Max Huber was born on 28 December 1874, barely fifteen years after Solferino and Henry Dunant's action in the Chiesa Maggiore at Castiglione, and only ten years after the first Geneva Convention. Thus he grew up with the Red Cross, with which he was to become intimately associated. At the beginning of our century, he wrote about the role and duties of the Red Cross and the Geneva Committee, and also spoke about them in his lectures on international law at Zurich University. He represented Switzerland at various international conferences, including the 1907 Hague Conference; acted as legal expert to the Federal Government; was a member and later president of the Permanent Court of International Justice. In 1923 he was elected a member, in 1925 Vice-President and in 1928 President of the ICRC, to which he tirelessly devoted himself until 1944. When his successor, Carl J. Burckhardt, took leave of absence, he agreed to resume the presidential duties for a time. In token of gratitude, the ICRC made him honorary president for life.

Some time ago, the International Review published an article describing the movement of solidarity which swept the Junior Section of the Japanese Red Cross when hundreds of disabled arrived in Tokyo, in 1964, for the International Games which had been organized for them. The competitions, which were launched more than twenty years ago, are spreading to an ever larger number of countries, and as they now cover a wide range of sports, they are in principle held in the context of the International Olympic Games. What a fine example of endurance and fortitude we are set by men and women who, although struck by bodily ills, do not submit but find fulfilment in some form of sport!

The Junior Red Cross of Japan played an outstanding part in ensuring the success of the Games, and we published at the time a report by Mrs. Sachiko Hashimoto, Director of the Japanese Juniro Red Cross, on Red Cross activities during the Games and, in particular, on the interpretation service which she organized and which in so many cases proved extremely effective. Not only did young Red Cross volunteers help disabled competitors communicate with one another by means of a language they had learnt for that special puropse, but by rendering all manner of small services they eased the life of persons who could get about only in a wheelchair.

Although the Geneva Convention of August 22, 1864, for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded in Armies in the Field has today only symbolic significance, its spirit lives still in the Conventions that were subsequently elaborated. It played, indeed, a capital role in the development of international humanitarian law and, in view of that fact, it may be appropriate to indicate in what way it exerted an influence that became increasingly stronger and that made itself quickly felt on the laws of various countries.

The President of the German Red Cross in the Federal Republic of Germany addressed the assembly of the Lower Saxony chapter of that Society, held at Goslar on 22 June 1974. He has kindly sent us a copy of his address, which is partly published below for information. The views expressed are solely those of the author.

Yet, though Gustave Moynier recognized that the rules relative to wounded or sick troops should clearly form a part of a plan for the codification of the most important laws of war—for it was he who had suggested in 1868 to the President of the Swiss Confederation that, because of the very close connection existing between the Law of Geneva and Alexander II's project, the Geneva Conference might be linked to the Conference of Saint Petersburg, to alleviate “as much as possible the calamities of war” — he did not show much enthusiasm, even while declaring his approval of the new Russian proposals, and did not hide his attitude of reserve.

The first session of the Diplomatic Conference on the Reaffirmation and Development of International Humanitarian Law, which opened at the International Conference Centre, Geneva, on 20 February 1974, closed on 29 March.

In our June issue we published the text of a cicrular, dated 17 May 1974, relative to the Conference of Government Experts which will meet in Lucerne from 24 September to 18 October 1974. On 13 August, the ICRC sent the following second circular containing further information to all governments which had been invited to take part in the recent Diplomatic Conference on the reaffirmation and development of international humanitarian law applicable in armed conflicts.

Although mention of blood transfusion dates back to the origin of medicine, it may be said that the genuine history of transfusion starts at the beginning of our century.

Since then transfusion has passed through several decisive phases, but it is only in the past twenty years that it has made spectacular progress and has become one of the essential components of modern medicine.

A survey, over a period of time, of what the public thinks of the Red Cross as reflected in the spoken, written and audio-visual media, has led to astonishing conclusions: two diametrically opposite trends have steadily emerged. On the one hand, at national and international level, the Red Cross, whose activities over the past few years have developed to a surprising extent, has received great praise, in fact too much praise. Yet at the same time bitter criticism has constantly been levelled at the Red Cross. A study of the causes of that praise and criticism, however paradoxical this may seem, shows that both stem from the very same facts and events!

Obviously they have been due to the viewpoint held, the hopes pinned on Red Cross action, and one's idea of Red Cross possibilities. While those who are realistic in their appraisal of the Red Cross express their appreciation of the results, however meagre they may be, others show keen disappointment because they have assigned the Red Cross tasks and achievements far beyond its field of activity. In addition, all manner of personal considerations, financial and otherwise, weigh the balance this way and that. Yet by taking a closer look at things we realize that the very factors that make for the strength of the Red Cross and determine its possibilities also set its limits, even though the attempt to exceed those limits may have no untoward effect on practical activities.

The Iranian Red Lion and Sun Society certainly did things properly: not only did it organize to perfection the conference for seven hundred participants; it spared no effort to create an atmosphere of cordiality and friendship. Incidentally, the Teheran conference centre is the equal of the official bodies of the international institutions; its staff is courteous, its hostesses efficient and charming, and the work is done smoothly and with a good grace.

A short biography of Henry Dunant that will appeal to readers of all kinds has so far been lacking. By an extraordinary stroke of luck, Pierre Boissier, Director of the Institute that bears the name of the originator of the Red Cross, had dictated an essay on those lines shortly before his death. The very day before the tragic accident in which he lost his life, he had gone through his draft and had asked Mme Yvonne de Pourtalès to complete and put the finishing touches to it. This she has accomplished remarkably well in all respects.

The Diplomatic Conference on the Reaffirmation and Development of International Humanitarian Law Applicable in Armed Conflicts opened in Geneva on 20 February 1974. This Conference was convened by the Swiss Government and is being attended by plenipotentiary representatives of 118 States Parties to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949 and Members of the United Nations, as well as by many observers for intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations. The Conference will sit until 29 March to deal with two additional draft protocols to the Geneva Conventions, which the International Committee of the Red Cross has drawn up with a view to supplementing existing international humanitarian law in the light of recent developments in matters of war.

In its January 1973 issue, International Review published a short article on a humanitarian venture launched in Latin America over 150 years ago, when a treaty on rules of war was signed on 26 November 1820 by representatives of the Governments of Colombia and Spain, and led to the historic accolade between Simdn Bolivar and Pablo Morillo at Santa Ana the following day.

I have been invited, in 1971, at the time of my retirement, to write an article to the International Review. It has taken over two years to gain sufficient perspective to carry out the assignment; for the thousands of incidents to settle into highlights of experiences in that capacity. I, at first, thought that I had to sort out my activities during the period as a full-time Red Cross nurse and the events which occurred when acting as an officer of my professional organization, the Canadian Nurses' Association. It was only when I recognized, in retrospect, that the two were irretrievably interwoven that I could begin to outline the tapestry of my life during those years. It was the common purpose of the two roles that made the time so fulfilling. To paraphrase the words of a Roman philosopher, “So far as I am an individual, my country is Canada; so far as I am a Red Cross nurse, I am a citizen of the world”. The International Red Cross mapped the road I was to travel as well as serving as a backdrop to all that was to come.

The ICRC recently considered the time had come for a report to be published on its work in Cyprus, covering the period from July to October 1974. This report was issued in the form of an illustrated booklet and contained a foreword by Mr. R. Gallopin, President of the Executive Council:

“During the conflict in Cyprus, the 1949 Geneva Conventions once again contributed to the protection of civilian and military victims. Once again, the International Committee of the Red Cross, to which the Powers assigned the role of neutral intermediary when they signed those Conventions, had to intervene on both sides. The operations described in the following pages involved most of the functions which, in a crisis which is both internal and international, the ICRC may be called upon to fulfil in order to ensure the provision of at least the essentials of life.

The year 1974 marks the centennial of the International Declaration of Brussels on the Laws and Customs of War. This effort to codify the most important laws of war, undertaken on the initiative of Czar Alexander II of Russia, constituted a decisive stage in the development of the law of war. It is this event which the Committee for the Protection of Human Life in Armed Conflicts, under the patronage of the Belgian Government, proposes to commemorate by an international seminar on the theme “The Concept of International Armed Conflict—New Perspectives”, in December of this year.

Will the Red Cross survive? Should it survive? Has it really a mission in the world of today? In the world of the 1980s and thereafter? What is that mission? How can Red Cross gear up for it?

These questions have been the subject of thoughtful discussion among Red Cross people for some years. In 1972, the International Committee of the Red Cross and the League of Red Cross Societies, in co-operation with the National Societies, decided to take a hard look at the future in the form of a comprehensive examination of the role of the Red Cross.

In 1970, the ICRC opened two regional delegations in Africa, one at Yaoundé (Cameroon) for West and Central Africa, and the other at Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) for East Africa. In both countries, the ICRC permanent delegates enjoyed throughout their mission the full support of the authorities and the co-operation of their National Red Cross Societies.

Last month International Review gave a summary of the work being carried out in Cyprus by the Red Cross since the outbreak of hostilities, in order to provide protection and relief to the civilian population and prisoners, seek the missing and forward messages. As that account went only so far as the end of July, we continue here in chronological order the ICRC's action since the beginning of August, starting with the first fortnight which ended with the renewed flare-up of fighting.

August 12, 1949 was an important date in world history. It was on that day that the plenipotentiaries of some sixty States signed the fundamental charters of humanity which are known as the four Geneva Conventions, and which protect the victims of armed conflicts: the first, the military wounded and sick; the second, the victims of war at sea; the third, the prisoners of war; and the fourth—which was entirely new—civilians. After the suffering of the population in occupied countries during the Second World War, such a treaty appeared to be vitally necessary and urgent. As Max Huber said, the development towards total war has made danger and hardship equal for armies and population.