The Great War and the Origins of Humanitarianism, 1918-1924

Description

The aftermath of the Great War brought the most troubled peacetime the world had ever seen. Survivors of the war were not only the soldiers who fought, the wounded in mind and body. They were also the stateless, the children who suffered war s consequences, and later the victims of the great Russian famine of 1921 to 1923. Before the phrases universal human rights and non-governmental organization even existed, five remarkable men and women - Rene Cassin and Albert Thomas from France, Fridtjof Nansen from Norway, Herbert Hoover from the US and Eglantyne Jebb from Britain - understood that a new type of transnational organization was needed to face problems that respected no national boundaries or rivalries. Bruno Cabanes, a pioneer in the study of the aftermath of war, shows, through his vivid and revelatory history of individuals, organizations, and nations in crisis, how and when the right to human dignity first became inalienable." Cover Half title Series Title Copyright Contents Acknowledgments Introduction: Human disasters: humanitarianism and the transnational turn in the wake of World War I 1 “Rights, not charity”: René Cassin and war victims French veterans’ associations and the victims of the Great War The rights of victims and the origins of the French welfare state Reintegrating disabled veterans into society: a common goal for all veterans From victims’ rights to peace through justice Conclusion 2 Justice and peace: Albert Thomas, the International Labor Organization, and the dream of a transnational politics of social rights Labor as a legal category: the origins of a transnational organization Albert Thomas: from socialist reformism to the Geneva project The International Labor Organization, the culture of expertise, and the creation of international standards The crisis of the 1920s and the limits of a “global governance” Conclusion 3 The tragedy of being stateless: Fridtjof Nansen and the rights of refugees Empire in ruins: Russian refugees in the aftermath of war A problem beyond the power of humanitarian organizations Fridtjof Nansen’s mission A High Commissioner for Russian refugees The Nansen Passport Greek and Turkish refugees The birth of refugee relief programs Conclusion 4 The hungry and the sick: Herbert Hoover, the Russian famine, and the professionalization of humanitarian aid “Death was now more in evidence than life” Hoover and the power to feed Fighting against indifference to Russian suffering A scientific approach to hunger The men of the American Relief Administration-between idealism and pragmatism Conclusion 5 Humanitarianism old and new: Eglantyne Jebb and children’s rights A Victorian education The child as a legal category Feeding the enemy’s children? Save the Children: the birth of a non-governmental organization The invention of international rights for children Conclusion Conclusion: Human dignity: from humanitarian rights to human rights Further reading Introduction Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Bibliography Index