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{{EngvarB|date=October 2013}}
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[[Image:Original Geneva Conventions.jpg|thumb|The first-ever Geneva Convention governing the sick and wounded members of armed forces was signed in [[Geneva]] in 1864.]]

The '''First Geneva Convention''' for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded in Armies in the Field, held in 1864, is the first of four [[treaties]] of the [[Geneva Conventions]]. It defines "the basis on which rest the rules of international law for the protection of the victims of armed conflicts."<ref name=pictet>{{Citation | last = Pictet | first = Jean S. | title = The New Geneva Conventions for the Protection of War Victims | journal = The American Journal of International Law | year = 1951 | volume = 45 | issue = 3 | pages = 462–475 | doi=10.2307/2194544}}</ref> 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 the [[International Committee of the Red Cross]], which is both the instigator for the inception and enforcer of the articles in these conventions.

==History==
[[File:Henry Dunant-young.jpg|thumb|120px|left|[[Henry Dunant]]]]

The 1864 Geneva Convention was instituted at a critical period in European political and military history. Elsewhere, the [[American Civil War]] had been raging since 1861 (starting with the [[Battle of Fort Sumter]]), and would ultimately claim between 750,000–900,000 lives. Between the fall of the first [[Napoleon]] at the [[Battle of Waterloo]] in 1815 and the rise of his [[Napoleon III|nephew]] in the [[Second Italian War of Independence|Italian campaign of 1859]], the powers had maintained peace in western Europe.<ref name=davis>{{Citation | last = Davis | first = George B. | title = The Geneva Convention of 1906 | journal = The American Journal of International Law | year = 1907 | volume = 1 | issue = 2 | page= 400+}}</ref> Yet, with the 1853–1856 [[Crimean War|conflict 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.<ref name=davis/> 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."<ref name=davis/>

The movement for an international set of laws governing the treatment and care for the wounded and [[Prisoner of war|prisoners of war]] began when relief activist [[Henri Dunant]] witnessed the [[Battle of Solferino]] in 1859, fought between French-[[Kingdom of Sardinia|Piedmontese]] and [[Habsburg Empire|Austrian]] armies in Northern Italy.<ref>{{Citation | last = Baxter | first = Richard | title = Human Rights in War | journal = Bulletin of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences | year = 1977 | volume = 31 | issue = 2 | page= 5}}</ref> 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. Upon return to [[Geneva]], Dunant published his account ''Un Souvenir de Solferino''<ref>See {{Citation  |last=Dunant |first=Henri  |year=1862 |title= Un Souvenir de Solferino |publisher= Jules Fick  |place= Geneve |edition = 1 |url= https://archive.org/stream/unsouvenirdesol00dunagoog#page/n7/mode/2up |pages= }}</ref> and, through his membership in the [[Geneva Society for Public Welfare]], he urged the calling together of an international conference and soon helped found the International Committee of the Red Cross in 1863.<ref>{{Citation | last = Sperry | first = C.S. | title = The Revision of the Geneva Convention, 1906 | journal = Proceedings of the American Political Science Association | year = 1906 |volume = 3 | page= 33 | doi=10.2307/3038537}}</ref>

The International Committee of the Red Cross, while recognising that it is "primarily the duty and responsibility of a nation to safeguard the health and physical well-being of its own 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."<ref>{{Citation | last = Anderson | first = Chandler P. | title = The International Red Cross Organization | journal = The American Journal of International Law | year = 1920 |volume = 14 | issue = 1 | page= 210 | doi=10.2307/2187844}}</ref> To ensure that its mission was widely accepted, it required a body of rules to govern its own activities and those of the involved belligerent parties.

On 22 August 1864, several European states congregated in [[Geneva, Switzerland]] and signed the Geneva Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded and Sick in Armed Forces in the Field:
[[Image:signing of the first geneva convention.jpg|thumb|390px|The signing of the first-ever Geneva Convention by some of the major European powers in 1864.]]
# [[Grand Duchy of Baden]] (now Germany)
# [[Kingdom of Belgium]]
# [[Kingdom of Denmark]]
# [[French Empire (1852–1870)|French Empire]]
# [[Grand Duchy of Hesse]] (now Germany)
# [[Kingdom of Italy (1861–1946)|Kingdom of Italy]]
# [[Kingdom of the Netherlands]]
# [[Kingdom of Portugal]]
# [[Kingdom of Prussia]] (now Germany)
# [[History of Spain (1814-1873)|Kingdom of Spain]]
# [[Swiss Confederation]]
# [[Kingdom of Württemberg]] (now Germany)

[[United Kingdom of Norway and Sweden|Norway–Sweden]] signed in December.

It "derived its obligatory force from the implied consent of the states which accepted and applied them in the conduct of their military operations."<ref name=davis/> Despite its basic mandates, listed below, it was successful in effecting significant and rapid reforms.  This first effort provided only for:<ref>Encyclopædia Britannica, s.v. "Geneva Conventions",  http://search.eb.com/ (accessed 10 March 2009).</ref>
# the immunity from capture and destruction of all establishments for the treatment of wounded and sick soldiers,
# the impartial reception and treatment of all combatants,
# the protection of civilians providing aid to the wounded, and
# the recognition of the Red Cross symbol as a means of identifying persons and equipment covered by the agreement.

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 and [[Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907]] which extended the articles to [[maritime warfare]].<ref>Encyclopædia Britannica, "Geneva Conventions".</ref> The 1906 version was [[Geneva Convention for the amelioration of the condition of the wounded and sick in armies in the field (1929)|updated 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 First Geneva Convention.<ref name="First">[http://cil.nus.edu.sg/1949/1949-geneva-convention-i-for-the-amelioration-of-the-condition-of-the-wounded-and-sick-in-armed-forces-in-the-field/ 1949 Geneva Convention (I) for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded and Sick in Armed Forces in the Field]</ref> However, as [[Jean Pictet|Jean 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.<ref name=pictet/>

==Summary of provisions==
[[Image:Parties to the Geneva Conventions.svg|500px|thumb|
{|
|-
|{{legend|#008000|Parties to GC I–IV and P I–III}} || {{legend|#0000FF|Parties to GC I–IV and P I–II}}
|-
|{{legend|purple|Parties to GC I–IV and P I and III}} || {{legend|#EEEE00|Parties to GC I–IV and P I}}
|-
|{{legend|orange|Parties to GC I–IV and P III}} || {{legend|#FF1111|Parties to GC I–IV and no P}}
|}]]

The original ten articles of the 1864 treaty<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.icrc.org/ihl.nsf/FULL/120?OpenDocument | title = Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded in Armies in the Field. Geneva, 22 August 1864 | publisher = The American National Red Cross | accessdate=20 November 2009}}</ref> have been expanded to the current 64 articles. This lengthy treaty protects soldiers that are [[hors 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:
* Article 12 mandates that wounded and sick soldiers who are out of the battle should be humanely treated, and in particular should not be killed, injured, tortured, or subjected to biological experimentation. This article is the keystone of the treaty, and defines the principles from which most of the treaty is derived,<ref name=commentary/> including the obligation to respect medical units and establishments (Chapter III), the personnel entrusted with the care of the wounded (Chapter IV), buildings and material (Chapter V), medical transports (Chapter VI), and the [[protective sign]] (Chapter VII).
* Article 15 mandates that wounded and sick soldiers should be collected, cared for, and protected, though they may also become prisoners of war.
* Article 16 mandates that parties to the conflict should record the identity of the dead and wounded, and transmit this information to the opposing party.
* Article 9 allows the [[International Red Cross]] "or any other impartial humanitarian organization" to provide protection and relief of wounded and sick soldiers, as well as medical and religious personnel.

For a detailed discussion of each article of the treaty, see the original text<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.icrc.org/ihl.nsf/FULL/365?OpenDocument | title = Convention (I) for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded and Sick in Armed Forces in the Field. Geneva, 12 August 1949. | publisher = The American National Red Cross | accessdate=20 November 2009}}</ref> and the commentary.<ref name=commentary>{{cite book | last = Pictet | first = Jean | title = Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949: Commentary  | publisher = International Committee of the Red Cross | year = 1958 | url = http://www.loc.gov/rr/frd/Military_Law/Geneva_conventions-1949.html | accessdate = 20 November 2009}}</ref> There are currently 196 countries party to the 1949 [[Geneva Conventions]], including this first treaty but also including the other three.<ref>{{cite web | url =http://www.icrc.org/Web/Eng/siteeng0.nsf/html/party_main_treaties | title = States party to the main treaties | publisher = The American National Red Cross | accessdate=5 December 2009}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[Geneva Conventions]]
*[[International Committee of the Red Cross]]
*[[International humanitarian law]]
*[[List of parties to the Geneva Conventions]]
*[[Saint Petersburg Declaration of 1868]]

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

==Further reading==
* Chandler P. Anderson, "International Red Cross Organization", ''The American Journal of International Law'', 1920
* Richard Baxter, "Human Rights in War", ''Bulletin of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences'', 1977
* George B. Davis, "The Geneva Convention", ''The American Journal of International Law'', 1907
* Jean S. Pictet, "The New Geneva Conventions for the Protection of War Victims", ''The American Journal of International Law'', 1951
* [[Francis Lieber]], "[http://avalon.law.yale.edu/19th_century/lieber.asp INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE GOVERNMENT OF ARMIES OF THE UNITED STATES IN THE FIELD]", Lincoln General Orders, 24 April 1863.

==External links==
{{Wikisource}}
*[http://www.icrc.org/eng/resources/documents/treaty/geneva-convention-1864.htm Facsimile of the original document]
*[http://www.icrc.org/150years 150 years of the 1864 Geneva Convention – 150 years of humanitarian action]

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