The Main Mission: The Origins and Development of the Red Cross

Wars make history by creating and destroying states, making and unmaking governments, shifting territorial boundaries, and validating the ideologies of the winners and discrediting those of the losers. Wars are high-risk attempts to settle disputes in decisive ways. Wars test political skills and personal courage. They unify people with the glue of cultural heroes and events, which then become milestones for nations, ethnic groups, and religions. For those in battle, wars can be, in the short run, exhilarating, mainly to the winners.