Red Cross

RED CROSS, RED CRESCENT, a voluntary public organization in the USSR, whose task is to assist in the medical-sanitary organization of the Red Army, provide help to prisoners of war, render assistance to the population during natural disasters, as well as participate in measures conducted by health authorities for the improvement of labor and living conditions of the population, work on improving the health of the younger generation ('health service of young pioneers'), and medical-sanitary assistance to national minorities. The emergence of Red Cross ideas in capitalist countries dates back to the 1860s. One of the bourgeois public figures of that time in Switzerland, the Swiss Henri Dunant, being a participant in the Battle of Solferino, published a book in which he described the suffering of the wounded left without help. This book met with a great response and played a significant role in the organization of the Red Cross. In 1863, on the initiative of individual Swiss people, a commission was created, which was to develop the issue of expanding the activities of the society 'Public Benefit'. This commission included: Dufour, Gustave Moynier, Henri Dunant, Louis Appia, and Theodore Maunoir. The commission outlined the organization of national Red Cross committees in various countries, which, with the consent of the government, were to 'provide assistance to the sanitary departments of armies'. In Geneva, the 'International Committee for the Relief of the Wounded' was formed. This committee carried out preparatory work for the convening of an international conference, which took place on October 30, 1863, with the participation of representatives from 13 countries. Subsequently, the aforementioned committee was transformed into the 'International Committee of the Red Cross' (ICRC). At this conference, the charter of the international Red Cross organization was developed and the emblem of the society was adopted. This emblem is the Swiss state coat of arms, but with the colors reversed - a red cross on a white background. The adopted charter required ratification by the governments of various countries, as it contained international legal norms for the new society, the implementation of which was naturally conditioned by the consent of these governments. Therefore, in August 1864, a diplomatic conference was convened in Geneva with representatives from 26 states, which joined the charter of the international Red Cross organization. At this conference, the so-called Geneva Convention was adopted, which defined the principles and forms of Red Cross activities: the objects to which assistance should be rendered, the obligations of warring countries to establish the identity of the killed and wounded, the burial of the killed, and the rights of inviolability for Red Cross institutions and persons working in them, etc. Subsequently, at subsequent conferences, the Geneva Convention was changed and supplemented, but remained essentially without significant changes. By 1928, 13 international conferences had been held: 1) in Paris (1867), 2) Berlin (1869), 3) Geneva (1884), 4) Karlsruhe (1887), 5) Rome (1892), 6) Vienna (1897), 7) St. Petersburg (1902), 8) London (1907), 9) Washington (1912), 10) Geneva (1921), 11) Geneva (1923), 12) Geneva (1928), 13) The Hague (1928). At the last conference, the merger of two international Red Cross organizations took place - the ICRC and the League of Red Cross Societies (LORCS). The latter was organized in 1919 on the initiative of the American Red Cross. If the ICRC was engaged in preparing assistance during wartime, then the LORCS limited its functions to peacetime. Having significant resources, the LORCS provided assistance to countries that suffered during the last imperialist war. The development of the LORCS activities could not but lead to competition with the ICRC. Between them arose endless frictions, which were formally resolved at the 13th conference by the adoption of a special statute and the election of the so-called permanent commission, which is a regulatory body in periods between conferences. This commission included representatives of the following Red Cross societies: Spanish, Belgian, Norwegian, Australian, and Siamese. The adopted new statute and composition of the permanent commission were the result of compromises on the part of the ICRC and LORCS. Therefore, it is difficult to say how the further development of Red Cross affairs will proceed on new foundations. The Russian Red Cross was organized in 1867 as the 'Society for the Care of the Sick and Wounded Warriors'. Only in 1879 was it renamed the 'Russian Red Cross Society', which joined the international organization, since the tsarist government had acceded to the Geneva Convention. Before the revolution, the Russian Red Cross Society was a typical state philanthropic society, consisting of representatives of the court aristocracy and large bourgeoisie, and recruiting its members from among the large and medium-sized bureaucracy. After the revolution, by decree of the Council of People's Commissars (1918), the foundations of the Soviet Red Cross were defined as a mass public organization. 'The society enjoys full autonomy and independence,' it says in the decree, 'in matters concerning its organization and participation in government and public events, and renders with all available means assistance to government medical-sanitary organs in providing aid to the sick, wounded, and prisoners of war, as well as to the population affected by disasters.' In accordance with this decision, the activities of the Soviet Red Cross developed, which sensitively responded to all the demands of life and came to the aid when necessary. During the civil war, the Red Cross concentrated all its attention on organizing assistance to the Red Army; after the war - on the issue of evacuating prisoners of war. During the famine, it carried out significant work in organizing assistance to the population and in combating the consequences of the famine. During the revolution and civil war, the connection of the Russian Red Cross Society with the ICRC was broken. It was restored again only in 1921 at the Geneva conference, when the issue of recognizing the Russian Red Cross Society de facto was resolved positively. With the formation of a number of national Red Cross and Red Crescent societies in the union republics, the question arose of uniting them into a union. The conclusion of the union treaty took place in 1925. According to the charter, the objective of the union of societies is defined as representing the interests of republican Red Cross and Red Crescent societies before the union government, coordinating activities abroad, mutual assistance while maintaining the full independence of republican Red Cross and Red Crescent societies in their internal organization and free entry into and exit from the union. The highest body of the republican Red Cross and Red Crescent society is the congress, at which a central committee is elected, which manages the affairs of the society between congresses. At the head of the union of societies stands a council consisting of representatives of republican Red Cross societies. The council elects an executive committee, which is the highest body of the union between sessions of the council. Throughout its existence, Soviet Red Cross and Red Crescent societies have steadily developed their work in the areas that were highlighted by life in various periods of Soviet construction. After the end of the civil war, during which the Red Cross actively participated in organizing medical assistance to the Red Army, the Red Cross developed significant work in the front line of the struggle for sanitary culture: mass sanitary-educational work was widely developed; institutions were organized to combat social diseases, to protect motherhood and infancy; detachments were sent to the Far North, which carried out significant health work among national minorities. Particular attention is paid to the health of the younger generation ('health service of young pioneers'), medical-sanitary assistance is organized, and sanitary-educational work is carried out. From the moment new threats of war appeared, the Red Cross, without curbing its work in the above-mentioned directions, began to organize the preparation of the country for sanitary defense. First aid circles are created where workers receive elementary information on medical assistance needed both in peacetime (in production, in everyday life) and in wartime; from those who have completed the circles, sanitary detachments are formed, which provide enormous assistance during natural disasters. The assistance of detachments in wartime during air raids, evacuation of the sick and wounded, etc., acquires significant importance. Considerable attention is paid to the training of medium medical personnel - sisters first of all - in various courses and schools. In order to strengthen the military-sanitary training of reserve medical personnel, the Red Cross conducts significant retraining of reserve doctors, etc. In addition, the Red Cross accumulates medical property for the deployment of hospitals in case of war. With the development of kolkhoz and sovkhoz construction, the Red Cross began to develop its activities in this area as well, opening various medical-sanitary institutions to serve kolkhozes and sovkhozes (nurseries, first aid posts, etc.). Red Cross and Red Crescent societies are becoming stronger and stronger organizations every year, expanding their network of cells in enterprises and in the village. Thus, on October 1, 1923, the number of society members was 106,000, and on January 1, 1929, their number reached 957,000. The number of first aid circles is counted in the thousands; detachments are growing. The network of medical-sanitary institutions is increasing, developing mainly among the rural population.

The budget of Red Cross and Crescent societies is composed of several sources: 1) from regalia, i.e., special levies established by the government in favor of the Red Cross from entertainment events, railway tickets, etc.; 2) from membership dues, donations, sums collected during 'Red Cross Week', and income from the operation of various business enterprises, etc. In 1923, the budget of all societies amounted to 2,600,000 rubles. In 1929, it reached 11 million rubles.