History Daily - The Formation of the Red Cross

Episode Date: October 29, 2025

October 29, 1863. Led by Swiss businessman Henry Dunant, eighteen countries meet in Geneva and agree to form the International Red Cross. Support the show! Join Into History for ad-free listening and more.History Daily is a co-production of Airship and Noiser.Go to HistoryDaily.com for more history, daily.

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only edulisia. It's June 24th, 1859, on a battlefield on Sulforino Northern Italy. Henri Dunon Nel,

heels in the mud beside a wounded soldier. A 31-year-old Swiss businessman, Henri tries his best to tend to the blood-soaked man. Propping his head up, Henri raises a canteen of water to the soldier's lips. But as the man sipped, he coughs violently and spits out blood. Henri knows he doesn't have long to live. So he lowers the canteen to the ground and gripping the man's hand, waits for the inevitable. Hundreds more wounded soldiers lie in the mud all around.

Only a few hours ago, a joint French and Sardinian army won an important victory over an Austrian enemy here. But that triumph has come at a cost of thousands, either killed or horrifically wounded. And Henri's appearance on the battlefield was completely unplanned. He'd been traveling through Italy on a business matter when he stumbled on the carnage. Henri couldn't ignore what he saw, so he quickly said about helping. But for far too many of the young men lying on this battlefield, it was already too late. The soldier in the mud beside Henri shakes for a moment, his breath ragged, and then the light in his eyes goes out. Henri fights the feeling of helplessness and surges through him.

This young man is not the first soldier to die in his arms today, and he won't be the last. The horrors that Henri Dunor witnesses on the battlefield will change his life, and eventually the world too. Building on years of social activism, Henri will help establish an organization unlike any before, a neutral body dedicated to helping people suffering in conflict whatever side they're on. It will be named the Red Cross, and it will be founded on October 29, 1863. Hey there, Lindsay Graham here. Before we get to the rest of the show, a quick word about something exciting I'm planning, a live show, me on stage with a microphone in one hand and a fistful of stories in the other. You, hopefully in the audience, enjoying history live. If you want to be the first to hear about tour dates, which cities I'll be visiting,

Special VIP opportunities, and to get a discount on tickets, head to HistoryDailyLive.com. That's historydaily live.com. I'm excited to hit the road and hopefully get to see you, so go to historydaily live.com. Let's eatuillan. Elisa, eturopsychinta, always eduline on. Pufferimates and other lighteatheatheathean, Elisa.mobile from eliz frome.

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Let's E-Tuilan, the lupto-mme on, from elisa etu hintra aina enduline on. From noisor and airtighteatheurlissan etuelsa and oesuitteesel. Phuhermia and all kinds of lighteat. On etu-hinnat elisan a endurlisian. From Noisor and Airship, I'm Lindsay Graham, and this is History Daily. History is made every day.

On this podcast, every day, we tell the true stories of the people and events that shaped our world. Today is October 29, 1863, the formation of the Red Cross. It's December 1, 1852 in Geneva, Switzerland, seven years before the Battle of Solferino. At the breakfast table of his family home, 24-year-old Henri Dunon signed his signature to the bottom of five identical letters. He then places the letters into envelopes between mouthfuls of bread, scattering crumbs on the table around him. Henri's mother stares at him over her morning tea. It's a look Henri has seen many times before, one that silently asks her son that business is not to be conducted while food is on the table. So he quickly finishes his letters and then holds up his hands and mock surrender, waiting for his mother to ask what was so important that he couldn't wait.

When the question doesn't come, though, Henri offers up an answer anyway. He enthusiastically explains to his mother that he is written to the heads of five branches of the Young Men's Christian Association. The YMCA is an organization that helps impoverished young men. when they need assistance the most. Having been founded in England in 1844, it now has chapters all over the world, and last night, Henri and his friends officially opened the first Swiss branch right here in Geneva. Born into a devout, Calvinist family, Henri was raised by his parents to believe in the power of faith and charity, and they practiced what they preached. Henri's father worked with orphans and ex-prisoners, his mother cared for the poor and sick,

and to their great pride and satisfaction, Henri has first of their first. followed in their footsteps. Six years ago, at the age of 18, he formed a group called the Thursday Association that met every week to study scripture and help the poor. There, he learned about how other similar organizations around the world had banded together to find solutions to the many problems of modern society. These groups are what have ultimately inspired Henri to open the first Swiss chapter of the YMCA. But Henri now has even bigger plans. As soon as he's finished his breakfast, he races away from his parents' home with a clutch of letters tucked carefully into his bag. The five envelopes are bound for France, Germany, Great Britain,

the Netherlands, and the United States, and each contains a plan to band together every branch of the YMCA under one international umbrella. Henri's thinking is that by teaming up with other chapters all over the world, they can share information and ideas and encourage even more people to follow their example. But writing letters is the easy part. It takes three years for Henri to turn his idea into reality, but he finally achieves his goal with a formation of the World Alliance of the YMCA in 1855. All during this time, Henri continues his charitable work both at home and abroad. And when he's offered the opportunity to work in Algeria, Henri jumps at the chance.

In 1856, he's given a lease of land by French authorities in North Africa, which Henri uses to start his own trading company. Henri makes sure his new business has what he considers to be his workers' best interests at heart. He treats his employees with respect and pays them a decent wage, and the business thrives. But when it comes time for expansion, the French colonial authorities stand in his way. For reasons that Henri barely understands, they refuse to grant him the extra land he needs and ties up his business venture in red tape. Henri spends weeks traveling to and from Paris desperately hoping to find some French minister

who can overrule the colonial authorities and sign off on his expansion plans, but he has no luck. Then Henri is hit with an idea. He decides to go straight to the top. If a minister won't help him, then perhaps the emperor will. He writes a flattering biography of the French leader Napoleon III,

hoping that if he can present the text to the emperor in person, it may persuade him to grant Henri the land he needs. Armed with his optimistic plan, Henri Dunon will set off in search of Napoleon III, You will discover the French leader is in Italy, attempting to put an end to the Second War of Italian Independence. But what Henri will find on the battlefield there will change his plans completely and give him an entirely new mission in life. Lumpaucing me is.

Elisa, etu-hunean on. Pufferimates and other laitteets, huipu-erulisian etuinen, on Elisan myumeloste and osoottees. Puffe. Puffelimiya and all kinds of laitre. It's June 27, 1859, in Solferino, Italy, weeks after Henri D'Nol set out to find Napoleon III. 31-year-old Henri re wraps the leg of an Austrian soldier in bandages.

And once he stopped the man's bleeding, Henri helps the soldier to his feet. It's been three days since Henri arrived in northern Italy. And the moment he saw the aftermath of the battle, he abandoned his search for Napoleon III and rushed to help the third. and rushed to help the thousands of men dying, moaning and crying with pain and fear. The retreating Austrian army had just left their wounded behind, taking all their horses and carts with them. Meanwhile, the French forces had only one doctor for every thousand men and nowhere near enough medical supplies to cope. But even though he raced to help, on the first evening, Henri simply walked around in shock.

Everywhere he looked, men were dying, many of them needlessly through simple lack of care. It shook him badly. He couldn't stand it. So the next morning he jumped into action, and he's been working in the filth and gore of the battlefield ever since. But as Henri helps the Austrian soldier hobble away, a local Italian villager steps in their path. She's a small but fearsome-looking woman,

and she jabs an angry finger at Henri, saying there are still hundreds of Italian and French soldiers out there who need help. Henri should be helping them first, not the enemy. Henri pauses. Then, in a calm voice, but laced with anger, He tells this villager that he understands her frustration and pain. But the man he is treating is no longer the enemy. The color of his uniform no longer means anything.

The battle is over. And all the young men here are brothers equally deserving of help. Reluctantly, the woman steps aside, and Henri helps the injured soldier somewhere safe. He's pleased he's saved another life. But Henri knows there are still many more out there who need his help. Thankfully, by now, Henri is not alone. Although the woman on the path did not want to help, each day Henri has seen more and more strangers come out of their homes with bandages, food, and water.

Using the skills he picked up in North Africa, Henri has organized them into teams. Some help the wounded. Some offer comfort to the dying, and others buried the dead. Finally, after eight days of exhausting and emotionally draining work, there's no more Henri can do, and he leaves Solferino. He didn't meet Napoleon III. He hasn't secured the business license he came for,

but he goes home with something far greater, a new purpose in life. In the weeks that follow, Henri tells everyone he meets about the unimaginable horror he saw in Solferino and the impact it's had on him. But he soon learns that simply talking about it isn't enough. He's a passionate and persuasive speaker, but he can't reach enough people that way. So he decides to write and self-publish a book, one describing what he witnessed in meticulous detail. He names it a memory of Solferino. He doesn't soften the truth. The book is full of disturbing, firsthand encounters with men who died in agonizing pain. And despite his own selfless acts, Henri makes sure he includes his own feelings of in

an inadequacy in the face of such overwhelming bloodshed. Henri then prints 1,600 copies of the book at his own expense and distributes them to influential figures across Europe. A memory of Solferino soon becomes a major talking point in high society, and Henri travels the continent to promote the book. Second and third editions are soon ordered in which he revises and expands on his ideas. Because a memory of Solferino is not just an account of a battle or its grisly aftermath. It's a rallying cry to do things differently.

Henri knows he can't abolish war, but he believes more can be done to ease the suffering of those caught up in it. In his book, Henri proposes relief societies that can bring aid to the battlefield and help the injured and die. It's a revolutionary idea, but it will capture the imagination of people all over Europe. Early in 1863, only a few months after the publication of the book, Henri will form a committee with four other men in Switzerland, who are all equally dedicated to making this proposal a reality. They will take as their emblem an inverted Swiss flag, a red cross on a white background. But for this new Red Cross organization to make a real difference, they will need help. Luckily, they will find like-minded men and women all over the world. It's October 29, 1863, at Hall in Geneva, Switzerland,

almost a year after the publication of a memory of Sulforino. Standing at a lectern, Henri Dunall reads an excerpt of his book to an audience of dignitaries and decision-makers. They have come to Switzerland from 16 different states around the world to discuss humanitarian care in times of war. At the front of the hall, Henri describes the horrors he saw in Italy. Men cut open with bayonets or ripped apart by gunfire. Others who were trampled by horses were left blind and paralyzed.

And he speaks also of those who could have been saved if only help had arrived more quickly. Then Henri shuts the book, and he sees that some in the audience have been moved to tears. He tells them he knows their pain and their sense of helplessness, but there is something they can do. Henri puts forward a plan to establish an international organization, one that will coordinate help for the wounded and vulnerable during and after battles. After a short deliberation, the proposal is unanimously approved, and the International Red Cross is born. But Henri's involvement in this new organization will not last long.

Later in the 1860s, his businesses will fall on hard times, and Henri will be saddled with debts he can never repay. This controversy will see him leave Geneva for good. For decades, he will be destitute and almost forgotten until 1895, when a journey journalists tracks him down to a hospital in Switzerland. This reporter will write an article about Henri that restores his reputation as the founder of the Red Cross, and six years later, his rehabilitation will be complete when he is awarded the first ever Nobel Peace Prize. By then, there will be branches of the Red Cross and

countries all across the globe. And in the 20th century, its medics and volunteers will be on the front lines of countless regional conflicts as well as two world wars. Thousands of lives will be saved, and it will be all thanks to Henri Dunon and his campaign to change the way the world waged war, which came to a triumphant conclusion with the founding of the Red Cross on October 29, 1863. Next on History Daily, October 30th, 1811. After a long struggle to be taken seriously, Jane Austen finds a publisher for her first novel, Sense and Sensibility. From Noisor and Airship, this is History Daily, hosted, edited and executive produced by me, Lindsay Graham. Audio editing by Mohamed Shazim. Sound design by Molly Bond. Music by Throne.

This episode is written and researched by Owen Paul Nichols, edited by William Simpson. Managing producer Emily Burr. Executive producers are William Simpson for airship and Pascal Hughes for Noisor.