The Red Cross and Irregular Warfare, 1863–1949

Although irregular warfare did not fall under the purview of international humanitarian law until 1949, the Red Cross movement had a long history of involvement with the question of civil wars, rebellions, and internal insurrections. From 1863, when the International Committee of the Red Cross was founded, to 1949, when the Geneva Conventions first included Common Article 3 regulating “armed conflict not of an international character,” the international Red Cross movement engaged in a series of contentious debates regarding the proper role of humanitarian assistance during times of internal violence. This paper analyzes these debates within the broader history of modern warfare. It shows that national Red Cross societies’ willingness to support intervention in internal conflicts was primarily dependent on their own national experiences of civil war and independence. In 1912, for example, it was only delegates from the United States, Latin America, and Greece that supported humanitarian intervention in civil wars, an idea vehemently rejected by delegates from the Great Powers. The Red Cross movement considered the need for international humanitarian protections during internal insurrections and civil wars only after the First World War led to revolutions throughout Europe. This focus on European national aspirations was ultimately misplaced, for while victims of internal conflicts had gained legal protections by 1949, in the second half of the twentieth century it was not Europe but the former overseas colonies that would be most effected by irregular warfare. By examining the evolution of the Red Cross’ position on civil wars over the first century of its existence, this paper highlights the role of nationalism, imperialism, and humanitarianism in transforming changing norms of legitimate violence during the twentieth century.