The Red Cross is an international humanitarian movement which was founded on 9 February 1863 by Henri Dunant. The Red Cross was founded to improve medical conditions on the battlefield, as Dunant's presence at the bloody Battle of Solferino motivated him to deal with the lack of medical care for wounded soldiers on the battlefield. The movement had an early success in 1864 with the signing of the Geneva Convention by 12 nations, namely Switzerland, the Grand Duchy of Baden, Belgium, Denmark, the Kingdom of Spain, the Second French Empire, the Grand Duchy of Hesse, the Kingdom of Italy, the Netherlands, the Kingdom of Portugal, Prussia, and Württemberg. By the start of World War I, the Red Cross had 45 international chapters, and it expanded with the help of its Red Crescent auxiliary wing in the Islamic world. The Red Cross was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1917, 1944, and 1963, and it had 192 societies by the 21st century.
