Until the middle of the nineteenth century, there were no organized or well-established army nursing systems for casualties, nor safe or protected institutions, to accommodate and treat those who were wounded on the battlefield.

A devout Calvinist, the Swiss businessman Jean-Henri Dunant traveled to Italy to meet then-French emperor Napoleon III in June 1859 with the intention of discussing difficulties in conducting business in Algeria, which at that time was occupied by France.

As a result of this initial discussion, the society established an investigatory commission to examine the feasibility of Dunant's suggestions and eventually to organize an international conference about their possible implementation.

From 26 to 29 October 1863,[4] the international conference organized by the committee was held in Geneva to develop possible measures to improve medical services on the battlefield.

[8] Directly following the establishment of the Geneva Convention, the first national societies were founded in Belgium, Denmark, France, Oldenburg, Italy, Prussia, Spain, and Württemberg.

Also in 1864, Louis Appia and Charles van de Velde, a captain of the Dutch Army, became the first independent and neutral delegates to work under the symbol of the Red Cross in an armed conflict.

In a rather short period of time, the Red Cross gained huge momentum as an internationally respected movement, and the national societies became increasingly popular as a venue for volunteer work.

With the outbreak of World War I, the ICRC found itself confronted with enormous challenges that it could handle only by working closely with the national Red Cross societies.

Red Cross nurses from around the world, including the United States and Japan, came to support the medical services of the armed forces of the European countries involved in the war.

On 15 August 1914, immediately after the start of the war, the ICRC set up its International Prisoners-of-War Agency (IPWA) to trace POWs and to re-establish communications with their respective families.

The Austrian writer and pacifist Stefan Zweig described the situation at the Geneva headquarters of the ICRC:Hardly had the first blows been struck when cries of anguish from all lands began to be heard in Switzerland.

The events of World War I and the respective activities of the ICRC significantly increased the reputation and authority of the Committee among the international community and led to an extension of its competencies.

As early as in 1934, a draft proposal for an additional convention for the protection of the civil population in occupied territories during an armed conflict was adopted by the International Red Cross Conference.

The activities of the committee were similar to those during World War I: visiting and monitoring POW camps, organizing relief assistance for civilian populations, and administering the exchange of messages regarding prisoners and missing persons.

One major obstacle was that the Nazi-controlled German Red Cross refused to cooperate with the Geneva statutes, including blatant violations such as the deportation of Jews from Germany, and the mass murders conducted in the Nazi concentration camps.

The choice of the inexperienced Rossel for this mission has been interpreted as indicative of his organization's indifference to the "Jewish problem", while his report has been described as "emblematic of the failure of the ICRC" to advocate for Jews during the Holocaust.

[22][23] Idris, wearing a Red Crescent uniform, detonated a 22-pound (10 kilogram) bomb made up of TNT packed into pipes, in the center of Jerusalem outside a shoe store on the busy main shopping street Jaffa Road.

[30] In August 2021, when NATO-led forces retreated from Afghanistan, the ICRC decided to remain in the country to continue its mission to assist and protect victims of conflict.

[31] Among the ten largest ICRC deployments worldwide has been the mission in Ukraine, where the organization has been active since 2014, working closely with the Ukrainian Red Cross Society.

The head of the ICRC delegation in Kyiv warned on 26 February 2022 that neighborhoods of major cities were becoming the frontline with significant consequences for their populations, including children, the sick, and elderly.

The ICRC urgently called on all parties to the conflict not to forget their obligations under international humanitarian law to ensure the protection of the civilian population and infrastructure, and respect the dignity of refugees and prisoners of war.

[39] During the violent conflict, the ICRC and the Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) provided hospitals in the Gaza strip with support through large humanitarian convoys from Egypt, and was seriously affected by numerous aerial attacks on medical facilities and ambulances.

[41][42][43] In late November, the team of the ICRC started a multi-day operation to facilitate the release and transfer of hostages held in Gaza and of Palestinian prisoners to the West Bank.

A joint mission of the ICRC and the League in the Russian Civil War from 1917 to 1922 marked the first time the movement was involved in an internal conflict, although still without an explicit mandate from the Geneva Conventions.

The League, with support from more than 25 national societies, organized assistance missions and the distribution of food and other aid goods for civil populations affected by hunger and disease.

As it limits its members (a process called cooptation) to Swiss nationals only, it does not have a policy of open and unrestricted membership for individuals like other legally defined NGOs.

Due to Geneva's location in the French-speaking part of Switzerland, the ICRC usually acts under its French name Comité international de la Croix-Rouge (CICR).

Any additional funding, especially for unforeseen expenses for relief assistance missions, is raised by "appeals"[50] published by the IFRC and comes for voluntary donations by national societies, governments, other organizations, corporations, and individuals.

[citation needed] In 1999, the Australian TV network ABC Television and European human rights organization Rettet die Naturvölker released a documentary titled Blood on the Cross.

[75] Afghanistan Albania Algeria Andorra Angola Antigua and Barbuda Argentina Armenia Australia Austria Azerbaijan The Bahamas Bahrain Bangladesh Barbados Belarus (suspended) Belgium Belize Benin Bhutan Bolivia Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana Brazil Brunei Bulgaria Burkina Faso Burundi Cambodia Cameroon Canada Cape Verde Central African Republic Chad Chile [es] China Colombia Comoros Congo [it] Congo, Democratic Republic of the Cook Islands Costa Rica [es] Côte d'Ivoire Croatia Cuba [es] Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark Djibouti Dominica Dominican Republic Ecuador [es] Egypt El Salvador Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Estonia Eswatini Ethiopia Fiji Finland France Gabon Gambia Georgia Germany Ghana Greece Grenada Guatemala Guinea Guinea-Bissau Guyana Haiti Honduras Hungary Iceland India Indonesia Iran Iraq Ireland Israel Italy Jamaica Japan Jordan Kazakhstan Kenya Kiribati Korea, North Korea, South Kuwait Kyrgyzstan Laos Latvia Lebanon Lesotho Liberia Libya Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Madagascar Malawi Malaysia Maldives Mali Malta Marshall Islands Mauritania Mauritius Mexico Micronesia, Federated States of Moldova Monaco Mongolia Montenegro Morocco Mozambique Myanmar Namibia Nepal Netherlands New Zealand Nicaragua Niger Nigeria North Macedonia Norway Pakistan Palau Palestine Panama Papua New Guinea Paraguay Peru (suspended) Philippines Poland Portugal [pt] Qatar Republika Srpska Romania Russia Rwanda Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Samoa San Marino São Tomé and Príncipe Saudi Arabia Senegal Serbia Seychelles Sierra Leone Singapore Slovakia Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia South Africa South Sudan Spain Sri Lanka Sudan Suriname Sweden Switzerland Syria Taiwan (Republic of China) Tajikistan Tanzania Thailand Timor-Leste Togo Tonga Trinidad and Tobago Tunisia Turkey Turkmenistan Tuvalu Uganda Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom United States Uruguay Uzbekistan Vanuatu Venezuela Viet Nam Yemen Zambia Zimbabwe Abkhazia (no-member) Cyprus, North (non-member) Hong Kong (autonomous branch of the RCSC) Kosovo (non-member) Macau (autonomous branch of the RCSC) Oman (non-member) Ossetia, South (non-member) SADR (pending recognition and admission) Somaliland (non-member) Taiwan (former member) Transnistria (non-member) Vatican City (autonomous branch of the Italian Red Cross)