THE ADVOCATE 365
VOL. 78 PART 3 MAY 2020
A SHORT HISTORY OF
THE GENEVA CONVENTION
PART II1
By David Roberts, Q.C.*
Part I of this article addressed the history leading up to the
making of the first Geneva Convention in 1864 and the establishment
of the Red Cross. Part II takes up the story from that
time.
ADOPTION OF THE FIRST GENEVA CONVENTION
As described in Part I, the first Geneva Convention was ultimately the product
of an international conference held in 1864. The Americans initially
refused to sign. The delegates returned home bearing the convention with
them and their respective countries ratified it one by one. It was approved
by Belgium, Denmark, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden, Norway,
Spain and Switzerland in 1864. They were followed by Britain (1865), Prussia
(1865), Greece (1865), Turkey (1865), Austria (1866), Portugal (1866),
Russia (1867), Persia (1874), Serbia (1876), Chile (1879), Argentina (1879)
and Peru (1880).
Clara Barton, a nurse in the American Civil War, led the campaign to persuade
the United States to sign the Geneva Convention. In 1877 Barton
organized the American National Committee, which three years later
became the American Red Cross. However, it was not until 1882 that the
United States signed the Geneva Convention. It also agreed to support Barton’s
efforts to distribute relief during floods, earthquakes, famines,
cyclones and other peacetime disasters.
After the United States signed in 1882, others followed, including Bulgaria
(1884), Japan (1886), Luxemburg (1888), Venezuela (1894), South
Africa (1896), Uruguay (1900), Guatemala (1903), Mexico (1905), China
(1906), Germany (1906), Brazil (1906), Cuba (1907), Panama (1907) and
Paraguay (1907).
* Part I of this article appears in the previous issue: (2020) 78 Advocate 181.