Een poging tot samengaan van humanitarisme en pacifisme. Het Rode Kruis en de Nederlandse beweging voor internationale vrede

Abstract

An attempt to combine hiiinanitarianism and pacifism. The Red Cross and the Dutch movement for international peace Both the International and the Dutch Red Cross were heavily damaged by World War II. The Red Cross movement especially was blamed for its lack of care for persecuted Jews and political prisoners. To restore its reputation all kinds of initiatives were taken. Amongst these was an attempt of the Dutch Red Cross to cooperate with several pacifist movements in the Dutch Movement for International Peace and Security. It seemed a good and sensible initiative, especially in 1945, but, although it was supported by international Red Cross resolutions, it failed. The DRC grew immensely in numbers in the years after 1945. With the cold war coming up the peace movement lost most of its popularity and therefore also lost its attraction for the Red Cross as a partner. As in the rest of its mutual history, the attempt to humanise war did not mix with the wish to abolish it.