The origins of the British Red Cross Society and the politics and practices of relief in war, 1870-1906

Abstract

This article traces the history of the British National Society for Aid to the Sick and Wounded in War (NAS), and its interventions in Continental and colonial wars of the late-nineteenth century. The NAS was founded on the outbreak of the FrancoPrussian War in August 1870. It went on to become one of the most important founding members of the British Red Cross Society (BRCS) when it was established in 1905. The aim of the article is to uncover the particular anxieties and aspirations that contributed to the foundation of the NAS. It demonstrates how these concerns -many of them related to the relative state of the British militaryinformed its subsequent practices and its relationship with the International Committee of the Red Cross. In tracing its emergence as a paramilitary corps adept at rapid-response emergency medicine, this article uncovers the rivalry that characterized attempts within the NAS and BRCS to lay claim to the "true spirit" of voluntary aid in war -a rivalry which eventually informed British insistence on a revision to the Geneva Convention in 1906.KEY WORDS: relief work; militarism; Franco-Prussian War; British Red Cross Society; Geneva Convention. RESUMEN:Este artículo rastrea la historia de la British National Society for Aid to the Sick and Wounded in War (NAS) y sus intervenciones en las guerras europeas y coloniales de finales del siglo XIX. La NAS se fundó con el estallido de la Guerra FrancoPrusiana en agosto de 1870. Acabó convirtiéndose en uno de los miembros fundadores más importantes de la Sociedad de la Cruz Roja Británica (BRCS) cuando se estableció en 1905. El propósito del artículo es mostrar las peculiares inquietudes y aspiraciones que contribuyeron a la fundación de la NAS. Demuestra cómo estas preocupaciones -muchas de ellas asociadas al status de los militares británicos-condicionaron sus prácticas subsiguientes y sus relaciones con el Comité Internacional de la Cruz Roja. Al rastrear el surgimiento de la NAS como un cuerpo paramilitar experto en urgencias médicas de respuesta rápida, este artículo pone de manifiesto la rivalidad que caracterizó los intentos dentro de la NAS y de la BRCS por atribuirse el "verdadero espíritu" de la ayuda voluntaria en la guerra -una rivalidad que propició la insistencia británica en revisar la Convención de Ginebra en 1906.

The doctors' dilemmas: Medical practice in the Free State during the south african war.

“…Florence Nightingale was also insistent that voluntary societies would merely dilute the government's responsibility for the sick and wounded. 19 In consequence, no local Red Cross Committee was established and Britain did not attend international Red Cross conferences, 20 looking askance at the "irresponsible Committee of Swiss gentlemen" who "perform no function that is of real importance". 21 The British National Society for Aid to the Sick and Wounded (NAS), established in 1870 was amalgamated with other volunteer movements to form the Central British Red Cross Committee (CBRCC) only in 1899, and this new Red Cross was unequivocally subservient to the medico-military establishment.…”