In Switzerland, sixteen countries sign the first Geneva Convention on the treatment of prisoners and wounded

At the invitation of the Swiss, representatives of sixteen countries met in Geneva on August 8, 1864, to discuss the treatment of wounded and prisoners in modern warfare. Two weeks later the "Geneva Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded in Armies in the Field" was signed. Just ten articles long, it nevertheless laid out the beginnings of the humane treatment of casualties of warfare.  (By John Osborne)
Source Citation
Rudolf Bernhardt, Use of Force: War and Neutrality Peace Treaties (A-M) (Amsterdam, Netherlands: North-Holland Publishing, 1982), 183.  
    Date Certainty
    Exact
    Type
    US/the World
    How to Cite This Page: "In Switzerland, sixteen countries sign the first Geneva Convention on the treatment of prisoners and wounded," House Divided: The Civil War Research Engine at Dickinson College, https://hd.housedivided.dickinson.edu/node/43627.