Nearly 150 years ago, the leading men of Europe met to agree a convention to protect wounded and sick soldiers in wartime. As warfare has changed over the years, the international community has adapted the rules of war to protect people who aren't taking part in the conflict.
The first Geneva Convention was drawn up in 1864 to improve the condition of the wounded of armies in the field. In 1907, a second convention was agreed at The Hague to extend protection to the wounded of maritime warfare. A third convention, adopted in 1929, detailed acceptable treatment of prisoners of war.
In August 1948 the XVII International Red Cross Conference was held in Stockholm, where 52 National Societies were represented. Representatives from the British Red Cross and the British government attended. They discussed revising the Geneva Conventions to include the protection of civilians in time of war.
The XVII International Red Cross Conference was followed in 1949 by the Diplomatic Conference for the Establishment of International Conventions for the Protection of Victims of the War. After four months of debate, the conference established the four conventions:
- Convention I: for the improvement of the condition of the wounded and sick in armed forces in the field (revision and development of the Geneva Convention of 1929)
- Convention II: for the improvement of the condition of wounded, sick and shipwrecked members of armed forces at sea (revision and development of the Xth Convention of The Hague of 1907)
- Convention III: relative to the treatment of prisoners of war (revision and development of the Geneva Convention of 1929)
- Convention IV: relative to the protection of civilian persons in time of war.
Discover more about the Geneva Conventions
Read more about the history of the British Red Cross