Table of Contents
List of Illustrations
List of Tables
Foreword
Preface
Map
Introduction
- Objectives and Methodology
- Historiography on the Subject
- Sources
- Transliteration
Chapter 1. Switzerland, the ICRC and the Red Cross Movement
at the Time of the Italo-Ethiopian War
- Switzerland and the War in East-Africa
- The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC):
Activities, Composition and Organisation
- Un posto al sole for the Italian Red Cross
- Rise and Fall of the Ethiopian Red Cross
- Ambiguous Relations with the League of Red Cross Societies
Chapter 2. An African Solferino: the Emergency Medical Relief
Operation in Ethiopia
- Health in Ethiopia at the Outbreak of the War
- Medical Services in the Ethiopian Army
- Ethiopian Efforts to Provide Medical Assistance
- The ICRC and the Emergency Medical Relief Operation
- Red Cross Field Hospitals in Ethiopia
- A Meeting Near Korem, or the Disparity between Needs and
Relief
Chapter 3. Red Cross Work Challenged: the Respect of the
Emblem
- Ethiopia’s Respect of the Emblem: a Barrage of Accusations, but
Little Substance
- The Respect of the Emblem by Italy: Red Cross Hospitals under
Fire
- Behind the Smokescreen: a Surprising Discovery
Chapter 4. The Heart of the Matter: Ensuring the Protection
of the Emblem
- Consequences of the Bombings for the Red Cross Units in the
Field
- Prevention is Better than Cure: Notification to Italy of
Medical Installations under Red Cross Protection
- Transmission of Complaints Regarding Violations of the Geneva
Convention
- First Steps in Humanitarian Diplomacy
- Ensuring the Application of the Geneva Convention through an
Inquiry
- Protecting the Interests of War Victims through Humanitarian
Diplomacy – a Trip to Rome (24 March–1 April 1936)
- ‘Quella Benedetta Neutralità …’ The White Book on the War –
between a Cover-up and a Contribution to Peace
- Revising the 1929 Convention to Reflect the Experiences of the
War
- Sidney Brown, another Casualty of the War
- Humanitarian Action and Justice
Chapter 5. Prisoners of War: Propaganda Prevails over
Reality
- Charges and Legal Questions
- Prisoners on the Italian Side
- Prisoners of War on the Ethiopian Side
- The ICRC and the Protection of Prisoners of War
- Wrong Assumptions Lead to Wrong Conclusions
Chapter 6. ‘Rain that Kills’: the ICRC and Fascist Italy’s
Chemical Warfare
- Chemical Warfare between the First World War and the
Italo-Ethiopian War
- Poison Gas in the Italo-Ethiopian War
- The ICRC and Chemical Warfare until 1935
- First Reports on the Use of Poison Gas: Discovering the
Truth
- Experience in the Field with Poison Gas
- Silence on Chemical Warfare during the Mission to Rome
- The Defeat of the League of Nations on the Question of Poison
Gas
- The League of Nations and the ICRC: Collective Security and
Humanitarian Concerns
- The ICRC Response: a Request for Gas Masks
- Between the Spirit of 1918 and the Letter of the Law of
1929
- An Intervention to the Italian Red Cross: Too Little, Too
Late
- The Red Cross Movement Bows to the Inevitable
Summary and Conclusion
- The Belligerents and International Humanitarian Law
- Humanitarian Action in Transition
- The ICRC and Its Humanitarian Action
- The ICRC and Fascist Italy ‘We didn’t know the truth’?
Appendices
Appendix 1. Chronology of Political and Military
Events
Appendix 2. Glossary
Appendix 3. Members of the International Committee
of the Red Cross (ICRC) in October 1935
Appendix 4. Red Cross Field Hospitals on the
Ethiopian Side during the Italo-Ethiopian War
a. Field Hospitals under the Ethiopian Red
Cross
b. Foreign National Red Cross Field Hospitals
Appendix 5. Bombings of Red Cross Field Hospitals
and the Transport Unit during the Italo-Ethiopian War
Bibliography
Index
About the Author
Rainer Baudendistel, a historian by profession, worked
for more than 25 years in humanitarian affairs, first for the
International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), then for the Swiss
government. Since 1985 he has specialized in the Horn of Africa. He
spent several years in Ethiopia and currently lives in Eritrea.
Reviews
"This book, which inaugurates a promising series … is well
documented and very clear in its presentation. …a welcome
enrichment of Ethiopian
studies." · Aethiopica "The author is
well-equipped to tell this story. A historian by profession, he
also has rich experience in humanitarian relief work in the Horn of
Africa, including several years of service in the International
Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). The book is rich in
documentation, with the author having tapped almost all the
pertinent archival material in Italy and Geneva and having
interviewed a number of eyewitnesses. Copiously illustrated and
with annexes that set the chronological framework, the work
highlights the principal
characters." · African Studies Review