The History of International
Humanitarian Assistance
Notes on Developments in 19th
and 20th centuries
-Origins
in
addition to earlier religious traditions, new 18th century secular
ideas of compassion for human suffering
main
focus on poor relief, child and other labor laws, etc. as 19th
century industrialization produces problems in growing urban
first
international manifestation is in opposition to slavery and the slave trade
(along with religious-based concern)
-to 1860s: examples of other
responses to international suffering
Lisbon
earthquake (1755) 30,000 die
Abolition
of Slave Trade campaign (1807 in Britain; 1808 in U.S.; 1826 France; 1819
Portugal north.of Equator)
Greek
War of Independence (1821-32)
Irish
Potato (and other) Famine (1846-48)
Crimean
War (1854-56)
Austro-French
War (1859-60)
American
Civil War (1861-65)
-1860s to 1914: Origins of
Red Cross; international awareness of disaster and cooperation
Red
Cross: from Solferino (Austro-French War) to Franco-Prussian War 1870) organizing
medical assistance in wartime
Other
wars: Balkan, Spanish-American (1898), Russo-Japanese (1904)
Natural
disasters
Floods
in China (1887 Yellow River, 900,000 die)
Earthquakes
(Martinique 1902, Chile 1906)
Famines
(Russia 1891-92, 500,000 die; Persia 1871; India 1876-79: 6-10 million die;
China 1876-77; 1896-1902: 6-19 million est. die
Epidemics:
Cholera in India 1904-1909, spreads to southeast Asia, Russia; plague in India
1904-1907; spreads to Burma, eventually Manchuria 1910-11
International
organizations: for commerce, trade and some humanitarian assistance: womenıs
suffrage, anti-slave trade (white and black), anti-opium (Shanghai conference
1909)
Civilizing
Mission and European colonialism
-First World War
relief
needs during war
treatment
of prisoners, civilian population
relief
after war
Western
Europe: France, Belgium
Eastern
Europe (new countries)
Russia:
Civil War, Hoover and ARC,
Former
Ottoman Empire: wars (Greek) and Armenian genocide
International
organizations: League of Nations, League of Red cross Societies, Health
Organization, etc.
-Interwar Period
Colonies
and mandates
Natural
disasters
Earthquakes:
Tokyo 1923, Chile 1939
Famine:
China 1920-21, 1929; Russia 1920-21, 1932-33
Epidemics:
cholera E. Europe 1915-22; Manchurian plague 1920-21 60,000 die
Flood:
China 1931 Yangste River, 3.7 million die from flood, disease and famine
Wars
and manmade crises
Japanese
invasion of China 1931
Italian
invasion of Abyssinia (Ethiopia) 1935
Spanish
Civil War 1936-39
Jewish
persecution in Germany and refugees
-Second World War
1939-41
US neutral, relief to France and China
Oxfam
(1942)
Postwar
relief: CARE, refugees and resettlement (UNRAA), Palestine and Jews
Cold War to 1970s
UN
organizations
From
relief to development: bilateral v/s multilateral assistance
Decolonization
and Rise of non-aligned ³Third² world
1970-1990
Rise
of NGOs
MSF
and independent humanitarian assistance
Failures:
Cambodia, Boat People, Ethiopian famine in 1980s
Successes?
1990s and after
Wars:
Bosnia
(1991-95), Somali civil war (1991-93), Iraq 1 (1991), Rwandan genocide (1994),
Kosovo (1999), Afghanistan (2001-), Iraq 2 (2003-)
Natural disasters:
Hurricane
Mitch (Central America 1998, 11,000 died); Indian Ocean tsunami (2004)
Epidemic:
HIV/AIDS (2004 3.1 million worldwide died of AIDS-related diseases)