The Battle of Solferino
In 1859, when Dunant was still a businessman, he spotted a tract of land that he wanted to buy. However, he needed Napoleon III's permission for the transaction. So, he traveled to Solferino, Napoleon III's main city, unaware that there was a war going on.
Dunant arrived just in time to witness the Battle of Solferino, one of the most bloody battles in the 19th Century. In total, the battle lasted 15 hours, with more than 40,000 killed or injured.
Dunant was horrified, not only by the massive slaughter, but also by the amounts of injured soldiers left to die on the battlefield. He gathered a group of volunteers from surrounding villages to help the soldiers.
In 1862, Dunant wrote a book; Un Souvenir de Solférino, or A Memory of Solferino. His book has three sections: the battle, the aftermath, and a plan for the nations of the world to unite and create an organization for helping wounded soldiers. This would eventually become the Red Cross, and the plan would become the Geneva Convention of 1864.
About the Battle of Solferino, Dunant wrote: "Oh, how valuable it would have been…to have had a hundred experienced and qualified voluntary orderlies and nurses! Such a group would have formed a nucleus around which could have been rallied the scanty help and dispersed efforts which needed competent guidance."
In 1859, when Dunant was still a businessman, he spotted a tract of land that he wanted to buy. However, he needed Napoleon III's permission for the transaction. So, he traveled to Solferino, Napoleon III's main city, unaware that there was a war going on.
Dunant arrived just in time to witness the Battle of Solferino, one of the most bloody battles in the 19th Century. In total, the battle lasted 15 hours, with more than 40,000 killed or injured.
Dunant was horrified, not only by the massive slaughter, but also by the amounts of injured soldiers left to die on the battlefield. He gathered a group of volunteers from surrounding villages to help the soldiers.
In 1862, Dunant wrote a book; Un Souvenir de Solférino, or A Memory of Solferino. His book has three sections: the battle, the aftermath, and a plan for the nations of the world to unite and create an organization for helping wounded soldiers. This would eventually become the Red Cross, and the plan would become the Geneva Convention of 1864.
About the Battle of Solferino, Dunant wrote: "Oh, how valuable it would have been…to have had a hundred experienced and qualified voluntary orderlies and nurses! Such a group would have formed a nucleus around which could have been rallied the scanty help and dispersed efforts which needed competent guidance."