Humanitarian Law and Diplomatic Practice

The modern law of armed conflict protecting the wounded traces its founding moment to a specific historical episode: the Battle of Solferino, fought on 24 June 1859 in northern Italy during the Second Italian War of Independence. The Swiss businessman Henry Dunant, traveling through the region, witnessed the aftermath of the battle—some forty thousand casualties left largely without adequate medical care—and organized impromptu relief efforts among local civilians. His 1862 book, A Memory of Solferino, described the carnage in vivid terms and proposed two concrete measures: the creation of national relief societies staffed by trained volunteers to assist military medical services in wartime, and an international treaty guaranteeing protection to those who cared for the wounded regardless of nationality.