| Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded in Armies in the Field | |
|---|---|
 The first-ever Geneva Convention governing the sick and wounded members of armed forces was signed inGeneva in August 1864. | |
| Type | Multilateral treaty |
| Signed | 22 August 1864 (1864-08-22) |
| Location |  Geneva, Switzerland |
| Effective | 22 June 1865 (1865-06-22) |
| Parties | List |
| Depositary | Swiss Federal Archives |
| Full text | |
 First Geneva Convention (1864) atWikisource | |
TheFirst Geneva Convention, officially theConvention for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded in Armies in the Field (French:Convention pour l'amélioration du sort des blessés et des malades dans les forces armées en campagne), held on 22 August 1864, is the first of fourtreaties of theGeneva Conventions.[1][2] It defines "the basis on which rest the rules of international law for the protection of the victims of armed conflicts."[3]
After the first treaty was adopted in 1864, it was significantly revised and replaced in 1906, 1929, and finally 1949. It is inextricably linked to theInternational Committee of the Red Cross, which is both the instigator for the inception and enforcer of the articles in these conventions.
The 1864 Geneva Convention was instituted during a critical period in European political and military history. TheAmerican Civil War had been raging elsewhere since 1861, and would ultimately claim between 750,000 and 900,000 lives. Between the fall ofNapoleon at theBattle of Waterloo in 1815 and the rise ofhis nephew in theItalian campaign of 1859, the powers had maintained peace in western Europe.[4]
Yet, with the 1853–1856conflict in the Crimea, war had returned to Europe, and while those troubles were "in a distant and inaccessible region" northern Italy was "so accessible from all parts of western Europe that it instantly filled with curious observers;" while the bloodshed was not excessive the sight of it was unfamiliar and shocking.[4] Despite its intent of ameliorating the ravages of war, the inception of the 1864 Geneva Convention inaugurated "a renewal of military activity on a large scale, to which the people of western Europe…had not been accustomed since the first Napoleon had been eliminated."[4]
The movement for an international set of laws governing the treatment and care for the wounded andprisoners of war began when relief activistHenry Dunant witnessed theBattle of Solferino in 1859, fought between French-Piedmontese andAustrian armies in Northern Italy.[5] The subsequent suffering of 40,000 wounded soldiers left on the field due to lack of facilities, personnel, and truces to give them medical aid moved Dunant into action.[2] Upon return toGeneva, Dunant published his accountUn Souvenir de Solferino.[6] He urged the calling together of an international conference and soon co-founded with the Swiss lawyerGustave Moynier, the International Committee of the Red Cross in 1863.[7][1]
TheInternational Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), while recognising that it is "primarily the duty and responsibility of a nation to safeguard the health and physical well-being of its people", knew there would always, especially in times of war, be a "need for voluntary agencies to supplement…the official agencies charged with these responsibilities in every country."[8] To ensure that its mission was widely accepted, it required a body of rules to govern its activities and those of the involved belligerent parties.
Only one year later, the Swiss government invited the governments of all European countries and the United States, Brazil, and Mexico to attend an official diplomatic conference. Sixteen countries sent a total of twenty-six delegates to Geneva. The meeting was presided over by GeneralGuillaume Henri Dufour. The conference occurred in the Alabama room at Geneva's Hotel de Ville (city hall) on 22 August 1864.[9] The conference adopted the firstGeneva Convention "for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded in Armies in the Field". Representatives of 12 states signed the convention:[10]
TheUnited Kingdom of Norway and Sweden signed in December.[11] TheUnited Kingdom signed a year later in 1865.[12] TheGrand Duchy of Hesse, theKingdom of Bavaria andAustria signed in 1866 following the conclusion of theAustro-Prussian War.[13] TheUnited States of America signed in 1882.[12]
The original document is preserved in theSwiss Federal Archives inBern.[14] In the past it has been loaned to the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Museum in Geneva.[15]
The convention "derived its obligatory force from the implied consent of the states which accepted and applied them in the conduct of their military operations."[4] Despite its basic mandates, listed below, it was successful in effecting significant and rapid reforms. This first effort provided only for:[16]
Parties to GC I–IV and P I–III | Parties to GC I–IV and P I–II |
Parties to GC I–IV and P I and III | Parties to GC I–IV and P I |
Parties to GC I–IV and P III | Parties to GC I–IV and no P |
The original ten articles of the 1864 treaty[17] have been expanded to the current 64 articles. This lengthy treaty protects soldiers that arehors de combat (out of the battle due to sickness or injury), as well as medical and religious personnel, and civilians in the zone of battle. Among its principal provisions:
Due to significant ambiguities in the articles with certain terms and concepts and even more so to the rapidly developing nature of war and military technology, the original articles had to be revised and expanded, largely at the Second Geneva Conference in 1906 andHague Conventions of 1899 and 1907 which extended the articles tomaritime warfare.[16] The 1906 version wasupdated and replaced by the 1929 version when minor modifications were made to it. It was again updated and replaced by the 1949 version, better known as the Final Act of Geneva Conference, 1949.[19]
However, asJean S. Pictet, Director of the International Committee of the Red Cross, noted in 1951, "the law, however, always lags behind charity; it is tardy in conforming with life's realities and the needs of humankind", as such it is the duty of the Red Cross "to assist in the widening the scope of law, on the assumption that…law will retain its value", principally through the revision and expansion of these basic principles of the original Geneva Convention.[3]
For a detailed discussion of each article of the treaty, see the original text[20] and the commentary.[18] There are currently 196 countries party to the 1949Geneva Conventions, including this first treaty but also including the other three.[21]
