charitable activities. In the college, Dunant was a passionate listener of the sermons of the evangelical priest Louis Gaussen. Later he took part in the free-wheeling association which resembles to the evangelical religion. At the age of 20, he founded an organization whose aim was to act effectively for Christian charity and to convert the non-believers of God. In the following years, he became the member of Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA). He showed extreme organizational attitude and a true believer of God (Neff, 2004). After some years, he became involved in his business career. When he was visiting Italy in 1859 for business purpose, he tripped to the place of the “Battle of Solferino”. The Battle of Solferino went on for a period above 15 hours and number of people wounded was beyond 40,000. There he found many thousands of soldiers who were left in the battlefield to die due to inadequate army medical services. He organized there a temporary relief society with some volunteers and tried help the wounded soldiers, without considering on which side they were fighting. He could not resist himself of the thought that in future something must be done to reduce the loss of the wounded. He wanted to do so through an international organization. He felt so distressing that he wrote a book named “A memory of Solferino” after returning home in which he argued to establish international volunteer medical relief agencies. (Dunant, 1986, p.20) In this book he did not only describe the terrible battle and recall the events of the following days and the part which he played in them, but also put forward ideas and proposals for the future. He advocated for the prevention of the repetition of such suffering which he had witnessed at Solferino (History of Red Cross, n.d.; “Henri Dunant: Biography” n.d.). These ideas were both daring and modest. He sent it to prominent personalities in politics and the military, His book had succeeded to drive the attention of the Federal Council of Switzerland who sponsored an international conference in 1863 in this regard. This conference is arranged to discuss about the ideas given by Dunant in the “Nine Articles”. In this conference sixteen countries participated, among which twelve countries had approved Dunant’s ideas. On the basis of the outcome of the conference, the “First Geneva Convention” took place and the foundation of the International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC) was initiated (Durand, 1986, pp.16-17; Tri-State Medical Association of Mississippi, Arkansas and Tennessee, West Tennessee Medical and Surgical Association, Memphis and Shelby County Medical Society, 1910, p.669; “Battle of Solferino…”, 2009; Meurant 1987, p. 242). In the years that followed, Dunant was busy writing about disarmament and his argument about the establishment of an international court that can mediate the conflicts between countries. In doing these noble activities, he completely neglected his personal life and business affairs. This resulted in indebtedness and poverty for his rest of the life. In 1901 he was awarded with the Nobel Peace Prize although there were debates that whether he should get it as by that time the Red Cross Organization became so big that people were about to forget Dunant. (“Nobel Prize Awarded Organizations” n.d.; Gumpert, 1938). 4. DEVELOPMENT OF ICRC AND ITS ACCEPTANCE BY SOCIETIES The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) obtained its foundation in the year 1863 after the Geneva Conference. The founders of the ICRC set themselves for the task of nurturing the formation of National Societies. 22 national societies were created in different countries of Europe by 1874. The movement has been spread to other continents also very soon. In 1876, during the war of Russia with Turkey, the symbol of Red Crescent was stated to be used instead of the symbol of Red Cross. At that time, the Red Crescent symbol was used by many Islamic countries. Between 1864 and 1914, the Red Cross Societies serve many people at the war front. At the time of First World War, the Societies have given a huge effort in reducing the pain of the ailing people at the battlefield. All Red Cross Societies of the aggressive countries organized hospitals and ambulances (Gasser 1993, p. 2; “History of Red Cross” n.d.; “International Committee of the Red Cross”, n.d.). After the formation of the Central Tracing Agency at Geneva, the activities if the Red Cross Committee increased largely. The task of the Central Tracing Agency was to making the lists of the injured soldiers and of the prisoners from the war and to pass the information on to the respective Governments. When the prisoners were permitted to make contacts with their family, the agency helped to them in receiving, checking and sending these mails to their family members. The members of the Society often take visits to the prisoners and plead to make improvements in the condition of the captives. The President of the War Committee (Red Cross Society of America) had recommended that the Red Cross Societies of the nations like United States, Great Britain, Italy, Japan and France must contribute their resources towards the measures taken in the area of public health as well as towards the relief organizations for the purpose of attending natural disaster (“History of Red Cross” n.d.). The League of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies began in the year 1919. They have their headquarters in Geneva. Their prime task was to coordinate the role and work of National Societies at international level. It is also seen that the workings of the Red Cross Society in the peace time do not affect its noble efforts during war. During the First World War the efforts of the Red Cross Societies were really appreciable. In this period, they are indispensable to the civilians of all groups. In the following periods, there are several other international protection laws passed through Geneva Conventions. In the Second World War also, the Red Cross Committee tried to improve the conditions of the war victims and the condition of the medical camps (“History of Red Cross” n.d.;“The Red Cross in the First World War” n.d.; “The Red Cross in the Second World War”, n.d.). After the termination of the Second World War, the Red Cross Societies took tremendous task in providing the relief activities in the natural disasters as well. The workings of the Societies were expanded internationally. The National Societies are continuously trying to develop the areas of natural disasters and seeking help from the local governments. The governments help them to increase their capacity, to intervene in relief operations and in receiving and distributing relief funds. The International League was also engaged not only in the huge scale of relief works, but also in the coordination of the relief funds between donor countries and societies and the recipient ones (Finnemore, 1996, pp. 70-73). The National Societies also started in looking at the imposition of preventive measures of diseases along with the curative measures that they were already taking. They are also taking care of the public health and hygiene. There are several programmes started by the Red Cross Societies, the most important of them is the blood transfusion programme. The Society is taking effective part in persuading people to donate blood. Also the Society is actively doing necessary nursing and social welfare tasks in many parts of the world. The National Societies also started various employment generation programmes and programmes for health awareness development in schools. (International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, 2003, p.6) 5. CONCLUDING REMARKS The First Geneva Convention has a significant impact on the history of peace and tranquility. It was held at a critical period in European history. At that time, wounded at war is considered the same as death sentence because the military medical treatment was inadequate. The wounded people were left to the battlefield to die. The peace movement that initiated with the advent of First Geneva Convention was based on the set of international laws for governing the treatment and care for the wounded and prisoners. The First Geneva Convention was held along with the foundation of International Committee of the Red Cross. The prime objective of the society is to protect and give appropriate medical treatment to the war victims, without showing any country specific bias. The idea was first evolved by Henri Dunant, the originator of the Red Cross. The virtues of Dunant are very much influenced by his family background. He was a very religious man of Calvinist tradition. He deeply believed in the principle of ‘Love thy Neighbor”. After he has grown up, he involved himself in various movements and benevolent and religious activities. He was involved actively in a movement for the union of Christians and Jews. (Dunant, 1886, p.2) He became the member of an association popularized as the League of Alms. The purpose of the organization was to arrange spiritual and material comforts and aid to the deprived and ill persons. He regularly visited the city prison and tried to make reforms in the mind of the prisoners. He often made visits in different parts of the Europe and gave lectures on the evils of slavery. Dunant, through his book “A memory of Solferino”, knocked the world about the sorrows at the battlefield. His virtues propelled him to advocate for a neutral medical treatment for the wounded at the warfronts. He suggested two levels of action in this regard. One is the establishment of an organization that would take care of the wounded soldiers at the war front. Another is the establishment of international laws that could guarantee the protection of the wounded persons at the battlefield. Dunant wanted to reduce the sufferings of the people that were resulted from any war. Following his arguments, the first international Geneva Conference was held to protect the humanitarian rights of the war victims. In the rest of his life, he pleaded for the stoppage of war. Suffering from poverty till the end of his life, he gave all his awarded money to the charitable organizations. He acted as a true Christian humanitarian through his whole life. The International Red Cross Movement is one of the greatest peace movements of the world till now. It has a great impact in today’s world by not only providing aid to the wounded on the war front, but the victims of the natural disasters as well as calamities (American Red Cross, n.d.). References 1. 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Available at : http://www.redcross.org/ (Accessed on 29.10.2009). 25. Veenema T.G. (2007). Disaster nursing and emergency preparedness for Chemical, Biological and Radiological Terrorism and other hazards. Springer Publishing Company LLC. pp. 69-71. 26. Tri-State Medical Association of Mississippi, Arkansas and Tennessee, West Tennessee Medical and Surgical Association, Memphis and Shelby County Medical Society, (1910) Memphis medical monthly, Volume 30, Issue 12, University of Michigan Read More