Champions of Charity: War and the Rise of the Red Cross

Champions of Charity: War and the Rise of the Red Cross
ISBN-10
0367314894
ISBN-13
9780367314897
Category
War
Pages
495
Language
English
Published
2019-08-28
Publisher
Routledge
Author
John Hutchinson

Description

A character in an Evelyn Waugh novel once remarked that ?There's nothing wrong with war'except the fighting.' In Champions of Charity, John Hutchinson argues that while they set out with a vision to make war more humane, the world's Red Cross organizations soon became enthusiastic promoters of militarism and sacrifice in time of war.The mass armies of the nineteenth century were stalked by disease and slaughtered by ever more destructive weaponry, arousing the indignation and humanitarian concern of self-appointed battlefield Samaritans, who envisioned a neutral corps of volunteer nurses who would aid and comfort wounded soldiers, regardless of nationality. But the champions of charity soon became champions of war.Florence Nightingale was among the few at the time to recognize the dangers lurking in the Red Cross vision. She refused to join, and warned its founders that the governments of the world would cooperate with the Red Cross because ?it would render war more easy.' She was right; starting in the late 19th century armies simply used the Red Cross to efficiently recycle wounded men back into the frontlines.In World War I, national Red Cross societies became enthusiastic wartime propagandists. This was true in every combatant nation, and it is a transformation well portrayed by the fascinating selection of art in this book. Soon Red Cross personnel were even sporting military-style uniforms, and in the United States, the Red Cross became so identified with the war effort that an American citizen was convicted of treason for criticising the Red Cross in time of war!The Red Cross played an especially important role in encouraging the mass involvement of women in the ?home front? for the first time. It did this through magazines, postcards, posters, bandage-rolling parties, and speeches that blended romantic images of humanitarianism and war into a unique brand of maternal militarism. A true pioneer in mass propaganda, the Red Cross taught millions that preparation for war was not just a patriotic duty, but a normal and desirable social activity.The Red Cross societies had proven their usefulness in mobilizing civilians in wartime, and most of their functions were taken over by government agencies by the time of World War II. Gradually the Red Cross became better known for its work in public health, disaster relief, and lifesaving classes. But the legacy of a darker past still lingers: the red cross on a white background found on army ambulances, or the unsubtle subtext of sacrifice and heroism in Red Cross television advertising.It is a legacy the Red Cross itself has preferred not to acknowledge in its own self-congratulatory literature. For not only was the humanitarian impulse that inspired the creation of the Red Cross easily distorted, but this urge to militarize came from within its own ranks. This startling and provocative history of the Red Cross reminds us of the hidden dangers that sometimes come cloaked in the best of intentions.

Other editions

Similar books

  • Consistency and Change in Bertrand Russell's Attitude Towards War
    By Laura Slot

    In the early thirties, Russell and his third wife Peter Spence worked together to help political refugees from Germany and the Soviet Union.100 There was little that could be done, but to passively await and watch the political tensions ...

  • American Heritage Illustrated History of the United States: Volume #17 The Vietnam Era
    By Robert G. Athearn

    The third - ranking official in the Justice Department , Robert H. Bork , then became acting Attorney General and carried out the President's wishes . Nixon never fully recovered the confidence of the public after that .

  • Women and War
    By A. Susan Williams

    Examines the civilian and military roles British women have played in war from the turn of the nineteenth century - as fighters, as workers, as mothers and as pacifisits.

  • The Problem of War: A Global Issue
    By Roberta Moore, Joseph Thomas Moore

    In the experiment , a teacher divided her grade school class into two groups , those who had blue eyes and those who had brown eyes . At first , the teacher gave the Blue Eyes the power to make all the rules for both groups .

  • A Quick and Dirty Guide to War: Briefings on Present and Potential Wars
    By James F. Dunnigan, Austin Bay

    ... West 5 R 58.4 France 7 S 55.0 Sweden 8 C 35.0 Britain 11 S 76.8 Switzerland - 0.0 Turkey 16 R 115.0 Italy 20 R55.0 Poland 22 L 30.0 Germany , East 23 L 39.0 Yugoslavia 24 L 30.0 Spain 25 R 100.0 Czechoslovakia 30 - 0.0 Netherlands ...

  • Guerres: reportages de 1854 à nos jours
    By Claudio Razeto

    Espagne, 1936.

  • Men at War: The Best War Stories of All Time, Based on a Plan by William Kozlenko
    By Ernest Hemingway

    Includes war stories by Leo Tolstoy, Lawrence of Arabia, William Faulkner, Winston Churchill, John W. Thomason, Marquis James, Richard Aldington, Rudyard Kipling, James Hilton, Ernest Hemingway, C.S. Forester, Stephen Crane,...

  • The Velvet Glove: The Decline and Fall of Moderation in War
    By Michael Glover

    The Velvet Glove: The Decline and Fall of Moderation in War

  • Chaos 45

    ( Bloch 1992 : 31 ) Krig , religion og dehumanizing : Bruce Lincoln Jeg har hidtil anskuet forholdet mellem religion og krig hos Kwakiutl med udgangspunkt i Marc Blochs overvejelser over » rebounding violence « .

  • Why War?: Ideology, Theory and History
    By Keith L. Nelson, Professor Keith L Nelson, Spencer C. Olin

    One pertinent criticism is that the status - anxiety hypothesis is not validated by empirical evidence at the state level , where it fails to explain the differences between middle - class Progressives and their contemporary ...